The Bill Simmons Podcast - Purdy’s X-Mas Flop, Lamar In Charge, Chiefs In Trouble and Week 17 Guess the Lines With Cousin Sal

Episode Date: December 26, 2023

The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by Cousin Sal to discuss the Ravens' decisive win vs. the 49ers (2:09), the Raiders upsetting the Chiefs, Eagles-Giants, Joe Flacco's resurrection/Browns-Texans, an...d Panthers-Packers (18:22), before talking Broncos-Patriots, Vikings-Lions, Chargers-Bills, and Bengals-Steelers (51:36). Next they guess the lines for NFL Week 17 (0:00), before closing the show with Parent Corner (1:13:05) Host: Bill Simmons Guest: Cousin Sal Producer: Kyle Crichton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Galaxy lights, Coachella, lightning bolt necklaces. 2023 was the year of Scandival. On March 3rd, one cheating scandal launched a reality TV investigation that generated hundreds of conspiracy theories, thousands of podcast episodes, and millions of dollars in revenue. I'm Jodi Walker, host of An American Scandival. One retrospective story told in three salacious parts. Listen December 26th on the Ringer Reality feed. This episode is brought to you by Prime Video. You know me, I can't go a day without sports.
Starting point is 00:00:38 I really can't. And now Monday nights are all about hockey. That's right. There's a new exclusive home for streaming Monday night NHL hockey. And it's on Prime. All season long, watch Prime Monday Night Hockey
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Starting point is 00:01:03 It's on Prime. It's the Bill Simmons podcast presented by FanDuel football is in full action. FanDuel is highest rated sports book is the best place to bet at all. We've been doing pretty well. A million dollar picks this year. I love the first month of the season because you have to go into the season thinking, I think Pittsburgh's going to be good. I think the chargers are going to be good. I think Seattle's going to be good. And then trying to back what you think in those first few weeks and then zag the other way. If you were wrong, you could bet on new and fun markets on FanDuel, like to catch your pass, same game parlays, highest scoring game across the Sunday
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Starting point is 00:02:26 I got to see the Celtics beat the Clippers' asses on Saturday. I got to see the Celtics beat the Lakers' asses on Monday. It was the best 48-plus-hour stretch of Celtics basketball in the city of Los Angeles that I've seen since I moved there. I was delighted. I had a great time. I took my daughter to both games. Really fun. Almost as fun as the new rewatchables we put up on Sunday night. Under Siege, me and Kyle Brandt breaking down the apex mountain of Steven Seagal's career and the apex mountain probably of diehard ripoffs.
Starting point is 00:03:05 I think we decided it was either Under Siege or Cliffhanger in the finals. But if you haven't seen that movie, I highly recommend it. We had a lot of fun breaking it down. So you can check that out on the Rewatchables feed. Coming up on this podcast, Cousin Sal and I taping right after
Starting point is 00:03:20 the Ravens-Diners game, Sunday night, Christmas night, our families hate us. We don't care. We're delivering a podcast to you. It's next. First, our friends from ProJet. All right, we're taping this. It is about 8.35 Christmas night.
Starting point is 00:03:55 I can't remember us doing too many Christmas pods, Sal. Do you think people bet on what time we tape? Because you unnecessarily announce the time every time we start. And now I'm thinking maybe it is necessary. Maybe people are betting on our start time, which that would make me happy. That would be fun. So 835 would be minus 200 every podcast. Over, under, 839.
Starting point is 00:04:17 I lied. It's actually 839. Oh, boy. I wasn't even honest. Yeah, I hope we don't have to refund any bets. Just watched Ravens-Niners, where the Niners were either 5.5 or 6 all week. A lot of people had them in teases and parlays
Starting point is 00:04:32 and Moneyline stuff. And then there was some Ravens momentum as the week went along. A lot of people pointing out how the Ravens had led every single game heading into midway through the fourth quarter. Niners, not a good come-from-behind team. Brock Purdy was sure.
Starting point is 00:04:47 And within two hours, the Niners bandwagon crashed into a telephone pole. It was brutal. The whole effing day was brutal. It was a Christmas massacre where Goodell and the gambling gods got together and shoved it up our Christmas keisters because everybody had that Moneyline parlay.
Starting point is 00:05:05 I mean, you at least had the Chiefs and Eagles on it. And the Chiefs, I mean, we'll talk about that game. And then when they don't show up, I thought one of those smart people who liked the Ravens, I'm like, all right, but we already saw our upset. We're not going to do it again. And then I doubled up on the Niners, Eagles. And oh boy, it's good though.
Starting point is 00:05:22 I'm putting on the gifts now. The kids know I'll put on the gifts like this iPhone pending Chiefs covering on a Moneyline parlay. Otherwise, we'll be restocked by the end of the day. We started out, so the most obvious parlay of the weekend
Starting point is 00:05:38 was Bills, Chiefs, Eagles. Three team, 10 point tees. I stayed away from it. I thought the Bills would easily hit, and the new coach theory kicked in. We'll talk about that later. So then we have the Chiefs.
Starting point is 00:05:54 All of a sudden, they're losing to the Raiders on Christmas morning Pacific time. The Eagles barely squeaked by. So it's like, all right, there's going to be some normalcy tonight with the Niners. I truly, honestly believe the Niners, healthy, we're the best team in the league. Can I throw this theory at you? Purdy got hurt last week. He had that stinger.
Starting point is 00:06:10 And they were like, oh, he's fine. And then he had the same thing happen today in the fourth quarter. But is it possible Purdy wasn't healthy for this game? Because this was not the Purdy we've been watching all year. I thought, it wasn't just the interceptions. He had bad luck on maybe one and a half of them, but there were other passes where he was behind
Starting point is 00:06:29 people. There was a couple others that could have been picked. I just thought he looked terrible, and it didn't add up to what we've seen this season. Either that or he wants to be right. When he says Christian McCaffrey's the MVP, he's like, all right, let me step aside and let my running back take over here. Listen, you got to believe me. McCaffrey's the MVP. I told you. That'd be great if he comes on a press conference. I told you, people.
Starting point is 00:06:53 See how bad I was? Back off now. I could have had 10 picks today. Yeah, he's down to 19 to 1. He was what, minus 200 to start? Now, Fandel has Lamar as the favorite at minus 180. McCaffrey plus 450. And Brock Purdy's like 60.
Starting point is 00:07:08 He's behind Dak Prescott. But you might be on to something. I don't know what to think. I still think they're number one in the NFC. It helps that the Cowboys didn't look good. Helps that the Eagles didn't look good. Maybe the Bucs are catching up to everybody. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:07:22 But I still think they're the best. They just don't want to face the Ravens in the Super Bowl. I did Million Dollar Picks, was going through them with Kevin Wilds on Thursday's pod, and I was reading him. Aaron Schatz had this DVOA stat
Starting point is 00:07:33 heading into this game that the Niners were third all time in DVOA through 14 games. 0-7 Pats were one. 91 Washington was second, and the 84 Bears were fourth. 85 Bears were fourth. The Niners was second. And the 84 bears were fourth, 85 bears were fourth and the Niners were third. And I was like,
Starting point is 00:07:49 I, but I'm not getting scared off by this Ravens thing. I believe in this Niners team. I think this is a really, really, really great team. But on that list, the night,
Starting point is 00:08:01 the Ravens were 11th all time heading into this game. This year's Ravens? Yeah, this year's Ravens. And now that's going to be even better after this game. So the case for them was like, yeah, the Niners are great, but this Ravens team is pretty great too. And then you look at the games where really they could be undefeated with like four or five other plays.
Starting point is 00:08:24 So, you know, hindsight's 20-20, but this was, I think, the best they've looked all season. I thought their defense was absolutely flying around. You could feel it instantly. And then Lamar's a cheat code. The receivers were making plays. And the thing that shocked me was that they were able to run the ball. I thought when the rookie went out last week, I thought that was going to rob them of their speed from the running game, and it didn't. It didn't seem to matter. Didn't matter. I felt like they caught the 49ers off guard a little bit. Like you said, batting down passes, they did everything right, but I still think it's the same team in that, who was it, House? Someone said, hey, live line, Niners plus 540 here. Harbaugh loves to blow these
Starting point is 00:09:04 games. I don't want to say he came close to blowing it, but there is always that in the back of your mind, like that could happen. Like no lead is safe with this team. And I'm going to stick with that for the Ravens, but probably should be the one seed going forward. So they get a safety, the Niners, when Lamar scrambles backwards so fast
Starting point is 00:09:23 that he runs kind of into the umpire in the end zone and throws it against the intentional grounding. I've been watching football my whole life. I've never seen that play, right? That was the first we've ever seen of that. I felt bad for the umpire too, but so it's 2-0. I did too. Yeah. And by the way,
Starting point is 00:09:39 people are like, whoa, whoa, whoa. They call that? How could they call that? The referee was like, yeah, the ref's part of the game. How many times have we, what we have seen is refs get hit with passes and the ball is intercepted. Like it all counts. And that play started at the 20. So how is that ref supposed to know
Starting point is 00:09:53 five yards deep in the end zone isn't a safe spot for him? But go ahead. Yeah. It would have been much funnier if it was a way older ref because that ref was actually younger and seemed like he was in pretty good shape
Starting point is 00:10:03 and he just kind of lost his balance. But it would have been funny if it was like the 69-year-old guy who probably should have retired two years ago who just gets bowled over. So anyway, they get two points on that. And we've talked over and over again over the years of whether that's enough points for a safety. It just feels like that's a more important play than what you get credit for. So it's two points. And then they punt from the 20. And the guy booms the punt. And the Niners returner just drops it out of bounds. So all of a sudden, it's Niners ball on their 20.
Starting point is 00:10:34 Heading into that drive, when the Ravens had the ball, they were like inside their own 20. And so it's basically two points. But now the Niners are on their own 20. And then all of a sudden, the Ravens were winning. And just this whole game felt off. I felt like they should have been able to run McCaffrey. To me, this was a McCaffrey game and they were trying to make it a kiddo on the receivers game and it worked a little bit, but I just feel like there's another version of
Starting point is 00:10:59 this game where McCaffrey has like 37 carries. Yeah. And who do they play? Washington next week will probably have like six touchdowns, and that'll be that. But yeah, I think you're right. I don't know if a safety should be worth more, or maybe they should punt from the 10. Right? Or punt from their own end zone.
Starting point is 00:11:15 Yeah, yeah. It's just not the 20. It doesn't seem like enough of a penalty sometime. Yeah. Or maybe they should have to kick off from their 20 instead of punting. Yeah, while the ref runs into the kicker. Yeah, I like all that. So, yeah, the big thing from an MVP standpoint was, you know,
Starting point is 00:11:32 this is Purdy's award heading into the game. Now it's Lamar's to lose. And I don't really see a scenario where, you know, they played Pittsburgh in the last week. He'll be fine in that game. And then this week they're playing. They have another in the last week. He'll be fine in that game. And then this week, they're playing... They have another good game this week. They're playing Miami.
