OverDrive - Willson on Allen's MVP run, Barkley's record pursuit and the Monday Night Football matchup

Episode Date: December 31, 2024

TSN NFL Analyst Luke Willson joined OverDrive to discuss the latest headlines around the NFL, the Chiefs leading the league, Saquon Barkley's chase to break the all-time single season rushing record, Josh Allen's MVP season run, if the Broncos can make the playoffs, the Monday Night Football matchup, Al's Brother gives his impressions on Hayes and Bro and O'WIn Willson and more.

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The smarter way to book travel. If you smell what Owen Wilson is cooking. Girl, you know it's true. Oh, yes, guy. Overdrive hour number two. And the studio has been invaded. Al's brother and Luke Wilson are there. Jim Taddy and Dave Feschuk in parts unknown.

Look at these guys. They're all revved up. Luke, how are you? I'd be better if the Falcons covered last night. I'll be honest. Sorry to hear that, Guy. It'd be better if you knew how to pick winners. Is that what you're saying, Luke? I gotta tip my cap. You guys have done a good job picking winners.

My record's not actually terrible, but last night was a tough pill to swallow. The idea that we can't cover four and a half in a game, in a game to go to win your division pretty much because both teams have a softball, and we go to overtime and just lose the coin toss. At least a good friend of mine was on the coin toss or the Reds or the Commanders, excuse me.

And then you just get absolutely dog walked right down the field. That was a tough pill to swallow. It was. I was really annoyed with that. And Raheem Morris not being able to call a timeout. I figure at this point probably a third-grade person could manage the clock better than Raheem Morris did yesterday. It seems to be an issue across the NFL, though.

I feel like this year more than any other year, I seem to be pulling my hair out with coaches. Chicago's done it a couple of times. Chicago on Thursday was worse. That was terrible. That was worse than Raheem Morris. I actually thought Raheem Morris did a worse job in the first half, which he's getting a pass for, because of the end of the game. I mean, you said it.

It's weird because there are things in the NFL that are very intellectually driven, that are very hard to do, very hard to execute. You know what's not hard to execute? Calling a timeout, especially when you have a rookie quarterback and you throw the ball to midfield and it's inbounds and you have two timeouts left. You don't, I mean, just the, I don't know if it's the physics of people having to run to the line of scrimmage.

Like, I get if it's a two-yard gain and everybody's still there. You've got to get O'Lyman up there. You've got to get a rookie who's finishing up his second game to run to the line and call a play. Stop it. Call a timeout. We got one to play with still. We don't need that many more yards. But then you roll out some scrub kicker.

We all know how I feel about that. And he's 12 yards short. And I don't cover. And now I'm on the verge of being eliminated this year. And I'm upset about it in case you can't tell. Hey, Al's brother in Tatman, I don't want to interject here, but this sounds like a man who is taking out his rage for being down plus five to Hayes and Bro.

That's true. On coaches and kickers and everybody else but himself and the O-Dog. Am I right on that? Well, I don't know where the O-Dog is, so I can't take my rage out. Is the O-Dog the brain to the operation the whole time? No, he was the vibe guy. Things have gone so sell. He was the vibe guy, and the vibe guy left.

It's gone so sell since he left, though. I've never hated picking spreads more than this year. Like, the last couple years, I'm always like, oh, I'm humming, boom. Yeah, you miss the odd one, but you're feeling good. I sweat every spread. It's absolute misery. The NFL fan duel and the odds makers are getting so good at this, though. They're getting so good that these games are right down to the wire.

I mean, look at the game that we picked the other day. The Vikings last night, that spread was at one and a half. One and a half. We were so close. We took the Packers, plus one and a half. They lost by two. It's literally to within half a half. We were so close. We took the Packers plus one and a half. They lost by two. It's literally to within half a point. It is. And again, last night, it's four and a half, and you lose by six.

And it's tough. And, Chuck, you're right. I am annoyed. Now, the funny thing is for me, though, is we're technically not done yet. So would it shock me if Al's brother pukes all over himself? He's going to miss tonight. And now I've got five games I've got to pick next week. And the good news is I'm in control because I'm going to have three picks.

