The Fumblerooski Podcast - Sibling Rivalry -Ep 314 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: November 27, 2024

The Eagles get their 7th in a row in convincing fashion over the dangerous offense of the Rams. Should Saquon be considered for MVP? What chances do the Eagles have over a team like the Lions. Texans putting on their best fraud look and have lost 3 of their last 4, including against the Titans this past week. How bad is it going to get for the Texans and should they fire their Offensive Coordinator? John Harbaugh gets another win over his brother as the Ravens get a big bounce back win over the Chargers. And who is coming out alive in the NFC West? Adam Wright, CJ Medeiros, Chris Costich talk all of this and more! And be sure to tune into our Thanksgiving Special tomorrow!

the eagles roll to their seventh straight victory and the texans begin a free fall i'm adam right and you're listening to the fumble ruski 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 to the Fumble Rooski podcast by Power 88 and Secret Weapon Consulting. I'm Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros and Chris Kostic. We have a great show planned for you guys tonight.

We're going to start with the Eagles, who, after a very ugly start to the season, they started 1-2 to start the year, have racked off seven straight victories in convincing fashion, I might add. They're now 8-2, and we're at a point where this team, I believe, is in Super Bowl contention. And looking at, so far, one of their prized acquisitions, Saquon Barkley, this guy, I mean, he's always kind of been on the back burner as far as this season has gone for obvious reasons. I mean, Derrick Henry has been having an unbelievable year. So when the running backs conversation starts, it always started with Derrick Henry in the year that he has been having.

And he still is having a very good year. However, Saquon Barkley has been getting better as the season has gone on, and we are at a point. Week 13 has not even started yet. We are still at the conclusion of week 12. And he has 1,400 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. He is on pace, according to ESPN's projections, to eclipse 2,200 yards, 15 touchdowns, 400 receiving yards, and three touchdowns. Overall, this guy is having an unbelievable year and he is by the week making

this Giants organization that is subsequently continuing to struggle look worse and worse. And overall, so CJ brought up this phrase to start the season. It was whoever wanted it less. That originated from an Eagles game. Eagles Saints. That is the game where it was their it was their first victory of the season they won I believe it was 13 to 15 over the New Orleans Saints in a game that they were practically trying to lose and Saquon Barkley did not look very good at all to start the season however as the season has gone on the coaching has Nick Sirianni has gotten his head screwed on straight they've committed to that

run first offense where it works perfectly with Saquon Barkley and overall you still have a very good you still have a very good passing game where Jalen Hurts can still throw the ball

to A.J. Brown and Devontae Smith. So overall, the defense has been good. Coaching has been better. The offense is rolling in the way that they should be doing it. This is the best I've seen the Eagles play in Nick Sirianni's entire time coaching and i gotta say i think this team is a super bowl contender and they deserve to be right there nipping at the heels of the detroit lions who we have been uh constantly praising all season long. But guys, your thoughts.

Yeah, Saquon, never mind Offense Player of the Year, I think that he should be considered for MVP at this rate because that's how good of a season he's having. And because of this 18-week schedule, 17-game schedule, I feel like there should be no reason that Saquon doesn't break the record at this rate. But I will say that they do have a lot of tough games coming up. They have a Ravens team that's top five in rush defense. They have the Steelers who we all know the Steelers have an amazing defense.

But other than that, Commanders, Cowboys, Giants, Panthers, Giants have a good D-line. But all in all, I think that this is an Eagles team that should be able to get the job done against these teams and Saquon should be able to break the record. But this Eagles defense, number one defense in the league in yards allowed, they've been insane. It's unbelievable what Nick Sirianni has done

and the fact that he's gone from one of the most hated people, and he still is one of the most hated people in the league. Let's not get that wrong. But he's now gotten himself out of the spotlight in his team. The play of his team on the field is the main storyline, not him yelling at his own fans about some ass win against the Browns. Defense is amazing. AJ Brown is currently top 10 in receiving yards,

and he's played in three less games and has about 20 less receptions than a lot of those guys that are in the top 10 right now. That's how good A.J. Brown is playing. Give you a more open look of the offense in general, never mind just Saquon, because obviously Saquon's just a world beater. I also came across this stat for you boys since we're talking about running backs leaving their old teams and going crazy on their new teams so the record so if we were to take Josh Jacobs Joe Mixon Saquon Henry, right? They're on four new teams. The records of those teams, 32-14.

