The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - AFC & NFC wild card threat index

Episode Date: December 30, 2021

Robert Mays and Lindsay Jones start the show by discussing the latest COVID-19 changes across the NFL and the impact it could have on games as soon as this weekend. Plus, which wild card team poses the biggest threat heading into the playoffs? They rank who they believe could be the most dangerous teams from the AFC and NFC. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To me, this is where it all starts. You see, you know, seven-man sled. It's the greatest game in the world. Dick Stockton with John Madden. Hi, everybody. I'm Vince Kelly, along with John Madden. Pat Summerall here with John Madden. Barnes is right.

They've got the blitz. He is Freeman. And Freeman to the 49th, 25-yard line. Boy, he zipped that thing in here. I'll tell you, if you thought about touch-pass, he didn't put any touch on that. He put all the mustard on the. abroad and Antonio Freeman is used to catch a nose.

There is the turkey. Yeah, and that turkey is so big and so many legs that that's a two-man job. Look at the size of this turkey. Now there is a turkey. We got some legs on there. I mean, here's a leg, here's a leg. Then we got three here. We got three here.

Okay, now we have the award. And what we do is every Thanksgiving to the outstanding player. We give the turkey leg award. I want to talk to John Mann's Pat Somer on. That's why I'm up. You got up. Hey, yo, what's up top, fellas? You're up on top when you make catches like that.

Hey, y'all know I'll put on the show for y'all two old heads, man. The front seven, the line and the linebackers of the 49ers just whipped this ram off. Oh, here comes from airplane. Holy, holy, holy, you see that? It just flew right. Holy moly, what the heck was that? Did they know what they're doing? Well, I hope so.

They were close to us, but they were close to each other. But they just were right by our eyes. They were an eye level, I think. Where are they now? Is that a replay of them? No. Huh? No.

Holy moly. They're turning around. There they go. I hope they don't come back. I haven't enough for that. That's as close as I've been to an airplane in 18 years. I'm going to say you don't fly, do you? Bill Belichick is the defensive coordinator of the Giants,

and this guy is a very good coach. And they're talking about him as a possible head coach in National Football League this year. He's only 38 years old. Very intense. The core of it was football. But when you can play it for a while and then go on with your life's work, and it's still football, you're the luckiest guy in the world. This is the Athletic Football Show.

The Athletic Football Show is presented by State Farm, because like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Get a quote today. Welcome to the athletic football show. Today is Thursday, December 30th. I'm Robert Mays. Joining me today is my good friend, Lindsay Jones. Lindsay, how you doing?

I'm great, Robert. How are you? How was your holiday? My holiday was great. It's pretty, pretty hectic 24 hours. If you guys have not checked out the John Madden coverage that we did on Wednesday with Brian Curtis, I highly encourage you to do that. We also have Mina Kimes on Wednesday for a different show.

So it's been a lot of things that have been happening. obviously there's a ton of COVID-related news and new changes to the protocols that we have to get into. Before we do that, though, before we dig into the meat of today's show, which is going to be a deep look at some of the wildcard teams. I just want to know if you had any John Madden thoughts, if anything that you wanted to share, just memories, kind of what he meant to you because we hadn't talked about that yet, but I wanted to give you that opportunity. Sure, yeah. I mean, I think there's, I'm like a lot of people where he was kind of just like the soundtrack to Sundays. You know, I grew up in the 80s. I was born in 1981, which was right about the time that he was, you know, very starting to tiptoe into the broadcasting career posts. You know, I don't remember him as a coach. It's been really fun to kind of go back and watch a lot of the documentaries about him.

I didn't watch it when it first aired the All Madden one on Christmas, but did watch it on Wednesday night. And so it's been kind of, you know, fun to go back and relive those earlier years and remember kind of who he was before he was, you know, the broadcaster that we all knew. I will say, so, you know, I grew up in Colorado. I watched, you know, I watched Broncos games pretty exclusively. You know, there was no Sunday ticket. So it was, you know, watching the Broncos game that was on in Colorado. So because of that, it was very AFC focused. So I didn't watch as many of the NFC national games because they were usually on opposite.

the Broncos games that I was watching. But I do remember there were special moments when he was calling games. And it was also one of those kind of reading all of these tributes to him and, you know, hearing from Peter King and Sam Farmer and these guys that are, you know, really legends in our field and guys that I'm really lucky now to consider friends. I feel sad that I never got to know John Madden that way. I mean, his last year calling games was 2008. that was the first season that I covered the NFL.

And I guess he did call the last Broncos game of that season, my first season on the beat. It was a week's, week 17, basically a UFC championship game, Broncos versus Chargers. The winner made it to the playoffs. The loser went home and the Chargers and Philip Rivers just blew the Broncos out of the water. It was like 55 to 10 or something like that. But John Madden called that game. And I know I keep wondering, I'm like, did I run into him in the Qualcomm Stadium Press box? I see him in the, you know, in the cafeteria and, you know, maybe he did.

And he called that Super Bowl that year in Tampa. And it was kind of a really epic last game for him to call. That was the Santonio Holmes game winning touchdown over the Cardinals. So, you know, for really, you know, for me, it was just that he was, his voice was so memorable. Going back and watching some of his commercials, like the tough act and tenactin, like it has like a visceral, like, reaction of remembering that stuff. I never played the video game, though. So I don't have that connection that so many of, you know, so many people who are kind of my age or younger, I'm an elder millennial, you know, or younger than me have that, you know, that very

deep attachment to the Madden game. I never played, I just never really played any video games. So I missed out on that part. But, you know, I just think as somebody who loves football and the history of football and the personalities, you know, you just have to appreciate everything that he did for the sport. And we wouldn't watch it. listen to it, appreciate it, understand it the way that we all do if it wasn't for John Madden. That's Super Bowl. I totally forgot that he called that game. I was a sophomore in college. I want to go back and watch it. I might have been a senior junior in college. I think it was a junior in college. I remember where I watched it. I watched my friend at Alex and Ben's house on like

the North Campus in Missou. And I remember that it was obviously a really exciting game. The one other thing that I haven't mentioned at all on the other shows that we've done is his cameo in Little Giants. Oh, yeah. And so the reason I mentioned that is because this all happened at the same time for me, because the first Madden game I played was Madden 94. The NFC got on Fox in 1994, and Little Giants came out in 1994. So all of this stuff happened, you know, when you really become a sports fan, like you have

opinions and it kind of clicks on that little light bulb. That happens when you're like six or seven years old. And that's exactly how old I was when John Madden just in all of these different ways came into my consciousness. I mean, that cameo in Little Giants and that scene in Little Giants was huge. Like, I loved that movie when I was a kid. And at that point, it's one of the first bits of exposure I got to John Madden. So it's the only thing I haven't mentioned on all the other shows that we've done, but it's just one more example of. It's such a good cameo.