Starting point is 00:11:49 Yeah, this is the one. Yeah, but he'll be at least good in that game. To me, the MVP is a wrap. I think Purdy has... Wilds and I talked about this a little on Thursday. Purdy is unequivocally the content MVP, not just of the NFL this year, but I think of all professional sports.
Starting point is 00:12:07 Yeah. We've, everybody has some sort of take on him. It shifted a couple times during the season. We had that stretch when they lost the three straight where people were like, nope, see, it's not real. And then he bounced back and was awesome again. And now all those people get to change their mind. And nobody, I don't think is really right. It's like the great unknown. I don't know if there's a right Brock Purdy opinion. He did have great numbers though. What did he have? 29
Starting point is 00:12:33 touchdowns, seven interceptions. And now Lamar has like 19 and seven. I know he has like six rushing touchdowns and a bunch of rushing yards and everything. But yeah, if you went by pure numbers and you weren't going to give it to a running back, Purdy was a good pick. But man, I don't think we've ever seen odd shift like this this late in the season. From minus 200 to 19 to one, we've never seen that. And yet I was rooting for that fifth interception. What do we call that? The Peterman? We call the four the Dallome. No, it's the Dallome. Oh, the Dallome had five? I thought he had four. I thought the Dallome was basically, it was five turnovers,
Starting point is 00:13:07 whether it's four interceptions and a fumble or five. It's got to be the full D'Lome, I think, is if it's five picks. Just straight picks. I looked at the guys with five interceptions. I wanted to make a big deal out of it. Then I saw my guy Romo was on there. I'm like, oh, maybe I won't even bring this up. But there are as many guys in the Hall of Fame as there are Nathan Peterman.
Starting point is 00:13:27 It's like, well, Eli will get in, I'm sure. The Peyton Manning and Russ and Favre. Some good Kurt Warners on there. Brady had a four interception stinker during his 0-1 season. The first year as a starter that definitely threw some water on the Brady versus Bledsoe thing. But yeah, I mean, so the Ravens had the best record in the league. They're in the driver's seat now for the one seed in the AFC. They just got to beat Miami next week,
Starting point is 00:13:58 which won't be a walk in the park, but Waddle's got a high ankle sprain. There's been some offensive line injuries. Their defensive line, I don't think Miami is quite the same team maybe they were six weeks ago. They're definitely more beatable. So the Ravens can get the one seed, they get a bye. You'd have to go through Baltimore the first two rounds.
Starting point is 00:14:18 Then they would be in Vegas for the Super Bowl, which I think a dome would be good for that team because they're fast. So to me, I think a dome would be good for that team because they're fast. To me, I think they're legit favorites now. I didn't even see what the odds were. I was screaming about the Niners at plus 220 all week. Now they're only plus 230 and the Ravens are plus 460. That's right now? Is that on Fandle? That's on Fandle. I feel like they haven't disrespected this win here.
Starting point is 00:14:48 Really? You think they leave it open like that? I don't know. I think they should flip that. Yeah, you're right. They should be updating that. How are the Ravens? How do they?
Starting point is 00:14:57 That doesn't make sense. That's bizarre. I think it was Raheem who said on the Ringer Gambling Show, the best bet all week, if you thought the Ravens had a chance to win this game, was the Lamar MVP odds. I said that. Oh, you said it. Plus 450. We talked about that on Against the Laws. It was 5-1
Starting point is 00:15:12 and we were saying, like, if you like the Ravens to win Sunday or Monday night, you might as well take Lamar. Yeah. So they were like plus, what, plus 200 to win the game today? Yeah. But the MVP odds were 5-1. And now I would say it's pretty much a wrap.
Starting point is 00:15:31 I don't think Sam Darnold did enough today either to get in there. To win MVP? No. No, he came in. As we're doing this, was Purdy 19-1 when you looked at this earlier? Yeah, he was just 19-1 when I looked. He's dropped to sixth. Yeah, it's crazy.
Starting point is 00:15:46 It's craziness. Oh, my God. We've never seen a shift like that from one game, and yet it makes sense. Maybe we're not. Maybe we weren't monitoring this week to week like we used to. I mean, maybe we're monitoring it more closely, but I don't remember it swinging week to week like this.
Starting point is 00:16:02 It feels like since week four, it's been... I remember that one year when Russell Wilson, after four or five weeks, and we were doing, oh, Russell Wilson, he's number one. Maybe this is the year. But this is where it's been like each week there's a new guy. Dak week seemed like it was five months ago. It was like two weeks ago.
Starting point is 00:16:20 Yeah. I think when there's no Mahomes in the mix and no Rodgers and no Brady, it really is anyone's game, right? Yeah. Well, on the Ravens' side, this felt Super Bowl-y, this game. Yeah, definitely felt like a playoff game. If it's not San Francisco, who is it?
Starting point is 00:16:41 Because it's probably your stupid team. Why? Could this be a Baltimore-Dallas? Based on this weekend? No. I don't know. Was that a horrible loss for you? Or was there some moral victory pieces in there? That drive Dak had was about as good as
Starting point is 00:17:00 anything I've seen from Dak in his career. That was a clutch drive that if his defense holds up, we're talking about, oh my God, Dallas, they finally arrived, here we go. And instead you gave up the game-winning drive. Yeah, I mean, I feel like I don't trust the coaches more than anything.
Starting point is 00:17:17 And I praised McCarthy last week and I hated him for handing off to the fullback on first and goal. Not even really the fullback's fault. It never got to him. And I didn't like the defense for the fullback on first and goal. Not even really the fullback's fault. It never got to him. And I didn't like the defense for the fewest pressures in three years. And then Dan Quinn, we were joking about, hey, do you let the Dolphins score from the 40?
Starting point is 00:17:35 But they were a no-man's land with four and a half minutes left. Don't let this be their last drive. Don't let them line up for a field goal. And that's exactly what they did. They gave them five-yard passes all the way down to the 15 or 20. Yeah, that sucked. I thought they didn't play great, but they were still in a
Starting point is 00:17:52 good position to win. Again, I don't know if that game mattered as much. You just don't want to keep losing games like this is the problem. That game and this Ravens-Niners game felt like the level of play was a little bit higher than everything else we watched over the course of the week.
Starting point is 00:18:08 To me, those all felt like teams I could see in a Super Bowl. And they all have a little bit of flaws. I think the Ravens, their running game at some point against the wrong team, the fact that they don't have an awesome running back is going to hurt them a little bit. But, you know, Lamar three, four times a game just creates something out of nothing where, you know, that's, that's something that Patriots like with the quarterbacks we've had the last
Starting point is 00:18:34 couple of years, when you don't have that quarterback who could just create a wow play out of nowhere, he does it once a quarter. But I thought those four, especially with what happened with Casey today, what Buffalo looked like, you go through and it's like, those are probably the four best teams. And Philly looked like a loss today, right? I mean, basically went back and forth between maybe covering a giant number and losing the game outright between a team. Well, the long touchdown late was just outrageous.
Starting point is 00:19:02 Like that can never happen. The giant touchdown? Yeah, you're trying can never happen. The Giants touchdown? Yeah, you're trying to prove to us you're a serious Super Bowl contender and you're right at the ship and then you give up this long touchdown. And even at the end of the game, you're barely holding on to this eight-point win
Starting point is 00:19:17 where the Giants have the ball and they have a chance to at least tie it. That game did not make me feel better about the Eagles. What kind of odds could I give you that a participant in last year's Super Bowl doesn't win a playoff game this year? The Chiefs or Eagles don't win. They'll both have
Starting point is 00:19:34 a home game. Do they survive that home game? Because if I'm on the other side, I see those Chiefs. If I'm the Browns, I'm like, oh God, yeah. We got a Max Crosby. We got two Max Crosbyys on our team. I love to play Mahomes. We love to chase them around.
Starting point is 00:19:48 And Eagles, I don't know. Throw the Rams at them or a team like that, they'd be in trouble too. Let's take a break. I want to talk about the Chiefs. This episode is brought to you by my old friend, Miller Lite. I've been a big fan of Miller Lite, man, since college days when I was allowed to have beer. I think nephew Kyle is a fan too.
Starting point is 00:20:18 Miller Lite keeps it simple for us. Undebatable quality, great taste. Picture this, it's game day, all the gangs here, you're tailgating outside the stadium. It's a great time for beer. Or how about when you're standing at the grill and the smell of sizzling burgers is in the air? Moments like that. Or when you want a light beer that tastes like beer, that's delicious. You don't want to load up on those heavier beers and then you only have two of them. Then you feel tired. Your stomach feels full.
Starting point is 00:20:41 Miller Lite, it's your friend. It just accompanies whatever else you're doing. You're super happy with it. Opening an ice cold Miller Lite can signal the beginning of Miller Time. Miller Lite is the light beer with all the great beer tastes we like. 90 calories per 355 mil can. So why not grab some Miller Lites today? Your game time tastes like Miller Time. Must be legal drinking age. This episode is brought to you by Movember. The mustache is back with a vengeance. Look at Travis Kelsey. Before he rocked that Super Bowl ring, he rocked that super soup strainer. Grow a mustache for Movember. You'll do great things too. You won't win the Super Bowl, but your fundraising
Starting point is 00:21:21 will support mental health, suicide prevention, and prostate and testicular cancer research. And if you don't want to grow a mustache, you could still walk or run 60 kilometers, host an event, or set your own goal and mow your own way. Do great things this November. Sign up now. Just search Movember. All right. So we had the three games today where it starts out with Chiefs-Raiders, which I got to be honest, I just thought the Chiefs defense would win this game by itself and the Chiefs would just kind of have the ball a lot.
Starting point is 00:21:59 Wouldn't be that fun of a game. It came out at 10 o'clock in the morning, West Coast time. Just seemed like your classic. It's 9-0 in the third quarter, and the Raiders have 50 yards rushing. That's kind of what the game was, except for the Chiefs' offense part. The Raiders, what was that stat? When was Aiden O'Connell's last completion?