The combined record of the teams they left, 11-34. Whew! Tough. Tough. CJ? CJ? Saquon has clearly overtaken Derrick Henry, and I'll tell you why.

Saquon in many circles is starting to get, dare I say, MVP love. Derrick Henry's not doing that. He's overshadowed by Lamar. Rightfully so. I mean, Lamar's a quarterback, and I've always called the MVQB award because that's what it is.

But Saquon's been making noise. And I'm going to tell you this. This has not really been an outstanding season for anybody with the exception of, like, Lamar Jackson and probably Josh Allen. But if Saquon breaks the rushing title, which as it's right now, it's a projection, but which he's projected to do, then he should totally get it. However, this isn't your dad's NFL. Other positions probably don't land anymore. So when we talk about Saquon and the Eagles, forget the Eagles game itself,

because Eagles won. That was to be expected. But we need to talk about the Giants, because everyone says, oh, the Rams lost that game. But no, no, no, no, no, no, no. My fellow Americans, fellow football fans, that loss was for the Giants. And I think I've mentioned this. There are now reports coming out that the Giants head coach, Brian Dable, is coaching for his job.

How fair is that, really? Because the Giants organization, looking at you, Mara, they have egg on their face because they let Saquon go. And I don't think that was a Dable decision. I think that was Joe Shane. And I don't care that was a Dable decision. I think that was Joe Shane. And I don't care that Joe Shane found Malik neighbors and all of them. Get rid of him. This is a franchise-killing mistake. I've said this time and time again.

But if Saquon leaves the Giants and breaks the rushing record or a bare minimum gets over 2K yards, they just need to look at themselves hard in the mirror. And what's more is that I hate how, for the longest time, the Mara family for the Giants have been untouchable. You know, their football's all this owning family. You have to respect them and all they've done. No, I don't.

Because I didn't respect them then, and I certainly don't respect them and all they've done no i don't because i didn't respect them then and i certainly don't respect them now they are you know something and i would even go as far as to say and you at home yes you specifically you may write this down if woody john Johnson did not share that stadium and was not that train wreck made human, the Mara family would get just as much hate. That's true. The only reason they're not talked about that much is because Woody Johnson lives right next door. And, oh my God, just what a stupid decision a stupid decision made worse by the fact that you chose daniel jones danny derps himself over saquon and you just cut him the guy who you chose to give what was it like four years 160 million you chose to give him that deal. And in weeks past, I've said, oh, Lord, what a stupid deal that was. But they just cut him. They literally cut him. So yeah, choosing to let Saquon Walker pay Daniel Jones has literally

stuck any and all credibility out of your organization. And meanwhile, Philly's reaping the benefits. So Saquon Barkley had 26 carries, 255 yards. That's 9.8 yards a carry. Almost an entire first down a carry. Can you believe that? And two touchdown runs, along with four catches for 47 yards through the air, over 300 scrimmage yards.

Good Lord, that's 302 scrimmage yards, if my math is right. It's probably not, but imagine if it is. Either way, over 300 scrimmage yards is ridiculous. It is. In a single game, that's nuts. That's maddened numbers, kids. Those are maddened numbers.