He's just, it was, he was larger than life. And that when they walk off the bus and it's like, you know, we're trying to drive to can. and I'm taking I-41 and he's doing it on the map. And it's just a stupid little thing. Bruce Smith crushes the football. It's in my brain. Like it's burned into my brain. It's just one more example of John Madden just seeping into every football aspect of my life.

And like, yes, he had this incredible football career before he went into broadcasting. But like the fact that he was that big of a celebrity as a broadcaster is really incredible. I mean, he was like he was like the biggest NFL pitch man. in the 90s, like the guy who did the most commercials, the guy that everybody wanted, and he was a broadcaster. I mean, there's nobody who is in that stratosphere right now. I mean, there just, there just isn't. Like even Tony Romo, who's probably the, you know, the most famous color guy right now, he doesn't have that sort of like celebrity and gravitas. And he had, you know, a very long pro career. I mean, I just don't know if we'll ever see another guy who has his wide-ranging impact.

across the entire football landscape as John Madden did. I mean, even if he was a broadcaster, and we remember him more for that than being a coach, John Madden is infinitely more famous than Don Shula. Like my mom would know who Don Shula is. My mom absolutely knows who John Madden is. So that's kind of the weird thing is that he was a very successful coach, but the broadcast career takes precedence in a way that I completely understand. But yeah, it's, you know, we've talked about it on three different shows in some capacity,

and I'm totally okay with that. That's just that's how big of a space John Madden kind of took up in our lives when it comes to this kind of stuff. So I just wanted to ask you about it. All right. Are you ready? You ready to dive into this here? Let's do it. Let's let me unload my brain.

All right. So obviously a crazy week. And I think it starts with in a way Monday night and watching that game and the feeling I got watching that game. We were going to talk about some COVID related stuff on this show today, no matter what. what. And part of one of the things that I wanted to broach with you is at a certain point, are we going to be concerned about the legitimacy of these games and the product that's being put on the field when you have teams that are shells of themselves? When you have half the players on the field, when you have practice squad teams out there playing in huge moments, like, what is

that going to mean for the rest of the season? And it really does feel like that fear combined with some tweaks in the CDC guidelines have led the NFL to reconsider a lot of the ways that they're going to handle this moving forward for the rest of the season. Yeah, I mean, I think you're being very generous calling it a tweak. I mean, I think it's a massive overhaul for our entire country. That's why you're here. The way that we're approaching all of this. Yeah, I mean, because this was such a massive shift.

So, yeah, I mean, there's a lot of things at play here. I mean, the NFL didn't change their protocols because of what happened over the last two weeks, strictly and because of the type of product that was putting out that was being put on the field. But I think we would all be naive to think that this was strictly a health and safety change, that it was strictly driven by data and that there was complete confidence that COVID was going to be no longer contagious after five days, these sorts of things. I mean, so basically the timeline of all of this is that it was on Tuesday afternoon,

the CDC formerly made the decision to change their guidelines. and their recommendations for what quarantine should look like now, reducing the time from a 10-day quarantine to a five-day quarantine, regardless of vaccination status. This is a massive, it's a massive change for everybody. It's going to change the way that pretty much all of us approach if we test positive, what we do, what it means for our kids at school, what it means for nurses and pilots and teachers. I mean, it's going to change everything. But you have to wonder how much of that was driven by science, how much of that was driven by the fact that,

industries across our country right now are having massive staffing issues because they don't have enough flight attendance or grocery store workers or whatever it is because of what the Omicron variant is doing right now. So CDC changes its policies. All of the pro sports leagues, but first, the NFL, the NFL is first here, of saying, okay, well, now our policies, which we have said all along, we're going to follow the science and we're going to rely on the CDC recommendations. Now those policies have changed. So what do they do? Tuesday, the NFL. the NFLPA started talking, reviewing everything. And by Wednesday afternoon, they became the first North American Pro Sports League to align their return to work protocols with these new CDC guidelines.

So the big change is that now if a player or coach test positive, he can return to work, or she, if it's a female coach, can return to work after a five-day quarantine provided that they are symptom-free or, and no fever. So if you had a cough to begin the week or you had a sore throat, if that has gotten mostly better, those symptoms have approved and you have no fever, you can be cleared on day five. So it's kind of complicated. Regardless of vaccination status.

Regardless of vaccination status. So those are the two really, really big changes here. That's a massive, massive change for people that are unvaccinated. Yes. You can go from missing two games to missing zero now. Zero games. Yeah. And of course, there's a lot of concerns.

conspiracy theorists out there. There's a lot of Raiders fans who are super pissed off, as they surely have a right to be because all of this came just a couple hours after Carson Wentz, the Indianapolis Colts quarterback, who is famously unvaccinated, was added to the COVID list. So they went from how Carson Wentz went from facing a 10-day mandatory quarantine, missing Sunday's game against the Raiders, to now having a possibility provided that he is symptom-free to be activated on Saturday. He won't be able to practice all week. He has to stay home and monitor all of his symptoms throughout the week, but he will get to play against the Raiders in a game that the Colts absolutely need to make the playoffs and to kind of for their playoff seating and all the stuff that's at stake.

So it's a huge difference now for unvaccinated players. And honestly, I know I don't really know what sort of carrot the NFL or the PA could dangle out there to try to get these last remaining unvaccinated guys to get their shots because that was probably the biggest one, right, the threat that you're going to have to miss games. The one thing that hasn't changed is the close contact rule for unvaccinated players because the CDC's new recommendations are a five-day quarantine if you are unvaccinated and a close contact, which is in line with what the NFL has been doing all along. So the unvaccinated players that are out there that have somehow managed to not catch COVID at this point because it feels like most of them have at this

point. I mean, Cole Beasley was on the list. All of the Colts and vaccinated players. have been on the COVID list at some point this season, according to our Zach Kiefer, if they are a close contact, they would still have to miss five days. You can't test back in. But so these are really, really significant protocol changes. And we are already seeing kind of the impact of it. There were 100 players activated off of the COVID reserve list on Wednesday. 48 new players went on the list, but 100 guys who were out, most of them who missed last Sunday's games have now been activated. And then there's, the potential that a lot of guys who are added to the list on Monday or Tuesday will be

activated in time to play in their week 16th. Is Monday when the round of testing happens? Is that why the numbers jump on Monday? How does the testing cadence work? Well, so right now there's the testing stuff is still what the policy change was from a couple weeks ago, where it is if you're symptomatic, you were tested or it is random testing. So yes, there is random testing that will happen on Monday. Dr. Alan Sills, the NFL's chief medical officer, was asked on a conference call on Tuesday

evening about the kind of the testing cadence and how this is working. And he said that the majority of positive cases that they have found over these last 10 days or so have come from guys self-reporting and saying, I need to get tested. They're not coming from the random testing pool. It's from the guys who are saying, oh, I've got a sore throat, stuffy knows, those sorts of things. So they're self-reporting. Dr. Sill says we can choose to believe that or not.