Starting point is 00:22:19 First quarter. In first quarter, that was it. He had nine completions the whole game. Bizarre game. 4.2 yards per play for the Chiefs. And I thought the body language was... We're taping this as the Suns are playing the Mavericks right now. The Suns have the worst body language in the NBA right now
Starting point is 00:22:40 of any good team. The Chiefs' body language, I can't tell if it's... We have married couples in our lives who are like, oh, they're fighting again, but it feels like a bit. Deep down, they love each other. And then there's the married couples where you're like, oh man, they're fighting again. This is fucking awkward. Bob might be sleeping on our living room couch tonight. To me, the Chiefs have more married couple that still loves each other, fighting energy, but the body language is awful. It's so funny you say that. My wife and I think
Starting point is 00:23:11 of that just by looking at the Christmas cards. We could tell the body language. We don't have to see them at the party, but you're right. Christmas card, body language doctor. Just analyzing the cards. But yeah, you're right, man. They were awful. He's running for his life. He had to make every play work. I thought Romo called a good game. He's going to have to make it work with his legs if they're going to win this. And yet, the
Starting point is 00:23:35 Raiders didn't score an offensive point and they won that game. Didn't complete a pass. If you saw that box score, how much would you have put on the Chiefs' money line? It was one of those where you could have gone and quickly take a shower and you come back and the Raiders have 15 more points or whatever they had. I've made this point before, but I'm going to make it more strongly now. This Chiefs team really reminds me of
Starting point is 00:24:00 Brady's last season with the Pats, where it all looked the same. Structurally, it was the same. Belichick, Brady, the Pats had just won the Super Bowl. And we kind of knew something was wrong the entire second half of the season, but didn't want to admit it. Then they lost the Fitzpatrick game.
Starting point is 00:24:17 Pats were 12-4 that year. They lost in round one, 20-13 to Tennessee. KC's 9-6 this year. The Pats lost. They went 4-4 in their last eight, 20 to 13 to Tennessee. KC's nine and six this year. The Pats lost. They went four and four in their last day, including the playoff game. The Chiefs are three and five in their last day, which is, I couldn't believe that when I was like,
Starting point is 00:24:36 man, they're probably 500 in their last day. It's worse. They're three and five. The Pats had the crap running backs. It was like Sonny Michelle, Rex Burkhead, the last years of James White. Chiefs, same thing. It's just, you know, it's like, oh my God, Isaiah Pacheco's out.
Starting point is 00:24:50 This is like a huge thing for them. They had no Tyreek this year. Pats didn't have Gronk because that was the year he retired. Edelman is kind of the Kelsey of that Pats team. And then the rest of the Pats receivers, it was like Philip Dorsett, washed up Josh Gordon. Jacoby Myers was a rookie. That was the year they thought they were going to get Antonio Brown, and it fell through.
Starting point is 00:25:13 And it just reminds me that where Mahomes had really great moments in the game today, but his receivers are never open. And he's just buying himself eight, nine, ten seconds, and it just doesn't matter. And to me, it's not an overreaction to say, I just think this team, I just don't think they have it. To me, this is a let's bet against them round one situation officially. Yeah, I'm with you. I thought going into this week, I'm like, all right,
Starting point is 00:25:38 you know, Andy Reid, smart, maybe like Popovich, you know, maybe my basketball talk, but maybe he's like, he knows. I knew you'd bring basketball. Jesus Christ. By the way, I didn't even know there was a game going on now. Should we postpone it? Should we watch that? No, it's fine.
Starting point is 00:25:49 I don't have it on. Maverick's game? Are you sure? No, it's fine. I'm taking it. But no, I was thinking like Andy Reid, maybe he's learned and it's like, all right, we don't want to peak too early, which is what some of these teams do. So they'll turn it on today.
Starting point is 00:26:03 I thought it was the day they would turn it on. I honestly don't think like Mahomes is confident going to any of those receivers. He had a head start with Kadarius Toney being out. He didn't have to worry about that disaster show. But even so, they did nothing offensively. Really bad. The Pats receiving yards a year. Edelman had 1,100.
Starting point is 00:26:23 So that's basically where Kelsey is going to end up. Their second receiver, the 2019 Pats, yards a year, Edelman had 1,100. So that's basically where Kelsey's going to end up. Their second receiver, the 2019 Pats, was James White with 645 yards. Right. Dorsett, 397. Jacoby Myers, 359. Josh Gordon, 287. And they traded for Mohamed Sanu midseason. He gave them 207.
Starting point is 00:26:43 When you don't have the weapons, you don't have the weapons. To me, I was thinking in my head, this is more like the 2006 Pats where Brady dragged them to the AFC title game with nobody. It feels more like 2019. They don't have it. They had a great run. This is a five-year run, but somebody's going to beat them.
Starting point is 00:27:00 I still don't really get it because they won the Super Bowl without Tyreek Hill, right? So I don't... It doesn't completely add up, except it all just goes away at once. Well, Kelsey's worse. There's no question. Yeah. He's worse. He's not getting open in the same ways.
Starting point is 00:27:16 And I don't know. They just, they seemed a little more banged up on both sides. They've had some injury luck. And I don't think they hit the draft this year the same way. Last year, they crushed the draft. And all those dudes were helping right away. It doesn't seem like they've had the same success this year. You think if you ask Kelsey if he could be himself from 2020
Starting point is 00:27:34 or himself from this year, what would he say? Does he get Taylor Swift this year? He's himself from 2020. I think he'd probably be in better position. So he doesn't have Taylor Swift in 2020? No Taylor Swift, but he's a good football player. He's super happy.
Starting point is 00:27:54 He's a two-time champion and he's dating Taylor Swift. He's thinking right now. He's probably thinking like, man, I don't know how much more I want to do this. When he whipped the helmet down. Right now they're the three seed, which means they would play Buffalo.
Starting point is 00:28:10 There's two incredible possibilities right now. So we have the 13 seconds rematch because Buffalo's the six seed right now. The other one, Detroit against the Rams. Stafford going to Detroit. Homecoming. Goff going against McVay.
Starting point is 00:28:28 I don't even know. What's the signature game that first weekend? It's the Sunday night game, right? Well, there's a Monday game. Saturday's three in a row. Isn't there a Monday game too? But Monday's not the signature game. No, they usually make that the four or five.
Starting point is 00:28:42 It's like, oh, this is the game. That'll be like... I mean, that the 4-5. It's like, oh, this is the game. That'll be like... I mean, that might be your team. That could be Tampa Bay-Dallas. Yeah, or that could be Monday, too. Because I was thinking Rams-Detroit would be the Saturday night game. Big Rams. Rams-Detroit, and then the Sunday game.
Starting point is 00:28:59 The KC-Buffalo is the biggest audience game. That's Central Castle. Yeah, for sure. Another great one, and now we may have to wait until the second round to see it. Browns-Ravens. Flacco going back to Baltimore. Oh, man.
Starting point is 00:29:13 That's a fun one. If they couldn't get the one, it's the only way. Well, that's not going to happen. Right now, we could get Cleveland-Jacksonville in round one, which I think is the shakiest game, right? Flacco against injured, losing his confidence, Trevor Lawrence.
Starting point is 00:29:35 We'll talk about him later. But I think Cleveland has a chance to be favored in that game. I think you're right. Because Jacksonville has been garbage at home this year anyway I think that's like a Cleveland by minus one and a half something like that
Starting point is 00:29:50 who's betting who's betting Jacksonville that game nobody so Eagles Giants today Tommy DeVito got whacked when was the last time
Starting point is 00:30:02 the Eagles played a good game that you felt like oh the Eagles I'm scared I mean going back to October right pre-Halloween I can't I mean even like they almost lost twice to Washington who doesn't play anyone good anymore I yeah you're right it had to be October it's still weird there's I've said this before but there's a weird flow to that team it's like a lack of urgency they like they't like, oh, they're hustling up. Oh, they changed the pace. It's just everything's like deliberate.
Starting point is 00:30:29 Everything's like seems exhausted. Then they, all right, we'll throw to A.J. Brown. Like everything is so begrudging with that team. I don't really understand it. And then defensively, I mean, even Tyrod Taylor was picking them apart. So that was a bad game for them. Going backwards to yesterday's game.
Starting point is 00:30:49 Flacco is now 3-1. The Browns are 10-5 with Nick Chubb going down week one. Right? That was the Monday night game week one. Yep. And they've started four QBs. And they're 10-5. They're pretty much locked into the five seed unless they fuck up the last two weeks here.
Starting point is 00:31:11 But this Flacco story I think is I think the most unexpected story of the year. I'm not counting injuries like Aaron Rodgers getting hurt, something like that. Flacco coming back from the dead. We were having fun betting against Joe Flacco like three years ago. I don't even remember the last time
Starting point is 00:31:27 he's been truly competent. What's crazy is he just looks good on this team. It makes you wonder like, are there just certain teams or offenses for a quarterback? Because he didn't look like this in the Jets. The play action looks awesome. He's revived Amari Cooper, who murdered a million fantasy teams over the weekend.
Starting point is 00:31:44 But it really feels legitimate when you watch it. I don't think it feels fluky, do you? He has a look on his face. You're right. He's confident as if he had a team meeting and said, Hey, our defense is so good. You're going to allow me one or two picks, and I'm just going to be a gunslinger,
Starting point is 00:32:01 and I'm going to find Amari Cooper or Elijah Moore. And Cooper, when I saw him, you and I both went against him in fantasy and it crushed us. Like he broke the record for receiving yards for a Brown, like, which was like 38 yards. I think before now, two 65, which is crazy, but he might to think about it. He and Cooper could be one of the top three hookups in going into the playoffs. And Baker and Evans could be one of the other two. Like, it's crazy what's going on this year. Doesn't make sense.
Starting point is 00:32:31 They've had injuries on both lines. Yeah. I think Stefanski has to be coach of the year. Yeah. Right? I don't think there's any question now. There's a McVay case that's probably down to those two with two games left.
Starting point is 00:32:44 But I think... Four quarterbacks. Four quarterbacks is nuts. Plus, waiving Josh Dobbs, who probably would have been the fifth one. I mean, this is a team that started PJ Walker for a couple games and then cut him. How many teams have cut a guy that started for them multiple games? And then Garrett, I think, is defensive player of the year.
Starting point is 00:33:06 But they really kicked Houston's ass. That was a fun one, I bet, on Cleveland. Houston's in major trouble when we go to the AFC wildcard stuff. Buffalo's up to the sixth seed. We have Indy, Pittsburgh, Cincy, and Houston all at 8-7, and Denver
Starting point is 00:33:22 screwed up, and they're at 7-8. But Indy is the wild card to lose because they already beat Pittsburgh. I think they beat Cincy too. Pittsburgh's the one that's the most screwed. But Indy has Las Vegas
Starting point is 00:33:38 next week and then Houston at home in week 18. So it seems like they control their destiny. Meanwhile, what were the odds that Vegas would still be alive heading into week 17 in the playoff hunt? Because they're technically still alive and have beaten a couple of these teams.
Starting point is 00:33:54 I saw something that they're at 80% if they win their last two to get in. And it would be, it's not unwinnable games. Like you said, they're at Indy. And then now I'm lost here. What's the last game? The Broncos. Home against the Broncos. So they could be 9-8 and get in.
