The Fumblerooski Podcast - Home Invasion -Ep 232 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: December 29, 2023

How far can Joe Flacco lead this Browns team? Who wins the Lions and Cowboys matchup? Adam Wright and CJ Medeiros host special guests Ian Mulhearne and Aaron Wise to cover these topics as well as give week 17 game picks!

the Browns defeat the Jets as Joe Flacco shows flashes of his earlier 2012 self. The Lions are in a showdown against the Cowboys in a big playoff preview matchup as we get ready for week 17, the second to last week of regular season play before the postseason. I'm Adam Wright, and you're listening to the Fumble Rooski Podcast. Edelman broken up and the pass is no sign yet. Edelman comes down with a football and they're saying it's a catch. Welcome to the Fumble Rooski Podcast by Power 88 and Secret Weapon Consulting. I'm Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros and guys we have a big show planned for you tonight as I mentioned we are on to week 17 so the second to last week right before the postseason lots of playoff implications and lots of lots of game picks coming up in this episode we're going to talk about Joe Flacco and how far

they could uh he could take the Browns in the postseason now that they're in. And the Lions and Cowboys, it's a big matchup. Lots of playoff implications in there. And joining us to cover all of these topics, we got Ian Mulhern and Aaron Wise, two special guests for the thousandth time. But why don't you guys introduce yourselves? Welcome back. All right.

So I'm Aaron Wise. I'm from illinois and i'm a jet fan i'm ian mulhern i've been on this show a hundred times i'm from new jersey and i am sadly a carolina panthers fan yeah and two patriots fans a lot of cellar dwelling teams right now. But we love the NFL. We love talking about all of it. So we're just going to get, we're just going to go on to the teams who are playing meaningful games and talk about the Browns who on Thursday night football destroyed the New York jets 37 to 20 Joe Flacco, 309 yards, three touchdowns. So this is Joe Flacco's fourth straight game throwing for over 300 yards. This guy has been killing it in five straight games of multiple touchdown passes. So since he has joined the Cleveland Browns, this guy's been killing it.

And we've seen some of us who have been fans of the league for quite a while now are starting to have flashbacks of 2012, back when this guy had a relevant career and he hasn't been a full-time starter since 2017. So this guy has quite literally not even been in the league. And he earlier on this season, he was calling other teams, not the other way around to get start to get some starting reps. Most teams did not want him except the Cleveland Browns later on in the year when they went through three quarterbacks, Deshaun Watson, DTR, and that other guy who's from PJ Walker. Yeah. Name escaped me. Um, so they went through a lot just to even consider him. Uh, but guys, my question here, I'll start with you, Ian, where do we see Joe Flacco taking

this Browns team realistically, realistically? Well, you also have to look at how wide open the playoffs are right now. You don't have – no team is looking real scary, maybe the Ravens. But I have to say, since Joe Flacco probably plays in the toughest division right now and has put up the stats he has, I have to say Joe Flacco could probably take this team, I would say maybe to the divisional round, possibly an AFC championship. Okay. Aaron?

All right, so I'm going to keep this very brief, but I think Joe Flacco is going to the Super Bowl. That's my prediction. I'm calling it. I think they're going to the Super Bowl. I'm not going to say they're going to win it. They're going to the Super Bowl. Short and sweet.

Yep. Yeah. CJ, what do you think? The very same. I think the absolute ceiling is the ballpark of AFC championship or Super Bowl. Not promising any wins, but there's no team in the AFC that scares me. And like Ian said, you could bring up the Ravens, but you have to remember, that's a divisional thing.

Divisional games are always tough. They're always trap games, but I would say the absolute ceiling for them is probably the AFC championship. Yeah, listen, Joe Flacco, we forget how good Joe Flacco really was back in the day. This guy was a winning season machine. From the minute he entered in the league in 2008, he had five straight winning seasons,

then one season where he went 8-8 in 2013, then right back to 10-6 in 2014. So that's six of his first seven years in the league where he had a winning record. And most of the time actually got his team to the playoffs and even, and even made a run. One of them, I mean, the guy has a ring. So you look at that part that Joe flat, like we forget that what Joe Flacco really was when he was in the prime of his career. And we also forget how much talent this Browns team actually has. They've had some injuries in that offensive line. I'm not going to deny that, but Jerome Ford has been a pretty good replacement for Nick Chubb. He's pretty good. And Kareem Hunt

still kind of has it. They also have Amari Cooper and Elijah Moore and David Njoku. So this team is loaded with talent and I haven't even started on the defense, which is arguably the best in the league right now. So if this guy can still play at the level he is capable of playing, which he has, the talent around him should figure it out for itself. And we're seeing that right now. He knows how to use Amari Cooper, his best weapon, who wasn't even playing last night. So I got to say, maybe I do have the Browns in the Super Bowl. I'm not saying that they will go, but that is definitely their ceiling. And as long as Joe Flacco can play how he's playing right now, then I think they should do it. That's my pick. I think that is their ceiling right

now because they just have that good of a team. And they had that much potential going into the season as well. But there's one thing I got to add, K. Joe Flacco, congratulations. All right. Going to the playoffs, congratulations. He became the first quarterback in 33 games to be the first quarterback to throw over 300 yards against the Jets defense.

So congrats, as I got to say. Against the Jets. Oh, man. And one other thing that I really want, and even if we don't get a Joe Flacco Super Bowl, which would be a great storybook ending to this season, which has been a crapshoot, I want a Joe Flacco versus Ravens playoff matchup. I think that would be incredible. That would mean that, and I think that would happen in the AFC championship, because they're not going to face each other in the first round. The Browns have too good a record for that. They have one of the higher wildcard spots.

