NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Week 17 Recap: Who's going to the playoffs?!

Episode Date: January 1, 2018

A room filled with heroes- Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler, Gregg Rosenthal & Chris Wesseling- recap all of the action from the final week of the regular season, including Andy Dalton's late game heroics for the Bengals … and Bills (12:00); Buffalo finally has its moment as the Bills are headed to the postseason (19:30); The end of a sad, sad season for the winless Browns (35:00); A crazy game call in the Cheifs' win over the Broncos (44:30); An in-studio New Year's Eve toast (1:10:00) and much more!Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast. Making America great again. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast presented by head and shoulders. My name is Dan Hansis and I'm joined by a room filled with heroes. Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosenthal. What's up, boys? Hey, Dan.

Happy New Year's. It is New Year's Eve night here in the City of Angels, Mark, translation of Los Angeles. That is an accurate translation by you. You know, it's going to be a good pod when Dan's breaking out five different accents in the minute before the podcast starts. Yes, everybody. I'm in a good mood. I like New Year's. Now that I've gotten past the young having to make an important fun night, I like to enjoy it.

I'm looking forward to getting home to my family and all. all that. But before that, we have a lot to talk about. 256 games now, guys, in the rearview. 20 teams. Take the old dirt nap. Later. And now we move on to guess what, guys?

The crucible. The crucible. Of the playoffs. The crucible is my favorite bowl. Lie ahead. What was that at the end? Very nice, Lindsay. Death.

Yes, the crucible. is coming, and to get there, teams had to survive week 17. And Greg, I know you love football, the joy over my time working with you, Greg. You love the game. And week 17 started out slow in those early games, but by the end of the day, there was some fun football and a lot to look forward to. It's pretty rare that there's that much on the line late in week 17. And it just turned out, I don't know if there were a lot of classics, but all the games that truly mattered late, we're within one score.

And so for various parts of the afternoon, okay, these teams are in. No, no, that team's going there, and I'm thinking of what the playoffs or matchups are going to be, and they change on a minute-by-minute basis, it's good stuff. I don't know if there were classic games individually, but the overall look of what happened in the late

stages of the day made for a fascinating, probably the most fascinating regular season week of football we've seen all year. And whenever a Sunday ends with the glowing ginger man, Andy Dalton, having the greatest moment of his career. I'll sign off on that Sunday.

Wow. Talking about the greatest moment of his career. Here's the thing is, you have to come up with what would be better, and I'm searching my mind. There probably is some regular season. A handful of games in the 2015 season. It was a nice moment, though. This had a nice added oomph of knocking a rival out of the playoffs.

So that had an emphasis. It's the last thing we'll see from him, and he knocked Baltimore out. And you did it in Marvin Lewis's last game. The guy who drafted you after 15. years to send him out on a win like that and get rid of the old ratbirds, that's got to feel good. Oh, at midnight, Wes is going to light up the dossier and start fresh. Start a new with a new coach and a Bungles team that's going to the heavens. How can you have your biggest win ever in a season that was over three or four weeks ago?

I knew that would get West fired off. It's a good final start for Dalton and Cincinnati. We will get, well, we'll see about that. There's a lot to learn in the future, but right now we'll stay in the present. talk about the games of week 17 will start in the NFC where we had some decisions made of who would get in the back door of the playoffs let's go Newton on first down throwing over the middle it's high deflected and intercepted by keanu neal neal veering right to the 30 yard line at the 25 twisted down at the 23

cam newton was looking for gregg olson the ball tipped in the air keanu neal plucks it out of the air and picked thrown by Cam Newton and an absolute dagger to the Panthers' chances of coming back in Atlanta. Kevin Colger, Westwood, won with the call. Cam Newton flummoxed by the Falcons defense. Matt Bryant kicked five field goals, including a really huge 56-yarder in the second half. In Atlanta, clinched a playoff spot by beating the sloppy Panthers 22 to 10 at the Mercedes-Benz Super Arena. Anybody got that? It's a Mercedes-Benz dome, right?

Is that just it? It's like multiple Mercedes-Benz's in the same division. It's a problem. Greg, the Falcons stepped up when they needed to, specifically that defense, which really gave Cam Newton problems. Yeah, Cam Newton started 0 for 9, was misfiring all day.

He's the streakiest quarterback in the NFL, and this was a cold streak type of day, but the Falcons defense was flying around. I think how you view this win, in terms of the Falcons will just depend kind of on how you've thought about them all year. I think you can look at it like, hey, this is the recipe for them to actually make some noise

in the playoffs. Ball control offense. I know they only scored 22 points, but they scored five of their last six possessions and just kind of played keepaway with the passing game. Or you could look at it like it's the same sort of Falcons team that, okay, they're slipping into the playoffs. They're not as explosive as they used to be.

If I was a Rams fan, this would be the team I don't want to face, though, Because I think their best possible game is very good, and that's who's going to Los Angeles next week. I would much rather not want to face the Saints who have been consistently what they are for most of the season where the Falcons are a grab bag. This game, though, is the argument for why you say, you know, Atlanta, NFC is a very strong conference, but Atlanta deserves to be here over some of the teams that didn't get in. They earned it. They beat almost all the wild card contenders on the way to winning 10 games. for as much as we've dogged the Falcons,

they beat, for the most part, the bad teams on their schedule. And Matt Ryan played a very good game today. But I just don't see, like, the explosive plays still weren't back. You know, you're counting on Devonty Freeman as your leading receiver. It wasn't a game that, like, changed the way I thought about the Falcons. I'm surprised to hear you say that about the Rams, who are clearly a better team than the Falcons. I think they're way better, and they're my Super Bowl pick.

But the two chance, really the only two chances of the teams that they were going to play, Today were Seahawks, Panthers, or Falcons. And of those three teams, to me, the Falcons are easily the most dangerous. We still didn't see, yeah, like you're saying, the explosive plays. I was still kind of bored watching the Falcons. I locked up the Panthers, of course, but I fell in another lockoff. I'm really collapsing down the stretch here. But I wasn't like, the reason I picked against the Falcons is I thought we would get another type of ho-hum falcons

offensive performance, and then Cam Newton would do enough. I was really surprised that they got shut down, but maybe I shouldn't be, because this has happened a lot during the season for Carolina, where the offense kind of goes MIA, and if I'm a Panthers fan, I'm not hugely confident that they're going to figure it out in January.

Well, all I'd say is if we're going to kill the Falcons for being a week-to-week proposition on that side of the ball, what's Carolina? I mean, they're turning the ball over. Give me a break with the turnovers. Cam Newton, to me, just seems like not the guy you're going to rely on to take you far on the playoffs. I think he's played.

fairly well down the stretch, but they have no passing games. They're not even week to week. They don't have a passing game. He's top 200 yards twice in the last eight weeks or nine weeks. I mean, they can't throw the ball. Jonathan Stewart's out. They can't really run the ball except for Cam Newton, and the defense hasn't been

as good. To me, they're the weakest NFC team heading into the playoffs. Things can change fast, but I think they've been very, they're a lot like the Lions last year, where they by far lead the league and one score wins. They also have the most overrated defense in the NFL. That's fair. And they couldn't get it. They couldn't get off the field

today. They did shut down the Atlanta running game very well, which is why it was a little surprising. The Falcons had to throw the ball 45 times in a game they led. Almost 35 minutes of offense for Atlanta. Lins, give West what he deserves. Give it to him. What a million dollars? It's what he deserves.

It's been a battle this 27 for Wes. He deserves a lockup. I need one. That might bring me to within five games at 500. I think you're four and four potentially right now. All right. Now, let's see. So the Panthers. Andy Dalton moment. The Panthers lose, which took away any chance of winning the South.