Starting point is 00:34:11 So the more 9-8 teams, I think the better it is for them. There's also a crazy scenario where KC loses their last two and the Raiders are still technically alive for the AFC West. I was all excited because my big preseason boost for FanDuel
Starting point is 00:34:29 was that San Francisco, KC, Philadelphia all make the playoffs. Parlay, which they boosted to plus 130. And I've hit the last two in basketball, and we hit last year's in football. So this is the one we did together for this year. Nice. And I was all excited to tweet it out today. Hit another one. We're in a four parlay streak. Are we good? Yeah, we're good.
Starting point is 00:34:56 I don't feel awesome with Casey yet. What do we think though about this Antonio Pierce? I know he's getting like a lot of praise and I like the guy from what I see, but you're not going to find a more bizarre stretch of three games that the Raiders have played. They don't score at home against Minnesota. Four days later, they put up 63 against the Chargers. And then today, they don't score any offensive points and beat the Chiefs on the road. I guess it's the coach. I don't know. I don't know what to think of this team.
Starting point is 00:35:19 They could lose by 40 the last two or win by 20. Yeah, I wouldn't. To me, I'd be a little nervous. I always feel like the interim NFL coach is like starting to date somebody right before you go away for freshman year of college. Like, hey, let's have some fun, but you don't want to lock it down. We have no idea if this guy should be somebody that coaches for the next four years. They hated McDaniels so much.
Starting point is 00:35:43 How do you even weigh that variable? You could feel it with the Chargers this week. The Chargers with Easton Stick almost beat Buffalo. And those guys were flying around like it was the Super Bowl. So I don't know how to gauge that. We love Basachi, right? Was that his name? Basachi?
Starting point is 00:35:58 Oh, Pip Osrich. Yeah, for the Raiders. Special teams coach. Vegas is somewhere in there. But if the playoffs started right now, Miami against Indianapolis, KC against Buffalo, Jacksonville, Cleveland, and the AFC,
Starting point is 00:36:14 and then in the NFC, it would be Philly, Seattle, Detroit Rams, Tampa Bay, Dallas. Admit it. Deep down, you're like a whiff scared of the Bucs. Not that deep.
Starting point is 00:36:29 Not very deep at all. Like you do. Like one of those tiny kid shovels to get there. I think three weeks ago, that line was probably seven, seven and a half. And now it's probably three and a half, four. Cowboys favorite, right? Probably Vegas. Yeah. Yeah, I don't love that. Oh, it's in Tampa, though. It's Probably Vegas. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:36:46 Yeah, I don't love that. Oh, it's in Tampa, though. It's in Tampa, yeah. Well, Dallas will be favored. So it'll be somewhere between three and a half and four and a half. Do you know what they signed Mayfield for before the season? What was it?
Starting point is 00:36:59 I don't know. What do you think it was? Take a guess. Was it more than what I lost tonight on the Chiefs in 49ers? It was exactly the same number. It was one year, $8.5 million. A little less.
Starting point is 00:37:11 That's the signing of the year. Yeah, that's great. I mean, he's been with the 8th, 9th, 10th best quarterback in the league this year. He beat Trevor Lawrence pretty badly. There's excuses now about he's got a shoulder sprain. I don't know how that explains the last few weeks with him.
Starting point is 00:37:29 And they're probably going to, I would say, have to give him a new contract. That's up to Mike Evans. So this might be one of those fool's gold situations where you're like, all right, everybody back, here's money. And then you go six and 11 next year. But the Trevor Lawrence thing, Lombardi talked about this on his
Starting point is 00:37:46 podcast last week and I wrote it down wondering about how he'd look this weekend. He looked terrible. Would you pay him? He's going to be due for the $250 million extension. That's this year?
Starting point is 00:38:01 Has he shown you basically anything to make you want to give that money? I was thinking like, oh, NBA, I'm bringing it in. It reminds me of the Bradley Beal situation a little bit that Washington was in, where it was like, ah, he's our franchise guy. It's the going rate. You got to pay him. And nobody felt good about it.
Starting point is 00:38:20 I don't know how you'd feel good about giving Trevor Lawrence $260 million. It is very weird, right? Because we see all these backups come in and the Tommy DeVitos, and they leave you with very little hope. But then you see, like we just talked about, Baker and Flacco and how these guys, maybe if they're in the right situation, they could thrive. Maybe a Calvin Ridley really turns things around for them.
Starting point is 00:38:42 So I don't know where... I don't know. I would say no right now to signing him. You'd say no, and then by February, you're going, well, he didn't have his left tackle two different stretches during the year. He lost Christian Kirk halfway through the year. He lost Zay Jones right before their biggest game of December. You could start making excuses left and right.
Starting point is 00:39:06 They're going to end up paying them. Well, don't you just tag them? You tag them one year. You do what you do with all these guys. And then you see. Well, wouldn't they get in a situation like what Baltimore was in with Lamar? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:39:20 Where you're kind of like, hey, if somebody wants to make an offer, but nobody really wants to spend time making an offer because it's like the Lamar situation, which has been remembered a little bit incorrectly as the months go along. You could have gotten them, but it was up to them whether they wanted to take the two first round. They could match. And if you believe the real conspiracy theorists that everyone was in collusion and so they weren't going to allow anybody but the Ravens to get them anyway.
Starting point is 00:39:49 No, I would love to make fun of the Atlantas. And who screwed up the most by not getting Lamar? Washington. Washington. Atlanta, Washington, Carolina were the three. Because Carolina could have just gotten Lamar and instead they traded all that draft capital for Bray Sion. But we've never seen, I guess the last time this happened, ironically, was with Flacco. When Flacco won the Super Bowl.
Starting point is 00:40:12 And remember, all of a sudden he was due for that big contract. And all of a sudden he was making like, what was it? It was like $25 million a year or some crazy number at the time. Got $100 million plus contract. And everyone was like, oh my God, that's so much money for Joe Flacco. And it didn't turn out that great. So this situation, he's young enough and you can make excuses and you can point to the Chargers come back last year.
Starting point is 00:40:33 But to me, he has not been one of the best 15 quarterbacks I've watched this year. I would not put him in the top half. Would you? God, no. And this was the year to break out, right? This was the year that he should have jumped to the top five. It's insane. Speaking of quarterbacks with signs of life,
Starting point is 00:40:50 Bryce Young almost beat... So I had a rollercoaster ride of a day on Saturday. I had Panthers-Packers. I was convinced the Panthers had a chance to beat the Packers. Bryce was terrible for the first hour of the game. Just missing guys. You did it great. You killed him on our text exchange,
Starting point is 00:41:06 and then you praised him on Twitter. That's the way to do it. I killed him a couple times on Twitter. Oh, on Twitter too? I took a couple shots at Twitter too. He fell way behind and then got super comfortable in the second half. And all of a sudden, it was like, this is it.
Starting point is 00:41:22 This is what they saw when they gave this guy, it's against Green Bay's defense and Joe Barry, who I was thinking out like Ben Johnson is the hot coaching candidate, head coaching candidate, the line's offensive coordinator. Joe Barry is the cold head coaching candidate. He's not hot
Starting point is 00:41:40 at all. He's frigid. But Bryce was picking them apart, and they come down, and they tied the game. Now there's two minutes left. The Packers are driving down. It's third down or whatever. They chuck it down to Dobbs, who's done nothing the whole game. Catches it,
Starting point is 00:41:56 rolls over, and loses the ball. Most of the time, this isn't a catch, but this time, it was like he caught the ball in his back, and then he rolled over, but it didn't count. And all of a sudden it was Packers that kept the ball and they kicked the field goal, but they almost beat them. But if I'm the Panthers, at least I have some hope now. And they're still going to end up with the
Starting point is 00:42:19 draft. I agree. They have two linemen in the bottom tent of all linemen. So it's not all Bryce Young's fault. You got to give him a minute to survive. But that's why I love this sport. I really do. Everybody's trying. The Panthers are trying.
Starting point is 00:42:37 Not that they would get a pick anyway, but they're a bad team. They could have gone 2-15, whatever. This Mavericks game, notwithstanding, the NFL is the best. Everybody's trying, Simmons. Well, then you have the Pats, who, let's take a break and we'll talk about them. After decades of shaky hands caused by debilitating tremors, Sunnybrook
Starting point is 00:42:58 was the only hospital in Canada who could provide Andy with something special. Three neurosurgeons, two scientists, one movement disorders coordinator, 58 answered questions, two focused ultrasound procedures, one specially developed helmet, thousands of high intensity focused ultrasound waves, zero incisions. And that very same day, two steady hands. From innovation to action, Sunnybrook is special. Learn more at sunnybrook.ca slash special alright so Kyle we had some family over
Starting point is 00:43:27 for Christmas Eve including nephew Kyle and intentionally didn't put the Pats game on but was kind of monitoring it they take a big lead
Starting point is 00:43:34 and I'm just like you gotta be kidding me like this we're really we're gonna screw this one up we're gonna fall out of the top three
Starting point is 00:43:42 because Belichick who might be leaving in three weeks and he's on his way out, is just going to grab a couple more wins with Bailey Zappi and then tell us to fuck off. And then Wilson comes back. Kyle and I now leave the table and
Starting point is 00:43:55 we kind of sneak over to an adjacent room that has a TV and we're watching and the Broncos come down. They score. They get the two point. And this is it. We, we've done the job. This is the most honorable loss you could have with the Pats. Now Bailey Zappi's going to take us home and throw a pick or get strip-sacked. Nope.
Starting point is 00:44:15 Brought him down. Our rookie kicker, who is the worst kicker in the league, who had already missed an extra point in a field goal, and it's like, well, at least this guy will fuck up for us. Nope. 56 right down the middle. Perfect. In the altitude. And it knocked us out of the top three.
Starting point is 00:44:31 And Washington, who came back to almost beat the Jets and didn't. So now the Pats are fourth. And now, you know what? I'm at peace with it now. Good. I'm done. This was a dumb bit anyway. Maybe Jaden Daniels would be better than the other two guys.
Starting point is 00:44:44 I'm fine with it. Whatever. Yeah. How do you know? And by the way, Kyle, turn the TikTok camera on yourself for a second. You're rooting for the Patriots in this situation. You could pretend you're not, but you are. I promise you he wasn't.
Starting point is 00:44:56 Let him answer, Kyle. No, he wasn't. He was not rooting for them. No, I was not. The worst part was that all the women in our life, basically the grandmasmas were asking why we wanted them to lose when we all knew so we had to then explain it too so that was not good like wait but i don't understand and we're like i don't want to talk about it anymore and they're like but
Starting point is 00:45:13 just tell me why you want them to lose it wasn't good well i'm not a grandma i'm not a grandma and i need you to explain it to me like you could tell the difference between drake may or caleb williams or jayden dan I mean, come on at this point. Don't you feel bad that that old man is freezing? You think he wants to lose those games on the sideline? No, he's trying to catch you. I get it. It was actually funny to try to explain this to Kyle's wife who knows nothing about sports.