There's a lot of potential holes you can smoke in this entire thing. Yeah, so there's a lot of, you know, look, this whole thing really hinges upon players and coaches, but specifically players reporting when they are feeling

any sort of symptoms. And what we're learning about Omicron is that all of the stuff that we kind of thought we knew about COVID from 2020, 2020 COVID. alpha, beta, COVID, whatever. And even Delta was that it was shortness of breath, high fever. Those were like, and the loss of taste and smell, those were the things that were like red flags, this is COVID. With Omicron, it's presenting itself as cold symptoms. So it's, it's counting on people

to say, I have a stuffy nose this morning. I have a runny nose this morning. Oh, my throat's a little scratchy. I should get tested. And a lot of those are coming back because that's how it's manifesting in vaccinated people. And right now the NFL's population is very, very highly vaccinated. So it really hinges on people reporting to get tested in the first place and then honestly reporting how they're feeling through the course of that five days where they are isolated, reporting their symptoms to their doctors, who the team doctors are going to be doing the symptom screenings virtually. They're not going to be coming into the office to do it. And then honestly saying on day four, my sore throat is totally gone. Can I be cleared now? And,

you know, so it's really a lot of personal responsibility on the honor system. I asked Dr. Sills on that call yesterday. I said, why are you confident that players are not going to lie about this? And he said, well, nobody wants to get anybody else sick. And like, I hope that's true. But there is so much at stake right now for these teams, especially teams in playoff contention, to get guys like Carson Wentz back on the field and ready to play. I don't want to put you in a bad spot, but what do you think is ultimately the driving force behind this?

Is it the fact that the symptoms are a little bit more mild with this variant, or is the fact that the NFL is terrified this could derail their season? I think it's both. Honestly, I think it would be naive to think that it was strictly the health and safety, which is what Dr. Sills and company will say that this is strictly based on science and what the science is saying. I think it has helped them tremendously that the CDC did this first. I don't think they would have done this on their, own. I think they would have continued on with the protocol changes that they had made, I believe it was December 16th and December 18th were the big changes about testing back in and changes to the testing policy. I think that could have gotten them through the rest of the season, hopefully without anything as severe as what we saw with the Saints where, I mean, it really was a JV roster that day. But the fact that the CDC went and did this first really

gave the NFL kind of the excuse they needed to make a change that really is going to enable them to get guys back on the field more quickly. I will say the one thing that doesn't make sense to me about what the NFL is doing and how they are basically falling strictly in line with what the CDC is doing is that there is no testing component here to get out of quarantine after five days. The CDC didn't put that in place. And I think when you read what a lot of public health experts are saying is saying, I don't know about, you know, the five-day quarantine. Like, yes, a lot of the data might be showing that with Omicron, people are not contagious after five days. But if you're not testing, if you're not doing even like a rapid test

after five days, how do you know that for sure? It's a really big gamble. For you and me, our neighbors, our friends, everybody, it is hard to get tests right now, right? I mean, you cannot find a Bynax Now test. If you go down to CVS, you know, it's hard to find them online. I waited in a one hour drive-through community testing line on Monday after the holidays to get a PCR test. I mean, it's really challenging. The NFL does not have those challenges. The NFL has massive testing capabilities. They have spent hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last two seasons to set up this massive testing program. They have rapid test available. they have PCR tests available, and they're not using them to get players out of quarantine.

And that's the one place where I'm wondering, why aren't you doing that? Why could you, if it was truly about like, let's be sure that we do not have contagious people in our facilities and on the field, why are you not doing that? And I have, I mean, Dr. Sills was asked that straight up, Judy Batista for Metafil Network, asked him that. And he's really leaned highly on the CDC's recommendations. I guess we'll see. I think it's a big gamble.

The CDC has a lot riding on this, but I think the NFL has a lot riding on this to be right because there's, you know, health and safety, you know, the health of their players, their coaches, their staffs, their families. And then the actual product, you know, a lot of that's really at stake. I was talking to somebody with the team today, and it really does feel like the CDC, like, rode in on a white horse

and like the time, then teams that, especially people that have to manage rosters. Yeah. And just all the things, that go into that, it really does feel like this is going to be helpful to them. Whether it is a good idea, I think is certainly an upward debate. Look, I mean, I hope they're right. Yeah.

If they are right, if the CDC's data is right, that is a very good thing for all of us. Yep. Right? It means that this virus is heading in the right direction. It just feels like it's a major, really kind of scary step. And, you know, it feels like we're kind of doing it blindly. But the NFL has been a guinea pig and a lot of things over the, last two years. They've tried things first. They've changed protocols that have impacted the way that

a lot of us live our lives. And I just, I hope, I hope it's right because that means that it'll be better for everybody. But it's going to be a little scary. It's going to be a little scary getting there. Is there anything else you want to? I think that's all I need to know. Okay. I will say the one, we're going to get into some of these, the wildcard teams. One of those wild card teams is, the Colts. Do you want me to walk through a little bit like what actually, because the number one question I'm getting basically in my mentions is can Carson Wentz play? And what does it take to play? So the answer is most likely yes, but we do need to be really careful. All of us in the media and then fans certainly. And look, it's a really good thing that like fantasy playoffs I think are over now.

Yeah, you're telling me. Because I mean, it's, you know, that's where most of these questions. come from. But we have to be really careful to like make assumptions about, okay, this guy will be available because it will always depend on two things. The first thing is, when was the sample taken? If if the swab happened on a Monday, day one is Tuesday. So then you count it that way. So then it's, you know, so day five would be Saturday, the player could be activated. If the swab is taken on Tuesday and let's say the player then gets added to the COVID list on Wednesday, that is day one. So day five would be Sunday. He could play on the day that he is cleared, but it is a little complicated.

So if a swab is taken Wednesday or the swab that's taken Wednesday comes back positive, basically no shot of playing. They've still left open the door that vaccinated players can test out of protocols in fewer than five days. But the likelihood of that happening is very, very small just in terms of because you have to return negative tests and be symptom free and all those. things and it's just unlikely to happen in less than five days. But we can't just assume that every guy who test positive on a Monday will play the following week. So it's going to depend on the clock and then it depends on symptoms. And I've been lucky enough. I've avoided having COVID at this point, but I know people who symptoms have been all over the place. No symptoms one day. Then they develop a

couple days later. People whose symptoms are really intense at the beginning and then they improve very quickly. there's people with long COVID. Kenny Clark from the Packers was very recently activated off the COVID list. He told reporters this week that he was really sick for a few days and that even if under the new protocols, he didn't think he would have been able to play or be cleared at that five-day mark. So I think we do have to kind of just keep remembering that the health and safety and making sure everybody is okay and is feeling healthy is at the forefront here.

and that, you know, people aren't developing severe complications or getting long COVID, those sorts of things. So, you know, it's all about player availability, right? Like, we want to know who's going to be there, who's going to be available for their teams in these playoff hunts. But there's a chance that some people will still be getting pretty significantly sick, at least for a few days. All right. Let's get to our next little segment here. Over the last few years, I didn't do it last year. It was my first year at the athletic, but I think for the three or four years before that, ringer. I used to do something because we got closer to playoff time than I called

the wildcard threat index. I was looking at all the teams that were potential wildcard teams and how much of a threat they could actually be in the playoffs. And I wanted to do that today. Instead of staying alive, instead of talking about one team, I wanted to talk about all the teams that are theoretically in the wild card hunt.