Well, I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. Looking at this upcoming slate of Thanksgiving games, which we'll get to tomorrow, the Cowboys do have some quarterback issues, and they're facing the Giants. So if they wanted to bring in a certain guy who may be available and is now off his contract could be fun could be could be something

else if they just imagine if that actually happened you bring in daniel jones you make him your quarterback and they you kick their asses with their guy. I mean, the giants are taking L's left and right here, but looking at this Eagles team, this is again, this is, this is probably the best I have ever seen an Eagles team play. I think this is this as far as their overall performance, I think right now they're playing better quality football than they did a couple of years ago. They're certainly playing better than they did last year, even when they were winning a lot of games in a row. This could even, if this continues, if things continue on the trajectory it's been on, we could start looking towards 2017 and say, you know what? They might be a little better there. And in some ways they already are in Russia and rushing.

It's no contest. Absolutely no contest over in the rushing game or Jay Ajayi and LeGarrette Blunt. Are those guys rivaling Saquon Barkley and what he's doing right now? No, absolutely not. The offensive line's about the same. Defense is about, 2017 has a slight edge. Pass catchers, oh, that's 2024. That's A.J. Brown and Devontae Smith. They get that yesterday. So if it really comes down to it the only way the 2017 team has in a significant margin this team is the passing and this team isn't even built to throw it's built to run passing is more sore more sort of a compliment right which kind of sucks for it kind of sucks for aj brown and davante smith who may want to rack up statistics but i'm sure they'll be crying

over it during their ring ceremony when they win a Super Bowl if that happens this year. Like I said, A.J. Brown's still top 10 in receiving yards, so I don't think it really matters at that point. The fact that as an off-ball receiver here, A.J. Brown, he's an off-ball – anyone in this receiving core is an off-ball receiver. You are basically running, when they throw, you're running against their offensive scheme.

And you're still racking up the statistics that you do. Year in, year out. It's not just this year. It's just overall for A.J. Brown. This team should be in contention to win a Super Bowl this year. And they've gotten better and better and better as the season has gone on. And I expect to see them in the NFC Championship facing the Lions in what should be an incredible game.

And if it's not, then that's a massive disappointment. You know, and I don't know. Wasn't my prediction for the NFFC Championship literally Eagles-Lions? It might have been. Absolute cinema. But still, this Philly team, they're just reaping all the benefits of the giant stupidity. Because they've always been a ground-and-pound team first, but Saquon just takes them to a whole nother level and and not to mention they can even when they're forced to throw the ball they still have Smith and Brown and Dallas Goddard not to mention the defense led by those youngsters in the backfield

Quinion Mitchell and what are they called the exciting whites Reed Blankenship and Cooper they had that shirt Chris I know you saw that shirt. I saw the shirt, yeah. Yeah. Their secondary's balling out a few times. They have some studs up there too. So yeah, when you combine all that together, the crystal ball might show an NFC championship appearance in their future.

Maybe even a Super Bowl at this point. I still have the Lions as a slight favorite, just because I think the lions have a little bit more of a chip on their shoulder. I know the Eagles have gotten better, but as of right now, just this right this second, I have the lions just a little bit higher.

And also looking at the Eagles remaining schedule, it's not most of their games are winnable, but if you look at their very next game this weekend, we're going to cover it as most likely our game of the week. They're traveling to face the Ravens in a few weeks. And Lamar has only lost to one NFC team, and it was Daniel Jones himself. On December 15th, they're going to be facing the Steelers. They'll be hosting that game.

That's going to be a tough one because the Steelers, top to bottom this season, have been a tough out. They play up to competition too. That's a game I would not sleep on. And you also have the Commanders who deserve some respect now. They've been facing some turbulence, but we know what they're capable of and they're going to be a tough team to beat. So that's something to pay attention to. And if they're looking for the number one seed,

they obviously have to get through the Lions who they're... So correction from earlier, Eagles are 9-2. Lions are 10-1. The Lions have the Bears. They have the Packers. That'll be a tough one. The Bills, another tough one. They have the Bears again. They have the 49ers who they have the talent to be hard. And they have the Vikings. The Lions have the tough challenge of being in one of the toughest divisions in football outside of the Bears who... Whatever the fuck happened to that Bears team? Well, we know, but we're not going to cover it

for the fourth straight week. This is going to be an interesting race for the number one seed because the Eagles are right there. And if the Lions even screw up once out of this remaining schedule, and the Eagles remain perfect, which also is not a guarantee, then I may have the advantage Eagles in that NFC championship game. If they host against the Lions defense,

that's been just a little over a little, little underwhelming this year. If they underperform, I got to go advantage Eagles there. So it's really going to, it's going to come down to who has home field advantage because these two teams are both immensely talented in their own ways. And it may come down to who's hosting the game.