And the Ravens are most likely going to have the number one seed. So when you look at those two factors, they would end up facing off. I believe they would face off in the AFC Championship. Is that correct? If it stays how it is now, then yeah. Oh, man. That would be the best AFC championship matchup of all time. And even if you're a fan, because I know the AFC North has some of the most brutal rivalries of all time. Even if you're a Steelers fan and you're a Bengals fan who may not even be in the playoffs,

you've got to root for a matchup like that. Now, I'm sure Tuck would like that as well, because I just think it would be that fun of a matchup. And the storylines beyond just being division rivals, just the fact that it's Joe Flacco facing off against his former team, what a story would that be, wouldn't it? That'd be crazy. That'd be awesome. But I do got one question for you guys, okay?

If Joe Flacco wins the Super Bowl this year, do you guys think he's a Hall of Famer? Easily. No. Easily. I don't, no. I think he could be. I think. It's just, I don't know.

The Hall of Fame, like on a short little tangent here has started to morph into the hall of very good because i don't know of a time where joe flacco where we'd look at him and say you know what he has a shot or a case to be best quarterback in the league i don't even know if he's ever been consensus top five maybe one year if he was lucky you know he had one super bowl when he's never been in the mvp conversation never really had any big accolades it's just like i mean i don't know because i feel like there's got to be like a lot more to your resume than just rings well to piggyback off that he's never thrown for more than 30 touchdowns in a season. And just about every single season from 2008 all the way until 2017,

he has double-digit interceptions. That is really bad. In one of them, he didn't even start a full season. He went three and seven, so he started 10 games. He still had 12 picks. And on top of that as well, he has only one season where he eclipsed 4K yards. Okay, if we're talking picks, I mean, Brett Favre threw a lot of picks, but the man's also a legend himself.

So, I mean, you could. Doesn't he have like an, an MVP, though? And, like, other accolades? Yeah, and on top of that... He has a bunch of records. Yeah, he has a bunch of records. On top of that, like, in those seasons where Brett Favre threw a million picks,

he was also throwing for a million touchdowns and a million yards. So he was just that type of quarterback where you're you're slinging the ball all over the field but the the interceptions are tolerable if you're getting the yards and touchdowns okay i see i don't know that's really depends how you look yeah because because honestly for because honestly, I know this is a big debate too, but I don't know. I have a good feeling that EI

is trying to get in the Hall of Fame just because he's Peyton's brother and he won two Super Bowls and he's at, what, top 10 in passing yards? And I forgot. There was one other stat I can't exactly remember.

But he's very average yeah statistically he may not get it well statistically he may not get it but in terms of accolades yeah that's what I'm saying statistically no but if you look at his accolades this guy already has a Super Bowl victory and an MVP like Super Bowl MVP MVP. Oh, I was going to say, I'm a lead. I was going to say, no, he does not. And also, let's say, theoretically, if they win the Super Bowl this year, and he wins Super Bowl MVP, isn't that kind of the same case that Eli Manning has? No, because Eli Manning is statistically better.

He may be statistically better but he's the it's the accolades that are putting Eli Manning in that are putting Eli Manning in the hall of fame conversation in the same way that you know that's the thing we've lowered our this is a whole this is a whole separate issue but we've lowered our standards for the hall of fame and what it's doing is frankly abhorrent I I could I might agree with that and what I'm saying is other people like Philip Rivers that shouldn't be in the hall of fame either it's doing is frankly abhorrent. I might agree with that. And beyond that, there are other people like Philip Rivers that shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame either. It's just – Well, Joe Flacco was actually a super bowl of – What he should do is going to be very different than what will happen.

And Philip Rivers and Eli Manning might end up in the Hall of Fame. No, they will and they shouldn't. If they do, then Joe Flacco belongs in that conversation as well. That's all I'm saying. Oh, okay. Yeah, but this isn't a Joe Flacco thing. It's about a standards thing at this point. I agree.

It's like, are we – why are we mainstreaming delusion, I guess, is just my question. I mean, look, I know not every quarterback is going to go out there and be Tom Brady and be Joe Montana and be Peyton Manning, but – You can at least get the Joe Burrows or the Josh Allens or the Ben Roethlisbergers. Yeah, Roethlisberger, I mean, at least at one point was a consensus top five. Because when you look at stats, how much of that is because you played a long time versus how much of that was when you were really good? There's also Brett Favre.

Brett Favre is a hall of famer but he's yeah but he's got the accolades of the stats to back it up right so like you still need i agree like i agree with you i think we agree on a lot more than we think it does happen a lot we debate on something that we already agree on i'm just saying like if we if we're going on the standards that are that are that are happening today, with Phillip Rivers and Eli Manning being in the conversation, then if Joe Flacco wins a Super Bowl and a Super Bowl MVP at age, is it 38 or 39? I think he's 39. He's 38 right now. Either way. So a 38-year-old who's been out of the league practically

for the past five years comes back into the league, tears it up like it's 2012, 11 years ago, and then turns around and wins a Super Bowl MVP and wins a Super Bowl MVP. He belongs in that conversation if Phillip Rivers and Eli Manning are there. That's all I'm saying. That's true. If you think about it,

there's been worse players that made the Hall of Fame, like Joe Names. His stats wasn't that good. He had way more picks than touchdowns. That was a different era, though. You know what I mean? Yeah.

If you look at what He had way more picks than Kessler. That was a different era, though. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. If you look at the era that Joe Flacco played in when it came to defenses, that's all I'm saying. I mean, like Patrick Willis and a few others, I mean, he's played some really hard defenses. Yeah, fair. Yeah. All right. Well, we're going to move on, and we're going to get to our game of the week.

So the Lions at the Cowboys in Saturday night action, 8.15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. We're going to preview all the ins and outs of that game next. This is the Fumble Rooski Podcast. Here's Edelman broken up and the pass is no sign yet. Edelman comes down with a football and they're saying it's a catch. It's a pass! It's a catch! Sideline! Touchdown! Unbelievable! This is close! To Yates! Side-line!