The Saints won the South with a loss by the Panthers, but could they win the game and go into the playoffs on a winning note? Let's see. Great protection again. And the sideline, it is a touchdown for Tampa Bay to Chris Godwin. James Winston connected on a 39-yard touchdown to Chris Godwin with nine seconds to play, the decisive play, and the Bucks's 3,1, 24 comeback win over the Saints,

Tampa. Greg, the Saints clinched the NFC South, as I said, when the Panthers lost. But this one still hurts. Nola. No, la. It does. They were bailed out, and it shows why the Panthers were smart to play to win, and it makes that Panthers loss, I think, even more painful because they could have had a home playoff game because the Saints gave this one up. And I'm not surprised. I think if you watch the Saints closely over the last five or six weeks, the running game isn't quite as consistent as it was. The injuries on defense have piled up a little. I think they're a good team,

but I think they were playing their best football four or five weeks ago. They peaked too early. I think so. Drew Breeze is playing really well, and when push game to shove in this game, he made a lot of great plays to put them in position to win,

and that's what would make me feel a little more confident if I was a Saints fan. They also get a great matchup, I think, next week, playing the Panthers. A team they've beaten twice. People say, it's hard to beat a team three times. times, that's fine. They've been significantly better than the Panthers in two different times. If I'm a Saints fan, I like that matchup. They've lost the Rams and the Falcons over the last

five or six weeks of the season. And I think we talked about it on our pickum show that this was no automatic win for New Orleans. And Tampa has played a little bit better, but just to look at the rushing output against the Buck's defense, like very low for New Orleans. It's concerning. And since their running game was really on fire, teams have sold out a little more to stop the run. And even when the running numbers look good at the end of the game, it's usually just been Ingram for the most part popping off a long run or two. It hasn't been the consistent four to five yards move the chains. And that was missing today. Tampa looked like the better team for most of this game. If James Winston didn't throw two ghastly interceptions, three total,

but two were just inexcusable. The Bucks could have had a bigger lead and won this game going away. And I know Winston, it'll drive you crazy if you're a Bucks fan, but we saw it again. down a point with two minutes to play he goes 95 yards throws the touchdown putting a fourth down play in there a fourth and ten was in that mix fourth and ten on their own five yard line he has a 12 yard completion to cameron brates so before it even started it looked like it was over on a he had a nine yard reception to mike evans on 31 to keep the drive going at their own 35 and um so that's i mean that is the glass half full look with the bucks Winston is still just 23 there's a lot to look forward to

He's just got to clean up his game. And days ago, we were speculating that maybe John Gruden would wind up in Tampa Bay. Instead, they made it clear. Probably they couldn't get Gruden, it sounds like. That's what Michael Silver is reporting, that they tried to get Gruden. It didn't work, and then they informed Dirk Cutter will be back next year. Put them back on Hard Knocks. I'm really surprised Cutter's coming back.

This has been a deep. I think you don't get your guy. You have to look at the guy you have and say, is it better than Chuck Bogano or someone. Like the quarterback is the center of the universe there and doesn't seem like there's a good relationship, isn't that? It seems like they salvaged that relationship, and Winston's played on the stretch saved Cotter's job. Yeah, I think so.

And Chris Godwin, he's going to be on a lot of those sleepers, making the leaps, whatever you want. I love watching this guy play every week, and he has been a stud down the stretch. He had over 100 yards in this game look great again. All right. Let's now move on and check in on the classic ending. Sensi. Or Baltimore, I should say.

Fourth down in 12. at the Ravens, 49. Dalton waiting for the shotgun snap. Now Uzama moves into the slot. Dalton catches the football. He's back to throw. Inches up in the pocket. Throws, caught by Boyd.

Get in. To the 15, the 10, the 5. Touchdown. Tyler Boyd on fourth and 12. It's a 49-yard touchdown. And the Bengals lead with 44 seconds to go. Silence in Baltimore. The fact that he made up a word, should that get in contention for the top ten?

Yeah, I mean, clearly going for pandemonium, but a nod to Panama, south of us. That's true. It's a very panamanian. It was like, hell, you know, a group of panamanians are enjoying this game. He's a panamaniac. One of my favorite developments since we started listening to all these radio calls the last couple of years is the color guy, and it's kind of like the Zolak disease where he just throws everything to the side

and just cheers while the play-by-play guy's doing his job. Anyway, that was Dan Horton, Dave Lapham of W-E-B-N with the call. Lapham. Tyler Boyd, 49-yard touchdown reception from Andy Dalton on 4th and 12 with less than a minute to play. That was the difference for Cincinnati. The Bengals and the Marvin Lewis era with a 3,127 win over the Ravens

that knocked Baltimore out of the playoffs In heartbreaking fashion, Dalton on the play, stepped up in the pocket, delivered, a nice strike to Boyd, evaded tacklers, found the end zone in, to me, like, one of the most shocking moments of the 27th season. Absolutely. And Patrick Crawley, and we're going to get to the bills in a second, but Patrick Crawley works in the programming department here at NFL media, known him for years, Bill's fan, sat with him during this possession. and he had this quote, which I wrote down because I really did feel for him at that moment. I can't believe I'm in a position where I'm counting on Andy Dalton to save us.

Dalton had to go the entire field. And he did it. And he did it. And the Ravens, this Ravens defense guys, we'll start with you here, Wes, that had three shutouts this season. At its height, people were talking, ooh, is this kind of Ray Lewis defense good?

Well, in the crucible. when it was Crucible They laid down and died and they're going home because of it. I think one of the big lessons from the 2017 season is to throw out most of the games against bad teams and judge teams on what they do against quality competition. The Ravens pulverized bad teams

and backup quarterbacks all year long and they didn't play well against good teams and this was frankly against one of the worst offenses the Bengals are fielded in their entire franchise history. And Baltimore's defense crumbled on that final touchdown drive. They had a killer

pass interference call early on and then later an Eric Weddell pick reversed by defensive holding. Yep. That would have ended the game. You would have been in the playoffs. That's sloppy defense play. You can't call them they're not achieving these heights we thought they would when that's happening on the critical

game ending drive. They gave up 31 points to the Bengals. I mean, some of that was the offense struggling in special teams, but that is an unbelievable no-show by a Ravens team that just needed to win. And credit should go to the Bengals for knocking the Lions and the Ravens out of the playoffs and back-to-back weeks. We're here after they got blown out by the Bears saying, oh, these guys are total dogs kind of questioning their effort level

that they've laid down for the season because Marvin Lewis is on his way out. And they go, you know, pull out, they're professionals. They go pull off two upsets in back-to-back weeks and probably the best two games of the season. And that's why the extension is coming tomorrow after. Well, you mentioned this is Marvin Lewis's last game, and this is probably going to be out of date by the time people listen to this. But Marvin Lewis did say after this game, I want to coach this team next year. Now, you don't know if this is just some crazy, he had to answer the question in the moment in some way because they asked him, do you want to coach the team next year and kind of like, what's he going to say in that moment?

Well, Marvin Lewis is an idiot. But this is a man who once everyone thought was totally out at the door in 2011 had a famous press conference where him and Mike Brown are squably. Who knows? I kind of think it ends up with Marvin Lewis in the front office. That's what I think. He was asked, what if Mike Brown asks you back? And he said it's more complicated than that. You can never rule anything out with the Bengals.

This team is, they operate different than any other team in the league. They are a mom and pop operation. And nothing would surprise me with him. Do you think with Marvin Lewis, though, when he spoke to our very own, in Rappaport as a source saying not coming back, and then it becomes reality and you realize, wait, this thing I love to do is about to end in two or three weeks. That's when maybe the change of heart comes,

and you start denying everything and getting back in. He was on the record. He was on the record saying he would be interested in a GM job. I like that turn of phrase to, our very own. I like that we have ownership of Ian. I don't like having to, the title is long. It's like, is it dog or something? I didn't go.

I'm not sure where we were coming up. with that, but I, I, I'll get you back in a second, Mark. I, I do wonder, crazier things have happened than Lewis being back and crazier things have happened than John Harbaugh losing his job after missing the playoffs for three straight years. And I did, you know, kind of ask if there's like any chance of that. And I don't think that's been totally ruled out. It would be very surprising. You asked. You asked around. The Ravens? I asked around the insiders. The insiders around town that know more than I do.

Terrell Sugg said in 15 years. with Baltimore. This is the most devastating loss. Oh, you could see. They were dying when it happened, Mark. Because they were down so much in this game to come that far back. What was the score at one point? It was 17 to 3, was 24 to 10, and they'd come back

to take the lead. The Mike Wallace touchdown, the game seems over at that point. Baltimore survived the scare. They're playing next weekend. Just like we talked about, if the Ravens get in, they're dangerous because of their history, but they ain't getting in. Mark. Yes. As we're going to get to it a little later.