Potentially. No, I think you're right. I don't know. It's just the line. There's something about the lions that I feel like the way they're playing. There's no way in hell I can take any other team in the NFL against them home or away right now. Like they've shown that they can play in shitty weather circa the green Bay game that was in a downpour three weeks ago. They've shown that despite Jared Goff throwing five interceptions, they can find a way to win.

I know this Eagles team is hot, but I don't know if we can dismiss it based off of home field advantage alone. Well, like I said, it's going to take some time for the Eagles to really continue this trajectory. But as of right now, if the playoffs started today, it would come down to who hosts it, I believe. I think it would come down to who hosts it because the Eagles have been playing as good football

as we've ever seen. And it's going to come, we're talking about January here. So if the Eagles remain this good and they manage to steal a game and they managed to leapfrog the lions and the standings for the number one seed, then I'm going advantage Eagles there. If they have the number one seed and they remain this hot, I'm taking the Eagles. But as of right now, by the skin of their teeth, I'm taking the Lions. Just for right now. They're still my Super Bowl pick.

But, all right. So we covered one team that is red hot. We're going to talk about one that is falling off quickly. The Houston Texans. That's next. This is the Fumble Rooski 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 Fumble Rooski podcast by Power 88 and Seeker Weapon Consulting. Adam Wright, CJ Medeiros, Chris Kostic. So the Houston Texans have lost to the Tennessee Titans 32-27 and have now dropped three out of their last four games.

Now, Will Levis, since coming back from injury, has actually been pretty decent, and it's getting to a point where the Titans might actually consider keeping him for a year. I think that would be a massive mistake, but that's a completely different topic for another time. We're going to talk about the Houston Texans, a team that I thought was going to represent to go to the Super Bowl, and things could still change. Maybe they get better. They get their heads out of their asses, but I'm not, I'm really not banking on it right now. A lot of things have to change. Most of their, most of their personnel from the start of the season has remained pretty much the same. The only thing that has changed has really been that Stefan Diggs is out for the year with an ACL tear.

Nico Collins has just come back, but the fact is they've lost three out of their last four games and this just has not looked pretty at all. The only game they've won during this four game stretch was a game against, this was a against the uh cowboys where the cowboys with cooper rush only managed to drop 10 points so this has been a disaster even when they were winning and you can stop me if i sound familiar to if i sound similar to another team we used to talk about last season coming out of the AFC South, even when they were winning, they did not look particularly right. I thought, I thought they looked a little bit better than the 2023 Jaguars earlier this year. I thought they looked good enough to be a Super Bowl contender. They were fine.

But as the season has gone on, the play of C.J. Stroud has dropped like a rock. And I think everyone is very hesitant to say that Stroud has struggled because we all jumped to the conclusion after last year that C.J. Stroud was going to be the next best thing. And that could still happen. Let's not forget, this is year two for C. that CJ Stroud was going to be the next best thing. And that could still happen. Let's not forget, this is year two for CJ Stroud. And I think that's a big reason why a lot of people aren't comparing CJ Stroud to Trevor Lawrence. Because Trevor Lawrence, during that year where he was supposed to take that next step, that was year three. And usually three years

in, you're seeing the best play from elite quarterbacks, at least year three. Sometimes it's year one, sometimes it's year two. Year three is the bare minimum. For Stroud, it's year two. So maybe, just maybe, he's not quite as far along as we actually believed he was in his development. The kid's mature. He's a really good, well-spoken kid who appears to have his head screwed on straight.