And the way that I did this was I looked at the teams that are not currently winning their division. So right now they are potential wildcard teams. And according to the 538 Hads have at least a 30% chance of making the playoffs. I feel like that was a good little middle ground to get the right pool of teams here. That gives us nine teams, okay?

The Colts, the Patriots, the Cardinals, the Niners, the Eagles, the Dolphins, the Ravens, the Chargers, and the Saints. And what I wanted to do for all of these teams was give them a threat level from one to ten of how dangerous they might be to win a playoff game and potentially. more than that. So let's start with the team, and we're going to kind of go through who is the best odds all the way down here. And looking at it, that is the Colts.

So let's start with the Colts. One to 10, how much of a threat do you think the Colts are to win a playoff game? Right. And I will say we have not shared our levels with each other. So we might overlap sometimes. I'm kind of hoping that we're wildly different on a couple of these. I am giving the Colts an eight on a scale of one to ten. Okay. Well, there we go. So I give them an eight because obviously their running game is awesome. That travels. So I like their chances to basically go anywhere and win a game. I think that they're dangerous against just about anybody. Fairly opportunistic defense. And I did not want to talk about COVID anymore. I will say the worst of their COVID issues are now behind them.

They're over, yeah. All of their unvaccinated players have tested positive now. And once they're cleared to return, they won't be tested again the rest of this season. So those are the reasons that I think they could be really dangerous. I gave them an eight for a very similar reason. I think that their run game dominance and their ability to tap into that along with just the faith I have in the coaching staff. Yes. Like I think that's such a huge part of this that even if, and I'll get to why I'm concerned about them in a second.

But what they've shown on offense and just how consistently they put their guys in the right places. This is a top 10 offense without a ton of elite talent outside of Jonathan Taylor, right? Michael Pittman is a fine player. I think he's going to be a really good NFL receiver for a long time. This team needs and lacks juice on offense. And they still are able to throw out a really efficient unit every single week. And them getting their offensive lineback and just kind of being able to lean on that group in Taylor and just the occasional splash play from just a nightmarishly roller coaster like quarterback.

I get so stressed out watching him, and I have no investment in it whatsoever. If you actually care about the Colts, I truly cannot imagine what it is like to watch him on a week-to-week basis. I know that he's only thrown a handful of interceptions this year, but that doesn't even begin to tell the story of how terrifying and maddening it is to watch him play in. and play out. So that would be my thing, is I think they're a running game and what they can do offensively. You think about that Buffalo game

and what they were on that day. Even that game they played against the Patriots. They just have so many aspects to their team that I think are really finely tuned. My concern with them is that the defense has been very turnover reliant. They have done such a great job

of taking the ball away. That stuff is hard to stay sticky. Their defense, I think, is 12th in passing DVOA right now. They're a top 10 defense overall. all, they lack dominant defensive talent, right? If you think about some of the other defenses around the league, I mean, obviously Dallas's defense is playing the best of anybody in football, but they don't have those

sort of game-changing players defensively. They've guys I like, you know, Darius Leonard is a really good player. Kenny Moore is a really nice player. DeForest Buckner is a very good player. But that's really it, right? I mean, they're really doing this with a group that is more than the sum of its parts. And I think that when you get into the playoffs, that can show up. a defense that's been playing pretty well, but is not dominant.

And when you only have a run game and a defense that's kind of a little more tenuous, that gives me some pause. But we've seen them do it before. And I just have a lot of faith in Frank Reich in what they have going there. Yeah. Same here. I went back through the rest of my list that I was looking. Really smart coaching, deep roster.

The way that they won in Arizona last week when their roster was completely decimated. I mean, that's about the best case scenario where. You saw some really bad Carson went early, and then he pulls it together for one really nice drive at the end of the game. There's just that little thing in there that, oh, my God, can you trust him? And I don't, I don't know. The answer is no. You can't trust him over several games, but I definitely think they can win one game. So if you look at it right now, the Colts would be the five seed in the NFC, in the AFC, the bills of the four seat.

So they would go on the road to Buffalo. I think the bills are really good football team. We saw that game already. I think the bills are a really good team. I picked Bill's Packers as my Super Bowl before the season. I still think that could happen based on what those teams look like right now. But the Colts 100% can beat the bills. We've seen them not only beat the bills this year.

We've seen them beat the shit out of the bills this year. So I don't think that would happen again. But I absolutely think that the Colts could win a playoff game. And if you look at the other potential division winners, right? I think the Colts and the Titans played both of their games really. early in the season, which is unfortunate to the Colts because I think they're a better team right now. I think they'd beat the Titans. And also, if the Bengals lose to the Chiefs this week and the Bills win, the Bills are now the three-seat.

So now you have Indy going to Cincinnati in the Wildcar round, and they absolutely could beat the Bengals. I absolutely think they could beat the Bengals. I would probably trust Joe Burrow in that situation a little bit more. But yeah, I mean, I think I would like them in any matchup against a division winner outside. of the Chiefs right now. I'm kind of eye in that home Bengals game to go to during the wildcard weekend. I would love if it was Bengals Colts during that wild card weekend stretch.

That would be amazing. Cincinnati is a nice little four and a half hour drive for me. All right. Patriots. What do you got? Oh, you want me to go first. All right. I'm going to give them a seven.

Is that high? Is that higher than you went? That's exactly what I have. Okay. See, I felt like it was a little high because I think last week changed a lot of opinions. You can't carry too much into that, though. You can't let last week throw you off. All right.

So here's why I gave them a seven, because we're talking about to go and win a playoff game. If you are going to pick one guy to scheme you up to get ready to win one game, give me Bill Belichick's defensive game plan. When they have good enough players, Matthew Judon, who I believe just won on the COVID list, but he should be fine. J.C. Jackson, they've got the guys right now, I think. So this is really a Bill Belichick give you one game to destroy another. team's offense thing is why I'm confident in them. I think their offense can be efficient. I think they can win games.

I'm not sure if I would pick them to win because of their offense, though. If you look at it right now, again, based on the seatings, they would go to Cincinnati. Patriots absolutely beat the Bengals, right? And you don't think that Bill Belichick would just be juiced up beyond measure to do a defensive game plan against that offensive line. I think he'd feel really good about that. And you look at it. I do think that they're defense, even if we've seen some cracks recently.