Touchdown! Unbelievable! Swings it way down the field to Watkins! Sammy Watkins for the touchdown! Welcome back to the Fumble Ruski podcast by power 8 in secret weapon consulting i'm adam right with cj medeiros special guests ian mulhern and aaron wise all right so we have reached the game of the week portion of our friday show so we look at the most highly anticipated matchups for that week's slate of action. And we are on this week's pick is the lions at the Cowboys Saturday night at 8 15 PM.

Eastern time. I know a lot of people don't like Saturday night football, but I love it. I like it. It shows that we're kind of in the end game of the regular season. We're starting to gear up for the playoffs. And also listen, call me crazy. I'm not the biggest college football guy. So when I get football on Saturday, it's just, I love it. It's awesome. Um, no disrespect to college football, but I'm just a bigger, I like the real thing. I'm from the Northeast. All right. So lions at Cowboys, both teams, um, in similar spots.

So 11 and four is Detroit. They are currently in contention for the one seed in Dallas. They are 10 and five. I guess they're technically in the race for the one seat. I don't know if they are they in the, in the race for the one seat or not don't know if they... Are they in the race for the one seed or not? No? The Lions or the Cowboys? The Cowboys. If they are, I know it's far-fetched, but... It's very slim. It's very slim.

Because of tiebreakers. Because the 49ers beat the Cowboys. Right. So this has some major playoff implications to it. If the Lions lose, then they're very much out of the race for the one seed. On the other end, if the Cowboys lose, now I'm not saying that they have a chance, that they have a good chance at the one seed, but they at least have a solid shot at their division. And if they lose this game, they could kiss their divisional hopes goodbye. And also, I could probably cross them off as a potential Super Bowl contender.

Probably not if they lose this game. But guys, what are your thoughts on this matchup? Ian, I'll start with you. I think the key thing here is the Lions have lost some questionable games, but I feel like them as a road team is extremely dangerous because when it comes to the Lions on the road, I mean, they have proven that their offense can be very explosive. And you know what?

The Cowboys just haven't looked that great either in some games. I mean, for example, against the Cardinals, which they lost. I mean, that just proves to you that, you know, both these teams are neck and neck against each other. But I would say the Lions, not by much, but I would give the slim edge to the Detroit Lions here. All right. Aaron? All right.

Well, I'm going'm gonna use brief because I Not really big Cowboys saying no, I don't really like watching it but Okay with the game. All right Both of these teams are frauds. All right, I don't trust the Lions. I just think this is a fluke season They I'm be honest. I think the fluke. I don't don't think it's going to last long. They'll probably be one and done in the playoffs. I think the Cowboys are going to win this game just because they're home, because they're a different team at home. And both these

teams can't be a good team. So it's finally going to end tonight. No, not tonight. Tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow. Of which team could be a good team. Or it could be a tie. But I got the Cowboys win this one. All right. What are your thoughts, CJ?

What say you? I would say put me down for Dallas because I'm going to put all cards on the table. They're at home. The Cowboys are statistically one of the best home teams and i think most of their losses have come on the road i thought all of their losses might have come on the road they might have like one loss at home but either way it's just they are it's a tale of two teams and dallas at home is almost unbeatable but detroit they they're road warriors. Like Ian said, they're very good.

And I don't think Detroit's just going to roll over and die. It's going to be a high-scoring shootout. But if we're analyzing the trends, then it should be Dallas' game to lose. But I do think it's going to be a bit of a shootout. The big difference maker for me is that I do not trust Detroit's defensive backfield. I really don detroit's defensive backfield i really don't their defensive backfield has been gashed repeatedly and if and let's just say somehow some way you lock up cd lamb well you also have to deal with brandon cooks so give me the i say probably the cowboys but by a score all. So it's two to one right now in favor of Dallas and I hold the tiebreaker or the one that will tie. I'm usually the one who likes to tie just for the

sake of doing it. So just for argument's sake, but I can't bring myself to go against the Cowboys. The Cowboys are one of the best home teams in football right now. On the road is a very different story, but this team, not only are they fighting for playoff positioning, they're fighting to stay at home in the playoffs, at least for one game. And if they lose this game, then their road to the Super Bowl for them will go on the road, which are not good odds for this Cowboys team. Put me down for the Cowboys. They just have so much more offensive firepower than the Lions do. The Lions play a little more mistake-free at the best,

but I think the Cowboys, with CeeDee Lamb especially, that fella is unstoppable this year. You talk about a guy who, since he's entered this league, every single year he's been in the NFL. This guy has gotten better and better and better, statistically and by the eye test. And we're going to see that, especially with the mismatch. That is this Lions secondary against CeeDee against cd lamb i think it's going there

i think the cowboys are going to put on a clinic the lions will make it somewhat close they always most of the time unless unless there's a couple other matchups uh most they're going to make it somewhat close but the cowboys are just think, the better team at home. So give me the Cowboys. Oh, yeah. I got one thing to say real quick about the game. Yeah. The Cowboys game will be a blowout.

Cowboys are going to blow them out. Cowboys are going to blow them out? Yeah, I can see that happening. I can see that. I don't see this game being that close because the college are like way they're a complete of a team at home in the lines defense they can't stop nobody so i i think it's gonna blow up i think it'd be 20 point game entering the fourth quarter back is coming in yep i think honestly i think it really depends on the game. If it's really close and the Lions are up,

I would not count out Dak Prescott throwing an interception. Oh, he definitely will. I mean, that was the thing last week against the Vikings. You know, Dallas has to go ahead by a lot. Like Aaron said, you got it. You got to put them away. Cause if you put them in a close game and they're up, give me Detroit. Here's my problem with Detroit. It's that. So, and I hope, I hope everyone knows there's no bias here because Detroit was my preseason Super Bowl pick in the NFC.