If we get a win tonight, I'm picking three winners. So I need Al's bro to lose two. I mean, it's not – No margin for error for you. Yeah, there's no margin for error. But this is what – the one thing that shocked me on this rant is your captain, Hazy B, for all year has been spewing this nonsense that the regular season doesn't matter.

And I don't know if we've got his tweet up, but somehow this man tweets saying, this will be us tonight with the Stanley Cup coming in. I'm not a hockey guy. Boys, I'm not a hockey guy. But I thought the Stanley Cup was given whoever wins the playoffs. Is that not what the Stanley Cup's for? Depends on the city guy. Oh.

Remember where you're seated. Good point. Good point. Look, it's step one to getting the Stanley Cup, okay? Okay, yeah. You guys are the driver's seat. Step two is sweeping this whole thing with the championship. That would be a real tough pill for me to swallow.

It would be really tough. I have a question for you, though. To go back to that Vikings and Packers game from last night, which is so close to Jordan Love coming back on that thing, but Sam Darnold had a great game. Darnold's been unbelievable to this team. They won, like, 14 games. Why do I keep hearing that the Vikings still might decide

to go in a different direction? Does that make sense to you after the season that Darnold's had? There's a tweet. Like, this guy is the biggest fraud after all of the nonsense in a different direction. Does that make sense to you after the season that Darnold's had? There's a tweet. Like, this guy is the biggest fraud after all of the nonsense about the regular season doesn't matter because he's 0-2 in the last couple years. He's one game away from clinching, and this is what we get? What a fraud.

We're going to win the regular season championship. That's the regular season championship? The actual title. Oh, okay, okay. But back to you, what? It's unbelievable. So, you know, I sit here and say, first and foremost, if you're a Vikings fan, it's a great problem to have.

You know, you look at the situation and the decision they have to make, and I don't necessarily think there's a wrong answer. You know, do you go with the youngster J.J. McCarthy, whom you drafted, who you you obviously in that draft process you thought was going to be the future of your franchise or do you bring Sam Darnold back who's playing at a tremendously high level?

It's much better to have those options than to say be the Cleveland Browns right now. I would say that first and foremost for the Vikings but it's a weird one for me because I believe your best chance at winning consistently is what the Niners had last year. And even this year, if they were healthy, which they clearly were not.

But you get a guy who can distribute the ball, play the game of football well, and Brock Purdy. Does he have the most electric arm in the NFL? No. But I think Brock Purdy plays the X and O game of football extremely well. You load him up with a great roster and you say, hey,

we're balanced across the board and here we go. And I look at it to me offensively, and obviously Jared Goff is not a Sam Darnold quarterback at the moment, but the Lions are built that way, where to me, across the board, they're loaded on offense.

You've got a great O-line. You've got Laporta, tight end, who's on his rookie deal, but I think he's a very, very good tight end. Amin Ra is an all-pro receiver. You've got two great backs there. And then your support guy's a receiver. Jameson Williams is going to take the top off. Patrick's a bigger body. I think they're getting Kalief Raymond, kind of be more to take the top off. You know, Patrick's bigger body.

I think they're getting Kalief Raymond, kind of be more of that shifty guy. He's coming back off injury soon. So that, to me, is the best way to build a roster. Now, again, I look at this Vikings team and I say, hey, you already paid Jefferson. You got Addison. And you got TJ Hawkins, who's also in a big deal. So, yes, I believe Sam Darnold should be paid,

but to me, if you can get J.J. McCarthy up to a place where he's close to Sam Darnold, use that extra $50 million on two DBs, and now tell me where the weakness in the Vikings is. And I mean this sincerely, people forget the Vikings run defense is number two in the league, yards per game and yards per carry. They are susceptible, I think they're bottom

14 yards per game in pass defense. They're susceptible on the back end. So I sit here and say, that's the chess game you play. I don't think it's a bad decision to pay Sam, but I think for longevity purposes, you probably want to go JJ. But the school thought no one talks about is if you really love Sam Donald that much and you think he's the future,