Starting point is 00:45:39 And she didn't understand why we were rooting against our team. So we're trying to explain to her. I said, this whole Pat season was like being on a seven-hour date with the worst person you've ever been on a date with. But at the end of the date, there's a chance you could win $50,000. You're just trying to make it through the date, make it through the date, make it through the date because there's this prize at the end that will at least make
Starting point is 00:46:05 the shittiness worth it. And then at the six-hour mark, the waiter came over and said, we've decided not to give the $50,000 up. That's pretty good. That's as good. Kyle, she like semi understood that, I felt like. I think that you landed
Starting point is 00:46:21 the plane with that one. I think she got it. She's like, Kyle, does Bill need money? Does he really need $50,000? What is that about? I don't understand that. What happened? Yeah, so it's really hard to explain to non-sports people the process of rooting against your team.
Starting point is 00:46:38 But the thing is, when you get one of these guys, five years later, you don't remember this season. Like, you know't remember this season. The year the Celtics, we tanked that whole year and we ended up with the fifth pick anyway. We weren't trying to get Durant, but we were able to trade him for in the KG trade or in the Ray Allen trade.
Starting point is 00:46:56 I don't remember anything about that season now. I remember being miserable when it was happening, but they just kind of come and go. I would say the one thing that was kind of cool was reading the stories the next day and seeing some of the clips. This team really is playing for Belichick. It's not nothing. And I don't understand whether it's the guys that they've either
Starting point is 00:47:19 drafted or signed to come play, if it's a certain character type, or whether they really like the guy and respect him and his accomplishments but they they're still going not a lot some of these teams fold as we hit this part of the season but they have not i mean think about belichick in your bad date equation like he must be like man i did so much for this team and these fans and now everybody's rooting against me now they're taking my fifty thousand dollar prize away from me which wins record. I know. But the thing is,
Starting point is 00:47:47 I still want him to come back as coach. And I'm still hoping that that's how it plays out. And that would be... So there's two ways to look at either. He's trying to establish a foundation with the guys we have because he feels like he's coming back next year or he doesn't give a shit because he's leaving.
Starting point is 00:48:03 But I still feel like him giving up the player personnel stuff and just being the coach is how this should land. He's better than any other coach they're going to get. A couple other things from the weekend before we go to Guest Alliance. Lions-Vikings, did you watch a lot of that game or were you busy? Yeah, it was fun. Did you see enough football this weekend or did you have too much family stuff?
Starting point is 00:48:25 I think it beat me up a little bit. I think too much, actually. I would never say that, but it started Thursday. What is this? Monday, it's still going? Right. Another lucky Lions win. The Lions continue to leave. That's, I think, the
Starting point is 00:48:41 NFC, other than Philly, the leave you cold team as you watch them. Nick Mullins had four picks. Right. And Minnesota still almost won. They lost Hawkinson during the game. They lost Addison during the game. They have the worst set of running backs, probably, of all the possible playoff teams.
Starting point is 00:48:57 And they were still hanging around, hanging around, hanging around with a chance to win. And Mullins just killed them. I went through the games. I think they'd have a chance to be 11-ins just killed them. I went through the games. I think they'd have a chance to be 11-4 with Cousins. Because they had, since he went out,
Starting point is 00:49:10 they lost to Denver by one. They lost to the Bears by two. They lost to Cincy by three in a game they had last week and they blew and then they lost this Lions game. I really feel like they could have won all those games.
Starting point is 00:49:22 And it's weird to think that Cousins, this guy who was like Mr. 500 and nobody took that seriously, really until the quarterback show on Netflix. But now it's like that could have been one of the key injuries of the year. When he went down, I was like, oh my God, Minnesota, we lost a possible division champ. I don't think anyone thought that, but I actually think they could have won the division championship.
Starting point is 00:49:42 Yeah, well, I mean, last year they won all their one score games. Right. And then this year they went, the only pushback I'll give you is cousins was on his way to losing a lot of one score game. So maybe luck wasn't on his side, but yeah, there are specific games you think he could have pulled out.
Starting point is 00:49:56 Uh, well, he definitely would have won that 12, 10 bears game. Yeah. I think he would have won the one last week against Cincy and, this one, this lion's game. And this Lions game, definitely 100%. I thought they were going to win Minnesota.
Starting point is 00:50:09 They were down 10. I checked that live line. I'm like, all right, I'm going to put a few on it. What the hell does it matter? I'm losing anyway. And then what was it? Fourth and 21 when he completed to Jefferson? I was like, wow.
Starting point is 00:50:22 This team could go far. And then just one underthrown pass too many. Jefferson had three absolutely unbelievable plays in that game that made me think like Tyreek wins the best receiver title this year, but Jefferson's not far away. Not going away, yeah. The Bills Chargers, we mentioned that earlier, the new coach theory.
Starting point is 00:50:43 So they covered, does the new coach theory, is it for covering games or for actually winning outright? I couldn't remember. I think it's covering. But it was a couple things, though, because it's a scary proposition. But when the team wins by 20 the week before, which the Bills did to the Cowboys, team loses by 20, really 40 as the Chargers did to the Raiders.
Starting point is 00:51:05 You got to take the underdog in that situation and you add the new coach thing to it. And it didn't make any sense, but the Chargers were... And by the way, it seemed like a pro-Charger crowd there for the first time ever. I don't know. I thought this was going to be a
Starting point is 00:51:21 50,000 Bills fans came here for the holiday break, but I don't think that was the case at all. So that game left me. I know the Bills coming off the emotional win the week before, but that game was a little scary for the whole. Although the Bills have figured it out. All systems go. Look out.
Starting point is 00:51:42 I mean, they couldn't have been luckier to win that game. The last one we got to talk about just quick is Steelers-Bengals. Just from a standpoint of Mason Rudolph, I made this case when we did Million Dollar Picks on Thursday because we took the Steelers, that if you went back and looked at his 2019, it's pretty good except for that one Browns game when he threw four picks
Starting point is 00:52:02 and then Miles Garrett hit him with the helmet. I think that was the same game. But he was pretty good. Why wouldn't they have played him over Trubisky the last month? I don't understand it. How is he not better than Trubisky? Trubisky, three years ago, we knew Trubisky was terrible. It's looking a little like coach malpractice here, right?
Starting point is 00:52:20 Like they operated on the wrong knee. Like, no, no, no, you circled the wrong area there. Yeah, and the Rudolph jokes are great, no, no, no. You circled the wrong area there. Yeah. And the Rudolph jokes are great. Everybody keep them coming with Christmas. But yeah, he went out there and he crushed them. I mean, they didn't have any sign of life in them, Cincinnati. So, you know, Pittsburgh, he's got to do it, Tomlin.
Starting point is 00:52:37 He's got to be eight and seven going into the last two weeks every year. Well, it's not lined up for him this year. No. They got to play at Well, it's not lined up for them this year. No. They got to play at Seattle, at Baltimore. At Baltimore, yeah. Last two. They lost.
Starting point is 00:52:50 They need help. They need Indy to lose. They need Houston to lose. They just need a lot of stuff going on. And then the... Our stupid Saints. I just want the bet.
Starting point is 00:53:02 I just want resolution. I just... I almost want to let the bet go. I want to bring Dr. Bivork in and just like, can we kill the bet I just want resolution I almost want to let the bet go I want to bring Dr. Kevorkian in and just like can we kill the bet but they're playing at Tampa this week and then they're home for Atlanta and they actually have their destiny in their own hands they could beat Tampa this week
Starting point is 00:53:16 win at home against Atlanta and that garbage Saints team could be 9-8 and we win our NFC South bet I can't stand them my fantasy week starts out with Kamara who puts up the 3.5 points to get me coming out of the gate against Hensch. I lost in the semifinals to Hensch who got Amari Cooper 40.5 points, whatever the fuck it was.
Starting point is 00:53:39 Hensch loses Burrow. He lost Nick Chubb. And then he lost Chase just for this week, which I think were his three guys that he paid for. And then I dominated our league the whole year. I dominated it. And then Hench beat me in the semifinals. And I'm out again.
Starting point is 00:53:56 I don't want to stir the pot, but someone referred to you versus Hench as the insufferable. Who was the someone? It wasn't me. I don't want to start trouble. What's that? Insufferable. No, it wasn't. It wasn't Damoshek. If you keep
Starting point is 00:54:15 asking me, I'll tell you eventually. The insufferable is pretty funny though, I thought. I need Hench to win now because he's going against Damoshek. I know. You called him out. This is tough. Now, if Damoshek wins, I'm not even going to the draft next year. I'm not even giving him the satisfaction
Starting point is 00:54:33 of having the chance to vote me out. He should kick Jon Hamm out. Jon Hamm kicked him out. That's how it would go, right? Whatever it'll be, it'll be the wrong move. Stupid. I'll never win the vote out league this is my best chance I had the best team
Starting point is 00:54:50 this year and I still lost I don't know what else to do well you had all Eagles not that that killed you today but is that is that a good no what killed me was was the Camara
Starting point is 00:55:00 and yeah what was the other guy I had it's just it was one of those. You could just tell. I'm watching. I forgot who had Amari Cooper. He starts
Starting point is 00:55:12 the game with the 75 yard touchdown. I'm like, wait, does Hench have Amari Cooper? Of course he does. I played him against Connor in our league. How was that? It's the worst. Fantasy's the worst. Don't ever get involved, kids. Let's do, I guess, the Lions.
Starting point is 00:55:29 Thursday game. I love that we have a Thursday game. The schedule's been relentless. Even you and I, who love football as much as anyone, even I'm like, you know what? I'm good.
Starting point is 00:55:41 I could take like a week off. Browns are home for the Jets. The Jets had an all-time hilarious... First they announced the extensions. Or not announced, but it leaked. Salah and Joe Douglas are coming back because they did an awesome job this year.
Starting point is 00:55:58 All they did was hold the team hostage, pretend that Rodgers was coming back, not fix the quarterback situation when there are a million different options. Salah in three years has shown me no evidence that he's a real head coach. This, to me, is the sequel to the Brandon Staley thing last year.
Starting point is 00:56:13 Brandon Staley loses to the Jaguars, and it's like, this is it. We should be done with this, right? They're like, nope, he's coming back. And it was even worse. And the Salah thing, I don't... Well, I'm with you, but I think this... They bring in Hackett as the offensive coordinator
Starting point is 00:56:25 who's been terrible? Oh, that's terrible. Come on. I think the extension thing is like the Madden curse. I feel like more guys get fired months after an extension than ever before. Kingsbury got fired. It was another one recently.
