The Fumblerooski Podcast - A Division Divided -Ep 321 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: December 20, 2024

The Chargers get a big win over the Broncos on TNF 34-27. The Broncos will have to pray that the Dolphins and the Colts lose so they clinch a playoff spot. The Bengals playoff window is still open thanks to this game because of their matchup with the Broncos next Saturday. But is Bo Nix a checkdown merchant? The Texans look to hand the Chiefs their 2nd loss of the season in hopes of preventing KC from clinching the 1 seed for one more week. The Steelers need a win against the Ravens to clinch the AFC North, Michael Penix Jr. gets the start this week for the Falcons, and the Jets in the news again for stuff that is hard to believe is actually happening... what's new? Chris Costich, Adam Wright, and CJ Medeiros talk all of this and more in the Week 16 Friday Picks episode!

the Broncos with a huge victory over the chargers winning 34 to 27 and keeping their playoff hopes alive as the Broncos still are looking to get one more weekend we're gonna have to wait another week to clinch a playoff spot Saturday football is here as the NFL looks to compete with the college football playoff with two games of their own Michael Penix getting the start for the Falcons and the Jets in the media again for, I wish I could say what it is, but we're going to save it for later. This is the moment.

We're risky podcast. It may not have always showed it in the staff sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws back to back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides. This is the Fumble Rooster podcast by Power 88 Dean Radio

and Secret Weapon Consulting. I'm Chris Kostich, CJ Medeiros, Adam Wright along with me. And week 16 is upon us. Three weeks left in the season. And boy, a lot of storylines already in week 16. And you guessed it, a ton of playoff implications, much like the Thursday night game. With a win, the Broncos could have clinched,

and the Chargers, well, they haven't clinchedcos could have clinched in the chargers. Well, they haven't clinched yet, but they're on the right path. And really it's more about percentages chargers with the win. They now have their playoff probability to about 90%. The Broncos get bumped down to about 80, but with a win, the Broncos can still clinch a playoff spot next week,

but they got the loss last night, 34 to 27. And it was an interesting one. Denver took most of the control in the first half as they went into the halftime break up 21-13. Offense looked really good, and the Chargers kind of sputtered on offense a little bit, but we saw the first free kick made in over 40 years. The last time that it happened was by the Chargers back in the 70s.

And this was also, I think, the first free kick attempted in 20 years. I think the Packers once tried to attempt a free kick, but it was unsuccessful. And do you guys understand that whole rule? Because I fully comprehended the rule well after the game ended Yeah, you can kick it after a fair catch, right? That's how it works, I believe But it also has to be on a penalty

I think it has to be mainly on Oh, yeah, that's right Your catch word is right, but I think it also has to be on a penalty I could be very wrong I think i heard something like that yeah long story short history was made there's a reason it's uh it's buried deep in the rule book it's one of those it's one of those weird there's a reason it's rare yeah but football guy jim harbaugh was ready to go with it and he said after the game that he's been waiting to pull that out of his ass for basically the entire season.

And has been waiting to use it. I found the definition, by the way. What? I found the official definition on ESPN. Yeah, just so we can get that clarified. Fair catch is made or is rewarded as the result of catch interference. The receiving team has the option of putting the ball in play by snap or fair catch kick, drop kick, or, you know, place kick without a tee from the spot of the catch or succeeding the spot after enforcement of any applicable penalties, I mean. So basically, even if that, you know, after that, a fair catch or, you know, if there's like catch interference even if that you know after that a fair catch or you know if there's like catch interference like you know if you call the fair catch and somebody like lays

you out you have the option and the chargers did have the option because you know they were literally like right there in opponent territory right before halftime yeah and you basically laid out the two things that literally happened to get that free kick to happen. It was both the fair catch and a returner interference as well. So Chargers took advantage of it. Boom, the 57 yarder with Cameron Dicker and second half comes around. Still a little bit slow, but big turning point in the game was when Herbert gets hit late on a slide, 15-yard penalty that extends the drive. They score on that later on that drive. And it goes from what probably

would have been another long field goal for Cameron Dicker to seven points for the Chargers. And that's where the comeback starts to really open up. And the Broncos, to their credit, were able to still fight and stay in the game. They made it a one score game by way of a field goal late and going to get the onside kick, going to get a stop. And that was it after that. Now, big storyline here. And we were talking about this right before we started up on the episode, is, well, Bo Nix. Bit of a check down merchant in this game. And Kirk Herbstreit was very quick to talk about it during the game.

I think it was around the third or fourth quarter when he mentioned it, that Sean Payne didn't let Bo Nix really throw the ball down the field very often in that game. It was a lot of checkdowns. And, I mean, if the defense is giving you the checkdown, you might as well take the checkdown. That's just me. But the yardage with the checkdowns, I mean, you could say that at least 200 of the 263 yards that Bo Nix had in this game were via the check down from just dumping it down to Javante Williams and Audra Kostime,

who ended up having a touchdown in that game. But thoughts from you fellas, Bo Nix check down merchant or not a check down merchant and overall thoughts from this game. Yeah. So I did see the stat. The vast, vast, vast majority of his yards yesterday were yards after the catch. That being said, I'm actually going to come to Bo Nix's defense today. And I'm going to say the kid's still a good player he's he may he may not be the gunslinger

quarterback like some of these other kids are who came out of the draft caleb williams is certainly a guy who can sling it all over the field so does so can jayden daniels um and we've all we've already seen what drake may can do he is not going to be like Justin Herbert. I think that's something that we can come to the conclusion on. But I know Broncos fans have hated the comparison to Mac Jones, but I'll say this. He is everything Mac Jones was supposed to be. And a little bit more in terms of abilities. I mean, he is a little bit better of a throwing arm. I think he has a little bit more zip on his passes than Mac Jones does.

When Jones throws it deep, there's so much arc to it. It just doesn't look nice. There are a few deep balls that Nix has thrown where it's thrown on a rope. Nix, he has a better arm. He has better mobility. I wouldn't say he has a necessarily great arm. Like he's not going to be like Josh Allen or Justin Herbert or Patrick Mahomes. He's not going to be like that in terms of play style. What he could be is sort of a Kirk Cousins or at the very, very best, a Drew Brees, a guy who he doesn't have the best arm strength, but he makes good decisions with the football and he's a very steady,

very good, capable starting quarterback in this league. think the kid can play i've come to that conclusion i like what i've seen from him he has good decision making he has a great head on his shoulders he has a bit of a competitive spirit to him i mean he went he went he went toe-to-toe with one of the better quarterbacks in the league in terms of abilities like you you could probably you can't even fill one hand with the amount of quarterbacks in the league who have better arm talent better athleticism even than justin herbert at least upper body like he can make some throws at some unbelievable angle he did last night did you see that one pass he threw that one touched it he he was running away was just

torque of the shoulder unbelievable throw i mean nix is never going to be that but i still think he's going to be a very good quarterback in this league how good well i don't know but i think we know he's not going to be a bust right now. I think that much I can say. Yeah, so my stance on Nix is this. He's not a bust, all right? But I'm sorry the Mac Jones comparisons are valid. He's mobile Mac Jones with maybe better mechanics because the arm strength is basically the same. It's just the mechanics help nicks a lot

and i hope so because he's been in college like a million years and i kid i kid that's low hanging fruit but once again numbers don't lie when we were talking about the offensive rookie of the year race about midway through the season i or a few hour long ago that was i said one of the reasons i don't think nicks is going to get it is because he doesn't pass the eye test this game is full example of that when i watched the game it was just check down after check down even third down conversions he's just hitting guys in the flat and they knife of the gut of the defense that's good that's great but but still he's not the guy you want in a shootout if you're if you're stuck in like a 30-30 game, it's a high-scoring shootout,

everyone's going to return fire, and it's just a matter of which offense blinks first, it's going to be Knicks. Because his longest pass of the night was that touchdown, I believe that 50-yard whatever, to Marvin Mims. It was a pass behind the line of scrimmage and Mims just took it away and Mims just like took it and ran with it. And look, obviously as we're supposed to do as a receiver, but the fact that it makes mix look like he aired it out is ridiculous. And I'm tired, frankly, of these Broncos fans going online and saying, Oh, he's actually the offensive rookie of the year.