It's a tough day for Browns fans. And the Ravens, of course, you know, Baltimore stole your team, won a couple titles. So as a gift to you on this day, on this New Year's Eve, you want to hear the Hayes and the Barn guy calling that touchdown for the Bengals? Sure. Jerry Sandusky will hear how he called that. Andy Dalton takes the snap. That is not in the barn.

He fires down the middle complete. At the 15-10-5 touchdown Cincinnati. Matty. Tyler Boyd with a touchdown. No flags on the play, and disbelief has shrouded the stadium. Oh my gosh. The color guy threw his mic down. It's like two different football games we listen to. Wow.

Wait, play that one more time. Sandusky was very professional, his partner. Yes. He was that almost excited. Let me hear it one more time. It was a big moment. I don't think I've ever heard a mic get thrown down. The middle, complete at the 15, 10, 5.

Touchdown, Cincinnati. Tyler Boyd with a touchdown. No flags on the play. That makes Zolak look professional. Has shrouded the stadium. It was a really... I get it. It was one of the plays, if not the play of the regular season.

Because there was a moment where you think he's getting sack. And you're like, oh, wait, he's not getting sack. Wait, he's actually going to complete it. And then there's the moment where he threw the mic where you realize, oh, my God, he's actually going to outrun everyone. Cut that too, Lindsay, because that, I mean, I don't think that's ever. happened before. People doubting Andy Dalton's escapability in the big one.

All right. Let's move on. First and goal from the one they give it to Kyle Williams goes into the end zone. Touchdown. Kyle Williams touchdown. He lined up at the full back spot and rumbled into the end zone. Kyle Williams scores a touchdown and everybody falls flat on their back. Kyle Williams, a former fifth round pick who became a

stalwart for the bills, never sniffed the postseason. That's all about to change. The Buffalo Bill snapped a longest current non-playoff drought in North American sports. Pro sports. A 2216 victory Sunday at Miami, coupled with Baltimore's collapse against the bungles. Yes, the Bills who had to made the playoffs since 99. That's all wiped away now. Congratulations, Bills Mafia.

These guys again. And I know everyone else in this room is kind of bummed out because the bills aren't that exciting. What? Wait a minute. You were excited about the chargers. I get it. Don't get mad. I'm just saying, you guys, one of the chargers in, and I get all that.

I want to... Congratulations. You want to talk on a good New Year's Eve. Go up to Western New York tonight. If you can... If you're close enough where you can get to Western New York for a real party, go to any of the bars, anyway. I'd stay off the roads, but... Take a helicopter in there.

The bills are going to the playoffs. 22-16 win. Wow. They did it. Look, I mean, outside. of the Chargers aspect, I don't think anyone in this room would look at what happened to Buffalo and not say it's a positive story for the NFL and for a fan base that is one of the most loyal. I mean, these teams that go through these incredible, awful periods of time,

Bill's fans have made that stadium an impossible place to play year after year. It's not about winning a Super Bowl. Like, you don't have to win a Super Bowl as a fan to have fun. as a player to like enjoy a moment. You don't think Tyrod Taylor is going to take a lot of measure of pride for the rest of his life for bringing the bills to the playoffs after 17 years after this organization made it clear to him with three different staffs, three different quarterbacks essentially, that he wasn't their guy, that he stood tall throughout that.

He's not going to win the MVP or anything, but he was one of the reasons that they ended up getting to the playoffs this year. and it's an incredible accomplishment for him and for their coaching staff. I, um... You're not buying it, Wes. Good for the bills. Good for their fans. But now let's talk real.

Now Jacksonville gets to have the most attractive matchup in the playoffs. But the bills have the most attractive matchup in the playoffs, too, for a road team. The bills are the fifth worst team by point differential in the history of the playoffs. They are last among playoff teams in just about every category. they lost their best player to an ankle injury in this game. Shady McCoy went down. That's why you enjoy today. This is a land to the slaughter situation going on next week.

But they're playing, you don't think the Jaguards are the worst team with a home game next week? I think they are by far, and they're going into the playoffs with their own sets of issues. So at least that gives the bills a little hope. I think that might be the seventh. All I'd say is if ever, if ever Buffalo were to upend Jacksonville, then Greg's Patriots post the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round of, the AFC playoffs, that would be surreal. It's going to happen. It's all set up to work out that way. We'll see. We'll see how it plays out. And it should be mentioned. And this is why

sports are fun, even though it's going to hurt us in the wallet. Or Colleen specifically, you'll stick a fork in them. Fifteen teams. Stick a fork in up. So close. And you can blame this on the Ravens and John Harbaugh's defense because we stuck a fork in the bills a couple of months ago or about six weeks ago, and they are in the playoffs. So that means we will be making a charitable donation. She will be. She will be making a charitable donation to an organization in the Western New York or Buffalo, Greater Buffalo area.

So we're happy to be wrong. It's her birthday this week. And she's, you know, I'm sure. Colleen. Colleen, Wolf would get some birthday money from, you know, the higher echelon people and her family. But it's going to go straight to Western New York. I mean, we get one, we have a streak of getting one of these wrong just about every year.

It's kind of fun, though. This one feels, I'm all right getting this one wrong. It's actually better to get one wrong than just to get all these, you know, try to play chalk and say, oh, no charity this year. And one other point. So, yeah, and the bills are not a compelling team, especially if Shaney McCoy is not playing. And we'll see how serious that ankle injury is. But there is something really fun about having that week as a fan, even leading up to one playoff. game you have that week i haven't had a lot of that mark you have had hardly any in the last 20 years

but that's a really fun week building up to your playoff weekend and if you win a game it's grave i think the bills it's a big step forward for them and you entered sunday not expecting to make the playoffs just because of the help that you needed you know you beat the dolphins right expecting to make right and you like the three the three hours during the game had to be a lot of fun especially the moment where you heard david fails is going to be playing quarterback exactly um all right let's move on Mario takes the snap looking stepping up he can run this thing instead he'll pull it back he'll sneak around the edge to the 45 stiff arm 50 45 and down my goodness the young maestro is special what heart what courage as he's actually giving it back to the jags a little bit with a stiff arm

saying i'm not going to quit i'm going to the postseason Cut it. Oh, wow. Mike Keith, WGFX, on a great call. Marcus Marriota threw a touchdown and used his legs to help the Tennessee Titans and an eight-season drought without a postseason berth. They beat the Jaguars 15 to 10 on Sunday. So the Titans are heading to January football. Wes, it's not easy to get excited about this Tennessee team, but that Marioita stiff arm, as Mike Keith got all pumped up about.

It's essentially it's a nice little moment for this team and the season for Tennessee. That was a great thing to watch that play. That might not have been his best run on that drive. He had another run more physical early in that drive to move the sticks. And he sealed the game with his legs

on a day when Derek Henry could not run the ball and the Titans' offense was not impressive whatsoever. The Jaguars gave this game away with a two-fumble sequence going into halftime. Jadon Mickens called a fair catch, went to block the ball, bounced off his leg for a fumble. Then the next drive, Keel and Kuhl fumbled the ball. Both those were easy field goals for the Titans

without them even having to move the ball. And that was the game. There was a little bit of a second-half momentum with the Jaguars when Ingaukwe returned to fumble 67 yards for a touchdown, but then Mariotta sealed it. This is not a good time. Titans team. And I understand your viewpoint that Titans and Bills fans have to be thrilled for their

fandom. My fandom is good football in a season where there's been a lot of bad football. And I'd like to see two teams like the Chargers and Ravens who were above 80 for 80 on point differential instead of two of the worst playoff teams, the Titans and Bills. I don't think we're going to have good football games. One of the problems is I agree with you. I mean, I look at, I watch the Chargers today and looked at a team that I think could have beaten anyone in the AFC if they play the way they did for stretches on Sunday. And they're out because they couldn't handle their business against the Chiefs. And then you look

at the Jaguars, they're going to host a home playoff game, but they're the same team that's been swept by a team we can't see anything more than a hyper-vanilla AFC playoff entry. These teams are really indecipherable from one to the next, outside of two in the AFC. I think if Titans lost this game, we would be writing a Mike

Malarkey is fired post on Monday. Now, we might still be writing that post if they lose in the playoffs. They're going to Kansas City, which is not, I think the chiefs have to be thrilled with that matchup versus having to face the Ravens. But I don't know, maybe it saves Mike Malarkey's job. Or you'd still have weeks to hire Josh McDaniels or Matt Patricia to pair with your ex-patriots front office man. I'd be a little concerned, though, if you're Jacksonville,

not so much on the defensive side of the ball, but a game that they clearly wanted to win today in Tennessee, and the offense has just, you know, it's a week-to-week proposition. We all know their formula. They have to get in front early and unleash that pass rush. They did not get in front early, and they are a totally different team when they're playing from behind. I mean, Tennessee only had 11 first down, so it's kind of hard to kill the Jaguars defense in the game.