Starting point is 00:56:39 Belichick could be gone. He signed an extension over the offseason. But yeah, that's a joke. I have the Browns minus seven over the Jets. I went higher than that. I said seven and a half. You win. It's six and a half.
Starting point is 00:56:54 Oh, that went down. You know we're going to want it. You know we're all going to want that. I sent you Guess the Lions this morning because I wanted to bet that Browns game. That's the good news. The bad news is I bet it with the Niners. 49ers? Yeah. Saturday, your team, that's it.
Starting point is 00:57:12 This is New Year's Eve? No, no, no. Sunday's New Year's Eve. I wish we had more than one game. Why didn't they give us multiple games? Well, this is bad because guess how many 1pm eastern games there are on Sunday
Starting point is 00:57:27 oh no too many 10 how are we supposed to keep that thank god for youtube multi-view yeah 10 Cowboys Lions I'm giving this the straight minus three
Starting point is 00:57:46 you know I said two and a half because I don't like the way we're playing Vandal said four and a half and now it's five and a half so that's people just don't really understand I wonder if the thinking behind
Starting point is 00:58:02 it is you know what the Cowboys want to sit everybody next week, so they have to put up a good showing. The Lions, a little hungover from their first division title in half a century, whatever. Yeah. And they really kind of don't need it as much because they're not going to get a one seed.
Starting point is 00:58:20 But five and a half is a lot. Oh, yeah, you're right. Detroit. So Detroit's basically locked into the three seed unless Philly blows a game here. Yeah. And Philly's not going to blow a game here because they got,
Starting point is 00:58:34 don't they have the Giants in the last week? Giants and the Cardinals. Yeah. Yeah. So the Lions are locked into three. So actually this line, you could argue might keep going up. I guess.
Starting point is 00:58:43 All right. Let's stay away from it and just watch as it goes up. Sunday's marquee game is the Ravens-Dolphins. This is either three or three and a half. I bet three, or I guess three when I say the line, so I'm not going to change. Ravens minus three. You sure?
Starting point is 00:59:00 You could change if you want. No, I'm fine. I said three also, and it is three. Boy, that's a trap, isn't it? That's a trap. They just beat up on the 49ers. They look like the best team. They're a physical team, which Miami hates.
Starting point is 00:59:19 Why is this only three? Mostar was another guy that started in the vote-out league. Yeah. Gets the touchdown. Second quarter, tackled, limps off. They showed the replay.
Starting point is 00:59:32 The guy's helmet goes right in the side of his knee. It's just, I fucking hate fantasy football. I hope fantasy football dies in a fire. It's the worst.
Starting point is 00:59:39 Makes me so unhappy. I met the Celtics-Lakers game today with the Eagles-Giants game on my phone just in case the Eagles could putakers game today with the Eagles Giants game on my phone just in case the Eagles could put up 80 points in the game
Starting point is 00:59:49 insufferable insufferable you know what maybe that person would like if we weren't in his fantasy league maybe that he could be a bunch of people that don't say anything during the draft. I'll tell you off the air who it was. See if that's more fun.
Starting point is 01:00:12 The watchables. Only three, unfortunately. And one of them isn't even really a watchable except for the stakes. Bucks Saints in Tampa Bay. This is about the only reason Derek Carr would be in a watchables game if a division title
Starting point is 01:00:28 is at stake. I had Bucs by three in Tampa. I had four and a half. The Bucs are better than the Saints. We made a bad bet. Tampa is just rising as the Saints are meandering around 500 the whole time. We can't move the ball. We, the Saints. It's
Starting point is 01:00:43 two and a half. You get it. But what the hell? Why is that two and a half? Ten days off for the Saints. Maybe they feel like the Bucs are a little fraudulent. I don't know. Good Lord. That line will get to three.
Starting point is 01:00:59 If that's that line on Thursday, I'm betting the Bucs. Wait, what happened the first time they played? I thought the Bucs beat them the first time, right? 26-9 on October 1st. Bucs won. Bucs win, yeah. It was convincing.
Starting point is 01:01:14 What the hell? That's weird. Seahawks are home for the Steelers. Seahawks with a dramatic comeback win on Monday night led by Drew Locke and then another dramatic comeback win led by Geno Smith six days later
Starting point is 01:01:33 against a Tennessee team that's 5-10 and feels like they're three plays away from being 8-7 although they did win that stupid Monday night game Did you take them to win the AFC South also? I did. Or was that just me? I did.
Starting point is 01:01:46 How are they the only team not in the mix? They look just as good as those others. My whole case was I don't like the Jaguars. I don't believe it. I didn't like the Jaguars, Chargers, and Lions, and I basically went two for three with that. But the Jaguars somehow have a chance to win the division anyway. It feels like the Jags could screw this up, though,
Starting point is 01:02:03 because even this, they play the Panthers, which we'll get to later in Poopfecta, but from what I've seen from the Jags the last couple weeks and what I've seen from the Panthers,
Starting point is 01:02:11 I think the Panthers could give them a game. Yeah. I can see the Jags completely choking that one. I mean, the thing is, if they get by that, they have the tiebreaker
Starting point is 01:02:21 over these other teams, right? The Texans and Colts. So they kind of just need to get that one. They really... But they have the tiebreaker over these other teams, right? The Texans and Colts. So they kind of just need to get that one. They really have a losing record now in American soil. Right. They're 6-7 in America and 2-0 in London.
Starting point is 01:02:36 Seahawks-Steelers, it's in Seattle and I have the Seahawks by 3. Yeah, you're edging me out of all these. I said 2.5. It is 3.5. Hmm. It's a good one. One of the three thanks NFL late afternoon games. Is it QB confession time?
Starting point is 01:02:54 I kind of think Mason Ross is pretty good. Oh, come on. Slow down. He's not bad. He's not bad. He woke up George Pickens. I guess you could say that. He's unquestionably better than Trubisky.
Starting point is 01:03:08 Oh, yeah. And I actually think he might be better than Pickett. If it's Pickett limping around versus Mason Rudolph, I'm not playing Pickett yet. Yeah, I don't know what anybody sees in practice. Is it just like you give the reps to the one guy you want to be quarterback? And that's why a guy like Rudolph never rises to the one guy you want to be quarterback. That's why a guy like Rudolph never rises to the top because it's obvious to all of
Starting point is 01:03:28 us as soon as we see him in action for 10 minutes, then he's the guy. Mitch must be unbelievable in practice. That's the only explanation. They must watch him do drills and be like, oh man, fucking Mitch was slinging it today. It doesn't seem to matter that when we get to a game...
Starting point is 01:03:43 Maybe he buys the linemen good gifts. Maybe he buys the best gifts for the linemen, even when he's not playing. Chiefs-Bengals. I think I sent you the lines. I had this at seven. I'm going to take that down a half point. I'm going to say Chiefs by six and a half.
Starting point is 01:04:04 That's a good move then, because I had eight and it by six and a half. That's a good move then because I had eight and it's seven and a half. Why did I not just leave it? God damn it. You love the Chiefs on a teaser. Oh my God. I don't. I will not. No money will go to the Chiefs for me for the rest of this year. I'm out.
Starting point is 01:04:19 They're banned. They're kicked out of my betting bar. What a garbage, garbage performance. I think the Bengals could hang around in this game if they have Chase, don't you? I mean, it depends. Yeah, is he due back? If he's able to play. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:04:36 Fairly watchables. I got four. Falcons at Chicago. That was the Falcons were the one game this week other than tonight's Ravens game, that I just was, I just thought the Colts were going to go in there and move the ball up and down,
Starting point is 01:04:51 and Arthur Smith, he was done, and Heineke, I thought, gave them a nice, they had a little pizzazz. They got Robinson going, they really ran the ball.
Starting point is 01:05:01 They looked like the team that I kept thinking the Falcons were going to be for like two months there. Like this 40 carry, three running backs, like just either pounding the ball or play action. Pitts made a couple plays. I thought they played a really good game.
Starting point is 01:05:15 And that's another one. Why did it take 15, 16 weeks to decide on Heineke over Ritter? Three times, I think. How many times has he been benched, Ritter? Yeah. Leave the better guy in there already. And the Bears, solid game against the Cardinals. It was amazing.
Starting point is 01:05:31 But I think the Falcons are going to be favored. I have the Falcons minus one and a half at the Bears. Oh, Falcons one and a half. I said Bears minus two and a half. It's Bears minus three. Wow. That's the most off I've been in a while. They love... You know what that means.
Starting point is 01:05:48 You're going the other way? I'm probably right. Oh, you're probably right. Yeah, they... Fandel loves the Bears. Any chance they get to make them a three-point favor, they do it. That line's moving.
Starting point is 01:06:04 We haven't... Have you noticed we haven't had a bad weather week yet with football? I know. Where's the good snow coming? That's like a staple is the terrible weather week. That screws up all the picks we have. Texans, Titans. It's in Houston. Probably CJ Stroud this week, I'm guessing.
Starting point is 01:06:25 Yeah, I hope so. If he doesn't play this week, then you start to get concerned. There's something more going on. I have Texans minus two and a half. I picked this exactly. It's three and a half. You're coming back on me. You're up five-four.
Starting point is 01:06:45 So you said there's 10 early games? 10 early, yeah. I'm going to say right now that on my multi-view, Texans-Titans will not be one of the choices. Oh, is that right? Yeah. Don't be hasty here. Think this through.
Starting point is 01:06:59 I'm going to say, so right now, let me do it right now. I think there's a watchable. I think you missed a watchable, and it's not your fault. I think it became a watchable today. Vegas and Colts? I put that in the fairly watchables.
Starting point is 01:07:17 Oh, okay. 10 o'clock games. 10 o'clock Pacific time for people listening. Pat's Bills Dolphins Ravens which will be a TV game definitely
Starting point is 01:07:30 so I don't think that'll be in the multi-view unless you have YouTube TV Falcons Bears Raiders Colts Panthers Jaguars Titans Texans Rams Giants
Starting point is 01:07:40 Cardinals Eagles Saints Bucks 49ers Commanders. Jesus Christ. It's too many. What are they doing? Run this by us. So it's got to be Dolphins, Ravens I think will be a cable game.
Starting point is 01:08:00 So it's probably Pat's Bills. You got to put Saints Bucks just because. Saints Bucks, Falcons Bears, and then. Vegas Indy. Yeah, or Rams Giants. But yeah, Vegas Indy because the Rams are going to be in there either way. Both have a shot. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:08:16 Somehow that's not that fun of a multi-view. No, I know. I guess. I'll still have a good time with it. Yeah, we'll figure it out. Rams Giants. just mentioned that one. Rams at the Giants. What do we make of the Rams giving Baltimore
Starting point is 01:08:33 everything they could handle and looking even better than the Niners did against the Ravens? Peter Schrager pointed this out on Twitter and I was like, good point, Peter. I'll be crediting you as I steal it for the podcast. But the Rams have been really good now for four
Starting point is 01:08:49 or five weeks. And they end with the Niners. The Niners probably didn't think they needed that game. But what's interesting about it is, maybe the Rams don't need that game. Could the Niners get lucky and like Stafford sits?