It's like, look, I understand, but no, no, he is not. Arguably, I mean, you can say what you want about Jay Daniels, but I'm putting Daniels over him. I'm putting Brock Bowers over him as well. And honestly, Nick's a lot better than I thought he'd be. Like, I'd give him that. But if we just, if we're going to stay here and base the conversation around Bo Nix, he's another quarterback who's only going to be as good as the weapons around him and once again which is another reason why he gets the Mac Jones

comparison because you have to remember Mac Jones was pretty solid in 2021 he wasn't going to blow the doors off you but he could at least be a high-end game manager at peak maybe high-end is generous but that was his potential right like a kirk cousins a jimmy garoppolo preferably plus injuries huh i said which i hated but yeah yeah but either way well nothing we can do about it now yeah the thing is that's what i see in bo nicks just with like more mobility and remember one of the reasons mac fell was because bill belichick who at the time was GM, allowed the roster to get worse. He let big names like J.C. Jackson walk in for agency.

He made an absolute boneheaded Shaq Mason trade, which to this day I don't understand. And the thing is, if this roster around Bo Nix gets worse, so will he. And I think that's a pretty fair argument to make. Meanwhile, the Chargers, Herbert, I've said this before, I'll say it again, all the credit in the world of this kid. He can do more with less. This is a well-established fact. And I mean, he literally had a glorified ball and chain as his head coach in Brandon Staley. This isn't new. And the fact that he's out there doing everything he can, when it looks like the team around him is actively trying to hurt him, their running game has dried up since J.K. Dobbins is gone.

And don't point to Gus Edwards' rushing stats. He literally had like 60, 70 yards on the day, and 40 of those yards literally were on one play. We all watched the game. We all saw it. And then he's unfortunately sat with that goober, Quentin Johnston, where just like right in the numbers, right in the hands.

And he, once again, went to the Debo Samuel School or the 2024 Debo Samuel school of catching passes but that's the thing is like obviously if you swap them I'm saying oh yeah Broncos might actually be a contender with that defense and Herbert and Sutton and all those boys but yeah I don't want to take anything away from Denver though because I feel like they could sneak into the playoffs there's a chance they don't though and Adam and I were talking about that off camera and you know like their chance is still like an 80 percent but still but Adam would you want to cover that yeah we can get to that when we get to some of the rest of these game picks because it relates

more to Cincinnati um but this is also as far as the Chargers go, this is a really good season for them. And I thought that they were going to be in trouble. They had lost a couple of games in a row here after they lost JK Dobbins, but because they have Justin Herbert and because Ladd McConkie is coming into his own, they've been able to make the adjustments and become more pass heavy like they did last night in order to remain in the playoff hunt. I mean, if they, if they win out, which guess what the next two games they have are the Patriots and the Raiders. If they win out, which they most likely will 11 and six is the best record that Justin Herbert will have ever had in his entire career, which is a great accomplishment. One year

after the team was a lottery team. Well, we say lottery team, uh, contention for the number one, overall, uh, number one, overall pick. They had the, they had the five overall pick, but all it took after losing a lot of your skill position players, you traded that not an actual trade, but you trade, you swapped that. You allowed those guys to go and you swapped that for better offensive line play, a better coach. And suddenly Justin Herbert is thriving and just get him, get him some more skill position players. Now that he has a line and good coaching, and this guy could be throwing 30 touchdown passes a year going from here on out, going forward. This is a great season. This is a great step in the right direction for the Chargers.

And I remember we were talking about them saying, we don't think they're going to make the playoffs this year. We thought they're going to make some good steps in the right direction, but they're not going to be there just yet. They almost are. They're going to make the playoffs. They're most likely going to go 11-6, which is awesome. And by next year, they could be Super Bowl contenders. I mean, get them a skill position player. Get some more players on defense. The defense is already fine. And who's beating them?

That's a pretty good team. Jim Harbaugh, in fact, everywhere he goes, first year, it's like gold. He's got the Midas touch. Stanford went to the Orange Bowl and won the Orange Bowl. The Niners, NFC Championship berth, first year. Michigan got him a title. Took him a little bit, but he got a title. And Michigan became a powerhouse as soon as Jim Harbaugh got there.

And this year, Chargers, fighting for a playoff spot. And most likely are going to clinch a playoff spot next week. So one more thing real quick on the Bo Nix check down merchant thing. He has 150 attempts on passes that are from one yards to 10 yards, 150 attempts, 11 through 20, and 138, 21 through 30, and 59 attempts that are 31 plus. So say he's a check down merchant. I don't know.

I feel like the stats there disagree. He's fine. I'm not saying that he's – there's a big difference between what you are able to do and what you're asked to do. I think there's been plenty – In the few times that – I will give him credit. In the few times that they've actually had him throwing the ball deep, he has a decent deep ball.

No, he does, but the issue is it's such a small sample size. I will stick by my earlier point. If you are in that high-scoring shootout, you're not going to win, and that's what happens. What happens if kansas city gets healthy and god forbid gets a really good like receiver and they're going back to dropping 40 on every team like is bow next to keep pace huh which they are healthy by the way they just they just got everybody back so yeah uh yeah so you know like is bow next and keep pace or what if the chargers get a wide receiver

one is my point like could this team go toe-to-toe with buffalo when they're dropping 35 40 a game no probably not the issue is it's like i said it's just bo nix i do actually think he needs more weapons yeah because once again it's another mac jones situation and the people don't want to hear me say that but i do think it's true where he's another one that's only going to be as good as the weapons around him. So you better load up that offense for the love of God. I see too many similarities between this team and the 2021 Patriots do not let, and you can disagree, but you'd be wrong. But my point is do not let that roster around him get worse or you will make him a bust. Keep Corlin Sutton.

That's basically. Yeah, literally. Like no matter what it costs, you keep Cortland Sutton. Yeah, he is Randy Moss. I'm kidding. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to get into our game of the week and the rest of our game picks.

This is the Pulmarowski podcast. It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws. Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides. This is the Fulmer Rizky Podcast.

Chris Costich, CJ Medeiros, Adam Wright. We get into our game of the week. Battle for the AFC North. The Steelers and the Ravens. That will go on tomorrow at 4.30 on Fox. Ravens have the spread at 6.5. And for the third straight game, the Steelers are going to be without George Pickens.

And the offense has not been great without Georgie. They won 27-14 against the Browns without him, but they lose 27-13 against a good defense in Philadelphia. Last time these two teams met, it was the Steelers that won an ugly one, 18-16. And the Ravens have not scored more than 20 points against the Steelers in three years. Three years. That's insane. The Steelers' defense has Lamar's number. It's wild to think that.

But this is like the AFC North rivalry, though. So it's expected. Lamar, well, he needs a big game. If he wants to get back ahead against Josh Allen, he needs to have a big game here. But with those stats in mind, it's hard to say that this is going to be the game that lamar gets back into the mvp or at the top of the mvp conversation and for all we know he probably won't even touch it again so this is probably your best bet but i'm gonna go with the ravens on this one steelers got the first time around I think the Ravens are going to get them this time around especially at home and also to make note as well this this game is basically

going to decide who wins the AFC North as well so there's that in play because Steelers already have a playoff spot clinched up Ravens they need to win this game they have one clinched up. Ravens, they need to win this game. They have one clinched up. But, yeah, if the Ravens win, then they're right there for the division. And at that point, the Steelers are going to be scrambling. And hopefully they can get healthy. They need George Pickens back.

That's for sure. Adam, what's your pick? I gonna go the ravens and the way i've looked at it um whoever whoever takes this division is going to be the team uh whoever takes this game is going to be the team that takes this division. Also, if you look at it, the same way with this Steelers team. It's one of those teams where they could beat anybody and you wouldn't be surprised and they could also lose to anybody and you wouldn't be surprised. And I just don't think that Russell Wilson and that Steelers defense is going to hold back the Ravens. I have to go with the Ravens here because there's one factor about the Steelers that when I see previews for this game that everybody forgets. T.J. Watt is hurt.