I bet you can get a haul for JJ McCarthy right now, especially with the quarterbacks coming out in this draft. Bad draft. You come in here and you say you want your first-round quarterback, we've got him, but you're going to be paying a lot more in a first-round pick for it. I personally would go down that route if I were the Vikings. They're a great football team, and it's outstanding to me

that here we are, boys, in week 17, and a week from now, they still have an opportunity to not only win the division, clinch the first seed, and get the bye week. And they're doing this all with Sam Darnold at the helm. And the fact that if they win, they can do all that. But the loser gets the fifth seed. And what's crazy, it's funny, not to the same degree, because they have better records. But I remember, we didn't play each other, but the year we won the Super Bowl in Seattle,

we went into week 17, we only played 16 games that year, and we were 12-3. And we played the Rams. And it was the same situation where we had to beat the Rams, who earlier in the year we had won like 9-7, I want to say. We always struggled with Fishers-Rams for whatever reason. And this is back when they were in St. Louis. I remember sitting there being like, man, we're sitting here at 12-3.

The idea that if we lose to the Rams, we don't even get a home playoff game is insane. Assuming the Lions win tonight, you're going to have a 14-win team on the road in the playoffs. That is wild. It's hard for me to wrap my head around.

Testament to those guys, though. I mean, both teams, they are very, very talented and very good football teams and very well coached. So, Luke, when you look beyond – sorry, go ahead, Tatman. No, go – okay, so when you look at the standings, if I asked you to pick the best team in the NFL right now, would we be guilty of looking past the Chiefs? Yes, yes.

Pat, man, this is what's driving me nuts about this whole, I don't know where this narrative came from. First and foremost, the Chiefs are 15-1. Oh, you know, one possession games. Get out of here, man. Get out of here. Everybody has one possession games. Oh, they haven't looked good.

You've won 15 games. And let's be honest, if they were starting everybody, it would probably be 16. Okay, we'll see what happens. I still think with Carson Wentz and they got shot to be the Broncos, a little overrated. But then on top of that, we love to sit here and talk about Patrick Mahomes because he hasn't had his best year.

The defense has been incredible. The points per game they're giving up is elite. They make a ton of big plays. There's been moments where it's not flashy, but they certainly play well in the red zone. I sit here and say we've totally forgot about the defensive side of the ball. And the next thing I'll say is that since Hollywood Brown's been out here, the offense has looked wildly, wildly better.

So, yeah, if anybody is sitting here saying that the Chiefs are not the favorite, I'm not saying they can't get beat. I think Buffalo might have a shot. Probably not, but I think Buffalo might have a shot. I think Baltimore has a shot. If Joe Beasley gets into the playoffs by some miracle,

he definitely has a shot because he's playing out of his mind right now. He's got a weak defense. But to me, the Chiefs are definitely the favorite. Luke, I was wondering how you sort of look at the philosophy around Week 18. There are a couple things to still be decided. There's seeding to still be decided, but a lot of the teams are locked in, including the Eagles. And you've got Saquon Barkley with a chance at making a run

at a historic record, specifically Eric Dickerson's single season rushing record. He needs 101 yards. If you're the head coach of that team, Luke, do you play Saquon in a meaningless game for the vanity of the record or do you say, Saquon, I'm sorry, buddy. We got to rest you. We got to think about the playoffs.

So a couple things there. I think for Saquon, I'm sorry, buddy. We've got to rest you. We've got to think about the playoffs. So a couple things there. I think for Saquon, you ask him. He deserves that. You rush her 2,000 yards. Saquon should make that call. I was a bit surprised, to be honest with you, Fest Chuck, where I thought they took him out late in the game because they were winning. I thought they were going to leave him in because he had already played.

He's already warmed up. I'm sitting there thinking, try and get him another 40 last night so that maybe he only has to play the first half against the Giants. That's kind of where my head was going. But I do think you have that conversation with Saquon and Saquon

says, hey, I want to get this record. You go out there and you roll. Again, you don't play football thinking, hey, we're worried about getting injured. I know the fans, that's the idea, but I think there would be a lot of offensive linemen as well who would want that record and sit there and be like, hey, I was a part of this record. To me, being a 2,000-yard rusher in itself, as a guy who played with Marshawn Lynch, we obviously never got 2,000 yards, but that would have been something that I would have been wildly, wildly proud of.