I will kill them for what happened against the Niners last week. If you pair this game and that game and you tell people this is your third seed in the AFC, you need to run the ball better. They haven't. Fournet hasn't run. the ball very well, whether they're leading or trailing in his last handful of games. The AFC, we've known this for months, how soft the AFC is. And it still feels very much to me like Steelers and Patriots.

It's a collision core situation, which maybe that game, if it does end up happening, is so good that it makes us forget about how maybe forgettable next week could end up being and maybe even the first two weeks of the AFC playoffs. They're playing their best ball heading into playoffs. A little bit of a wild car, the chiefs, because they've got to seem to gotten back together. We'll see how it plays out. I think this Titans team is a fine surrogate for the Bengals on Westavis, the traditional early Saturday afternoon, Westavis game. All right.

Yeah, the Titans are really good. That's a good point. So there's a lot of shit DNA. They're kind of the team that you root against anyways, so. Westovus is on? Although you like Marietta. It's very conflicting. He was your guy for so long.

I think this Titans team is not the Titans team you like to season to go on any level, and that's irritated you. I think the Titans still have a bright future. I don't think they have any future this season. and Westavis, I don't think my body is capable. They ended a nine-year run, though. It's been a little while for their teams. Your listeners out there, if you want to celebrate Westivis, there is an option this year with the Titans.

Is that what you're saying, Wes? They can handle this year's Bacchanalia for me. Yeah, for new listeners, that's the first Saturday afternoon game, and of course they put the Titans there. Of course. Here we go. Let's move on, check in on the throne of ease. Play pick and a bootleg right from Brady.

A throw to the loss of the flat. He runs to the end zone. Touchdown. Patriots. Nice call Josh. What is that? What is that? It's a nice call, Josh.

Oh, calm down. First name basis. Grow up, Peter Pan. Bob Sochi and Scott Zolak, WBZ with the call. Yes, Dionne Lewis. Oh, he's playing well. He ran for a touchdown. Caught a pass for a touchdown.

And the New England Patriots have clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs. They are the top seat in the AFC, a 26-to-6 win over the jets at Fridid Foxborough. The Pats will take a vacation, eventually get some overmatched AFC also ran in their building in two weeks. That's nice. The Jets lose 9 of 11 to finish 5 and 11 for the second straight year. They will pick 6th overall in April's draft. I don't know how much, what, Greg? I mean, they could get the chiefs.

If the seeds hold, they're going to get the chiefs in their house. The team that beat them in Foxborough this year. If the seeds hold, yes. We'll just see how plays out on the throne of ease. That's all I'm saying. We'll see how plays out. What can he take from this game? Well, Dionne Lewis, as I said, and we've been seeing this for weeks now,

is really talented and special. And Greg, I heard you say downstairs, you think he might be the best running back in the Belichick era for the Patriots potentially. No way. I think for his total game, the way he's playing now is as good or better than any running back that they've ever had. Because Corey Dylan, you had to take Corey Dillon off the field. There's the Cincinnati leading West coming out. Cory Dylan rushed for over 1,600 yards

and was the backbone of that offense. Dionne Lewis has been the backbone in the last eight weeks. No, he's been the backbone for like a month. He never had 20 touches in the game until two weeks ago. That is, I can't believe you're saying that Corey Dylan was so much better. I would take Dean Lewis over him. Are we going downstairs?

I love Dionne Lewis, but that's just wrong. No way. Corey Dylan is borderline Hall of Fame. He played half this thing. You had to take him off. Greg's on his heels. I'm just saying you got to take him off. I love Corey Dillis.

Mark shrugs his shoulder. You got to take Adrian Peterson off the field in his 2,000 yard season. Give me a break. Anyway. So, yeah, so Dionne Lewis looks great. 32 touches, which a lot of touches, by the way, in a week 17 game like this. But they had the two weeks. Tom Brady missed some throws, but it was like 11 degrees or 5 degrees, something like that.

Negative 2 windchill. Coldest game in, or second coldest and Patriot history. 35 degrees warmer than Minnesota where we'll be in four weeks. Poor us. Gronk was not targeted in this game before. disappearing in the second half. They made sure to put him in bubble wrap. So the Patriots take care of business.

They get the number one seed. And of note in this game, James Harrison, and I don't want anybody, people might end up making too much of this. He had two sacks in this game. And four tackles. He played 28 of a possible 57 defensive snaps. That makes it sound like he was, you know,

old James Harrison. Both sacks came in the last minute when Kelvin Beecham looked like he was eyeing the locker room because his feet were frozen. So I don't want to get too crazy about it, but at the same time, Harrison moved kind of like James Harrison, and he could be a guy that doesn't. He did have one devastating runstop.

Yeah, he made some. I pretty much watched because there wasn't much else that mattered in this game. After a while, I watched every single snap he took. I just would watch him, and he looked solid. He looked like James Harrison. He's going to matter for this team. I mean, I think he'll be playing starter snaps in the playoffs, whether he's a standout or not, I don't know.

But I think he's better than Markey's Flowers. and who's played a little better lately and Trevor Riley and some of the guys that they've had in there. And Todd Bowles and Big Mac before this game, it was announced that they're both re-signed. They're coming back.

So we'll see what happens there. I don't know if this helped Tom Brady's you know, MVP case here. No, I'm not going to take it either. Yards per 10. I think he'll probably get it, but he definitely ended the season not playing as well.

And I think... Did more than Todd Gurley today. It's not insignificant that they were missing James White, Rex Burkhead, and Chris Hogan down the stretch and you might have all those guys and Malcolm Mitchell back for the playoffs you don't really know.

In his first 11 games of the season he had a 113 rating on deep balls and his last five games of the season that was a 25 rating. Right, and he had some ugly throws in this game too. You don't know if it was because of the weather which certainly would be understandable.

I think that was a big factor. All right, Mark, let's not put it off any further. Fourth down and two at the 27, Kaiser back to pass. He's up in the pocket. he got out of a sack he's running he's throwing it's caught at the 11 yard line and now they're going to rule it incomplete he dropped the ball over on the left sideline as he had a man wide open and coleman couldn't hang on to it at the 11 oh corey coleman hold on to the ball the Cleveland Browns they have secured an infamous place in the history books Coleman's fourth down drop was the decisive play in a 2824 loss to the Steelers the Steelers who were playing backup in several key positions. It was the 16th loss and 16 tries for the Browns who joined the 2008 Lions as the only 0-16 teams in NFL history.

All right, so here he comes. Nick Shook sits down with us wearing. Even on New Year's Eve, this guy will get a pumping. Did you get a pumping tonight, New Year's Eve? Jim's closed today. Well, it's closed now, but. I'm surprised you don't know like a home spread. Oh, don't worry.

I get it in outside of the weight room. Don't worry. Anyway, look, you can even tell you, Shook a little agro, it's been a tough day. He didn't get quite the pump he wanted earlier. So here's Mark and Shook together, and guys, the Coleman drop was symbolic in the season that, yes, did become the darkest timeline in Cleveland football, 0-16. Yeah, I'm just left at this point. I mean, I think we, Shook and I have talked every time we're in the office together,

and we've, this was coming. This was no, today didn't decide anything else. The game was closer than I thought it would be, to be honest. I just am left with an utter hollow feeling and one that, you know, even though you go into the offseason with all these draft picks, I don't know if I trust this organization after all the missteps to accurately lay the foundation for anything better. I mean, it'll be better than O in 16, but I just, I don't know, Shook, I'm left completely sort of mortified and stunned by a team that found a way to lose every week more than any combination of football teams I've ever watched in my life. It was unbelievable to look at every single game and have there be two or three decisive plays that made it super clear and evident that Cleveland would not win. In the larger picture, every year when the Browns struggled to 4 and 12, 3 and 13, 5 and 11, missed the playoffs,

there's always the saving grace that, well, at least the Browns don't own the longest playoff drought in the NFL. Well, that changed today as well as their entry into the history books at Owen 16. and it is a new feeling. It's one that will never quite go away because they'll always be associated with never winning a game in one season. But in fact, I just now looked at the stats from this game. I didn't even know how they did.