He's going to play, but if you saw that ankle injury against Philly, then you know this man is not 100%. They're forcing him in there. i know some teams do this they have a star that's banged up they leave him in there as a decoy right because on the off chance that he might not be hurt you know you still have to respect him you still have to double team him and that's going to allow alex highsmith to eat on the other side and i think that's what mike tomlin is doing mike tomlin is notorious for this. A lot of the older coaches, like when they were still in the league, Pete Carroll, Bill Belichick, and even older ones like Andy Reid and John Harbaugh are

notorious for putting injured stars in the game just for decoys. And I think they're going to do that too. But TJ Watt is hurt. They say he's going to play Saturday, but I don't think he's going to have the impact that he usually does because that whole thing about the Steelers are always going to be at or above 500, that is T.J. Watt. And they say the Steelers' defense has Lamar's number. Wrong. T.J. Watt has Lamar's number. If he's neutralized and you have to start thinking outside of T.J. Watt has Lamar's number. If he's neutralized and you have to start thinking

outside of T.J. Watt, I'm skeptical at their ability to do that. And meanwhile, they would have the Steelers defense with an injured T.J. Watt and no George Pickens, I might add. And look, and I know the Baltimore defense are basically pylons and traffic cones. Actually, forgive me, that's an insult to pylons and traffic cones. But no George Pickens, that's going to make returning fire against Baltimore extremely difficult. Not to mention Najee Harris, I say this every week, runs like he's stuck in quicksand. And then for Pittsburgh, they're going to have to catch lightning in a bottle twice

when it comes to stopping Derrick Henry. You did it before, but can you do it again, this time without T.J. Watt? Because even if he's banged up, if Baltimore, once Harbaugh, who knows the decoy trick, if they catch on that T. that TJ Watt is playing neutered because he's hurt, oh, then you better believe

they're just going to leave him on an island and they're just going to double highsmith. Then what do you do? Because if TJ Watt is not in Lamar's face every play, then all Lamar's got to do is just find Andrews, find Flowers, find whoever, or just feed it to Henry and run right at T.J. Watt and just say, all right, well, you're hurt. Here's Derrick Henry.

And I know some people would say I'm making much ado about nothing, but T.J. Watt even being slightly less than 100% is a massive, massive deal. And Pickens on the offensive side of the ball, who is your best player on offense, that is just, that is universally bad. I think they should just be force-feeding Derrick Henry anyways, regardless if they run it right at T.J. Watt. And that's basically it. Just force-feed the fuck out of Derrick Henry anyways, regardless if they run it right at TJ Watt. And that's basically it. Just force feed the fuck out of Derrick Henry.

I'm actually seeing a bit of a trap game theme here because the Steelers are a little, the Steelers are a little shorthanded, but they have not been winning games based off of just overpowering players with their skill position players. They've been more of kind of a defensive team that sort of punches you in the mouth. And if their entire defense is still playing, like tj watts hurt but he's still playing i'm actually gonna lean towards pittsburgh here i think they're gonna take this game

and it's going to be it's going to come out of nowhere because also don't forget the steelers in recent years have given the Ravens some problems and in a game where they're shorthanded they have to go on the road this seems like a game that could easily end up being slept on by the Ravens so give me the Steelers with a win the Steelers clinched the AFC North if Baltimore wins then they just clinch playoff berth or if they don't end up winning they could still clinch playoff berth with a loss for Miami and an Indianapolis loss as well move on to oh sorry Adam one more thing yeah one last thing and this is more of kind of a side thing but if the ravens end up taking this division

if they end up winning this game and taking the division lamar jackson should move into the lead for league mvp like the guy's about to throw 40 touchdown passes you cannot give a guy like that the snub when like i get josh allen's having a really good year. I'm not knocking on him at all, but look at what, look at the year that Lamar is having, especially throwing the ball. I never, I never saw a run first quarterback like Lamar playing the way he is in the passing game, but here we are and he can still run. He's still doing a lot of it, but I mean, this, this to me tells me that the kid can go a little bit deeper into his career. He'll have a little bit more longevity if this is what his arm talent is going to look like, because it never, I didn't

think I still stand by this. I don't think it was that good in 2019. It was good arm talent. He had a good arm, but you could just tell if his legs gave out at any point in time, he was not going to survive in the NFL. Now we can see his arm talent almost perfectly complements his rushing ability, and I do believe that if this is what we're getting out of Lamar Jackson, then he could have a very long career in the NFL. Yeah. I don't know.

I feel like that. I would say that the one thing that might hold him back and like, obviously it's the, the way that the NFL or that just the media does it in general, in terms of the MVPs, the fact that the bills are most likely the media does it in general, in terms of the MVPs, the fact that the bills are most likely going to end up with a higher seed. And some of the wins that, um,

some of the wins that Buffalo has had have been insane compared to, uh, some of the big games that Baltimore has lost, including losing to Philly a couple of weeks ago. Um, so I wonder if the AP or the media in general is going to look at those games and be like, well, Josh Allen went crazy against Detroit. He put his team on his back against the Rams and his defense fell apart and what they probably should have won in a shootout against the Rams but I don't know I I don't I'm not we're the media but we're not the ones voting

so I don't fucking know yeah another thing too is that I know MVP is literally most valuable quarterback but I think it's becoming narrative based i wholeheartedly believe that unless the bills lose out alan's gonna get it and a lot of it is that and also even still i think alan would get it because he's the first qb to beat my homes and nobody ever mentions that because let's face it statistically speaking he doesn't hold the candle to lamar lamar is better in almost every metric. Almost every. No, no, I don't know. What?

He beats him every regular season. He's not the guy who's, his issues come in the postseason. Yeah, that's cool. But he still is the first one to hand the previously undefeated Chiefs their only L of the season thus far. That's the thing, because a lot of it is narrative driven. And, you know, Lamar didn't. I feel like they'd be on more even footing if Lamar and the Ravens upset them week one. But my point still stands that I feel like the race should be a lot closer. Because yeah, Allen has the narratives going for him. He's doing more with of less but lamar is just flat out playing better statistically he is better and once again a lot of alan's magic seems more narrative driven that's no hate on alan because he's still like the second best qb in the league but still and also if but then again allow me to defeat my own point if stats really did matter then joe Burrow would be running away with the race. Yep. Yep.

Thank you, CJ. Thank you. My point from four weeks ago. Do you really think that narrative is going to stand, though? Because that's not going to be the Chiefs' only loss this season. I think they're going to lose at least one more. If that is Kansas City's only loss, then absolutely that narrative is going to stand.

Yeah, if they go 16-1, then yeah, that'll be a narrative that stands. But if they lose a couple more after this, that's going to be forgotten pretty quickly, and everyone's going to look at Lamar Jackson, who has better statistics. Their division is probably going to end up taking it. That's's how it should be but he's going to take his division if they don't win and pittsburgh clinches the afc north and any chance lamar has an mvp are going to die i think the only the only thing i disagree with you on if this ends up happening is whether it's narrative based or seed based because you

should be able to you should still be able to make the playoffs and your your best player be an mvp candidate because let's say let's say joe burrow and the cincinnati bangles end up making the playoffs which we'll talk about in a little bit, right? That should put him not just in the conversation, but right in the front. Because that defense would be the worst defense, probably the worst defense to ever go to the playoffs. I would think so, yes.

And you somehow, the quarterback who threw for 45-plus touchdowns is not going to be an MVP guy? He'll be a candidate, but is he going to be the leader? He should not be. The Bills have a better surrounding roster as far as defense goes than the Bengals. The Ravens still have better, and they don't have much, but these are all rosters that are much worse, a lot worse in many different ways than the bills. But somehow Josh Allen, because their seed is much higher, it's the higher seed. This happened back in 2021 when Tom Brady and Aaron Rogers were in a

toe to toe, a, a, a toe to toe, um, MVP race. And because the Buccaneers lost the number one seed, Aaron Rogers ended up taking the lead.

Worse stats, worse season, aaron rogers ended up taking the lead worst stats worst season but somehow still went to aaron rogers it was he went to aaron rogers because he only had five interceptions which is ridiculous it's not being a good quarterback is not all about throwing interceptions and getting less interceptions and having the higher seed aaron rogers one of the best quarterbacks of all time but not turning the ball over but look at how many quarterbacks who've thrown more interceptions have won more super bowls well yeah because i mean that's just kind of how it is and that that was the nerves like oh he doesn't turn the ball over oh he's this

oh he's an mvp can't put still it's like i think narrative and seed combined. Because if it were just stats, which I think I said this last year, I will die on this hill. MVP should literally be stats alone. And if that were the case, then there would be more. But of course, the AP just loves their seeds and narratives. But if that's the case, then it should be Joe Burrow. And I will die on this hill. If the Bengals squeak into the

playoffs unit 7c joe burrow is mvp and any argument otherwise you could not convince me with we'll get we'll get to the bangles but texans chiefs the 1 p.m game on saturday chiefs are the favorite and oh my god it paint like i want to, I want to pick the Texans. And, honestly, if you asked me this a week before the season started, I would have picked the Texans a million times out of 100 or a million times out of a million. But, oh, my God. Like, this offense is just ridiculous.