Starting point is 01:09:06 Because the Rams will have locked up a... What do they care if they're 5, 6, or 7? You know, 6 seed? Whatever. So the Rams would be the 6 seed. If Seattle wins though... Yeah, I guess it doesn't really matter. But they want momentum.
Starting point is 01:09:20 I'm sure they want to go 10 and 7. I'm sure McVay's having a great time with this team. I think the Rams are legit good. I can't believe this team, honestly. I can't praise them enough. I thought they were going to be horrible. I picked them for worst record.
Starting point is 01:09:32 Yeah. All the quarterbacks that went down, the 34-year-old with a spinal injury coming into the season, made it to the finish line. Knock wood. You know, two weeks left. And Kupp is injured and they have two superstars
Starting point is 01:09:48 emerge on the offensive end. It's really something else. Stafford wins a playoff game in Detroit. Round one. That's kind of the final Hall of Fame piece for him, it feels like. He was there
Starting point is 01:10:03 with the yards. They won the Super Bowl. He's probably already in anyway. Mm-hmm. But then to have one more year where it's like, and then you go and you have the dramatic winning in Detroit.
Starting point is 01:10:13 Mm-hmm. What a weird game that's going to be for the Lions fans, right? They had this horrible decade where, you know, it was him and Calvin Johnson and nothing else
Starting point is 01:10:23 and just dysfunction and bad picks and bad signings. Yeah. I guess you're right. I was thinking Flacco. What does he have to do to make the haul? Does he have to win the Super Bowl? To me, he's in already. If Eli's in, Flacco playing the greatest four-round playoff
Starting point is 01:10:40 of any quarterback ever, he's at least on the cusp. Probably the same if he beats Baltimore for sure. His whole team. That's a fun one. I don't think he has the stats like Stafford has. Stafford's 6th or 7th all-time passing yards.
Starting point is 01:11:02 Yeah, I think so. He's way up there in all these places. Eagles, Cardinals I have for fairly watchables because I think the Eagles are just, I always kind of want to know what's going on with them, and it seems like whoever they play is somewhere in the game. I guessed minus 12.5 before when I sent this to you, but I'm changing that because of the way that it looks today.
Starting point is 01:11:23 I'm going to go 11.5. Oh, she kept going. I said nine, and it's nine and a half before when I sent this to you, but I'm changing that because of the way that it looks today. I'm going to go 11 and a half. Oh, she kept going. I said nine and it's nine and a half. Arizona's kind of frisky. They're a weird team. I know they're coming east in the cold. Different story. Well, they're locked in now to the number two.
Starting point is 01:11:43 And they're also locked in. Yeah, it looks like I'm going to actually win. I think I lost most of my futures this year that I bet real money on, but one that is going to hit is Arizona four and a half for wins.
Starting point is 01:11:58 Oh, that's good. I adjusted that to five and a half on the part. Yeah, that's good though. Second pick, Dale Kyler, a shitload of money, and they seem like they're a tradeback candidate. That's why with the Pats, maybe they just trade up and give up a future first if they really love Drake Bay. Who knows?
Starting point is 01:12:17 All right, last fairly watchable is Colts Raiders. I put this in the Vegas zone. I have Colts by five. I said two and a half. I said two and a half. It's three and a half. You won that one too. Yeah. Jesus.
Starting point is 01:12:31 Coming back. Six to five. That's a good one. Antonio Pierce. Although they could get crushed too, the Raiders. That quarterback shows me nothing. Which Carson Daly girlfriend from the early 2000s would you compare Antonio Pierce's Raiders run to?
Starting point is 01:12:50 Just in terms of not thinking it should last more than a couple weeks, but now maybe you're wondering if it will. Tara Reid? I want to say Tara Reid because it seems like the funniest to say, but maybe Tracy Chapman. Did he take Tracy Chapman? No, I just want to see your face. I wouldn't believe that.
Starting point is 01:13:12 Carson was having a good run there for four or five years. He really did. Our friend Daniel ruined it. Baby, you can't even imagine baby. Poop Fecta. Bill's Pats is a Poop Fectaa game would you put that as a fairly watchable I'd probably promote that yeah it's on your multi
Starting point is 01:13:31 I'll promote that one to fairly watchable I have the Bills by 11.5 over the Pats you're going to get this I said 11 and it's 12 yeah I like the Pats I mean he's going to play hard. I mean, is there a better spoiler coach than Belichick? No.
Starting point is 01:13:50 I'm upset that we gave up Jack Jones, but I also understand it because he just couldn't be in a team. At least this Pats team. He goes to the Raiders, and he's with Pierce, and they have a history. His pick six is back. I think that guy's genuinely talented. It just wasn't going to happen in the Pats.
Starting point is 01:14:07 Yeah. But Raiders makes a lot more sense. Poop fact that Jags Panthers in Jacksonville. I have Jacksonville by eight and I'm going to bet the Panthers. Yeah, you got this exactly. I said eight and a half. It is eight.
Starting point is 01:14:20 So you're back. That could be a money line bet. I think you're up seven, six. That could be a Moneyline bet. I think you're up 7-6. That could be a... Hearing rumors Doug Peterson might not be as safe as people thought in Jacksonville, like an Ian Rappaport 12-15 tweet right before the games. Niners at Washington.
Starting point is 01:14:42 Wait, did we do Rams-Giants? Did we pick Rams Giants I guess we never actually picked it we talked about it never picked it I had Rams by 7.5 over the Giants I said 6 it's 6.5 so I get it I love the Rams
Starting point is 01:15:00 Niners Washington I have Niners by 11.5 out Washington we both had 11.5 out Washington we both had 11.5 it's 13.5 oof well hold on so there's two left yep
Starting point is 01:15:13 you made a big comeback were we tied? 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 we are tied Broncos Chargers at Denver. Denver's still
Starting point is 01:15:28 mathematically alive somehow. They should be embarrassed that they lost to Billy Zappi. Billy Zappi, four and two, is a starter with the Pats. Do you know that? It's bizarre. No. Yeah, crazy. I have the Broncos by seven over Easton Stick and Coach Giff and the Chargers.
Starting point is 01:15:43 I went low. I have a lot more confidence in Easton Stick. I Giff and the Chargers? I went low. I have a lot more confidence in Easton Stick. I said five. It's six and a half. You get it. You have the lead going into the last pick. I'm hitting this. Vikings in Minnesota hosting the Green Bay Packers.
Starting point is 01:16:03 Vikings by two and a half is the answer. I had Vikings by two, and half is the answer. I had Vikings by two and I'm going to check it. Right now, Fandel has it at Vikings one and a half. Oh, you mother... I get that.
Starting point is 01:16:15 Take the tie. Another tie for us. Jesus. Put that right in the Tic Tacs zone. Nick Mullins needed some Tic Tacs. I am dubbing
Starting point is 01:16:23 Vikings Packers an official loser leaves town match. Right? Will anyone see it? That's the New Year's Eve. That's the night game. New Year's Eve. It's a perfect New Year's Eve game.
Starting point is 01:16:35 Yeah. Yeah, the Minnesota 7-8. The Packers are 7-8. Oh, yeah. That's an official you're going home at the end of the match. Of course. It's a dog collar match. of course it's a dog collar match let's make it a dog collar match
Starting point is 01:16:47 with some barbed wire I love it alright time for parent corner today's parent corner is brought to you by CarMax
Starting point is 01:16:58 because as any parent knows there are always two things we can't get enough of time and money that's why CarMax is making it fast and easy to get pre-qualified for your next car. So you can get personalized terms and shop within your monthly budget with no impact to your credit score. Save time, start shopping for
Starting point is 01:17:16 a car you love and get pre-qualified today. CarMax, the way car buying should be. See details at CarMax.com. What do you got, Sal? All right. So we're coming off Christmas Day here. And you know how it is. You wrap the gifts all night and they open it up in like 45 seconds and it's very unsatisfying. And you see like Nintendo Switches
Starting point is 01:17:38 and watches and jerseys. My nine-year-old gets an Alvin Kamara jersey, which is going to make you laugh. But because he has them on Fantasy, and three weeks ago he had a major... That's the only reason he's getting this jersey. He had a good game three weeks ago. So, $75 out the door. Now, what I noticed is, the kids were asking me about some stuff that we had when we were younger.
Starting point is 01:18:04 For some reason, I brought up Silly Putty, and I started explaining what Silly Putty is to them. You know what it is, right? It's that pink stuff, right? And you flatten it out, you put it on newspapers, and it comes up, and you can even do naughty things. You can get the read on the Silly Putty. It's fun.
Starting point is 01:18:20 And so this was two weeks ago. I'm like, I'm going to order some Silly Putty for their stockings. So I get the Silly Putty. They open it up. Done with it in like four seconds. Don't even want to look. I'm like, wait a minute. This is gold here, guys.
Starting point is 01:18:33 This is Silly Putty. They're like, oh, dad, what do we care about this? So I get the Silly Putty. I flatten it out like I'm making a pizza. I'm so proud. And I'm like, all right, get me a newspaper. Watch what this thing does. And my wife's like, we don't have newspapers around here. Your silly putty's old. The fact
Starting point is 01:18:50 that we'd have a newspaper here is old. Get away from it already. You're in 1978, right? Yeah. I was like, there's no silly putty, no newspaper. What's going on here? So finally, I find something like instructions on some manual from another Gap. And I put it in. It barely picks up the print on it. And I show them. And they couldn't give a shit less. And I was so mad at this. I was so mad that they didn't care about my silly putty bit. I put in so much time.
Starting point is 01:19:17 And everyone's spoiled. But I got the last laugh because two hours later, I tested positive for COVID. And they were stuck with me. So now they're going to get it. When did that happen? It happened this afternoon. Come on. And I wasn't even going to test, but I have to shoot my show with some of the crew guys from the ringer.
Starting point is 01:19:37 And I had to be in the same room and I was like, I better alert them. And yeah, so I have COVID-19, whatever strand it is. So that's that. Good times. So you're doing the podcast right now with COVID. I'm doing it with COVID. Don't worry. I read up on it.
Starting point is 01:19:52 And you lost nine of your 10 bets. Yeah. Can I get it? Not a great Christmas all around. See, of COVID. The good news is everybody, I feel like I was early getting COVID, but everybody's getting Well, your Thanksgiving was ruined, right? And now it's Christmas yeah christmas as well yeah but were you going to florida with the family in four
Starting point is 01:20:09 days because that's what i was supposed to do and that's oh so you can't go now yeah now i'm out of that maybe you're lying maybe you don't actually have covet yeah i can't go quiet down got covet no no the wife you buy a fake covet test she saw it and slammed it into the, like a Lajuan, just dunked it into the trash. She was so mad. So that was that. I have two short parent corners. One is, you know, we had Christmas Eve and my wife did everything. And, you know, when you have kids and they're younger, you think when they get older, they're going to be really helpful.