And that's, honestly, that's the nature of defense in 2021, right? Even if you feel really, really good about your defense, when you're playing against some of these hyper-talented offenses and some of these quarterbacks that are going to make themselves right no matter what, it's really hard to play a good defense. What Josh Allen did to the Patriots last week is more a product of Josh Allen being ridiculous in those moments than it is a concern about the. the Patriots defense overall. I still think their defense is really good, really deep, really versatile.

So I feel like, again, like you mentioned, that being able to throw out a game plan against one single team, I have a lot of faith in their ability to do that. And that's why I have them at a seven. That's why I have them that high. Concerned about the ceiling of their offense. You know, the same way that we've been a little bit all year, even when Mack Jones has been playing pretty well, I think that that is the thing you could take away from last week. It's that their offense still lacks firepower.

and when you have to play against these really good teams around the league, that could be a concern. But there aren't that many really good teams in the AFC. It's watered down enough where I think some of these AFC teams could absolutely go on the road and win themselves a playoff game and the Patriots are no different. All right, Cardinals. Cardinals are already in. Cardinals are in the playoffs.

So they are the exception to this entire list. I want to say the reason that they're a little bit lower on here is for maybe Super Bowl odds compared to the Colts and the Patriots is why I have them third. Gotcha. Okay. I'm going to give them a six. This is boring. We have all the same.

I also have them as a six. Okay. How about a six and a half? I swear I didn't look at your list. Yeah. So I'm going to give them a six because, look, Kyler Murray can still, like, wreck a game. It's really it. I mean, like, that's really it.

And I will say, too, I mean, their defense has been super. discouraging over the last couple weeks, which I'm going to blame on the story that you wrote about them. That's always what happens. It's really coincided the story you wrote about their defense. The jinx has happened all the time. It's fine. I wrote published the day of the Monday night game about Kyler Murray's MVP case.

So you and I basically will not be welcomed back to Arizona. Their defense has those ridiculous games in them. If Chandler Jones can get going early, his sacks tend to come in bunches. He doesn't have a lot of like one set. games. You know, if he gets going early, he could have a three-sack type of day and wreck an entire playoff game. And Kyler Murray is just kind of like the ultimate, you know, we talked about Madden earlier. Like, he's the guy now that you want in the video game. Like, he's a, he's a video game player because he can just do ridiculous things. I just don't, I just think that they're

limited enough outside, outside of those guys right now. I think the, the run defense is a significant liability and that can come up in the playoffs. If they are not having one of those five-sac-three turnover-type games, their defense can really just be very, very average to below average, potentially at times. And look, Cliff Kingsbury, his game management, I think, is a significant liability in those really big moments. And I would not feel confident if it was a close game.

And I'm a Cardinals fan that my coach is going to do the right things in those pivotal moments. I think that's totally fair. And I also think if you look at just the guys they've lost recently, that's really mattered. DeAndiard Hopkins not being there. I mean, when you have a Stars and Scrubs sort of team and you lose the stars, you run into some issues. And I think, you know, Robert Alford is not that. But losing Robert Alford recently, that has a trickle down effect, right? where you start to play defensive backs or one step down,

and it starts to become a thing. You know, the fact that now Antonio Hamilton is getting as many snaps as he's getting, you start to feel that over time. And I think that's been part of the problem here is that you've removed a couple of the really important jenga pieces from what this team was, and they start to fall off a little bit. The only reason I have them at a six is just because you can have that coward game. And some of the degree of difficulty throws he's made this season in ridiculous.

moments. You'd fear that. You would just fear what he could be during any given game, any given quarter, and I think that's why they're a little bit scary. If DeAndre Hopkins can somehow come back for the playoffs, and maybe that changes things a little bit, yes. So, and obviously, you know, if they get Rodney Hudson back and their aspects to this, that I think they could look better than they have over the last couple weeks. But I still feel like there are some flaws inherent to this team that we don't have to really worry about with some of the other potential wild-care teams. They might kick a field goal on second down.

All right. Niners. I'm going to give the Niners a five. Am I lower than you now, finally? You are lower than you now, finally. I have a seven. Okay. So I gave them a five, and that's largely because of whatever is happening with Jimmy Garoppolo's

thumb and if this is going to be a nagging thing with him. Because the Jimmy Garapolo ceiling, I think he was kind of at his ceiling this year, and that was when he was healthy. And if his thumb is bothering him, if it's going to affect his ability to throw the ball, we already know that he can't run the ball. I just think that that could be something that changes everything. Where are we out with that, by the way?

What's kind of the prognosis on where he is at this moment? So Garapolo did not practice on Wednesday. They had one of those kind of like bonus practices on Tuesday since they had the Thursday night game last week. So we're, you know, we're not at the point. yet where he's going to be ruled out, but they're getting, they're approaching that. So it'll be really interesting to watch Thursday and Friday if he's able to do more. I guess he kind of came out at the beginning kind of during the individual period and then went back inside, didn't actually

practice. So he talked to reporters. So I think they're kind of holding out hope that maybe he'll be able to play. But there's a non-zero chance that we'll be seeing Tray Lance making, throwing his first passes since early October this week when they play the Rams. And even if Jimmy Garoppolo can play, how healthy is he? I mean, some of those moments against the Titans, I think that they even blamed it on the thumb with some of the ball placement things. And that's a problem, right? I mean, this offense where his decision making is a concern when he's 100% healthy, if he's not healthy, what do they end up looking like?

Me putting that seven there is mostly rooted in if they're the best version of themselves, how dangerous might they be. And I still think that the playmakers they have on offense, what that offense has looked like at times this year is a little frightening to me, if I'm some of those NFC teams. I mean, you look at it right now. The Niners are currently the six-seat in the NFC. The Rams are the three-seat in the NFC.

The Niners have been a pain in the Rams ass over the last couple years. I mean, you think about the ways that kind of the Pepe Sylvia chart of the NFC West works. One team beats the other team, the other team beats the other team. The Rams have been a nightmare for the Seahawks. The Seahawks and the Niners play close games every single time they play, and somehow the Rams consistently struggle with the Niners. So if that's the matchup that ends up happening, who knows?

And somehow, I mean, I think that that won't be, and I don't know, the Niners and the Bucks maybe is a little bit different if the night. But it seems like the Niners going to be the six or seven seed. So they would probably play against Dallas or the Rams. I think that they could beat the ramps because I've seen it in practice so many times. I feel like the Cowboys defense against that Niners' offense would probably be a mismatch. But the Niners are a pretty good team. Even if you have some concerns about Jim and Garoppel, offensively, defensively,

they're fairly complete, if a little bit frustrating. So again, that's me believing in what the best version of that Niners team can look like. Yeah, I just, I don't like their chances against Dallas, I guess. neither. I think their defense can give the Cowboys offense some problems. Especially if they get Drey Greenlaw and Emmanuel Mosley back, which they might by week 18. If they're healthier on defense, their defense has been underrated and pretty darn good this year. So I feel like that could be a lower scoring game than maybe it might seem. But yeah, I think that their offense would struggle against the Cowboys defense because everybody is right now.