It's just ridiculous. I don't know, man. And that's why I'm still gonna pick the texans joe mixon going over a hundo he went he only had 20 last week he's getting a hundo this week you know there's an interesting stat out there that joe mixon against top 12 DVO, a defenses does not even crack over 40 yards in a game. I say that shit stops this week. Tomorrow. Today is Friday,

December 20th at three 47. Joe Mixon gets a hundred yards by four o'clock tomorrow on Saturday against the chiefs. So yeah. Yeah. Give me the texans fuck it fuck it this is going to be an underrated game um and if you look at the record houston being nine and five i feel like that'd be a fitting record for the chiefs for how they have played this year they have not played like a 13 and one team. I stand by my statement that I do not believe the chiefs will go 16 and one. They're going to lose at least one or two of these remaining games, but yeah, I'm going to go the Texans here as well.

Too many things have gone right for the chiefs and some of it's luck. Some of it is just the chiefs know how to play well in on bad days, which they've had a lot of them this year. Um, they're not as good as their record, but I think in that same sense, they have earned what they, where they have gotten because on bad day, good players who fade like great players. I mean, who face adversity are able to work their way through it and be able to make the plays when they absolutely need them. And some of the bounces are going to go your way. I'm not saying they haven't gotten lucky, but I think in some way that they have

earned what they have gotten. That being said, I'm still taking the Texans. I don't think this luck continues. I think they're going to run into a good team every now and then, and they're going to lose. That being the Houston Texans, who still need to win some games for playoff positioning. And the Texans still have a pretty good team all around. It's just they've underperformed a lot. They've survived it, unlike our buddies over in Jacksonville last year. But they've still been a pretty good team.

So I'm going to take the Chiefs, or rather the, excuse me, I'm going to take the Texans. I think they're going to go into Kansas City and upset. Nah, I got to go with KC. Because once again, it's, oh god, it's that Mahomes magic. Sorry, Chris Collinsworth possessed me for a second. Look,

the Chiefs are getting healthy. Hollywood Brown, Pacheco, the gang is getting back together. The only thing they're missing at this point is Raspeed Rice and his thief mother. Because we all saw that ring video how she stole the package.

Now, that's true. So scummy. Yeah. And then, of course, she probably ran back to her son's car and they sped away together. I kid, I kid. Just kidding, Rices. Please don't sue me. It's all fun and games. You know who you are.

So, basically, I'm sorry. Please don't sue me. It's all fun and games. You know what you are. So basically, because, all right, I'm sorry. I may have missed there. Take your pick. I already said the Chiefs, you. Anyway, but look, look, the thing is, I'm just not sold on Houston anymore. I don't know what it is. There is no reason for them to be playing as poorly as they do. And that Chiefs defense is just going to eat all of Stroud's mistakes for breakfast.

And don't get me wrong, like most Chiefs games this season, I am expecting an ugly game. I'm expecting a rock fight. But what do I always say? If it's a one score game, either way in the fourth quarter, Kansas City is going to win. With a win, Kansas City, well, Kansas City needs a win and a Buffalo loss to clench the number one seed and get the first round by and home field advantage throughout the playoffs with this win and a Buffalo loss. But Buffalo's also playing the Pats. So that's going to have to wait another week.

All right, we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to get into the rest of our game picks. The Sunday game picks. This is the Homebrewski Podcast. It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws. Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot.

He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides. Welcome back to the Paul Maruski Podcast, powered by Power 88 Team Radio and Secret Weapon Consulting. Chris Gostich, Adam Wright, CJ Medeiros. Get into the Sunday picks and our first game on the list the giants and the falcons big news michael pennix getting the start over kirk cousins kirk getting benched and uh this was this is a long time coming long time as in like the last month. Kirk has been playing like ass, like total, total ass. It's insane.

This past Monday against the Raiders was the first touchdown pass they threw in over a month. And since they beat Dallas on November 3rd, 27-21, Kirk Cousins has thrown, sorry, I have to do the math real quick, two, six, nine interceptions to one touchdown in five games. And during that time, four-game losing streak, which was broken this past Monday. Five games, nine interceptions, one touchdown, and they finally did it. They finally benched him, and Adam was saying that they should have benched him

going into the Minnesota game, and that, honestly, I would have had to disagree with you. That was the week before the Monday night game. And I would have disagreed with you anyways, because that's a really good Minnesota defense. And good thing they waited two weeks because now you got Michael Penix going up against a depleted and demoralized Giants team that's going on the road to Atlanta.

I got the Falcons in this game. And honestly, I would say pick your number, but that would be a little too ridiculous because you have a rookie quarterback making his first start of the game. And honestly, honestly, I probably would have said Falcons regardless of who they were playing this week. Give me that backup quarterback bump on any day of the week.

But yeah, Falcons probably by like 20 or something i don't even know i'll take the falcons without any explanation other than the fact they're facing the giants so i'm not going to give any explanation but i'm going to use my floor to explain that while i'm excited for pennix to play we're not going to learn anything about the kid until next year because this is three games that he's going to be playing. He's playing a bad team with the New York Giants. It's great to get his feet wet, and I understand developing the kid's important. I don't think getting game time is the end-all be-all. It would make sense logically, but you can clearly see in plenty of examples throughout our league's history, there's lots of quarterbacks who sat a bunch of years and then they hopped in and then they were, it was night

and day from when they first entered the league. For example, Jordan Love, he looked terrible when he first entered the league. And the few times he came in in relief of Aaron Rodgers, how good was, how good was he? He was awful. And from clips in training camp and practices, the kid looked like he couldn't throw. And you can clearly see over those three years and those times that he would hop in, in preseason, training camps, in relief and blowouts, all that stuff, he was getting better. Then he steps in as the full-time starter, and it's like he's been starting the entire time. So I don't think it's that big of a deal, but I also do believe that we're going to find out next year.

Not this year, just because it's too small a sample size. There's not much you can do with him right now, except make a playoff push and see what you can do with him. I have to go with atlanta almost look it's two things one the backup bump michael pennix was a darn good qb in washington and i've heard some good things out of atlanta thus far so yeah i got all i got confidence in pennix can go out and at least at bare minimum be a game manager against the giants but i wouldn't be shocked if he does have himself a solid debut because once again it's the giants and i would like to use my floor here to say that you remember we all watched the draft together we all saw michael

pennix go at like eight and we were all just like huh we were in a buffalo wild wings the entire bar was like huh huh yeah basically and you know we were it was us three with some buddies and i'm still shocked this day and. And I will say this, the Michael Penix pick now makes a lot more sense. The Kirk Cousins contract, on the other hand, does not. And I don't care if Penix balls out, Terry Fonknot should lose his job. You cannot convince me otherwise.

Because think about it this way, right? Michael Penix flames out and becomes a bust. I mean, you still have like Kirk Cousins on his big contract. Because think about it this way, right? Michael Penix flames out and becomes a bust. I mean, you still have, like, Kirk Cousins on his big contract. But, yeah, but either way, even if Kirk Cousins plays well and Penix becomes a bust, you lost. This is a lose-lose situation. Because even if Penix does play well, then you have Kirk Cousins and that awful contract rotting on the bench.

The fact you put yourself into this scenario where you will quite literally lose either way, regardless of who's, you know, playing better. We are seeing like we can see with our own eyes that, oh my God, one of them probably won't work out. And can you imagine the apocalyptic nightmare scenario where neither of them work out oh my god i don't care what happens terry fought not dug his grave with this scenario and all that's left for him to do is get in i don't care this offseason i'm firing him i think the problem is that it was always going to be one of the two was going to be a bad decision.

Like, it was going to be a bad decision to draft Michael Penix if Kirk Cousins worked out. But it was also going to be a bad decision to even give Kirk Cousins the contract if he ended up playing the way he's doing right now. So I think that you, to your point, CJj i think that regardless of whatever he did it would have been a bad decision yeah once all of that money the dead cat the dead cat money is going to be a problem but look at their roster right now by the time all that dead cat money is all gone is it's not going to matter because they already have the roster that they need there's not much they need to do besides maybe fire alfred morris who uh rather raheem morris excuse me oh alfred morris is the old running back uh he used to be really good good shout washington

washington running back dude was pretty good but he was like listen oh there's not much they have to do here and i think because of that the falcons will probably find themselves if this kid is as good as they we say as we as we think that he is they'll probably find themselves in super bowl contention maybe a couple. And by the time all that cap money is gone, they'll be like, wait, they had dead cap? They're going to forget that Kirk Cousins was even on the team because they have so many talented young kids on this team that it's not going to end up mattering.