And I'm very disappointed by the way they've played this year. Yes, they're 11-4. Yes, they are having one of the best years they've had in their franchise history. But giving it the eye test, this team does not look like a Super Bowl team. They just don't. I thought Jared Goff would be better. And I thought Jamison Williams was going to have a much more impactful season than he has. We've hardly felt

his presence. Sam Laporta has been a pleasant surprise. But at the same time, I also thought, I mean, Amon Ross St. Brown has been what we've expected from him. He hasn't been electric, but he also hasn't been bad. So he's been a solid wide receiver one. And their defense is not nearly what it should be. I know they've had some injuries in the secondary, but God, is that secondary bad. Their front seven is solid. I still like their front seven.

Aiden Hutchinson is pretty good. Their offensive line is solid as well. Not as good as it should be. But everything about this Lions team is good. We all thought they would be good. I just thought they'd be better. They are such a disappointment. And it kind of reminds me of this whole NFL season as a whole.

It's been fine. It's been an okay season. You know, the playoffs are open, are wide open in both conferences, but it just feels disappointing. It should be better than it has been. And it's kind of been the same thing with this Lions team. The Lions are supposed to be better than they are. And if they were as good as I thought they would be during the preseason, I would have the Lions going on the road and winning. Only problem is I just don't trust Jared Goff anymore. I'm lumping him in in the same breath as Kirk Cousins and Tua Tungabailoa. How about Derek Carr?

Derek Carr, yeah. No, Derek Carr is a tier below. Yeah. Unless the year is 2016, write Derek Carr, yeah. Nah, Derek Carr's a tier below. Yeah. Unless the year is 2016, write Derek Carr off. Like, I don't know what 2016 was. I loved Carr that year. He has not been the same since. He has not been anywhere near that.

Michael Crabtree having one of his best years ever. Amari Cooper looking like his Amari Cooper self. Man. And Latavius Murray having a career year. That too. Defense with David Amerson and Khalil Mack. Man. And also, Latavius Murray, you talk about a running back who was a backup who had no

business being a backup whenever he was thrust into a starting role he was awesome but the problem is they no one ever trusted him in a starting role consistently he went to the he went to the vikings he was a backup to dalvin cook rightfully so but latavius murray deserves a starting role and then dalvin cook gets hurt jerek mckinnon takes a starting role he goes to the saints he's a backup to alvin camara and mark ingram it's like everywhere he went this guy never got the shot and that now is now he's his career is past its prime. It's past its prime. And he's, oh, man, I loved Latavius Murray. If you can't tell, he was on my fantasy team in 2016.

So, all right. So we're going to move on. We're going to get to the 1 p.m. games for week 17. So we have leaked the week 17 game script. Make sure you pay attention. Take notes because we're not going to tell you this stuff twice. That's next. This is the Fumble Rooski Podcast. Here's Edelman broken up And the pass is No sign yet

Edelman comes down with a football They're saying it's a catch It's a catch Oh! To Gates! Side-line! Touchdown! Unbelievable!

Swings it way down the field to Watkins! Sammy Watkins for the touchdown! Welcome back to the Fumble Rooski Podcast. Adam Wright, CJ Medeiros, special guest Ian Mulhern and Aaron Wise. All right, so we have reached the game picks for our 1 p.m. slate of games, Eastern Standard Time, of course. So we go around the table. Just a few seconds we spend giving our picks, slight reasoning.

Don't even need a score prediction. Just boom, go. All right, we're going gonna start off with the patriots visiting the bills and i'm gonna keep this one short and sweet give me the patron uh excuse me give me the jesus give me the give me the bills this patriots team has won too many games already um and they need to they need to remember that they need to bottom out and be in contention for marvin harrison jr all right ian what's your pick i'll just keep this fast give me the bills remember that they need to bottom out and be in contention for Marvin Harrison Jr. Alright, Ian, what's your pick?

I'll just keep this fast. Give me the Bills. Just the Bills? Yeah, I mean it's the Patriots. There's really nothing to explain here. Exactly. Alright, Aaron. Alright, well, I got the Patriots.

I got the Patriots. I got the Patriots. Blaze is happy to get four touchdowns. Bill Belichick still wants to win. That's upset. Sure. I mean, they did upset them with Matt. It's going to happen. Now here's the thing.

It's in Buffalo. And I know they just won in denver give me the bills but it's gonna be an unsatisfying win for bills fans you know i mean i think the bills are gonna win but it's gonna be much closer than it should be let's just hope this is not a um since it's probably gonna be in the snow or something let's just hope it's not gonna be like a raiders vikings game please please just lose the freaking game patriots you are supposed to bottom out and you've won two of your last three games you have you have literally played yourself out of a top three pick when you were at two literally two days ago like oh i wouldn't let that happen to me all right we have a more

event we i'm sorry we have a more event event, a more eventful game here in the Dolphins who are visiting the Ravens. The Dolphins are still technically in the race for the number one seed, but the Ravens have it. And if the Ravens – and don't look now. Don't look now. But this Browns team with Joe Flacco is still technically in consension for not only the division but the one seed Ian what is your pick you know what if we're going off statistics

in the past couple years give me the Ravens over the Dolphins because I don't know if you guys know the history between that but every time these two teams seem to play, the Ravens always manage to blow out the Dolphins. All right, Aaron? I like to say Miami, but they haven't really beat a good team yet, so I got the Ravens. CJ? Well, I've got to go with the Ravens because you saw how they manhandled the 49ers with all

those weapons. Well, guess what? Miami has weapons too. And Jalen Waddle's not going to be playing. He was just ruled out with a high ankle sprain. And now if you're the Ravens, you're free to double team Tyree kill as much as you want. So yeah, give me the Ravens. Also the Dolphins defense ain't going to do Jack against Lamar. Give me the Ravens. The Ravens are the team that is, that is proven to be the team to beat. And it's about damn time because every single year in the first half of the season, Lamar Jackson and the Ravens look like that team, but they always get hurt halfway through the year. This is that projection of what it would look like each one of those years if they would actually stay healthy.