I just saw how they did on the field watching the game. And that last drop and the ensuing, you know, I guess the football world in general, wanted the Browns to win today. And I almost felt like the Steelers kind of want to, of the Browns to win today, and they still couldn't get out of their own way. I mean, they started Landry Jones and Stephen Ridley. So I know this, Owen, and you thought this loss was coming, but you lost to the,

they lost to the Steelers' backups in a game where they were in position if their first round pick just, you know, catches a ball right in his hands. In the last second, you're at the 10-yard line with a chance to beat them. I guess I don't know. I'm still surprised they lost to win. That's why it was symbolic. Coleman drafted 16th overall last year. Just one of the many first round picks over the years

that were supposed to take this team, finally start doing building blocks and get out of this funk. And he's a problem, just like so many other of these past guys, have been the problem. Now you hope with the first overall pick and the fourth overall pick, in addition to everything else they have coming

that they make something of it. But this is kind of, oh, in 16, they were dancing around for several years now, and finally it landed on it. It's just a little more, I guess it probably stings, a little more because this was supposed to be a year of growth

and it ended up going in the worst possible direction. I think you look at a firing that did happen today as opposed to one that won't happen in Cleveland this year in Jack Del Rio, a guy who posted a 6 and 10 record and got fired for it after going 12 and 4 the year prior and 7 and 9 the year before. And then you look at Hugh Jackson, who's won in 30. Right. He won Del Rio on 18 games over the last two years

and Hugh won one. Yeah. Well, look, to be clear, to be clear, Jimmy Haslam came out and as much as they've said it throughout the past few weeks, no one seemed to believe it. But immediately after this game, he did tell a reporter that I, in his word, I told John Dorsey, the GM, that Hugh is staying. And that's what- Interesting wording.

I don't like that because that sets up for some animosity down the road when, you know, next season doesn't go well and he wants to axe, you know, huge axon or whatever. And, I mean, there's just that right there, that's not healthy, especially for new GM, it's just not encouraging to pile on top of an 0-16. Here's what Hugh had to say after the game. very unfortunate there at the end our guys played hard and I've said that all year this football team has given me everything they have and I know that so this is just where we are we're an on 16 football team I get it I hear I know about the parades and everything that's going to be said but trust me I don't think anybody know what the fight is in that room and how much these guys continued every week and it is their job to go out and compete and fight So, again, we didn't get it done. This is where we are.

We've got a lot of work to do. Excite about the future. You know, when this day's over, we'll turn the page on this and move forward. All right, well, that's enough from him. Got a lot of nerves saying, trust me. After the last time he said, trust me, when he drafted Cody Kessler and acted like he was going to be the franchise quarterback. The problem, I would be most disturbed as a fan because of the top of the food chain here. Your owner comes out and says, this guy has magic because he was a hot assistant coach a couple years ago,

as if assistant coaching has anything to do with head coaching in the NFL. As if running a good offense means you're a head coach. This guy's record is embarrassing. You could have literally put a jersey on a trash can and he would have had the same record or even a better record as the head coach in Cleveland. Yeah, it's ultra-distressing, but I would say to Browns fans like, what do you do? Just give up and walk away from the team.

Your option, I wouldn't do it. O-N-16 is still not as bad as not having a team for three years. I agree. I'm just going to make that point. All right. So the Browns are O-N-16. They have the first pick in April's draft. Let's talk about the team that has the second pick.

Manning on a long count, hands it off for Darkwood, squeezes off the right side. Across the 35, breaks a tackle to the midfield. He's to the 40. It's a foot race. 30, 20, 15, 10, 5. Touchdown Giants. 75 yards for our league. Starquah.

Bob Papa, WFAN with a call. Yes, Arlene Zarqua had a long touchdown round. Eli Manning threw his 339th and perhaps final touchdown for the Giants. An 1810 win over the Redskins. Closing out a disappointing season for the two NFC East rivals. Shook, how do you see this playing out for the G-Man? It was a really kind of weird finish to this. The Jim-O-D-W!

Very awkward and disappointing season for the Giants because at one point in the fourth quarter the Giants were again on the doorstep of scoring and they were going to take a knee inside two minutes to just finish this game off and not risk any injury going to the off season and the fans in MetLife Stadium were leading a massive Eli Manning chant and it felt kind of like especially the way he ran off the field

waving to the crowd and they're all staying and crowding around the tunnel so they can cheer him off the field it felt like his last game. don't think that's necessarily going to happen, but it just felt like that and to bring a season like this to a close with such an environment with a team that you don't know where they're headed, you don't know, I mean, you got two running backs. You have no idea if either of them will even be on the roster next year in Orleans Dark one, Wayne Galman. Gawman actually looked really good when he did get those touches. It's just, it's such a weird spot for the Giants.

But in this game, even more than the Giants, I thought about the Redskins. Kirk Cousins looked really rough today. And it was cold. Giants are his kryptonite. They have disres. destroyed him the last two years. And he looked every time they play. It was bad. It was, I mean, three interceptions bad. And there were drop passes and whatnot, but it just, that worried me more than anything.

He's going to be the highest paid player in the NFL. Yeah, I'm not worried about him. I mean, his week 17 performance against the Giants last year, which ruined their chances of getting to the playoffs, was maybe the worst game of his career. I think Eli Manning's chances of returning to this team are pretty high now that Dave Gettelman is the general manager, which has happened since. Ownership says they wanted to. We last did a podcast, and the thought with Gettleman there, he's already started cleaning some house. He cut offensive lineman. They didn't like a Bobby Hart's attitude.

He got rid of some of the front office guys that were beneath them. And the thought is that he's an Eli supporter and will want to draft someone that Eli can help, you know, as a mentor. Do you think that Eli's that guy who does that, though? I think it's in his disposition to do it, but I wonder if other people do. It doesn't have a choice. They better draft the quarterback at number two. We'll see how it all plays. out this is certainly to draft for it and we'll see if they make the pick let's move on

kareem hond is in the game of course challenging for the NFL rushing title but with the injury to shirkandrick west he's going to get a carry here and he goes up the right scene 25 20 15 10 5 touchdown kansas city kareem hunt with the burst in a run of 35 yards against this vaunted Bronco defense. Chultus KCFX of the call. Yes, Cream Hunt made the most of his lone carry of the day, and Harrison Butker connected on a 30-yard field goal as time expired, lifting the Chiefs to a 27-24 win over the Broncos

in Patrick Mahomes' first career start. Shook, Denver couldn't even beat the second-string chiefs in their own building. This vance Joseph thing hasn't worked, and it appears John Elway might be ready to admit another mistake. I think vaunted defense is a little exaggeration. for this Denver defense this year. But Patrick Mahomes... Think of shots at Mitch in a big spot?

No, not really. No, you're right. Oh, you are. Patrick Mahomes was excellent today. He had, you know, his rookie struggles to begin the game, which you expect for a guy making his first start, and especially in an environment like that. But he bounced back pretty quickly after his interception early,

and he was, I mean, he was electric. Everything that you saw from him in the pre-draft process and everything that everybody raved about with a strong arm and the mobility and everything. It was all there and it all. I mean, he made some throws that you'd think, oh, you know, a seasoned guy doesn't do that. He throws away.

He doesn't try and force it in there. And they didn't really hurt him today. They could have, especially in that last drive. But overall, everything that everybody, you know, was drooling over is, it's there. I mean, and in comparison to Paxton Lynch? Is it like a stark difference? Paxton Lynch had a decent day. Had probably his best day as a Bronco, which the bar is not very high.