Also, just remember, Kirk Cousins signed a four-year deal. And that dead cap, I want to do my due diligence here and say that while they're still paying down that dead cap, the contracts of Bijan Robinson, Kyle Pitts, and Drake London will expire. Yes. Counterpoint though, it's front loaded. Most of the money came in the beginning of the deal so that later on when those contracts are up it's not going to hit as hard but they still won't have the money it's like 180 million and even if you front load like what was it like the first 60 million the first 30 million that doesn't matter because oh my god you're still going to be paying still like 15 to 20 and we're going to be looking

at a scenario where they very well probably won't be able to afford to keep them unless they make some other cuts and i'm sure there's other good players on the team that i am just forgetting about like on the offensive line like oh god you know uh i mean they might have to move on from jake matthews he is getting older and what. This is also going to hinder what they're able to do this season as well. If Penix is the guy, because we don't know, are they going to keep Kirk around? I just don't know.

This still seems like a grade A, just bungling my font knot. You cannot change my mind. If you disagree, that's cool. I get that. However, you couldn't change my mind. If you disagree, that's cool. Like I get that. However, you couldn't change my mind that he needs to go. This is a plus Tom foolery.

I'm not saying it was a good decision. I was scratching my head just a bit, just like everybody else. All I'm saying is they were strangely fortunate and this was the best way possible. Yeah. Although if headaches can't play though. Ooh,

my God, then they're done for years. He's getting launched into the Atlantic with that one. I think that we won't really know how bad of a decision either or is going to be until next year. It's going to be stupid to make any sort of uh conclusions in the next three games i think that we're gonna knock we're not gonna be able to make a conclusion until probably halfway through next season the last three games are the giants so this one commanders and panthers so that is a pretty winnable schedule i think they could steal one from the commanders we'll see

um some other stuff to note for this game young way coup on ir riley patterson is going to be their uh kicker so see how that goes uh drew lock is going to be the starter uh tommy devito got uh let off of the concussion protocol and will be the backup and michael peddix found out that he was going to be the starter uh while he was buying a dollar 50 hot dog from costco and then later said that he went he bought it got the call and he immediately said he wasn't hungry so i'm a little concerned about that. A little bit concerned about that. He's human. I enjoy that hot dog, dude.

Yeah. He's earned it. Totally. Oh, breaking news right off the bat. Ravens have waived Deontay Johnson, which means that basically the Ravens are going to get a fourth round pick back. So that's actually great. Like he was literally rental. They weren are going to get a fourth-round pick back. That's actually great. He was literally rentaled. They weren't going to keep him.

So I'm hearing he's a Patriot. No, no, I don't want him there. This kid is a nutcase. He's just another in the long – real quick, Deontay Johnson is just another in the long line of Steelers receivers that have become full head cases Antonio Brown Juju Smith Schuster Deontay Johnson Martavis Bryant Chase Claypool and yes I'm including George Pickens because that dude ain't right all of them are

cut from the same cloth and it's actually insane yeah every single one of them yeah also I'm tired of Pittsburgh bragging about oh look at our mid-round receiver drafting. Okay. Try not drafting a head case. There's a reason you haven't won a ring in a long time or even won a playoff game for that matter. But let's keep going. Yeah. Lions and Bears.

All right. So Lions coming off of a shootout loss to Chicago or to Buffalo and Buffalo, Chicago, fucking A, dude. Chicago coming off of a loss to Minnesota. They have not won since Jay Cutler got his DUI. Fun fact. They also haven't won since that Hail Mary. I mean, that mean Also worth mentioning More so than Smokin' Jay

Eight game losing streak Is what they're on right now But there's also some other interesting things To think about in this one So David Montgomery is out God knows if he's going to come back Apparently he's declined the season ending Knee surgery from a third opinion,

which third opinion, for all we know, could have been Dan Campbell's third opinion. So it's going to be interesting to see how this plays out going down the road. But another thing to note, Bears on Thanksgiving should have beat the Lions if it wasn't for Ibra fluce, not calling a timeout. And this time last year, when Detroit came to Chicago, Chicago almost beat Detroit.

So I think Chicago might be due for one. They might be due for one. Give me, I'm hitting the do button on this one. I'm hitting it. I'm hitting the button. Give me the I'm hitting it, I'm hitting the button Give me the Bears, why not The Lions, they're weak

This is an NFC North battle Anything can happen with these divisional matchups I'm feeling the Bears Give me the upset Why not All four of the Bears wins this year at home Let's make it five Fuck it

Still going the Lions lions are too overly talented and they're coming off a loss so they're a little pissed and it wasn't like it was a quiet loss their offense went off yeah the thing with detroit is yeah i know they're hurt and i know like the chip on their shoulder keeps growing. That is one thing. And, yeah, I know the Bears took him down to the wire, but Matt Eberflus' brain just decided short circuit. But here's the thing, and this is something that a lot of people are talking about, and I'm shocked.

Did you see what happened to the Bears last game? Did you see Caleb Williams on the sideline? Dejected. that is a defeated man that is the he is just defeated part of me feels like he's already mentally checked out he's waiting for next season and honestly if that's true i can't blame him because the bears are just a joke organization you're already just treading water with an interim coach who's going to be chucked off into one of the Great Lakes as soon as the offseason comes about.

So, yeah, easily give me Detroit because they still have heart. They still have a chip on their shoulder. The Bears are just dead. Moving on to the next game, the Browns and the Bengals. A couple things around this game. So the Broncos losing is fantastic for the Bengals. Because guess who the Bengals have coming up next week after this game against the Browns? The Broncos.

And the Bengals need... The Bengals needed one of the two teams, the Chargers or the Broncos, to lose out. And more specifically, the Broncos, to lose out. And more specifically, the Broncos. Because they're playing the Broncos on their schedule in two weeks. So, it would have been nice for the Broncos to lose, in which they did. So, lo and behold, if the Bengals can win this game, beat the Broncos next week, beat the Steelers last game of the season, Bengals are in bangles are in playoffs granted they also need some other bullshit to happen but this is like the easiest way for

the bangles to clinch a playoff spot and boy i said this halfway through the season i don't know man i don't know joe burr with joe burrow playing the way he is, I can't give up hope. And you guys called me foolish. Said I was foolish. And I said, yeah, I know. I am foolish. I'm very foolish. I make a lot of bold claims.

I make a bold claim that Corlin Sutton could be the next coming of Randy Moss if he had a competent quarterback. I make those claims. I'm not afraid to say it. But here we are. The Bengals are on a two-game winning streak, and by God, they are almost there. They are almost home to getting a playoff berth.

And honestly, yeah, this goes back to what we were just saying earlier. If the Bengals somehow find a way to make the playoffs, Joe Brooke could be MVP. Jamar Chase, debatably, should be Offense Player of the Year. He's already over 100 yards receiving. He's got 1,400. He's over 102 yards. I'm just butchering it so badly.

102 catches already. Over 1,400 yards receiving. Already at 15 touchdown passes or touchdown receptions. Jeez, I just butchered that whole damn thing. All right, I'm not going to talk for much longer, but DTR is also starting for the Browns, not Jameis. And right then and there, you might as well just throw it out the window for the Browns for having any sort of case of potentially winning this game.

Give me the Bengals. Yeah, I'm going to take the Bengals. And listen, it's not just the fact that they can possibly sneak into the playoffs. That's obviously significant. But getting there would also potentially save their championship window. Because if you get there, then you can go to t higgins and trey hendrickson over the offseason you can say listen this wasn't a good year but there was a lot of positives to look at this from and if you just buy back in we can try and build a defense and we will be back

in championship contention in no time but we need you there to do it. I think that's a much better sell than if they miss. And then you have to say, well, you played great, but it didn't end up working. Right. I mean, and I said last episode that Joe Burrow alone gives the, gives the Bengals a shot at keeping Tee Higgins, but making the playoffs too. With all of the shit that's gone wrong this year for them, they still making it at 9-8. That could be huge. If you get Tee Higgins and Trey Hendrickson to buy back into this team and build around the star talent that you have,

then that would be significant, and it would potentially save the Bengals championship window for the next few years because they're still not let's face it they're not far off they they're just a few pieces on defense away from really being in the mix they had some bad games this year their offense played amazing clearly Joe Burrow hasn't been hampered by these, the injuries in the past. He's still himself. Get this team healthy. Get some good players on defense. It's a cell.