The health has been not a factor this year. Actually, at least not as much, because J.K. Dobbins is still gone with a torn face. And Mark Andrews is gone for the season. But give me the Ravens. The Ravenvens have shown that they can that they can stay healthy which has been the biggest factor here the dolphins have just beaten their first team above 500 in over a year and a half that's not going to continue so it was the road cowboys so it was against the cowboys which doesn't count. All right, so give me the Ravens on that part. All right, now we move on to our next matchup.

The 7-8 Falcons are facing the 6-9 Bears. The Bears team that looked like they were going to have two top two picks doesn't look like that anymore. The Bears, with at least their own first-round pick, have played their way out of the top five in this year's draft. Looks like they've been trying to play to show whether or not Justin Fields can play, and he's shown some life. What are you guys picking?

You know what? Just straight out the gate, this isn't even a debate for me anymore. Desmond Ritter, you're a fraud. Give me the Bears because, honestly, if this – listen. If you're losing to the Panthers with only two wins, forget about it. I'm just sick of the Desmond Ritter hype. Give me Justin Fields. All right, Aaron.

All right, well, the Falcons are frauds and always will be. I got the Bears winning, and I actually got the Bears going to the playoffs. They're sneaking in with 1%. They're going to the playoffs. Interesting. I love the boldness. I do. I do.

I like the boldness. Yeah. Let's see if it works out. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. All right. CJ.

Well, well, well, according to me, the winner of this week's not a Superbowl, but a toilet bowl will be the Chicago bears because you have a coach in the Falcons who for some reason can't quite figure out how to use his best players we'll let that happen to me but yeah i just think chicago you know fields is fighting

for his life he's got something to play for you know you got dj more decent defense yeah the defense has been pretty good these past few weeks so yeah i will take chicago over atlanta every day of the week and they need to fire Arthur Smith. They won't, but they should. You guys give very good reasons to pick the Bears, but I'm going the Falcons. So the Bears, yes, they have a lot of players and coaching staff who are playing for their lives, but don't forget the Falcons are doing the same thing and they do have talent. The Falcons just beat the Colts 29 to 10. So if they could just figure out how to use their talent because they have some high end talent there, everywhere you look, their defense is pretty good.

Their running back is among the best in the league. One of the best young running backs out there, Drake London, Kyle Pitts. And I guess if Desmond Ritter has all these pieces and a good offensive line, give me the Falcons. They're, they're also fighting for some things too. And they are still, they are still, we can't, we are still technically, they are still technically in the playoff race they do have that going for them i'm taking the falcons all right moving on to our next matchup we have the raiders we're seven and eight and technically have an outside shot at a playoff spot with the

colts who are eight and seven who have the last spot right now. And they're barely hanging on to it by the skin of their teeth. So must win for both teams. Who are we picking, Ian? You know what? If you could beat Patrick Mahomes without completing a pass since the first quarter and doing what they did in clutch moments, I have to say after the Colts' loss last week, that was a terrible loss. I'm going to go the Raiders on this one.

I believe in Antonio Pierce. Wait, is it Colts and Raiders? Yeah. Oh, okay, okay. Colts are hosting. Colts are hosting? Okay. I really like Darnaminshu a lot.

He's a really good quarterback, backup quarterback anyways. He's a fiery, but I need the Raiders to win so they can knock out the Chiefs out of the playoffs, so go Raiders. Okay. Oh, this is another one that's just gonna be something however ah i i know the opposite's gonna happen but i'm leaning indie and the reason i lean indie is solely because the chiefs i think are extremely fraudulent. You know, I know it's Patrick Mahomes stuff, but still, I mean, just,

the Colts do have better weapons, you know, with Alec Pierce, Michael Pittman, Mo Alley-Cox, Jonathan Taylor. So that's going to be a little bit tougher, and I think Gardner Minshew doesn't have the, I must force all the throws mentality that Mahomes does. So, yeah. And also, I don't know if you can catch lightning in a bottle twice, but give me the Colts scraping it out in an ugly game. Yeah, give me the Colts. Michael Pittman is back, and I don't think what happened against the Falcons is going to happen again against the Raiders. Raiders have a significantly worse

defense. It's a defense that's held its own. It's been better than we thought it would. But I think the Colts are barely hanging on to that spot. And I think this last week was a wake-up call for them. And so for that reason, give me the Colts. I think they win this game and they stay in the playoff hunt. All right. We move on to the Panthers at the Jaguars pretty close matchup if you ask me the 2 and 13 panthers who have literally nothing to play for and the jaguars who are 8 and 7 who

are trying to hang on to that division lead which is waning ever so much more by the week to the Texans. Ian, what's your pick? I know someone who's a Jaguars fan who will probably call me out for this, but you know what? Give me, I hate to say this, give me Jacksonville because you know what? The Panthers have been worse than a Burger King drive-thru in Virginia. Jesus. They just can't.

They're just that bad. All right. Aaron? All right. So, honestly, I don't know who's going to start a quarter for the Jaguars this week, but I don't think it's going to matter because apparently Trevor Lawrence has like a shoulder problem. And he's out, by the way.

He was just ruled out. Oh, he's out? Yeah. So that's his first time missing the NFL game. That's impressive. But anyways, the Jaguars still should win this game. C.J. Beathard dropped five touchdowns, and the Jaguars will win this one in a blowout.

All right, C.J., what say you? I swear to God, Ian, if the Panthers pull this out, I'm going to lose it. It should be Jacksonville. Even without Lawrence, they'm going to lose it. It should be Jacksonville. Even without Lawrence, they just have a better roster. But I think Jacksonville is going to win. But, oh, my God, it will not be a convincing win. They're probably going to get, like, a last-second field goal to win, probably, like, 13-10.

And, look, I know they just dropped a whole bunch of points on the Packers, but keep in mind, Vanilla Joe Barry was their defensive coordinator for Green Bay. So I feel like they get a mulligan on that one, respectfully. C.J. Bathard is still just good enough to win them games, and he's going to end up being their starting quarterback. I don't think it's going to be a convincing win, but it doesn't have to when you have your backup in there. I don't think this is Jacksonville's year to win the Super Bowl.