So I think that there are other guys that probably want to play to sit here and say, hey, we were the greatest rushing attack in NFL history. Would that be a conversation within the locker room? For sure. Would they go up to Sirian and be like, we want to do this. Let us do this. I think this can be very, very player-driven. Or if

guys are banged up, that plays into it as well. Everyone's playing with an injury at this point. What I'd also say to finish your question is when it comes to resting guys, and we'll see, and I could be wrong here, but let's take the Chiefs, for example.

I sit here and say, okay, you've got the one seed. So you played Saturday. So you go eight days to this next Sunday. I haven't seen exactly where they're playing. Are they playing Saturday or Sunday? I think Sunday. Okay. So you go eight days.

Let's say Mahomes doesn't play. And then you go another seven days, and he's got the bye week. And then you go another seven days before he plays. So you're looking at 20 to 22 days before the guy takes a live bullet of a football snap. And I don't love that. You know, if I'm Andy Reid, I'm sitting down with Patrick Mahomes, and I'm saying, listen, this is what I think. Let's see how your body feels. See how the ankle is. But I think

you come in here and you prep to play the Broncos like it's a full game. In practice, we're still giving you a lot of reps. Carson, I'm sorry. You'll get a couple more reps, but you're not going to be getting... We need to keep Patty Mahomes in rhythm, sharp, ready to go. Boom. You come out here. You warm up like it's a regular game.

You start the game off. If I'm Andy Reid, I'm going to Patrick Mahomes, I say no Superman plays. I don't care if it's third and three and you're scrambling and you need a yard. You're sliding. We're punting. And I'm giving them a drive. I'm giving them maybe two. At most.

Play the first quarter. Let's get a little more rhythm. Let's keep that thing going. Get the sweat in there. Feel pretty good about it. Again, we're handing the ball off a lot's get a little more rhythm. Let's keep that thing going. Get the sweat in there. Feel pretty good about it. Again, we're handing the ball off a lot. We're doing quick throws. We're protecting them.

But that's kind of where my head goes because I wouldn't want a guy outside of live bullets for 21 days. That's just not where my head goes when it comes to playing guys. And you say, oh, he's at risk of getting injured. Well, you're an odds guy. Al's brother's an odds guy. Clearly, he's made some good picks this year. You know, I sit here and say Patrick Mahomes has, I believe, played every snap this year, minus a couple when he had

an ankle injury. Yeah, that injured the ankle. But that plays into it because he's nursing the injury. That might play into it. Like, Saquon's not. Correct. To me, I sit here and say, alright, the chances that you miss, you get hurt that you miss two weeks in 12

plays of football, six of which you'll be handing the ball off, are very, very slim. So that to me is a risk I'm willing to take. I think it's good for the mental. I think it's good for the body. Very short leash. Hey, we're playing one quarter. We're getting you out of there.

And you get the rest of the tennis shoes on the sideline. Take the helmet off. Take the shoulder pads off. Help the boys out. And next week you get off too. That's kind of where my head would be with a lot of resting players. Where do you have Josh Allen's season ranked? Ranked as far as his own personal play or as far against others no who he is by far his best uh you know and there's one stat and it's the turnovers you know i don't care if he's

had better numbers throwing here or there or whatever you know the fact that he's done what he's done by like never turning the ball over pretty much has been wildly impressive. I think he's clearly taken a step in the right direction in that sense. When they've needed him to use his legs, he's been phenomenal. So I would say by far his best football playing season. And it's funny because back to my Chiefs rant earlier, but there's a lot of people out here that say the Chiefs are fraudulent. to my Chiefs rant earlier,

but there's a lot of people out here that say the Chiefs are fraudulent. The Chiefs lost one game to the Buffalo Bills where Josh Allen on fourth and two turned into Superman and scored. And it's like, oh, Chiefs are frauds. This is, again, I'm assuming Josh is probably going to win MVP. The Chiefs are one play from the league MVP away from being undefeated

and in the conversation of the best team ever. Again, we'll go back to Josh, but to me, there's been moments where you can't play football better than Josh Allen has played this year. So I would give it his best season for sure. One of the stats that sticks out to me about that season too, like this year that Josh has had, since November 10th,

this is what, December 30th? Since November 10th? He's taken one sack. That's it. So that offense is not starting from behind the six very often. No, I'm telling you. To me, the Lions game was wildly impressive. I thought his most impressive game was

the loss against the Rams. To me, that was more of an MVP case than anything he's done. That should have been a 30-point loss. He had six touchdowns himself. It was crazy. Three rushing, you lose the game. Are you kidding me? Yeah.