They have a pitch. That's all I'm saying. I concur. I'm going with Cincy one. It's in the jungle to Burrow smelling blood in the water after last night and if the bangles went out and you know they also you know they need a few other things to go their way but their chances of the playoffs are not as slim as the numbers suggest more or less they control their own destiny because once they beat the chargers they're

basically a shoe in you know because they they also need Miami to lose out, which is understandable. And also, guys, I know the Bengals' defense is bad, but is Dorian Thompson-Robinson really going to give them fits? No. Exactly. Give me the Bengals. Another thing to note, and for some reason this kind of went under my nose,

Bengals are 1-5 at home. 1-5. That's terrible. That's our home turf. Zach Taylor thing. Also, to Adam's credit about trying to get Higgins and Hendrickson to buy back in, I feel like if they promise to get rid of taylor which i don't care even if you make the playoffs you get rid of zach taylor because burrow is winning in spite him

then that could do well to keep both of them around because i would imagine both of them want taylor gone yeah heck burrow did you you saw what happened last game where he told Taylor something was effing stupid or whatever it was. I just saw that he said that we're so fucking bad or something like that. I don't remember exactly, but he still looked very pissed on the sideline, rightfully so. They had the Titans last week in a chokehold and then slowly kind of let them back in the game.

Speaking of the Titans, Titans versus Colts. Is Will Levis getting the start or what's going on? No, it's Mason Rudolph. Is it? Good, because if you get minus four fantasy points with your X in the crowd, then you probably shouldn't be starting another game for the rest of your life. Tough season for Will Levis. So much hope. I had him has a fancy sleeper this year

ah geez kick me in the nuts why don't you tony pollard really the only bright spot of the titans offense about to be a thousand yard rusher and it's just barely gonna mean much mean any not gonna mean much at all uh colts also fighting for their playoff lives all roads pointed in the in this one so give me the colts i'll go titans just because i also don't like Anthony Richardson. And at least when you bring in, you've noticed when Mason Rudolph was there, you had a little bit of stability on offense.

You didn't have a turnover machine and will Levis. Um, I think that's important, especially against the Colts team. That's having trouble themselves. Um, I don't like Anthony Richardson this season either. Those two in a, in a similar way have

been cut from the same cloth. They're just having really tough seasons. So yeah, give me the Titans on this one. I might be bucking logic, but I'm going with the Titans because what's like what Adam said, you have stability with Mason Rudolph and we know this he's looked better. I know his stats don't look great in the wind loss record. Doesn't look great. We had to remember their throat. They threw a minute against like the lions and like another team. They just got wallowed, but the Colts are not a good team. They're not a playoff team.

And I think that Rudolph can at least be a game manager. Whereas Richardson, he's either going to, you know, you know how he is. He's either going to turn and turn into prime cam noon, or he's going to turn to prime Nathan Peterman. There's no in between and I'm leaning Peterman this week. week a couple upsets on the picks here a couple upsets rams and the jets all right yeah it's first off i'm picking the rams get your picks in and then we'll talk rams rams all right good golly the jets in the news again for terrible, terrible things. Woody Johnson, like this has gone to the point where it's getting to Washington levels, where the only way Woody Johnson is ever going to be taken out is if all the other owners in the league deem that financially Woody Johnson is a threat to their financial stability.

So that if they could find a way to that, to get Woody Johnson out of there via that, then because Dan Schneider, that he didn't even get kicked out for all the other shit. He got kicked out of being an owner just for being a threat to the financial or use just a financial liability to all the other owners in the league so the news that was brought in um and this was reported by mike silver who robert griffin the third also just called mike silver a liar but and over something else but um so it was brought to light that a former we'll call him a associate of joe douglas

the former gm of the jets basically saying that he was taking owners orders from teenagers why is that why why why are we saying that because woody johnson's teenage kids granted we're talking 17 18 years old they're probably in college but granted we're talking teenage we're not talking about 13 year olds but still we're talking teenagers that are putting input giving input in team meetings about shit what shit should on. And apparently the jets were high buyers when it came to the Jerry Judy trade. And it got struck down because his Madden rating wasn't high enough. Jerry Judy's Madden ratings in 84.

That's crazy. That's crazy. It's I don't, you really expect judy to be a 99 overall receiver no he's not but the point still being he'd be better than having mike williams on your team but and mike williams isn't on the jet anymore but point still stands so there's that there's another story that came out that said that the kids were also handing out game balls all willy-nilly in the locker room just stealing the spotlight like there's supposed i think there was a game ball that was supposed to be handed out to jeff olbrich when he got his first win and they like gave it to

aaron rogers or something i i don't really get it but that was basically the long and the short of it and when you think about there's this other little tidbit that I don't know if you guys know about this. So Mike Silver being the one that mainly reported on this along with Diana Rossini. Mike Silver is currently writing a book that's about to be published where he used to be in the 49ers organization that might have a say a word or two about the jets say with me say with me robert salah maybe robert salah is feeding mike silver some shit i don't know that's that's my spending zone for you. Good golly, the Jets

are in deeper shit than God could ever imagine. Do you guys have anything you want to say about that? I do have one thing. I'm going to reiterate what I... Oh, Adam, were you going to... I don't really... You can go. I was only going to say I've said this on the show many to? I don't really. You can go. I was only going to say, I've said this on the show many times.

I don't condone bandwagoning, not by any stretch of the imagination. But Jets fans, after this, which, you know, a team says, I'm not going to trade for this dude because of their Madden rating. The owner is taking orders from kids that are younger than us on the podcast, I might add. Yeah, I think you're justified in going somewhere else. Like, this is atrocious. I know we like to, when it comes to MetLife Stadium, we like to point and laugh at the Giants because their fans are so angry. They're flying banners over the stadium, but

Woody Johnson's kids get to call shots? They're denying trades based off Madden ratings? No. Then you know what? If you want to do that, then treat this like Madden. Delete the team and start from scratch. I think the funniest thing is that one of the funnier things is that EA Sports or yeah, it might have been EA Sports that tweeted out. Hey, at New York Jets, do you still think Jerry Judy's Madden rating still isn't good? And posted Jerry Judy's Madden rating still isn't good and posted Jerry Judy's Madden rating? It was like an 85 or something. Something like that, but oh my goodness.

Adam, you want to add anything or no? I wish I could say I was surprised, but I'm not because it's the freaking Jets. If anything, I'm more like, oh, that's why. There's a reason why they've been so bad so long but yep yep so just gets worse and worse and worse for the jets but it's same old jets that i've known for almost 24 years now all right eagles commanders this is probably number two in terms of games of the week. And for good reason, NFC, the divisions on the line, if the Eagles win, they win the NFC East. If the commanders win, they clench a playoff spot. That's really it, but it keeps them alive for the NFC East

division, but it probably would only be alive for another week. Give me the Eagles. They're just too hot right now. I'd say that Washington is probably going to cover. Spread's three and a half. I could see the commanders covering the spread here. But in terms of a win, I feel like it's either the Eagles are going to only win by a couple or they're going to blow the shit out of the commanders. This Eagles defense is really

good and honestly you could even argue that it's better than the first time around that the commanders and the eagles have played so give me the eagles maybe jayden throws pick yeah the eagles have been really good but so have been the commanders and it feels like the eagles have just been on but so have been the commanders and it feels like the eagles have just been on a tear where they're just so hot that you just know that it's not going to last the whole season and i'm not even going to i'm not even trying to say that they're not going to make a deep playoff run i think they will but you really don't think they're going to face one hiccup not one they already lost to the commanders hiccup? Not one? They already lost.

The Commanders already lost to the Eagles once. Do you think the gap is that big that it's going to happen again? And then the Commanders take this one in an upset, yes. But the Commanders have had a good season, too. So I think they go 10-5. They stay alive in the playoff race. I agree that the division's probably going to the eagles come on it's i i respect the commanders what they're able to do but it's philly i definitely have philly reason being i just feel like i know it's in washington but the commanders

are too young and i know and philly's just like we mentioned that they're too hot right now i don't this feels like it should be a closer matchup though i'm making it out to be but the commanders have kind of run out of gas for lack of a better term like they're still playing well but philly still leagues ahead and with the division in their mind i think philly's looking to officially deal the killing blow to the commander's division supremacy hopes i like it uh one more game in the one o'clock slate and then we're going to go to break and we're due for one uh the cardinals and the panthers uh panthers coming off of a bad loss to the Cowboys last week. And what some would probably figure to be a bit of a roadblock in this kind of resurgence that the Panthers are having right now. And it's not even that this resurgence is resulting in wins, but it's more of the competitive nature that they've been in a lot of these games.