Although I had this team in the AFC championship before the team started. Another team that is very disappointing this year. Yeah. Give me the Jaguars. They're going to win, but not in convincing fashion. All right. Moving on to the next matchup. have an intra-division game the titans at five and ten taking on the texans in houston they are eight and seven they are still in contention for not only a playoff spot also the division so ian what's your pick you know what i would say cj stroud has a lot to prove ever since he got concussed against the Jets. So, you know what, give me the Texans because, you know what,

Will Mayonnaise Levis or whoever's starting for the Titans because you never know who's starting for them. Their quarterback room is like a pitching rotation. So, just give me the Texans. All right, Aaron. Okay, so this game is probably one of the most boringest game of Sunday. It's probably the Texans. There's not really a lot to talk about.

Like Texans should win. If they lose, they deserve to miss the playoffs, period. That's it. All right. CJ? CJ? Do the Texans have CJ Stroud? Has it been confirmed?

Yes. CJ Stroud's back. Then I'm leaning Texans. I believe they'll have Nico Collins as well. You know, Tank Dell's out, so it's going to be tough, but I don't know. Ryan Tannehill is just about cooked. And Derrick Henry's in a bit of a down year, so give me Houston. CJ Stroud is back,

but the Texans have been slammed by the injury bug in the second half of this year, which is really sad because if they didn't, they could have easily won 11 games this year. Still, give me the Texans. Texans win this game in convincing fashion. It may not be a blowout, but it'll be good enough for the Texans to stay in the playoff race. And this is a Texans team I do believe deserves the playoffs

because they've played very well this year. All right, moving on, we have the Rams taking on the Giants. So the Rams will be visiting New York. They are 8-7. If the playoffs started today, please football gods, let this happen. If the playoffs started today, the Rams would be visiting Detroit with Matthew Stafford in a rematch in a revenge game in the playoffs against the Lions. What a story that would be. But Ian, what's your pick here?

You know, you know what? I just, just give me the Rams. I mean, well, I mean, look,

the giants quarterback situation and the giants is all, there's not much to talk about. They're atrocious. All right, Aaron, I got the giants winning this game. Upset. Really?

The oldest game is possible, right? It's going to be nasty. It's going to be ugly. If you think about it, the Giants almost beat Philly. If Tyra would have played the whole game, the eyes of the park could have been Jalen Hurts. So if you could almost beat the Eagles, you can beat the Rams. So I got the Giants. And that coach, that coach is firing.

You know he's going to show up. And the reason why I always like to pick the Giants is because this will help the Bears get in. Okay. Yep. The Bears are going to the playoffs. The Patriots are pulling the upset. The Giants are pulling the upset.

I love the boldness. All bold predictions the upset. I love the boldness. All bold predictions from Aaron. All right. I mean, if you keep taking shots, you're going to hit on one of them. All right, CJ, what's your pick? I got to go Rams. Just the firepower on offense they have. I mean, sure, Stafford's not in his 2022 or whatever, like he last won the

Super Bowl. 21, yeah. 21, thank you. You're very generous. But with Puka, Nakua, Cooper Cup, and the emerging Kyron Williams, I don't know if the Giants can answer all that. I mean, their offense does seem to be clicking at some point, but for me, it's too little too late. Give me the Rams. The Rams have won five of their last six games, and the one game they lost was on a kick return in overtime against the best team in football in the Ravens. Give me the Rams. I don't think a team like the Giants is going to stand in their way.

And they kind of lost their momentum from the Linsanity run of Tommy DeVito. That is long gone. They just benched him for Tyrod Taylor. So give me the Rams. It's not going to be close. All right. Our next matchup, we got the Cardinals visiting the Eagles. Cardinals 3-12.

They currently hold the No. 2 overall pick. And the Eagles, Cardinals 3-12. They currently hold the number two overall pick. And the Eagles 11-4. They are still in contention for the number one seed. What are we picking? You know what? This is a huge matchup for the Eagles because, like I mentioned earlier, the Cowboys lost to the Cardinals. So if the Eagles do win this game, they'll have a head-to-head win over the Cardinals. So give me the Eagles on this. Aaron? Wait, so the game's in Philly, right?

Game's in Philly, yes. Okay. I got the Eagles to win this game, but it won't be a blowout. I see this game being kind of close just because the Cardinals this year, they've shown time and time again they're a pretty gritty team despite the record. I think the Cardinals are better than the Rutgers, but I got the Eagles in a close one.

All right. CJ? The Cardinals are a weird team. It seems like they can play up to any team but at the end of the day i just think philly's gonna want it a little bit more because they've been reeling from a few lackluster performances give me philly not too complicated yeah give me the eagles it's this isn't really a complicated matchup i know the cardinals have a tendency to make games close um i wish they could play their way out of the number two overall pick.

It would help the Patriots, who keep on winning games when they shouldn't be. But the Eagles, they just have too much to play for right now. So, yeah, Eagles are an easy pick. All right. Our next 1 o'clock game, Saints at Buccaneers. This one has some major playoff implications because whoever wins this division is going to the playoffs and hosting a playoff game.

Whoever doesn't win this division, which would seem obvious, but we need to add that extra emphasis on it. We'll be out of the playoffs completely by a lot, and we'll probably have a top five to maybe even 10 pick in this year's draft. Saints are seven and eight. Buccaneers are eight and seven. Buccaneers have been dealing lately. Ian, what's your pick? You know what? Listen, I mean, this is a quarterback who I really appreciate and I think does get overlooked a lot because of some down games, but give me Baker Mayfield. I think the guy has been playing out of his mind,

and I think he'll beat the Saints. Derek Carr is not great. Saints aren't great. Give me Tampa Bay. All right, Aaron. Well, Derek Carr is a bum. He's not good. Never will be good.