So, I mean, I think Josh is playing really well. But the AFC, like, I do think not getting the one seed makes things tougher. You know, that's not a wildly crazy take. But I sit here, and I am convinced, I'll be honest, I am convinced that the NFL is rigged after two years of TSN here. I'm convinced now. I would be shocked if the Finns got any breaks from the refs next week. Any breaks.

Because the idea that the two best players on planet Earth right now, I'm not saying career-wise, but the two best players on planet Earth right now are Josh Allen and Joe Burrow. And the idea that good old Roger Goodell and the Illuminati that runs the NFL can have that matchup in the first round of the playoffs, I mean, that's what dreams are made of.

Yeah. So if somehow that occurs, I think the Bills have a very, very tough way. They're potentially going to have to play Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, and Patrick Mahomes. That's an absolute gauntlet. But if Josh plays the way he's done, they got a shot. They got a shot.

So if you had to pick it, Luke, I know picking hasn't been your forte lately, but if you had to pick between those three teams. Easy now. Easy now. Picking spreads. Okay, picking spreads. If you're picking straight up, you just got three teams. You got the Broncos, the Bengals, and the Dolphins all with a chance here. Who do you got?

Festruck, do not, do not do that. Do not do that. Do not. Thank you, Festruck. You're a man of integrity. Doogie's laughing over there. Sorry, I was too distracted by the dummy beside me. You said between the Chiefs who and who?

In terms of the teams that still have a mathematical chance of getting in for that final AFC playoff spot, you've got the Broncos, the Bengals, and the Dolphins. Yes. The Illuminati notwithstanding, who do you like squeezing in there? My head would say, believe it or not, the Dolphins. I think the Chiefs, I mean, I think they win.

I think Carson Wentz is a veteran guy. I think that Spagnuolo is still going to draft up a great game plan for this game. You've got to think that on a Super Bowl caliber team and a team coached by Andy Reid, they're not rolling in bums. There are some teams where the backups

look really lost. I would say on the teams that I were on that were very, very good, our backups were elite because, first and foremost, we were the best team in the league. But secondly, it was like, hey, if somebody goes down, you've got to be ready to play a Super Bowl caliber football. So I would be surprised, even with Carson Wentz in there,

I think the Broncos are 1-7 against teams over.500. I think the Broncos lose. I mean, that teams over.500. I think the Broncos lose. I mean, that could flip on me. I could get burned there. Like you said, I've had some bad picks. So to me right now, my head says the Finns. But I think that it would not shock me if there was a couple phantom calls. Similar, by the way, I would have been nuts, going nuts.

You want to talk about a phantom call? The field goal that the Vikings had where they called the Green Bay guy offside? That didn't even happen. Anyways, so you get a couple offside calls, and next thing you know, the Finns get jammed up. Aaron Rodgers decides to actually play good, which don't get me started on that. And now all of a sudden, Joe Burrow's in.

I mean, he's got to beat the Steelers, and I know TSN godfather Dennis Barham's listening right now, and he's probably mad at me, but I think that they probably blow the doors off the Steelers the way Joe Burrow's playing. Blow the doors, Doogie.

We've got to make sure that's a pick next week. If we make this, here's the thing. I'll tell you right now, if I have the pick with the Steelers and the Bengals, if the spread is seven, I'm taking the Bengals. I have a question. If we make this, here's the thing. I'll tell you right now, if I have the pick with the Steelers and the Bengals, if the spread is seven, I'm taking the Bengals. I have a question. So if we win this pick tonight, we've got to make the pick in a couple minutes here. If we win this pick tonight, Hayes and I have locked it in. All you get is what we got last year.