They're on a four game winning or losing streak coming up. That was after back-to-back wins where they beat the Saints and the Giants. They lost by three to the Chiefs. They lost by three to the Bucs in overtime in a game that they probably should have won. Actually, I'm thinking of the Philly game, which is another game that they should have won if Xavier Leggett caught the ball in the end zone. And they only lost that game by six. But then you go at home, the first game in what, over a year that they get favored

and they lose to the Cowboys by 16. So it's a little iffy for the Panthers right now, but the Cardinals are always going to be a team where you never know which team you're going to get. They could be good one day, which they were last week against the Patriots, or they could be bad another day where they get their shit kicked in by the commies. So give me the Panthers in the upset here this week. I'll take the Cardinals. The Cardinals have had a rough go at it the past few weeks,

but they've been very, very streaky, and it feels like they're due for a get right game where maybe they don't blow them out because the panthers have been okay but they're still technically in a playoff race and i think this is one that they have to have they know they need it give me the cardinals i have to go with carolina because i know the cardinals know they need it but they're just another team that i feel like has more pieces than they realize they just keep limiting themselves i'm not especially sold on kyler murray either i've been very unimpressed even though they they thrashed New England,

you could tell just from the way they were playing. If that's any other team, they're losing that. Because New England, you know, once again, the same thing all season, that they shot themselves in the foot with stupid penalties. And also Cardinals got bailed out on a really ticky tack roughing the passer call. But the Panthers, they're just another team that they're out of the playoff hunt, but they've got the chip on their shoulder. I feel like even though it might not be the case, they feel that they have more to prove than the Cardinals.

Bryce Young is going out there trying to play like a man possessed because he knows his future is not certain. Just give me the Panthers because the Cardinals are just such a mixed bag. They looked decent last week and this week comes the fall. The difference between the Panthers in week three compared to the Panthers now is a complete vibe switch up. I love it. I I absolutely love that. I love it. I love the resurgence,

the second year resurgence from Bryce young and it's awesome. All right. We're going to take a quick break. We're due for one. It been going on for a while. There's, I forgot that no one's on the buy this week. So we're going to step aside for a quick break. When we come back,

we're going to get to the four o'clock games and the Sunday night and Monday night games. This is the public podcast. It may not have always showed it in the staff sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws back to back games, where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot.

He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie, truly a lose lose scenario for both sides. Welcome back to the Pmaruski Podcast. Chris Kostich, CJ Medeiros, Adam Wright. 4 o'clock slate for Week 16. No one's on the bye, so this has felt extra long, to be honest. We went like 13 weeks in a row of having a bye week and not having to cover every team,

all 32 teams essentially. But we're going to knock the bills and the Patriots out of the way here. A lot of storylines coming out of the Patriots. First though, on the bills, obviously Josh Allen bills are going to win this. And really this is a matter of pick your number. They're winning by it.

I could see the bills winning by a billion in this game. Bills are also wearing the red jerseys today, and they're going to look just like the Patriots alternate uniforms, which they've been getting a lot of flack for that. Really, the only difference between the Patriots 80s retros uniforms and the Bills alternates is that one team wears is wearing red socks and the other isn't That's basically the only difference for the Patriots side One week Gerard Mayo's on the hot seat one week. He isn't One week in this week. It seems like he is based off of comments that Of him seemingly throwing Alex Van Pelt under the bus.

And then he's throwing Kayshaun Booty under under the bus. And now there's reports that Mike Vrabel wants to come coach for the Patriots. And now it's Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels coming back. I would love that. I would love that. That's my football wet dream right there. Mike Rabel and Josh McDaniels coming back to the Patriots. Don't squint your eyes at me, CJ.

Josh McDaniels turned Mac Jones into a Pro Bowl quarterback, and you both know that. You both know that. Pro Bowl means jack. It's 2024. He still did it. He still did it. Eric, the enemy won't. Josh McDaniels. Eric still did it. Eric DeAnomy won't.

Eric DeAnomy was a bum at UCLA low key, and he may or may not be a Mahomes merchant, probably why he can't interview well. But anyway, Adam, what's your pick? Bills. Fair enough. I guess that's it. Yeah, I don't have to talk.

Yeah, no, that's basically it. I could go on about new england but we've been on here long enough it's bills and it's not going to be close well i swear to god if new england figures out a way to win and screws up the travis hunter sweepstakes i might actually cry i won't but I will consider it. We'll talk Patriots over the off season. Yeah. Speaking of, speaking of tagathon Jaguars and Raiders, uh, did talk about battling for the number one pick.

This is your battle right here. And talk about speaking of Mac Jones and Josh McDaniels, Mac Jones hasn't been, hasn't played terrible. I don't know. He's played terrible. Seven interceptions, uh, four touchdowns for him this year. I mean, he did pretty solid against the Jets, I guess.

I don't know. 294 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions. Wasn't the worst day in the world. 31 for 46. He hasn't played horribly. Give me the Jacks. I don't know. I mean,

the Raiders, the Raiders are in quit mode. Jaguars are basically in quit mode, but like not in quit mode. It's weird. So give me the Jacks Raiders. Yeah. Understandable.

I got to go with the Jack. You know why? Long time time ago a man once said mac over midder and it was me right now not a long time ago but yeah no i gotta take back over ridder because this is a truly unique game this is oh what do you mean no i think aoc's getting the start wait what i'm pretty sure. I thought I saw a report that Aden O'Connell. Okay, cool. Mack over AOC. I don't care.

My point is this is a really neat game. This is a tank bowl. This is the epitome of who wants it less. This game is going to be ugly, and I think the Jaguars will do enough to just barely win. But make no mistake, this is going to be ugly, and I think the Jaguars will do enough to just barely win. But make no mistake, this is going to be awful because these teams, I mean, I know the Jags are in quit mode, but they're not. These are both teams that are basically going to end up in the top five, and both of their head coaches are probably going to get fired this offseason. This is going to be a total suckfest.

Pause. Yeah, this game has potential to be a bottom three contender for Week 16, this whole game in general. Never mind one team or the other. Honestly, whoever loses is probably going to end up being on the top three just to get closer to the number one pick. That alone. That's not how it works, but okay.

It doesn't – well, yeah. It's not how it works, but I might have to consider it. Vikings. Yeah. Vikings Seahawks. Oh, Vikings are hot. So hot. So hot. So hot.

Geno Smith, good news. He's playing. Or should be playing. But I don't think that's really going to matter. Because one thing that the Vikings do well is play action. They are the top play action team in the league. Guess what the Seahawks don't do well with? I'll take play action for 500 Chris

you'd be correct they are the worst play action defense in the league analytically speaking um so with that being said I'd have to go with the Vikings tidbit Tom Pelissero one hour ago Stephon Gilmore who has missed two games with a hamstring injury, off the injury port, set to make his return this Sunday against Seattle. So, big news for the defense. And honestly, it's not like they've been missing him. Vikings defense has still played extremely well. Oh, yeah. I'm not saying that he's not going to be a big help.

I'm just saying that they've done well without him. And having Gilmore with them now is basically like adding sprinkles to your ice cream. So anyways, uh, give me the Vikings. Yeah. The Vikings have been just such a well,

well-oiled machine this season. I was basically waiting for them to collapse all year long, but it's clear that that's not happening anymore sam donald deserves all the flowers that he's getting he has a chance at 40 touchdown passes i mean if things go as he still has three games to go and he's thrown 29 touchdown passes so what a year he has had and And I definitely did not have Sam Donald throwing for close to 40 touchdown passes on my bingo card, but here we are. So Vikings. It's the Vikings. Seriously. I mean, Geno's banged up.

I know he's playing, but he's going to be playing banged up. They're not going to have Kenneth Walker for like the umpteenth week. And the Vikings have shown us all, hey, we are not collapsing. And you know the Vikings are extra motivated because the Lions are basically limping into the playoffs, and they have a shot at maybe, just maybe, probably the NFC North away from them. Vikings are going to come out firing on all cylinders. Skull, boys. Give me the Vikings.

Skull. That's the name of the game right there. Skull. Sorry, I probably just blew out a bunch of eardrums doing that. No. Okay, good. There was one more. It's also going to be really shitty out in Seattle,

so Aaron Jones might have himself a big day, which would be great for me. I have him on my fancy team, if you didn't catch that already. On the opposite of shitty day, it's going to be a beautiful day in miami not niners and the dolphins two teams that are still somehow some way alive in the playoff race don't ask me how don't ask me why but they are they shouldn't be but they are now if this was any other season and the niners weren't basically like on their last legs then i would go with the niners based off of well they would mostly

most likely have a winning record and the dolphins suck against teams over 500 the problem is that both teams are six and eight hmm i'm gonna still go with the theory that the 49ers are the 49ers doesn't really matter where i don't know give me the niners on this one i still think that my like the niners are bad but it's because of their injuries and they are too top heavy whereas miami is just in the shitter and they don't do well against good teams in general the niners aren't a good team but this is just one of those things where i just feel like the Niners are going to end up getting one on the Dolphins this week. Adam? Yeah, I'll take the 49ers.