At what point is Sean McVay going to figure out Shanahan? You would think this would be a much more even series. I'm telling you, that the, the Rams defensive philosophy over the last couple years is it invites a team like the Niners because a team like the Niners will just take six yards every single time. And that's the way they want to play. Stylistically, it's just kind of a fascinating little mismatch and it's a fascinating little contrast watching those two teams play against each other. Yeah, and the Rams want to get you into third and long, you know, those kind of like home run plays on third and long. And the Niners, just don't end up in those situations very often.

Well, it's kind of funny because you watch the way that the Cardinals have played the Niners this year. And Vance Joseph told me this. I wanted to force them to throw the ball. And they came out in those sets with three defensive backs on the field. And the Niners were throwing more than they had against any other team because of the way that the Cardinals were playing against them. The Rams don't do that. I mean, so the Niners are going to feel comfortable running the ball, you know, 30, 40 times against the Rams. And you saw those 10, 12, 8-minute drive.

that they had when they played on Monday night football. It's just watching those different approaches and different game plans, all those NFC West teams have against one another. It's amazing. I absolutely love it. All right. See, that's a wild card game that I would die. And yes, I've seen the Rams in person a lot.

But if it's, but if it were Rams Niners again. I'm into that. I'm definitely into that. I might get on that plane. Eagles. All right. I'm giving the Eagles a four. That's exactly what I have.

All right. You want to go first with your reasons this time? It just feels like they have too many weaknesses, right? I mean, even if you're excited about the run game, which is that's what they have going for them. That's the strategy. That run game that they have is phenomenal. I mean, it's just so good.

And it doesn't really matter what you're doing against them. The talent that they have up front plus the math advantage that they have, feels like they can run the ball on anybody. I know Miles Sanders is dinged up, so that's, you know, a concern there. But outside of that, I just think that they're too limited in other ways. I think that their defense is fine, but still is going to be a problem when you play against really good passing offenses. And I think that their passing game is going to be limited enough that it's going to be

hard to kind of go toe to toe to with some of these really good teams in the NFC. They do one thing really well. I don't know if that one thing is going to be enough for them to win a playoff game. Yeah, and I think they've overachieved this year. I think they're significantly ahead of schedule. Although I don't, despite being ahead of schedule, I'm not sure if they have the actual answers that they need about their quarterback. in their quarterback situation.

I think it's maybe even made that more challenging now because they have gotten themselves into playoff contention when Jalen Hertz has been kind of so up and down this year. So I don't think they scare, they don't scare me a ton. I mean, if you're a team that cannot stop the run at all, but there aren't really any of those teams, the division winners right now. If it ended up somehow the Cardinals won a playoff game

and the Eagles won a wildcard game and somehow they matched up, you know, maybe, you know, maybe I'd like the Eagles chances a little bit better there because the matchup might be good. But yeah, I just, I think it might be too tall of a task right now to pick the Eagles to win a game. Right now, the Eagles would play against the Cowboys in Dallas, right? The last time we saw those team's play was September 27th when the Eagles were a vastly different team. Oh, yeah. Than what they are.

They weren't running the ball at all then, were they? Was that during their stretch that they didn't know how to do? choosing not to do the thing they're best at now. It's one of the funniest parts of this entire NFL season. And the Cowboys are obviously a much different team than they are now. These two teams play in Week 18. Like, I am excited to watch what that game looks like as a possible preview for them having a rematch in the playoffs.

Well, so this is poor podcasting right now. But what is the, what do the Eagles need to do to make the playoffs to make that happen? Do they, will they need to win that Week 18 game against the Cowboys to get in? So right now, on 538's website, if I put in a win against Washington for the Eagles, they have a 90% chance of making the playoffs. So it feels very good that they would be able to make it. And I do think that the Vikings would have to win out in order to make it. The Vikings play the Packers this weekend. So if the Vikings win and the Eagles win, the Eagles' chances drop to 62%.

If the Eagles win out and then the Eagles lose. lose to the Cowboys, then the Vikings essentially would probably grab that spot. The Eagles chances diminish greatly. But that requires the Eagles to lose to Dallas and for the Vikings to win up. Yeah. I'm going to look, I know that the Packers lost to the Vikings earlier this year, but I'm going to, I'm going to take Mr. Horse Medicine in that matchup this weekend. If the, in this scenario, okay, in this scenario, if the Vikings went out and the Eagles

lose to Dallas and the Saints went out and the Saints beat Carolina and Atlanta, the Saints would make the playoffs at 9 and 8 if all three of those teams were 9 and 8. Okay. So that's what we've got. That's what we've got. All these scenarios break my brain. Trust me. It's a crazy little stretch here, especially with all these teams that are still in it.

I'm just glad that that week 18 game matters. Remember the dumpster fire that was the NFC East last year where technically came down to the final game. But, oh, my God. Oh, God. What a moment of time that was. I was at an Airbnb in Miami not staying with my fiance's family because I had just flown back from Chicago after spending Christmas with my family. It's been a heck of a year. It has been a heck of a year.

Just this random Airbnb where I had to bring a TV to watch. the Giants Eagles game on Sunday night is just a moment I will never forget. The Nate Sudfeld. Oh my God. I just, a lot of things have happened over the last year. They're going to stick with us. All right.

Now Doug Peterson interviewing for the Jacksonville Jags job. Listen, deserve it. I was talking to somebody today about his chances. Somebody I was talking to him with the team today was like, you know, I think he was going to be a good coach if he gets another chance. All right. Dolphins. I am giving the Miami Dolphins of five.

I had them at a four. Okay. I think that's fair. I think they're in, I think that's the range. I think, you know, Jalen Waddle's emerging as like a legit dude. So I think that's exciting. They've won a lot of games lately. They're on seven game one streak.

But look, I just, I don't think Tua is really going to scare anybody. And when you get into the playoffs, you need to have like a dude who is going to be really, really scary. And I just don't think, I just don't think, too, as that guy. I think he has played well this season. He's been really efficient. But there was, like, one point in that game Monday night. And yes, it was like a JV game against the Saints. But the Saints still have some, still had some really good defensive players who are playing in that game.