Do we bother even making picks next week? Of course. We'll just take a knee. I'll make the picks. There's nothing you could possibly do to win at that point. Listen, I was told last week that all you get for winning the season is the ability to pick what games we have to pick in the playoffs. You said that.

So did Hayes, and I don't know where he is. So all I'm saying is, you know, it's a tough year. In the words of Riley Moss, DB for the Broncos, sometimes you've got to eat a shit sandwich. That's what he said when he lost the game last week. I'm eating my sandwich right now. Potentially. But don't think for one minute that we're gonna lose this playoffs.

And don't think we're not coming in here with the Stanley Cup photos. Alright, we'll see. Doogie, I'm done with you too, buddy. I'm done with you and the quick Twitter updates is ridiculous. You're a fraud too. You're a scumbag. Whoa, guy. Wow. Luke, he the quick Twitter updates is ridiculous. You're a fraud, too. You're a scumbag. Whoa, guy. Wow.

Luke, he said you didn't like bread. You said what? You didn't like bread when you were talking about that sandwich. He stood up for you. That's right. That's right. Wow. So if you had to inherit one of these teams, one of these also-ran teams,

and I'm going to take the Niners out, all these struggling teams, which one, in your opinion, is the easiest one to fix? The Bears. I know that's a wild take, but I sit here and say to myself, first and foremost, last year the Bears' defense was good, were they not? Yeah, good defense. They should be better than what their stats show this year. They have good players.

I'm not on the Caleb Williams believe train like everybody else is. I also take zero stock in NFL scouts and what they say because I've met these guys. I'd say 8 out of 10 of them are complete dummies. But outside of that, they claim this guy is a generational talent. I do think he's got a great arm. There's a lot of things he does right now that I'm like, okay, we need to leave that at USC. But that being said, he clearly has not been coached well. And we talked about to the point where their current coach doesn't know how to

call a timeout. So I sit here and say, man, you get a real staff in there, a bit of a culture changer, perhaps Pete Carroll. That's the rumor right now. And now all of a sudden, you're looking at an offense that has Caleb Williams, again, supposed to be pretty good. The tight end Cole Komet, I watch the guy. I think he's a great all-around tight end. He's kind of in prison right

now playing in Chicago like everybody is. But I think he's got a lot of ability. DJ Moore, to me, is another guy. I feel terrible for the guy because he probably should be considered a top-five receiver. But instead, he's had to start in Carolina, and now he's ended here. Again, he's in ultimate prison. You just draft Romaduse, and then you sit here and say, Keenan Allen has looked great.

I mean, he's made some big plays. So I think the Bears are an offensive lineman or two away from being a very, very strong, and a coach, which is the big one, football team in this league. A.B., time now for the Monday night pick. I don't know if we have any dramatic music, but

maybe... He already made it. He already made it. And he should be punished for making it early. It should be a two-game punishment. The Doogie's a fraud. I'm not changing the pick. I mean, I still feel very strongly. It's still at three and a half. Okay. The exact same line as it was the other day,

and I got the exact same feeling. The gut feeling's the same. The TG, the tremendous information, all lines up with the Detroit Lions. Let's say that Brock Purdy shows up tonight, and they cover this thing. Let's say they lose by three. How likely is that to happen, given the fact that this guy is missing three of his offensive linemen,

including Trent Williams, no Christian McCaffrey, the guys at Garendo's playing on a hobbled ankle. How likely is it to happen that this guy actually shows up tonight? It's likely. It's not a great defense. He's not going against the 85 Bears. Sure, but it's still a – the problem is the offensive line is what I have with this team.

It's not a great secondary. I'll give you that. But I was actually pleasantly surprised. I was digging into the numbers. Oh, yeah. To see Detroit – Detroit's numbers against the pass are not awful. You look at the team. They actually rank third among quarterback ratings allowed

and third in completion percentage. That's because they've been up 38 points for half these games, just sitting there pinning their ears back. They're going to be up by 30 points again tonight. Vegas disagrees. Vegas disagrees with that statement. Could be right, could be wrong.