But if I had to pick between the two, I'm taking the homes every time. Oh, yeah. What a day for Cream Hunt. You win the rushing yardage on one carry with a long touchdown. It's the lowest amount a rushing leader has had. I think it's like 1,327 yards since

1990. Mm, juicy. Yeah, and we'll get to that when we settle up our sandwich props because that banged me in a big spot. Shook, you have done great work this season helping us out. And we just want to thank you.

I'd like to thank the Academy. You for for welcoming me on, Lindsay for being extra accommodating with bringing me up here and the what do we call it the shadow league figures for this nice pullover there it is

that I wore up here you know just just to make it looks like they poured you into that thing that's you know that the person who gave this to me he won't be named said hey you know it's an extra large so I don't know if it's gonna fit but I know you kind of like

to wear your shirts tight well that's harassment you can go right to yeah you can take care along with the flood of Dan's comments No, don't tell anybody about what I say in here. But thanks for having me on. All right.

Thank you, Shook. And we send Shook off to get one last pump in. And this special New Year's Eve show. Get that pump in. No rest for the weary. That is a hideous sound clip, by the way. It's real. Let's move on.

Second and nine from the 15. Keenham under center. Deep drop fires to the end zone. Caught. Touchdown. Step on digs. 15-yard touchdown strike. From Case Keenham to Stefan Diggs and the Kings of the North lead 22-7.

Paul Allen, feeling himself there. Kings of the North. K-F-X-N, that's a, what's that stupid show? Game of Thrones? Game of Thrones, Ruff, in a big spot. Now it's a stupid show. You burnt out in a little bit, as did I. Already calmed down.

The wall. The walkers. Went on for a bit. I don't care for the walkers. Everybody just calmed down. Oh, there are a lot. now and they were dead. Give me a break.

I'm dead and now I'm alive. Yeah. Frankly, I don't find much of the action in that show believable. I have the dragons now. I'm going to get to throw them. I have a dragon. By the way, the dragon's no longer dead either. The dragons, they're alive.

They pull them out with a big chain. You could have condensed it into about an hour and 45 minutes of action. Let's get on our pirate ship and take over this other area. That's how this particular guy talks. The Vikings lean hard on their dominant defense. Once again, a 2310 win over the Bears that gives Minnesota our first round by for the first time since that Brett Farr of Golden Run in 2009. Mark, this Vikings team is well set up for, you know what I'm going to say, bitch. The Crucible!

The Crucible! The full echo effect is just fantastic. Yes, they are. I mean, and they, you know, they played a lesser opponent today. And unlike some teams that we've already talked about that could not handle their own responsibilities in week 17, the Vikings just keep doing what they've done all year. They get out to a 23 to 7 start,

and they just choke the bears from there, and they get the win. And I think they're absolutely deserving of a buy. The Rams are one of the scariest teams in the entire. league right now, and they're going to have to win one extra game. But the Vikings to me are the team I just look at and say, I believe in you and I believe in you as a Super Bowl team. Well, they're going to probably have to beat the Rams. If the Rams win on Wild Card Weekend over Atlanta, they are going to Minnesota. And that's why the whole idea of the Rams are trying to

lose to face Philadelphia. I didn't really buy that because you never know what's going to happen in this scenario. And if I'm a Vikings fan, I don't like that matchup. just because I think those are the two best teams in the NFC, and I think coming up with a game plan to slow down the Rams the second time is going to be tough. But this Vikings defense is just so solid. I think they have given up one score in their last 36 drives when the Bears kicked a field goal late in this game.

They had had a shutout almost for two straight games. The only touchdown that the Bears scored in this game was off a very ingenious punt return where they faked out, you know, Tariq and G. It's the only way they ever score. It's the only way they scored. Let's be fair to the Vikings here. The Rams are the trendy pick.

Everybody's obsessed with them because they're fun to watch. They have a great offense. Balanced. They have the most, maybe the most innovative young offensive mind in football. And the Vikings beat them 24 to 7 at a lot of the game. And the Vikings should be considered the favorites in the NFC right now. And that happened in Minnesota. And that's one place where the Vikings, at home, they have been so dominant on defense.

that that would be a fascinating match. It's not their fault that they ended up playing the season against some lesser teams. I don't think their offense was as sharp late in the season. I don't know if that really matters or not, but I think the Vikings would agree that their offense hasn't been as sharp the last three weeks. How many dragons do you have?

I have three. I only have two. Let's all have sex. Season 5, episode 28. Now you don't have to watch the next season. Whole show and blitz is Yates. Drops to throw. going to be hit. That's a safety. Hassan Ridgeway, a safety. Hassan with a great blitz on T.J. Yates

gets the safety and the lead now is 16 to 13. Bob Leamy, WLHK. Jake Brisket threw for one touchdown. Marlon Mack ran for one. The Colts beat the Texans 2213 in the last game for Chuck Pagano, who was let go officially at the conclusion of the regular season. Pagano lasted six seasons as the Colts head coach, finished 53 and 43, but has not been better than eight and eight in the final three years of his run there, and he finishes four and 12 in his final season. That's not going to get it done whether or not you got Andrew Luck playing.

So there you go. Chuck Pagano, one of the NFL's good guys, as Wes pointed out, a cancer survivor, but no longer employed. I think we talked about what happens when you, bringing a general manager who's asked to hang with a coach in his first season as GM. And this is not a shocking result. It could have easily happened multiple seasons ago or last year.

And it's just a cautionary tale to me that if you don't allow the GM empower enough to pick his guy right out of the gate, you're wasting a season. Which is why the Browns thing doesn't make sense. And multiple teams, but yeah. And like, but this year specifically for the, it's a wasted for the Browns.

Like Pagano, convinced Jim Mersey through, I think, the force of his personality and a couple late season wins to give him a four-year contract two years ago. So he has paid in full for a couple extra years. He seems like a guy who's going to want to keep coaching, but who knows? I don't know. I mean... It feels like to me a guy who's at peace with whatever happens, even if it means walking off into the sunset with his good friend Bruce Ari. I do.

I did enjoy the end of this game. Frank Gore had 100 yards in this game. and Pagano clearly enjoying getting a monkey off their back after a long losing streak to go out as a winner, just seeing those two guys win a game. Oh, yeah. Nice, great. And I locked it up too.

Very nice. The biggest news for the Texans involves general manager Rick Smith, who announced he is taking an extended leave of absence to take care of his wife, Tiffany Smith, who recently was diagnosed with breast cancer. Oof, a challenging season for the Texans in many ways, but that's some real-life stuff right there. And I heard bubbling around that whoever ends up taking over,

it might be a more permanent situation. We'll see what happens, and we don't know what's going on. But it looks like Bill O'Brien is going to stick around. Rick Smith is gone, and we don't know if he'll be back. The Colts will pick third in the draft of Texans slot in at number four, but they have sent that pick to the Browns in last year's the Sean Watson trade. How great did that work out for the Brown? That worked out.

And it worked out for the Texans, too. They got their quarterback. Everybody wins. Let's move on. One point about the Texan. About the NFL in general. You know, we've been mentioning Game of Thrones, which is this episodical cliffhanger from week to week

for people who are obsessed with the show. How about the NFL as an episodical cliffhanger? You think you know what's going on with the Texans? And then not only is Bill O'Brien staying, but Rick Smith is probably leaving, and they're going to hire a whole new general manager. And it sounds, there are many ways, and it's so unfortunate that it's a family and health issue that Rick Smith is leaving for now. But even before that popped up, there were reports that they might move Rick Smith into a president role, which would ultimately be a promotion.

He'd be making more money, but be on the non-football side of things. So it wouldn't surprise me if he returned to the organization in that capacity, kind of like Rich McKay in Atlanta once did when he lost his GM, Jeff. Let's move up. Now I formation with Derek Watt between Gordon and Rivers. That was definitely like a hand off to Gordon. Bricks through the right side, 35, 30, cuts to the middle. Ball comes out. Flies into the hands of Tate and Allen.

Touchdown. Conductor, you just got to keep things moving. I'm sure Matt Money Smith will appreciate us walking all over his game call. Just like, oh my God, are you still talking about Rick Smith? Please. Plenty of time to talk about the Texans' front office structure. But no more time for the poor charters. because Philip Rivers played well.