But at one point, he was like 10 for 12 for 65 yards. Yeah, that's what their offense is. It's like, that's what they are. And then they started going downfield a little bit more. but he scares me that there's always that chance he's going to have one or two really bad interceptions. And he had one in that game against the Saints the other night. And for a big chunk of that win streak, they were playing really well because he was being

really, he was being very safe with the ball. And he wasn't having those multi-interception games. And that has started to turn a little bit. And they've lucked out that they've been playing bad opponents, that they've played the Jets recently, that they, you know, played the Saints and Ian Book and all of the other guys who weren't who weren't playing in that game. So maybe a five was high. Maybe you're, maybe you're closer to the right number there at a four. I had a four just because I think that their defense is a little bit volatile and scary, right? Their defense performance is not nearly

as impressive as it might seem over the last seven weeks when they've been winning all these games just because of the quarterbacks that they've played. And I think the Eagles is a similar consideration, right? It's just that they have no elite wins. Like, what's the Eagles best win this season? Is it over the Saints? Yeah, the Broncos? I mean, the way the Broncos defense is played. And I think that's the argument for the Saints, too, is that the Saints defense is still very good. But they haven't really beaten a truly good team. And neither has Miami. And you look at it, the Saints have played, or excuse me, the Eagles have played the third worst schedule in the NFL, according to football outsiders. The Dolphins have played the fourth

worst schedule in the NFL, according to football outsiders. The Dolphins have a negative point differential this year. And I think if they were to play a playoff team, a real playoff team, even if you're somewhat excited about the defense and how well it's played recently, their offensive ceiling, I think, is just way too low. With the way that it's constructed and you just look at what their offensive line is. It's so bad. It is so bad. And when you have a weakness that pronounced, when you get into the playoffs, it becomes even more apparent. And that's why I think even if the defense could just throw spitballs at somebody the entire game and they could be really aggressive and just give an offense a lot of really wonky looks, I still feel like

over four quarters against a really good team that offense would get exposed. Yeah, the offensive lines kind of like pass block rate numbers and sack totals and that stuff looks a lot better during the last few weeks, but they haven't played a really good defense or a good full strength defense in a long time. Overall, they do have two really important games the next two weeks. Yes, their schedule has been very bad lately. They've got the Titans this week. You don't think Ryan Tannahill might have a little bit of a little extra something this week. And then they have the Patriots in week 18, which I think they absolutely could beat the Patriots. It's wild that they haven't played each other since week one, how different both of those teams are, you know, since back in that

back in week one when they first played each other. But yeah, I don't have a ton of confidence in them. They're not particularly scaring me. All right. Ravens. I've given them a four. And that's just because they're like literally out of bodies. I mean, Lamar Jackson is going to be back.

He returned to practice on Wednesday. They're infinitely better with Lamar Jackson. But they just are, they're so thin everywhere. else on their roster. And while Lamar is always a threat to be to make something crazy happen, um, at some point it's just too much for him to have to do all in his own. I have them at a four for the exact same reason. I mean, you have to give Lamar Jackson that credit and you have to kind of give him the respect that he deserves. And I feel the same way about John Harbaugh. The fact that that team just gives everything they have seemingly every single week and is in every single game that they

play is a testament to the people there, like both the players and the coaches. But I agree. Like, they're just out of guys. Like, at a certain point, you just run out of gas. And I think that they've reached that moment of this season where it doesn't really matter if you have Lamar Jackson. It doesn't really matter that that team is pointed in the same direction. I think that they'd have a really hard time winning one of these games when it matters. Yeah, I mean, something that would work in their favor is if they're able to play in a really close game, you know, you kind of like the mindset of what's going to happen there. You like Lamar's ability, like, you know, you talk about having that clutch gene or whatever, that if it's, you need one fourth quarter drive to win you the game, or you need

a long field goal in a tie game to win you a game. You have two guys there that you want in that situation. You have a coach who is going to make, look, it'll get debated on football Twitter, if it's the right decision, but you trust what the coach is going to do in that situation. You know that Harbaugh is going to, look, it might not turn out the way that they want it to, but I have a lot of confidence in Harbaugh there. So, you know, confidence in Harbaugh, confidence Lamar Jackson. But then, like, that's just really it. They're just so decimated.

Like, literally who is going to play defensive back? They're out of corners. And you need corners. It's going to end up being a problem. All right. Chargers who are 33% odds to make the playoffs right now, according to 538, which is just heartbreaking after losing the game to the Texans. So this is what's wild, right?

Is I gave them an eight. I'm giving them as high of a score as I've given anybody. And they have one of the lowest chances to actually make the playoffs because of that just mind-boggling loss to the Texans last week. And look, they could lose to the Broncos this week. The Broncos haven't been good, but they just seem to have, they play their best games against the Chargers. And Julek has already beaten Justin Herbert, which is just a wild sentence to have come out of my mouth.

But when we're talking one game scenarios here, on this list when you're talking about wild card quarterbacks, Justin Herbert scares me or if I'm a defensive coordinator, he would scare me more than every single other guy on this list. they've got good above average potentially elite skill position players your offensive line is okay you know Ray Sean Slater offensive rookie of the year campaign continues here on our podcast it's just because of Herbert right I mean I think that's why my score is really inflated their offense period has been very good this year they've been a top three offense by DVOA They are a really, really good offensive team when things are clicking. And even their offense last week wasn't bad.

I mean, they had a couple inopportune turnovers, but play in and play out, they were still efficient. They're still really dangerous and explosive on that side of the ball. They just can't stop anybody right now. I mean, the way that they're playing defense is horrifying. But that's why I gave them a seven just because the defense is really a problem. It's a huge concern. They need overhaul on that side of the ball next year in terms of personal. personnel, especially up front.

But their offense is still very good. Even after losing to the Texas, if the Chargers win out and the Dolphins lose one of their next two, and they play the Patriots in week 18, the Chargers are in. So all they need to do is win out and have another break happen their way that absolutely is possible. And then the Ravens would have to lose to the Rams, which, again, seems like it might happen. So the Chargers can still do this. The Chargers last few games are Broncos Raiders. Braco's Raiders, which not easy games, but winnable games.

So the Chargers absolutely can still make the playoffs. And if they do, I do think they're a threat. Their defense is hard to watch right now, but I would not want to play Justin Herbert. No matter who I was, I would have no interest in playing against that offense. Yeah, their defense will, personnel-wise, will be better. Moving forward, Joey Bosa was one of those guys who's been activated off of the COVID list. I mean, obviously you need your best player. Michael Davis, Derwin James.

And so, yes, they will be better. but I'm still concerned. But they still can't tackle anybody and they can't stop the run at all. Yeah. So again, the fact that they're this far down the list and that there are seven for me and an eight for you, I think is pretty telling about what they could win a wild card game 35, 32. Yeah, absolutely they could. If they're the seventh seed right now, do you know who they'd play in the first round?

The Titans. Okay. Yeah. The Chargers can absolutely beat the Titans. I think the Chargers can beat most of the teams on the Titans. this list. We saw them beat the Bengals. They could beat the Chiefs. They're one of the only teams on this list that I would say could beat the Chiefs because we've seen it. All right. Last one here. Saints. I'm giving them a four. That's what I'm going to as well. And that's only because

when we've seen their defense play up to its potential, they can stop anybody. Correct. They just can't score. Do you need to score? Is that a thing? Like, I'm taking the Ian book of it all out of this conversation. But if it's Taysam Hill or Trevor Simeon or any combination of these quarterbacks, they just cannot score. And look, we just can't expect that they are going to have many of these games, like the one they had against the Bucks a couple weeks ago, where you win, what was it, 6-0-9-0. 9-0.