This is what I will say, though. For all this chatter, is there a world in which somehow the Niners cover tonight, and all of a sudden Saturday I got the first pick, and boom, I just smacked that thing. And now the number's three. And then, bam, you puke on yourself Saturday night. And now the number's two.

And now there's three games. There's three games Sunday, and it's my pick. Boom! Smacking it! And now all of a sudden the number's one with two to go. At that point, how panicked are you? And do not think, I swear to you, if we run the table and win, I will come in here and dunk on everyone.

I will burn the studio to the ground. Doogie's getting a swirly in the bathroom. Hayes better be here. It'll be carnage. It'll be carnage. I'll tell you what I got to say about that, Luke. The first domino falls tonight. I need six in a row.

Six in a row. I just don't see it happening. I just don't see it happening, Luke. We're going to win tonight, wrap this thing up, and next weekend doesn't even matter. We'll probably throw those games to give you a bone to make you feel good going into the playoffs. But it all starts tonight.

It all starts with my guy, Dan Campbell. Dan Campbell is going to get this team ready to go. This game doesn't mean anything to the Lions. Every game means something to Dan Campbell. I don't know. Every single game. There's certain narratives that I laugh about, like leaving from playing to being in the media. I'm not just saying this.

When I was playing, I didn't have time to think about what the media was saying. I never even paid attention. I hear these ideas, and I'm like, who comes up with these things? Where it means nothing. Yes. I agree. The idea that Dan Campbell is going to sit here and say, oh, this game doesn't mean anything.

Look at the defense, for example. If you're Aaron Glenn, the D coordinator, your roster's been decimated. You've had 45 injuries. You don't think for one minute he's sitting here saying, hey, I've got to figure out with some of the new guys, some of the new combinations, who's healthy, what kind of defense we're going to run, play, execute in the playoffs,

what guys can do, what they like doing, what they don't. There's so many things. You don't think that there's guys that might get a shot that have been sitting behind whomever. Let's take the running back room. Imagine being the third guy behind Montgomery and Gibbs. You're probably sitting there going, man, these guys are tremendous, but if I ever get my shot, I can prove to the NFL that I'm good.

You don't think it means something to him? Contracts are on the line for everyone. Bingo. You think the coaches are going to be like, hey, this guy's grinding on scout team all year and probably could start on a different team, but he's jammed up behind Sam Laporta at tight end, who's a stud. And now all of a sudden I'm not going to care. It doesn't mean anything to me. Like that's not the NFL. So I don't know who writes these there. Dan Campbell doesn't care about this game. That's the craziest thing I've ever heard, so I'm glad you said that. That's why I feel good about the Lions tonight. They're going to put the full

throttle pedal to the metal. You know what? I felt good about the Falcons, and I just need a kicker to make a 56-yard kick, and we're not having this conversation. It's three, and you lose tonight, and it's two. Instead, I'm getting jammed, and I'm eating my sandwich. Part Z, line one.

Caddy, we're on your line. You better hope, Doogie, because the swirly's coming. You're losing six in a row. That's insane. Just buy him some cologne. He'll be happy. Caddy, give me the Lions. This is what we do for the Lions.

Give it to me. That's the Lions game right there. That's right, Tappan. That's right, Tappan. Where is it? There it is. Yeah. You know what's unfortunate was that there's no way to tie.

I know. I do think if, let's say, hypothetically. If there's a push, there's a way to tie. If there is a push. If we push tonight and you run the table next week, I believe it would end in a tie. So it's still a matter of not this week, but let's say

there is a push at some point. One of these games we're going to have to pick next week, if it's possible. You will have to make sure that we have at least one game that's on a flat number no hook. That's fair. A lot of people wanted the race. A lot of people wanted that race, but it didn't work out. We don't know yet.

Hey, the Super Bowl might end up tied at one point. It might have to settle it for the Super Bowl win. This was a spirit of half hour, I've got to say. Thank you, Taddy. I come in here and bring the heat. I'm telling you. You did. It's too bad you can't reach across and do something with Al's brother.

That's for off the camera. Yeah. Thanks, guys.