Starting point is 01:20:44 And some people have really helpful kids. And then other people have kids like my kids that just aren't helpful at all. Right. Including my daughter, who's an absolutely lovely person by all accounts. Everybody says my daughter is like the nicest person. People always go out of their way to tell us how sweet she is and all that stuff. But she's just not helpful. And my wife today,
Starting point is 01:21:05 she was going to go to the Celtic-Laker game with me, but the house was still a mess. And she's like, I'm stressed out. I'm just, I just take Zoe. So I ended up taking Zoe to the Clippers game and the Lakers game this weekend. And she just didn't help her. And my wife's really mad at Zoe that she didn't help.
Starting point is 01:21:23 So Merry Christmas to everybody here. The question I have is, is it Zoe's fault that she's not helpful or is it our fault? Because we raise the kids, right? Zoe's a really nice kid, which I think we get a W for, but she's also not helpful with, oh, we had all those people. This instinct human beings have, especially kids or family members, they're like, I should help. Oh, the kitchen's a mess. I'll help out mom. I'll cut that. But it doesn't occur to her. But I feel like that's my fault and my wife's fault, right? It's not a DNA thing. You kind of learn that. Yeah, it could be, but also you're right.
Starting point is 01:22:08 Like you could be a good kid and not check all the boxes of good, like helpful. That's the point I made to my wife. I think like for the most part, Zoe's like a massive win, but nobody's perfect. It's like how Jason Tatum takes end of the quarter threes where everybody in the building knows he's just going to dribble through his legs nine times and then take a three that misses right at the end. And it's like, I accept that because he does so many other awesome things. I love Jason Tatum. But with Zoe, this is kind of a whole thing right now. Yeah, but you can see why she might point it out, whereas you got to go to the Lakers game, Celtics, and she had to stay home and actually do the things that she wanted help with.
Starting point is 01:22:47 It went over great. It's really been an awesome Christmas for me. Hey, Zoe's a perfect 2-0 watching games with you, right? Well, my counter was Carrie and Zoe went to Hawaii for five days and it was just me and Ben, and I did all the house stuff. So I'm like, I mean, you can get mad at me a little bit, but you did just go to Hawaii for five days while we were here. Right, right.
Starting point is 01:23:07 But really, the only person who won all the way through was Zoe because she went to Hawaii. Yeah, that's true. And went to two Celtic games. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I like that. No, I don't think it's your fault. You're trying to make memories.
Starting point is 01:23:19 And that memory is of you, your wife cleaning the house while you were out. I did the dishes last night. I was proud of myself. Oh, nice. But it's bad. You know you're not that helpful if you do something helpful and people are like,
Starting point is 01:23:29 wow, that's so great that you did that versus just assuming. But you're from a family where people are more helpful. You're from a more old school Italian family. Everybody's trying to do dishes and stabbing each other with knives. I think that helps.
Starting point is 01:23:42 I probably am about to give the whole family COVID. I feel like that's a generous ask. You're a generous knives. I think that helps. Like I probably am about to give the whole family COVID. Like that's, I feel like that's a generous. You're a generous guy. Yeah, thank you. I still want to see the actual, you should take another COVID test right on the Zoom. Not positive, I believe you.
Starting point is 01:23:57 My other story, every once in a while, you know, my dad's old. He's in his mid seventies now. Or not old, old, but he's old. And you think like when you get older, we've won a lot of titles. Are you going to care a little bit less about sports? He told me this story. They had this Christmas Eve thing last night. So he didn't see the Pats game and he did the thing where he didn't check his phone. He didn't want to find out what happened. Didn't do anything. And my Uncle Mark is staying with them this weekend.
Starting point is 01:24:27 So my dad, he wakes up this morning and he's watching the Pats game and still doesn't know what's happened. And it's the third quarter and they're winning. That's great. And I think the Broncos are starting to come back. And my Uncle Mark comes out of his room and he sees my dad watching the game
Starting point is 01:24:45 and he goes, I can't believe they won that. It just completely spoils it. My dad was so upset. He's like, I had this all planned out. I avoided everything. And I was just like, man. That's his brother?
Starting point is 01:24:56 His brother-in-law. Oh, his brother-in-law. So I was just like, man, when I'm 76, I hope I still care like this. So you're upset that somebody ruined your 3-11 Pats game. I love it. Whether they were going to go 4-11 or 3-12.
Starting point is 01:25:13 And he's like, cut off all communications. Wasn't responding to texts last night. So he could watch this game live, pretend it was live. Anyway. I think we'll care. I think we'll care just as much about fantasy and everything else because it's the best
Starting point is 01:25:28 except all the money we lose. That's the problem. That's going to be a problem. Kyle, you don't want to do a grandmother corner, right?
Starting point is 01:25:33 Probably a bad idea. Oh, I think we could skip it. That's cool. Great. All right. That's it for parent corner.
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Starting point is 01:25:55 maybe you'll plan your next family road trip, even if it's just around the block. CarMax, the way car buying should be. See details at CarMax.com. All right, so Sal, what did we say? When is the next time we're doing this? We're doing it on New Year's Day.
Starting point is 01:26:14 Late morning? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, late. We're going to do, because Sunday night is New Year's Eve. Right. Don't blame us. Blame God who came up with this calendar.
Starting point is 01:26:23 Yeah, what a weird schedule. But yeah, we've decided not to do an 830 New Year's Eve podcast on Saturday night. So we're going to do Monday morning. Old school. This is what the kids grew up with. That's right. Exactly. This is how we started with the, I mean, sometimes on the Mondays we would tape it like you'd
Starting point is 01:26:40 have to wait. We'd have to wait for Jimmy come alive schedule. We'd be doing like one in the afternoon, something like that. Yeah, yeah. Hopefully, we don't lose our way. We're going to remember how to do it. I think we'll be okay. My coffee will kick in.
Starting point is 01:26:54 So, anyway, we'll probably tape, I don't know, 10 o'clock, 10.30 range, and hopefully, that will be up. Yeah, bet 10.06 if you want. I think that's a good number. Monday afternoon for the betting pool. What else do you got to put? Against the Lods, new episodes this week. The D3 and I will lick our wounds.
Starting point is 01:27:12 Our Ringer Wise guys, always fun. We had a great time this Christmas Eve morning. My best bet, by the way, McCaffrey and Hertz to both score. Nice. Not my best bet, but McCaffrey and Hertz to both score. Still plus money. Should we just be betting that every week
Starting point is 01:27:25 and not worry about these dumb teams it does seem like the TD Pro I saw something on Twitter some guy had a 14 player TD Pro that was something
Starting point is 01:27:32 yeah it's like $10 for $483,000 something like that I mean yeah like that Rodriguez that Chris Rodriguez that should have been
Starting point is 01:27:40 just $400,000 just that pick but yeah and then what else we got? Oh, Cousin Sal's winning weekend. Nate Bargatze's on. We can pick all the Week 17 games.
Starting point is 01:27:49 It's going to be a lot of fun. You know, I was really impressed by my team in person Saturday and Monday. They waxed the Clippers. Kawhi didn't play, but we didn't have Porzingis, and it was still a beating. And then the Lakers game today it was interesting seeing LeBron grasping for excuses after when he was like
Starting point is 01:28:13 we haven't had we've had more injuries than some of these other contenders and it's like meanwhile the injuries were Gabe Vincent and Jared Vanderbilt
Starting point is 01:28:22 they've gotten a full season out of LeBron and Davis and Austin Reeves who are the three best players and the They've gotten a full season out of LeBron and Davis and Austin Reeves, sort of the three best players. The Celtics waxed them, and they were guarding LeBron with Drew Holiday. They put some Derek White on him. They were kind of fucking with the Lakers a little bit. It was really interesting.
Starting point is 01:28:37 And they were basically like, Davis, knock yourself out, score your 35. We're going to keep pushing the pace, shooting threes. What was interesting was they didn't even shoot threes that well, and they still won pretty convincingly. And there was a version of this game where if they had hit like six, seven more threes, I think they could have had like over 140 points. So I think LeBron was a little rattled after they, to me, that, that cinched that the Lakers are going to make some sort of big trade because the distance between the two teams was,
Starting point is 01:29:05 you could feel it in the game. Like it just was the white holiday combo. White was amazing. Again, I, the Celtics, they should have beaten the Warriors. They would have gone four and own this trip,
Starting point is 01:29:15 but to rip through these two LA teams like this, I was really impressed. They're the favorites right now in Fandu plus three 40. But, uh, if Porzingis is healthy, I actually think they can win the title. Is it possible LeBron looked up and saw Zoe?
Starting point is 01:29:30 He's like, oh, crap. She's undefeated here, rooting for the Celtics. And he got nervous. Yeah, she's a good luck charm. Hey, you gave me SGA at 10-1 last week. I put it in. It's plus 650 now. Although Embiid has gone on a tear even since then. He's a big favorite.
Starting point is 01:29:46 It's going to keep moving and keep moving and keep moving. But I think the principles... Yeah, I'm trying to see if anybody else... Those 30-10s are racking up. There's... Curry at 55-1? Oh, come on. No, I would just kind of write it down on the side.
Starting point is 01:30:06 That's just crazy odds because he's one of the best five or six players in the league. I like what I'm seeing from them even in this Denver game, which I didn't see because I was at the Laker game. How many games has he missed though, Curry? Only a couple. I could see that team
Starting point is 01:30:21 coming out a little bit. It seems like SGA, if they got a top two seed... Yeah, already got value in there. It's a good pick. Yeah, it wasn't bad. But this Celtics team... This is a really good team.
Starting point is 01:30:35 It really is. It's impressive. They have length and defense and three-point shooting. It's all set up. We'll see. Flip this, Kyle. This is what happens we lose a lot of
Starting point is 01:30:46 Christmas money on football we gotta look to the hoops there's no value to bet the Celtics they have the best odds I just I'm way more encouraged
Starting point is 01:30:54 than I was five days ago there you go but Philly still has a trade to make anyway alright cuz I hope you feel better good job Bayou good job Bayou
Starting point is 01:31:01 alright that's it for the podcast thanks to Cousin Sal thanks to Kyle Creighton and Steve Cerruti as well Good job by you. All right, that's it for the podcast. Thanks to Cousin Sal. Thanks to Kyle Creighton and Steve Cerruti as well for producing. And I'm going to see you in this feed on Thursday. I'm only doing one other podcast this week. So Thursday, I will be back. Enjoy the last vestiges of the Christmas break.

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