9-0. Sorry. I think the only argument you could make for them finding a formula on offense, you get Armstead back, you get a ram check back, and you can just run the ball. And just Alvin Kamara goes off. And Tayson Hill, where it's just Tayson Hill is a quarterback and he's running the ball down people's throats. God, I don't want to watch that game. It doesn't sound fun, but I do think it's a path to victory for them potentially.

Taysom Hill's the Nickelodeon MVP in that scenario. That game belongs in Nickelodeon, whoever they play against. That is the one thing I would say, because I think that their defense is still very good. Still a top five defense, there's still really good players on that side of the ball. When that unit is healthy, I think that they can be a problem for anybody. but I am very worried about the offense. I mean, it is crumbling. We're watching it crumble in real time.

And I understood there were guys in the COVID list, whatever, but they've been heard on that side of the ball independent of whatever's happened with COVID. So I think a four is appropriate for them. All right. That was fun. I feel like we're seeing this in a pretty similar way. Yeah, I kind of wish we disagreed a little bit more. What would have made for better radio.

We did not show each other these beforehand. So this is all real agreement. All of this is organic. All right, before we get out of here, what is your appointment viewing for week 17? What is the game that you cannot wait to watch? All right. So it's taken a little, it's lost a little bit of its luster because the Cardinals have not been playing well. And I think if you listen to the last segment, you know a little bit how I'm feeling about the Cardinals right now.

But the Cardinals in Dallas against the Cowboys, look, Kyler Murray's appointment viewing for me every week. The Cowboys are so fun to watch right now. Although, like, I'll be fair. They were not very fun to watch on Sunday night. And I actually, my daughter was at her grandparents' house and I was able to sit and watch a primetime game without any distractions, watch it happen live. And I turned it off and started watching that absolutely terrible show, Emily and Paris, because I was like, this game is so boring. I can't even watch this anymore because they were just rolling so much. I kind of started to tune out the Cowboys.

But I almost went to that game. I almost booked that trip to Dallas to go to this game. but then when the Cowboy or when the Cardinals started losing and COVID took over the world, I decided, you know, maybe I'll just watch this one from my couch. But I'm still excited to watch this game. And I just think it's some good matchups there. I want to see. And I just want to see if Kyler Marine, the Cardinals can get back in this thing and kind of make a respectable finish to the season.

The Cowboys defense for me is appointment viewing every single week. Yeah. I mean, with the way that they're playing, you have to tune into what they're doing. And the offense was fantastic last week. I mean, this team is dangerous. they are really dangerous. And I think we always knew that even with some of the ups and downs

that they experienced offensively for most of the year, I still thought if they were healthy that they could be in this till the end and that's kind of what it feels like. I pick Chief Spengals. I mean, the way that Joe Burrow played last week, they've played the worst slate

of defenses in the NFL this year. And I think that obviously that has something to do with what they've been able to do offensively, especially as of late. That's not the case. This Chief's defense is playing extremely well. It'll be maybe the best defense they've played all season with the way that those two units are playing. I want to see what that looks like.

I want to see this measuring stick type of game for Joe Burrow against this type of defense. The fact that it's at noon kind of annoys me. There's no Thursday night game this week, no Saturday games this week. So it is a very full slate of games. So it's going to be a lot of stuff happening. Yeah. I mean, there are like five, four p.m. games, though. So there's a lot to sift through this week.

but that is the one that I'm going to be honing in on the most. Yeah, I'm really excited for that game. There's a couple. This is actually a pretty good slate. I think the other one that we could have included is Titans Dolphins. It's a big one. It's definitely a big one. Absolutely.

And I think that, again, similar, the Titans aren't a very good team right now, but they're better than the teams the dolphins have been beating up on recently. AJ Brown is back. You know, I think that that's huge. Like the Titans getting those guys back, Taylor I think just came off the COVID list. So what the Titans can look like against that. that Dolphins defense, I definitely want to see that. Because what they did against the Niners was pretty impressive.

The other kind of game that matters that we didn't really talk about yet is Raiders Colts. And it's going to be a little bit more interesting now that the Colts are going to have their guys back. Looks like Darren Waller is going to be out for the Raiders. He got added to the COVID list on Wednesday. But I think that's going to be a really good game. All right. That's all we got. I don't have to sell you on Thursday night football.

There is no Thursday. What are you going to do with your evening? I. I'm going out to dinner with friends. Sounds lovely. Yeah, we have a couple friends in town that are from, that are out of towners that are here from Christmas all the way through the new year. And we're going to see them tomorrow.

And I never get to see them. And I'm very excited about it. I'm going to have to break it to my five-year-old that there's no Thursday night football. It's the one. I was excited if there was no Thursday night football. If I wasn't doing this, I was going to go to the movies. I'm seeing a bunch of movies lately. I'm going tonight.

Then I think I'm going to go see Memorial on Friday because it's finally coming to Chicago. It's like a movie that's been traveling around the country. It's not playing it like one specific thing. So it's finally here. And I am going to take the opportunity to do that on New Year's Eve. You're not going to go see Sing 2. I'm not going to go see Sing 2. I'm not going to go see Sing 2.

I was really bad about my movies this year. I just, I mean, obviously the theater was hard was tough to go to. The schedule with five shows a week has been a lot. So I have not seen as many as I typically would. And then my fiance and I started watching The Sopranos. And it's hooks are in us so deep that I haven't been watching as many movies. but I've been doing a really good job over last week. I saw Liquorice Pizza on Christmas Eve.

It was wonderful. I really enjoyed it. I watched Come On Come On Last Night, which I think you would love. I think that parents would have a special place in your heart. I enjoy Mike Mills and I loved 21st Century Women and this was also very good. So it's been nice. It's been nice to get back into my movie watching here over the last week or so. I wonder what it's like to watch a movie that's not made for five-year-olds.

It's a world you'll never know again. Until she's like 20. Someday. We went and saw King Richard was the one movie. Oh, there you go. My husband is a huge tennis fan. Did Lena go? No.

We had babysitter. Okay. I was going to say, that's like right on the edge of like whether if a kid could handle it. I feel like it's probably a little bit too much. Yeah, there's a drive-by shooting. She would not have been probably super into that part. This is why you're set up to be a parent and I am not. All right, guys.

That's all we got for today. Thank you very much for listening. Again, if you have not checked out the episode we did about John Madden with Brian Curtis yesterday, I encourage you to do so. We'll be back tomorrow with Nate and Sheel with our Week 17 preview and picks. Until then, please rate and review the podcast. It would be a great end of year gift to me. If you guys could go, leave us some stars. Let us know what you think of the show.

If you like it, if you don't, don't bother. But if you don't, I'm not sure why you've listened to this long. Please subscribe to The Athletic. Theatholic.com slash football show. The playoffs are a perfect time to go get your subscribers. description. If you do not have one, I highly encourage you to do that. We'll be back tomorrow. Until then, appreciate you guys listening. Talk to you soon. This was The Athletic Football Show.