He threw for 387 yards and three touchdowns, but the Chargers, they will not be in the playoffs, even after a 30 to 10 win over the pathetic Raiders. On Sunday, at the stub toe that was filled with Raiders fans, didn't matter. This Raiders team just could not do anything this season. Mark, the Chargers didn't Charger. Going to Chargers?

No, they didn't charge her. They got the job done in Week 17, but the football gods, they didn't want to throw them a bone, and that's it. It would be easier to take, had this Chargers win been incredibly uninspiring or had they just lost? Because it would have, you know what, we thought they might not be a playoff caliber team after that Chief's loss and they proved us that they weren't. Chargers win. Watching this game, this is a playoff team when they play the way they did today. Philip Rivers was absolutely in the zone. The downfield passing game

was on fire. Melvin Gordon, who we didn't even know if would play in this game, looked fine. I mean, the defense absolutely after a great early touchdown throw by Derek Carr controlled that offense. It's just, it is a pity for all the good stuff for the Bills fans and the Titans fans and all that business, that we are losing a team that I think on the right day could beat anyone in the AFC. Well, they're nine and three the last 12 weeks. That says a lot. They're a nine and three type of team. They started 0 and 4, and that's so hard when you do something like that.

There's one team that's done it that's made the playoffs and the charges came close. They couldn't do it. 25 years ago, it was the 92 Chargers. So, yeah, that's how it is. The Chargers are done. The Raiders are done, and Jack Del Rio is done. And Jack Del Rio broke some news on himself. Let's hear what Del Rio said during his post-game presser.

I spoke with Mark Davis after the game. And Mark let me know that he's not going to be bringing me back. And so he told me, loved me and appreciated all that I did to, to, you know, to kind of get this program going the right direction. Blackjack Del Rio had a great season last year, and you would think he was a part of the future. So why would they dump him after one bad year? Well, they have to have something lined up.

ESPN's Adam Schaefter reported on Sunday night that John Gruden will be the next head coach of the Raiders. We'll see if that happens. But it makes sense connecting the dots, moving Del Rio out of the way for Gruden, and it's going to cost them a lot, Wes. I think that this was the only way Del Rio was gone was if they could get Gruden. And they did it by offering the holy grail of coaching, a percentage of ownership.

That's what's going to drag a guy like Gruden out of the booth after a season in which, frankly, he wasn't a very good broadcaster and refused to criticize people because he, maybe because he was going to end up back on the sideline. Yeah, we'll dive into the whole Gruden story, I'm sure, throughout the next few episodes. Oh, I doubt we'll mention it. They have to do, they have to satisfy the Rooney rule. If he does get a stake of ownership, that has to be voted on. It all should happen.

I think it's exciting. I get why Mark Davis would do it because maybe he's right or wrong. Nothing, I would, Raiders fans tell me if this is untrue. But I would think nothing could get Raiders fans more excited heading into a very strange time in their organization's history with the move to Las Vegas coming than bringing back John Grudy. from the glory days when he was last there. I think it's a fun hire. I don't know if it'll work, but it's fun.

I don't care if it works. Derek Carr had a bad season, and we don't know if he was healthy, but get Gruden in there and see if he can work some magical. It gives them, again, a lot of juice heading into the next season, but they had a lot of juice heading into this season, and nothing came of it. But it looks like Gruden's taken over.

When there are whispers that Gruden would like to pull Jets O.C. John Morton away from New York. I don't want that. It really shows what a year-to-year league. This is because going into the playoff, you know, with a couple weeks left of last season, they're considered a Super Bowl team. Derrick Carr breaks his leg.

You suddenly got Matt McGloin in a playoff game, and now your coach and both coordinators are all blown out. I believe it happened on Christmas Eve last year when Derek Carr broke his leg. Look how much has changed around the Raiders since then. Let's move on. It'll be a 48-yard field goal attempt. Here it is.

Blair Walsh. He's got the leg. It's up. It is no good. It is no good. Wide to the right. And that might be the story of the season. Steve Rabel, K-I-R-O with the call.

Yes, Blair Walsh could not make a 48-yard attempt with 32 seconds to play. Seattle's got to do better than Blair Walsh. And Phil Dawson on the other side kicked four field goals, including one with about two minutes to play that put the Cardinals ahead for good. Final 26-24 Cardinals over the Seahawks in what may be Bruce Ariens' final game on the sideline. If so, beating the Seahawks on the road. That's a nice way to go out, Wes. Yeah, they got dominated in the second half of this game,

but they turned the tables and dominated the first half enough to win with just a couple of second half field goals in this game. and Bruce Ariens said after the game is harder to walk away when you win three of your last four I don't know what he's going to do but it seems like he's truly indecisive right now he's got the Hamlet routine going on

maybe he doesn't know if he wants to walk away or not I think it was very emotional too I don't know what that means well he considers the clink his home field for some reason that was his first quote to the media thank you for coming to my house I hope you get home safe

He says, I love it. He's just sticking it in Seattle's eye. Might as well hear it. Let's hear Arians with that long. Thank for y'all for coming to my house. Hope you get home safe. We should mention that the Seahawks' offensive troubles, I don't know how many weeks a row they can go without crossing midfield until the third quarter.

Their offensive line is a mess. They have no running game. And over the past three weeks entering this game, they were dead last in the NFL in offense behind T.J. Yates, Texans, behind Bryce Petty's Jets. It was the Seahawks who were last in the NFL. They've got to overhaul that offensive line, find a running back. And this is in an offseason in which Mike Silver has already reported, the Legion of Boom defense is going to look a lot different. Michael Bennett said after the game, he doesn't know if he expects to be back, whether he'll be wanted back. I mean, the Seahawks devons, as we know it, is going to get blown up. We'll see what they do on offense.

We're hearing that there's been reports that Tom Cable might have head coaching hired hiring. I mean, I do that for a couple of years. I need his agent. They should think pretty strong, I think, about changing the offensive system, whether it's Cable or Daryl Bevel. Russell Wilson's never had another head coach. And I think when you see the same, we have such a talented player and you see the same problems year after year. Assuming Pete Carroll is staying, you've got to think that he has to consider making a change there. Carol made it pretty clear that he's not thought once about retirement.

Right. He's the oldest coach in the league. He doesn't feel that he's old and he wants to continue on. I'd be surprised if he's gone, but this is a big off season for Seattle. What a way for Ariens to go out, though. I love it. If that's it, winning in Seattle with Drew Stanton, it doesn't get any more Bruce Ariens than that. It would have been better if it was the Marvin Lewis route were knocking out the Seahawks in the playoffs, but still.

Or if Ariens had actually committed to find a younger quarterback to draft other than Drew Stanton. Sorry, I'm going to throw that out there. It's his guy. They can compete next year. If everybody comes back, their defense was phenomenal in the second half of the season. Let's move on. Daniels and Matthews looking to put pressure on Stafford. Brose's got to complete the Gallaudet.

Inside the 30, inside the 20. Gallaudet with the angle to the end zone. And to the house, touchdown Detroit Lions. Matthew Stafford threw three touchdowns. The Lions, a beat up on the Packers who stink, 35 to 11. This represented the end of an era for the Packers who are reportedly set to cut ties with defensive coordinator Dom Capers after nine seasons.

Teflon, Dom, no more, Greg. Anything else to take away from this game? This game actually happened? This game happened. Matthew Stafford hitting bombs down the field. Like three plays over 50 yards. I hope it's not the end of the Jim Bob Cooter and Matthew Stafford experiment.

But it sounds like it will be the end of Jim Caldwell's time in Detroit. I think by the time we do a show again, he will no longer be the coach. Poor Jimmy. Let's move on. Third and seven, snap to Prescott.

Over the middle, slant cut. At the 10, that'll be a walk-in touchdown for Bryce Butler. Doc Prescott tossed a 20-yard touchdown pass to Bryce Butler early in the fourth quarter, and the Nick Foles-led Eagles cannot do a thing on offense.

The Cowboys win 6-0 in Philly. Some people say 6-0. But that always sounds weird to me. That's technically right. 6-0. 6-0. The Cowboys finished 9 and 7. Their season is over.

The Eagles finished 13 and 3 with the top seat in the playoffs. But who believes in this team right now? Do you, Wes? No, the best part about this game was the punter taking off his extra pair of pants right before the punt. This is a brutal game to watch. Nick Fools has been awful for five quarters. He looks skittish.