As CJ keeps saying, and I'll give him credit now, the Dolphins are such an unserious team. They have a lot of talent, but they just never put it together at least well enough even when things are going well it just doesn't go well enough um so i have to go with them the 49ers they're still doing i mean they have the horses i guess to to sort of win this game. And I guess since they were in the Super Bowl five minutes ago, like you can look for reasons for this Miami team to lose, and you'll probably end up being right, because the Dolphins are just such a soft team, and they're not to be taken seriously.

I could see this being a sneaky shootout, to be honest. Sneaky shootout. CJ, your pick. Logic would say go with the Dolphins, but I have to go with the Niners because, once again, they're still unserious. And I know Miami believes it can make the playoffs, but technically San Fran does too. They're technically both alive,

even though their chances are both less than 10%. Heck, I think San Fran's chance is now less than one, if I'm not mistaken. That might be, but whatever. I just, I'm really hoping Devo's going to break out of a funk. And who knows? Maybe the new Niners running back can go off, which I think he will, because the Miami defense hasn't been able to stop the light breeze.

So when you come to that, and also, everyone likes to talk about Debo's slump, and I get that, but what about Tyreek Hill? You couldn't find his ass on a milk carton. Give me the Niners. Like I said, though, I feel like this could be the potential of a sneaky shootout. Oh, yeah. Which means Isaac

Guarando might have himself a day. Tyreek could have himself a day. Guarando's not playing. So you're telling me that the Niners are going to be on their fourth running back. And it's not going to matter because the Miami run defense doesn't exist. Patrick Taylor is the fourth string running back. The fourth running back going to be used for the Niners.

Jesus Christ. It just gets better and better in San Fran. Sunday night football. Bucs and the Cowboys. Now, the spread right now is Bucs by four. And part of me is a little bit surprised. I would have expected this maybe six and a half, seven and a half. But you also got to think of Dallas is actually getting a little bit healthier on defense.

So this is going to be maybe a little bit more of causing problems for Tampa Bay. What am I saying? It's the Bucs. It's the Bucs. They're hot. They're so hot right now. Baker is probably going to throw for 40 touchdowns this year. He's most likely going to throw for 40.

I could see him throwing for four touchdowns again on Sunday night. This is a Bucs team that just seems like it's getting better and better every week. Mike Evans, I got to give him some flowers. He's a top 15 wide receiver of all time. I don't care. He's top 15 all time. We can have the discussion of top 10 but he's at the very least top 15 and it's because of consistency alone and the funniest thing is that many people

would say that mike evans isn't a top 10 receiver in any or not a top five receiver in any single year which is like the funniest thing in the world like i wouldn't put mike evans as a top five receiver in any single year, which is like the funniest thing in the world. Like I wouldn't put Mike Evans as a top five receiver this year, but I'd say he's a top 10 receiver in general. He's not projected to hit a thousand yards and it's because of his injury, but I want to be surprised if he ends up just going ballistic in the next couple of weeks and getting to a thousand.

And if he doesn't get a thousand yards, then it would be the first time in his career that he doesn't crack a thousand yards in a single season, which would be an absolute crime. Yeah. Yeah. Give me the Buccaneers. And it seems like baker mayfield just based off mike evans um just based off mike evans usage rate in the past couple of weeks baker mayfield is on a mission

to get mike evans to a thousand yards again and i think he has a very good chance to do it and against a very putrid dallas defense that has been nailed by injuries all season long i think they'll do it not this week obviously they have three weeks left to get 250 yards you have a good chance but let's see yeah i also have to go with tampa because look look okay, okay, okay, okay. I know Dallas is getting healthier on defense, but even still, does it really matter? There's another team that I think is just going through the motions. There's a real chance Mike McCarthy gets fired this offseason, and you know those guys, they want it to happen.

Although it's the Cowboys, so I would not be shocked if he didn't. But Baker, once again, playing like a man possessed. He wants the NFC South. And the Cowboys, I just think they're another team that's just kind of skidding towards the offseason. They just want the season to be over. Give me Tampa. But once again, I don't really have to put too much brainpower behind it. Like our next matchup, which is, Chris?

The Packers and the saints um but yeah the cowboys are somehow still in a still somehow alive in the playoffs but it's like less than one percent i saw yeah at home network yeah uh saints pack i mean spencer radler is getting the start uh uh what's his face uh rizzy just said that he's getting the start. He's healthy and ready to go. And, I mean, probably for the better because your next option is Jake Hainer, the most flamboyant quarterback. I mean, you did it by choice.

He knew what he was doing with that photo shoot before the season during media day. But, yeah, Packers by a billion. Jordan Love Toyotathon is a real thing. Compare his numbers in Toyotathon and outside of Toyotathon, and it's pretty telling. Jordan Love outside of Toyotathon, 3,829 yards, 29 touchdowns, 25 interceptions. During Toyotathon, 3,283 yards, 26 touchdowns, 2 interceptions.

Good Lord. I can't believe this is a storyline, but it is, and I'm here for it. I love it so much. Give me Jordan Love in Toyotathon by a billion. Give me the packers it's you don't even need to talk about toyota thon to know that and we're we're pushing an hour 40 and we're here talking about toyota thon i don't care jordan love toyota thon for the win come on this is uh listen uh the saints are getting to a point where they're probably going to start shopping for a new quarterback i mean they can't be going with derrick carr for too much longer

and i think the storyline towards the end of the season for the saints is maybe they enter the trade market and i mean trade in the draft going up to number two or number one. Whichever pick the Raiders, whichever pick, if the Patriots move up to number two, they would have. Because I don't know if it's doing it for them. Yeah, there's what I have. I will say to Derek Carr's credit, though, for how bad the Saints have been,

the Saints haven't won a single game without Derek Carr, so it's not saying much, but... No, it's pretty much saying nothing. I mean, a lot of that production literally came from the first two weeks of the year where they fooled us into thinking they might not suck, and yet here we are. And let me inform you of something.

There are three certainties in life, it would seem. Death, taxes, and short-lo and Toyotathon. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. It's about the unstoppable force versus the very lightweight, very movable object known as the Saints. You got Toyotathon, Jordan Love versus, you know, the injured, broken down car there. Then, who could forget, former first rounder turned mid for the saints, Spencer Rattler. By the way, if you know anything about college football,

look at, look at what happened to Spencer Rattler. The fall needs to be studied. And then Jake Hayner, the man who was literally if the phrase no diddy was a human being, give me the Packers. And the spread appears to be 14. According to Chris, who made the graphic by 14, they're going to come in. According to ESPN bet.

It's 14. If you're looking at like, it's probably by more than 14. It's probably like 14 and a half at the very least, maybe even 16. But this and the bills, Pat's game is currently the largest spread, but surprisingly the Patriots don't even have,

I think the Patriots money line might be like plus seven 50 and the saints is plus 700, obviously from this graphic. Didn't make one for the Pats because understandable. Cause they're four. Cause not in prime time. Yeah. But that's all the scheduled content that we have today.

Thank you for joining us and staying with us for this marathon of an episode for week 16, our game pick. There was just a lot of stuff that we had to cover. It's week 16. The storylines are rolling about like a motherfucker. So there was a lot to cover that we had to get, especially the Jets. Good God. And Michael panics,

but anything else that you guys want to add before we end the show? No. Cool. Cool. That'll do it for us tonight. Thank you for listening. New episode coming out on Tuesday, Christmas Eve at 7 30 PM,

7 30 PM on Christmas Eve at 7.30 p.m. 7.30 p.m. on Christmas Eve. There we will go over the Christmas Day matchups along with our naughty and nice list. That's where we're going to go through the contracts, if they were bad contracts or great contracts, amongst other things. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. We also have all our episodes available on Spotify, Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts, and so much more. Be sure to follow our Instagram, Fulmaruski underscore podcast, and our TikTok, Fulmaruski pod, to keep up with our podcast and the latest coverage on the NFL.

Otherwise, CJ Medeiros, Adam Wright, I'm Chris Kostic. We will see you on Tuesday night. Over and out.