I got the Brooks win. It's won by 14 points. All right, CJ. Give me Tampa Bay. I am no longer afraid of the Raiders. They are just, they're just, or that's what I meant. Yeah. The same. Sorry, Derek Carr. You know what I mean? I'm not used to it. Now let me tell you something about the Saints. I'm not afraid of them. They are literally just a Frankenstein's monster of just names that are just cobbled together. You know what I mean?

Yeah. I got, you know, Derek Carr, Chris Olave, Marshawn Lattimore. None of that. None of that. I'm sorry. Baker Mayfield has been going on a tear these past few weeks, and I'm here for it. I mean, you know he wants to prove the doubters wrong, and you know he's playing for his life. Man, just give me the Bucs.

Yeah, this would usually be a game where I would swing the other way when other people are heavily going towards one team, but I still have to go the Buccaneers. The Saints are reeling, and they just don't look like the type of team that can get themselves into the playoffs. And the Buccaneers have been playing very good football lately. Give me the Bucs. And Baker Mayfield, congratulations to Baker for saving his career around this time last year. Because without that run with the Rams, he doesn't get another contract, and he's probably out of the league. And now he's

with the Buccaneers and actually playing very, very well yet again. Uh, so give me the box. All right. Our next matchup, we got 49ers at commanders, 49ers at 11 and four, the commanders, the opposite at four and 11, they continue to lose games so much at a rate. So at such a rate that they they now own the number three overall pick what are we picking this is our last one o'clock game give me give me sanfran i mean there's nothing to explain here yeah aaron 49ers that's it cj 49ers is a lot to prove and you know what i mean after getting manhandled by baltimore don't watch this you're now up against the worst defense in the league would they don't have jacoby bursette they're led by diet baker mayfield sam howell aka faker

mayfield so obviously you gotta give me the Niners on that one. Yeah, give me the Niners. This is about as much of a mismatch as we can get. Yeah, so we're going to sweep on that one. There's no way I could swing the other way on that one. I'd like to go a different way if you can make a case. In some scenarios, that one, there's no case you can make. Unless the four, the, I mean, Sam Howell sometimes does make games,

games when they shouldn't be. So we'll see, but no, give me the Niners. All right, next, we're going to have the 4 p.m. Eastern time and primetime games. That's next. You're listening to the Fumble Rooski Podcast. No sign yet. Edelman comes down with a football. They're saying it's a catch. It's caught. To Gates.

Side-line. Touchdown. Unbelievable. Swings it way down the field. The walk-in. Sammy Watt takes for the touchdown! Welcome back to the Fumble Risky Podcast. Adam Wright, CJ Medeiros, special guests Ian Mulhern and Aaron Wise.

Alright, we've reached the 4pm slate of Week 17 action. and we're going to kick it off with a good one. So the Steelers at 8-7 are visiting the Seattle Seahawks, who are also 8-7 so far this year. Both teams fighting for their playoff lives. They are both in different conferences, but they're just barely on the outside looking in. Ian, what are you thinking? You know what? I mean, it's Mason Rudolph starting, by the way. I think it's Mason Rudolph.

Well, you know what? You got Seattle. Is Geno Smith starting for Seattle? Is it still Drew Locke? They're still going Geno Smith. Okay. You know, this isn't like a legendary matchup, but, I mean, I would say I just think defense as a whole.

Just give me Pittsburgh. Not by much in a close game. All right, Aaron. I think Pittsburgh is going to win this game because Mike Tomlin is about – he's one win away of clinching a winning season, and he's going to do it again. And I see his game close, but close and boring. Yeah, that's what I got to say. Fair enough.

CJ. I just, oh, God, this game is just going to be terrible to get through. So it's in Seattle, which I think does tilt it in their favor, but I am interested to see if Mason Rudolph rudolph can uh keep going but you know what give me pittsburgh it's gonna be an ugly game but give me but pittsburgh's probably gonna win by like a field goal or it's gonna be like a one score game but i do like that defense and if they can dice up the bangles with jake Browning going on a wee bit of a Linsanity run, then I don't know because Seattle just doesn't do it for me.

Heck, they almost lost to the Titans of all teams. Give me Seattle. I think Seattle has the most talent on this team, and they know how to use it a lot better than the Steelers do. I think that offense is a lot better run than the Steelers this year. The Steelers have the personnel. They don't know how to use it. Very similar. So very similar to the Falcons, who have an even more severe case, but still.

All right. Our next matchup is the Bengals visiting the chiefs. This is a game where if we looked at this game during the preseason, this would be the matchup of the week over the Cowboys and the lions. Unfortunately, the Bengals, even when they had Joe burrow, he was playing hurt in the,

and the chiefs on the other hand, they have been a big disappointment themselves. Now we all thought that a couple of us thought that they would fall off a little bit. I think, I don't think we expected this much, but Ian, what are you thinking? You know what? I'm just going to go out and say it now. Give me, give me Jake Browning and the Bengals. I feel like something in the air is telling me Jake Browning is going to go off against this team. And you know what? Listen, if you're losing to Aiden O'Connell, who I believe had under 100 yards passing,

just give me Cincinnati. I just don't think this Chiefs team deserves to make the playoffs. Aaron? Well, I got the Bengals winning this game. I can see this game getting real nasty. I can see this game being vicious, man. I can see Jake Brown getting 300 yards. Jamar Chase is going to get

almost 200, not quite, but almost 200 yards receiving. Joe Mixon, he's going to have fun out there. I can see his game getting real bad, man. I can see Mahomes yelling again, screaming, hollering. It's going to be the Taylor Swift disaster game. I got the Bengals

winning by 17. They're going by 17. Bounce back. All right, CJ. I don't know what to make of this game. I am not afraid of the Chiefs and Jake Browning really looked like how Jake Browning was supposed to. But I will also ride the upset train. Give me the Bengles probably by like one. It's gonna,

because plain and simple, I am not afraid of the chiefs. I'm really not. Give me the chiefs. Give me the chiefs in this matchup. I've, I'm still, listen,

we're still forgetting that Patrick Mah mahomes is patrick mahomes and he still does have travis kelsey and the biggest factor in this matchup is the defense that the that the bengals on camera have been underselling i'm looking at you jamar chase who may not even end up being uh playing by the way um We are forgetting that Eljerius Sneed exists and Trent McDuffie exists who have actually been playing lights out this year. I think that is going to be the biggest X factor in this game. Give me the Chiefs. The Chiefs still have it. The Chiefs are still going to be division champions. They're still going to go 11-6, and they are still a legitimate threat in this league. Give me the Chiefs.