He looks afraid in the pocket. His accuracy is hit and miss at best. He is a deliberate passer. He's a statue in the pocket. and what we've seen over the last few years in the NFL, that brand of quarterback no longer works. The statue who can't move well in the pocket and is not an accurate passer,

I think the Eagles have a major quarterback problem entering the postseason. They keep cutting up to, at least in the last game, to Carson Wentz, staring down at what he's watching, unfolding on the field with a pained look on his face because everything that he could do that made this offense special is utterly absent with Nick Foles on the field. And the Cowboys' offense didn't suddenly turn it around when Zico Elliott came back anyways.

They struggled to move the ball against this Eagles team. But if you're a Saints fan right now, even though they haven't looked great down the stretch, you're thinking if the Rams do handle their business on Saturday and the Saints win, suddenly even though the Saints have struggled a little bit, the Saints have a pretty good path with the struggling Panthers team and possibly the Eagles to win a couple rounds in this point. And you're feeling great. If you're a Vikings fan or you're on the Vikings, you've got the two seed,

but a lot of people think this is a one-and-done Eagles team. We'll see if it plays out that way. But they are staring potentially at home field advantage throughout the NFC. If they can advance out of their first game, we'll see how it all plays out. Final game of Week 17 we're going to talk about involves Jimmy Dugard. Second down and three from the eight. Under-center Garapolo, fakes it to hide. Faked an end around to good, but now throws a pass out of the first.

flat to Goodwin who's got it, and he goes in for a touchdown. What a play design. What a gorgeous fake. Goodwin ran from the right side. He curled back into the backfield like it was going to be reversed. Then he wheeled back down the right side and was wide open for the touchdown. Ted Robinson, KS-A-N with the call. Jimmy Gropolo threw for 292 and two touchdowns.

The 49ers and their season on a five-game winning streak, a 34-13 win against the Rams who sat many of their key players. but still ended up with the number three seed in the NFC because of that Saints loss. Everyone won at the Coliseum on Sunday, Mark. We should mention that... Fans didn't. Well...

Well, the... Yeah, nice day. I disagree, Greg. I'll tell you why. I think that you can't find two teams that played each other today where you have both clubs, win or lose, with more hope going on to... If you're the Rams into next week,

or if you're the Niners into the offseason. I'm just saying you might have spent a lot of money. There's only six or seven home games for the Rams. this year, and you watch Sean Manny. These tickets are going cheap. You get Sean Manny and get, you know, run around by the 49ers, that's all. He's making a point.

Okay. Some points are bad, some are good. I'm not sure it was the A storyline from this game, but fair enough. What is the A story? Way to both sides that one. I would have loved to see, I know the Rams weren't going to do this, I would have loved to have seen, even for a half, Jimmy G, duel a full strength Rams team, and we'll see it next year.

Yeah, that's something to look forward to. It is, but, no, I think it was a solid. Jimmy G threw two picks on sort of downfield. field ropes that, I don't know, he always makes up for his mistakes. And I know people think that we're probably, I hear it on Twitter, you guys need to calm down on Jimmy G. I don't need to calm down on Jimmy G at all. Those people can take a hike.

Yeah, take a hike. Every week, he's doing stuff. He's doing stuff that makes, you know, 90% of quarterbacks in the league look inferior. And there's no rule that says just because you're playing against some backups, you're going to score 30 plus points. Look at the Eagles. Look at the Cowboys. Look at the Chiefs.

Like, you know, they did what you want to see when you play a bunch of backups. They looked great. Hey, peanut gallery. Jimmy G is 5 and 0, and the 49ers have a plus 55 point differential in those games. They were 1 in 10 with a minus 104 point differential before he came in. And that's why quarter. You're going to lock it up? He's locking it up.

That's why quarterbacks dominate the MVP race because they are the most valuable player. They literally transform teams. And how about this peanut gallery? you know, the Patriots traded away a 27-year dynasty. And I'm happy about that. So how about that, peanut gallery? They did. Not a good offseason for the Patriots.

Got nothing out of their draft class. They sold low on Bresset and Jimmy G. Stefan Gilmore was pretty disappointing. They didn't do much. It's crazy how many things went wrong and how many holes they have on their team and they went 13 and 3. I'm not like trying to sound like a throne of ease thing.

Like, it's true that they're not even that great a Patriots team and they still found a way to... You know who would be annoyed? What? Game of Thrones author, George R.R. Martin, who is a Jets fan who Dan has spent the podcast destroying. But you know...

How many dragons you have? Fellow Jets fans. He's also a Giants fan. It's like a weird thing. I don't know if he knows what's going on. Patriots, other people that can pipe down are Patriots fans moaning about trading Jimmy G. They literally had to trade them

because they won too many Super Bowls and their quarterback won too many MVPs. Like, sorry that you had the longest... dominant stretch in NFL history. That moaning is not going away. Stop. It's going to get louder. I know.

All right. There you go. That's week 17. Lindsay, can you come in for a second? Can you make the delivery? All right. Zika, this is the end of 2017. Wow.

There we go. We got the good stuff. Lindsay, walking in with... Corbell. Not Corbelle. This is Dom. It's an audio medium. Great.

I'm all about transparency. You're all about creating fictions. No, it's just, it's about a show. It's all about the show. Watch where that cork goes, please. This is a challenge. For a makeshive mimosa. Yeah, Wes says his orange Gatorade.

Thank you, Lindsay. Good delivery. We have five glasses here. A lot to celebrate here. West, on his way to beating cancer. I'm going to pop this. Everybody's shield. Well, don't see it.

He gave me the cork at Greg. Why don't you just do it in your hand? Hang on. Hang on. Take it. Oh, shi. Shocker. So the champagne has spilled out highly over the entire podcast studio.

Probably avalanche. We might need a paper towel real quick, Lindsay. But we're okay. Got it on some of the equipment here. So if the show doesn't end, you'll know why. You just messed up Damashik's crumbs. There we go, pouring the champagne. Everything's okay.

Is Greg's headset still work? Let's go with a more aggressive pore than that, please. Okay. This has been an interesting 2017. Wes, of course, battling the Big Sea. Lindsay joining us, and how great has that been? Dan battling a lesser C, which has been a grueling fight for you. The Little C, they call it?

Now we're passing around. All right. Everybody got the champagne. So a toast and a toast to the listeners, because we literally could not do it without you. And you guys are amazing. And a toast to West's health in 2018. And good times in the studio going forward.

Cheers. That's a good stuff. That's what a $700 bottle of champagne does for you. Right out of the league budget. They'll discover that around mid-Marg. All right. That transaction. That's it for another year of the Around the NFL podcast.

Next time you hear from us, it will be on the other side of another year. And Mark, this is the end of our eighth regular season together. We've been here a long time. Yes, we have. We haven't killed each other yet. That's good. I think we're built to make it, Mark. Coming up soon.

We're built to last. We will kill each other show. And save for the Kill Each Other podcast. Before we go, someone else. doing great things as we looked at 2018. La Cid the great La Cid. We all got a great surprise on Twitter

this weekend. La Cid sung the national anthem at a BYU basketball game. It looked like there was like thousands of people there and because she's a pretty good singer I think she's a really good singer. Yeah. Did we not leverage that enough? No, we didn't. We were remiss. I was singing a lot

when Lindsay was behind the glass. But I'm also a pretty amazing singer. They just haven't called me to do a national anthem. Your version of Kim Dice. Top the charts in several countries. But, Lindsay, we're proud of Lindsay. We're proud of La Cid, who's been amazing. And Lindsay. And Lindsay. A one-woman

Mount Rushmore. So ending our final show of 2017, we'll throw it to La Cid's rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner. Thank you to everybody for listening. And until 2018, take it away, La Cid. If the colors of our nation posted, we invite you to

please rise. Remove your caps. Sidney Carlson sings our National Wailtime. Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light. What so proudly we hailed at the twilight last evening whose broad stripes and bright stars through that of hairless fly, or the round hearts we watched were so gallantly streaming. And the rockets ralear, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that I our flag was still there.

Oh, say does that star spingled that buried way for the land of the free? And the home of the bridge The Bray This is This is an I-heartedly Happy New Year

This is an I-Heart podcast