All right. We got, for our next matchup, the 5-10 Chargers against the 7-8 Broncos, with Jarrett Stidham starting now, because the $250 million man who was supposed to lead this Broncos team to the promised land has now been benched. And according to a report by Diana Russini of ESPN, in March, this guy is going to get cut. So things do not look good for the Broncos right now. But Ian, what is your pick? You know what? As a person who has met Jarrett Stidham in person, this guy,

like you even saw him last year, two years ago with the Raiders, put up that was like over 300 yards or something ridiculous. He is capable of destroying teams. And you know what? This isn't – it's the Chargers. Just give me Denver because, you know what, I think Denver has enough talent to beat the Chargers. All right, Aaron.

I got Denver winning this game because they got something to play for, for the division, and maybe a playoff spot, I don't know. And the Chargers, man, they just want the season to be over with, which I don't blame them. I think Bill Belichick is probably going to head down there next year. But, yeah, I got the Broncos winning this game. Probably about 10 points for Chargers. Not Chargers, Broncos, my bad, Broncos.

Broncos, okay. Yeah, my bad. CJ? CJ? Oh, my God. You know what? The Chargers are just so lost with Easton Stick at the helm. Their defense is woefully underperforming, and Mr. Unlimited looks like has finally hit his limits.

Give me the Broncos in probably one of, if not the ugliest game this weekend. Yeah, I do believe that the Broncos are going to be a little rejuvenated with a new quarterback. And Jarrett Stidham, in the limited time in the past couple of years he has been able to play, he's actually played pretty solid. So yeah, give me the Broncos. I think the Broncos win this game. They're both bad, but one looks a little more functional than the other. And I think when you make significant changes like this, whether it be at the head coaching position or the starting quarterback position, it usually helps out a little bit in the short term.

So in that case, give me the Broncos. All right. We have the Packers visiting the Vikings. Both teams are still technically in the playoff race, and they could make it back in. We'll see. But what is our pick here? You know, this is a hard matchup to really predict,

but, you know, Nick Mullins, he's okay, but give me Jordan Love. I think Jordan Love has a lot more to play for. They both do, but I feel like Jordan Love has a lot more to prove. Give me the Packers. Not by much. Aaron? I think the Packers are going to win this game

because the Vikings are just toast now, man. They're toast. What's his name? Josh Dobbs, done. What's his name? Nick Mullins, can't stop throwing picks. He just can't stop giving people Christmas presents, early ones. He just can't stop it. There's some Hall dude, never even heard of him. I don't expect him to do much of anything. I got the Packers winning, the D and more. I can't expect them to do much of anything. I got the Packers winning, the Dean Moore,

and I can see Packers Bears game battled out maybe for the last playoff spot. Give me 2013 vibes again. Got the Packers. Yeah. CJ, what's your pick? The Vikings are a weird team because justin jefferson is still playing lights

out despite not having kirk cousins you know nick mullins just throws around the ball like he's playing in the backyard and they they were able to keep it close with the lions and when you take all this you realize that they are going up against Vanilla Joe Barry the defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers who gave up 30 to the Panthers once again no disrespect Ian but at the same time I just you can't throw that many interceptions which is which like I said Nick Mullen just is so careless with the ball. It should be the Packers. So I will go with Green Bay. I'm not confident in this though. Yeah. Give me the Packers. Packers are, they look like the most complete team if the if the vikings had a competent

quarterback a kurt cousins level quarterback who they might have on their roster may have next year not sure we'll see um but they like they have a lot on that team in terms of talent they have jordan addison who no one's talking about. They have TJ Hawkinson, who's now hurt by the way, out for the year, but they still had him this year and was one of the best tight ends in football. On top of that, Justin Jefferson's been playing lights out. Even coming back from an injury, he still looks like his normal self. Only problem is their quarterback position sucks right now. with that in mind give me the packers the packers should be that team that um at least is knocking at the door at a playoff

at a playoff berth their defense while it doesn't while the defensive coordinator situation is bad they still have good personnel their offensive line is not the best but their quarterback has been able to overshadow a lot of their deficiencies which leads me to believe that they found that that they have found that franchise guy so good for them i don't know if they're going to be in they're definitely not going to be in contention this year they may or may not make the playoffs but i consider this season a win for the Packers in Jordan Love's first year as a starter. So yeah, give me the Packers. I think they're going to finish out this season strong. All right. That's all the scheduled content we

have for today, but do you guys have any other thoughts before we end the show tonight? Yes, I do. The reason why I picked the Packers to win because I have Jorlo's five rookie cards, so I'd really need him to perform. Oh, I see. Yeah, that's a viable reason, I guess.

I got a Super Bowl prediction right now. All right, let's see it. And I've been locking it in. You know, I see all the NFC teams and the AFC teams. Give me the same matchup we saw last week. Give me 49ers versus the Ravens round two. 49ers, Ravens round two.

I hope that isn't the matchup because the Ravens blew doors on the last matchup. You know what though? Look what the, I get it was that one game, but you got to remember what the 49ers did to the Eagles in Philadelphia when they wanted revenge. Oh yeah. Sure.

Yeah. It was two different seasons though. Yeah. All right. Well, so I think if that's all that we have um all right so um that'll do it for us tonight thank you for listening to us we have new episodes out on tuesdays at 7 30 p.m eastern standard time and fridays at 5 p.m. Eastern Time. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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