But there could be some things in his game, possibly mentally, somewhere along the lines, there could be something that's just still behind in his development because every other duck is in a row right now. It's not like losing Stephon Diggs was going to tank your season. It should not have. Because you played last year without him and you want to play off game with it. And CJ Stroud looked great. What's different this year. I feel like the expectations were just too high for a kid who is just in his second year, but I'll let you guys talk.

I think it's as simple as defenses getting film on CJ Stroud and figuring him out I think it's as simple as that like yeah you could say that the expectations were high for this team and I feel like rightfully so considering the talent that is around CJ Stroud how

good the defense was supposed to be but fact of the matter is none of these 12 games that they played in have been one score games. I could probably look at three or five of those that should not have been one score games. Like one of these games against the Colts should not have been a one score game.

This game against the Jaguars, they should have dog walked them. This game against the Jets. The Jets had no business being in this game against the jaguars they should have dog walked them this game against the jets the jets had no business being in this game the lion they got five interceptions on the line off of jergoff and the lions and they still lost by three and of course the titans game this past week now the titans are a team that we all know is not making the playoffs at this point. It's a team that for some reason I stupidly will still believe in just because of their defense

because their defense is a good defense. They have solid guys over there, but still the way that this Texas team was playing last year, they should have been AFC Championship favorites for this year.

And lo and behold, teams got hold of film on C.J. Stroud. They figured him out. And it's gotten to the point where off-board coordinator Bob Slowik's job is coming into question, which is crazy enough. Because he was a big factor of why C.J. Stroud's development was at a rise last year. I don't know. This team, I feel like, just has been sleepwalking through the entire season, and it's finally caught up to him

here this week. C.J.? Even when the Texans were winning, they didn't pass the eye test and oh my god all these similarities to last year's jacksonville team are starting to become greater and greater in number are they not i just i don't know what it is. The talent is there. The coaching is there. I just, with all due respect to you guys, I feel like that just teams got film on Stroud. They can't be it, right?

I mean, they still got to be more than that, but I mean, if it is that, then he's in trouble and perhaps, and even though it could be a stroud thing i mean that could also be part of his development you know what i mean um if you like player teams are going to get game film on you and i'm sorry to cut you off uh teams could get teams could get game film on you and they start to adjust to you. Part of your development is also to counter to those adjustments. And at that point, then, then they have to find new answers. So you're going to get, um, you're going to get a chess match going back and forth, trying to figure out how, um, how you counter the other. And that's what you get a lot of with young kids. At first they're tearing the league apart.

Then teams start to game plan for you. You need to find a counter and finding that counter to that game plan adjustment is what separates the goods from the greats. Right. I mean, even though teams get film money, you have to figure out how to adjust. And that's not a CJ.J. Stroud thing.

Well, it is, but it's not just him is what I'm saying. It's also, and just hear me out, it's a Bobby Slowik thing. I do believe that calling his job into question might not be the worst idea because even without Diggs, you still have Nico Collins. You still have Tank Dow. Joe Mixon has been running like a grown man this whole season. Dalton Schultz is a darn good tight end. And still, still you fail.

How do you even do that? I don't know. And also, DJ, I have a question. CJ, I have a question. CJ, I have a question. Yes. Yes. Why is Joe mixing getting 14 carries?

Stupidity. Only 14 carries. Stupidity. Final answer. I'll take it. And that once again is either on D'Amico Ryan's or slow. And I more so point the old finger at slow. If I do say so myself.

However, unlike the Jags team, I think the Texans can turn it around early. Maybe not this season at all, but next year they certainly can. But, oh, you know, I mean, you might want to approach the OC position with fresh eyes, maybe not get rid of slowick entirely but got him down say hey buddy that's not okay what you're doing stop it and also the defense am i the only one that's underwhelmed by this texans uh defense i'm just underwhelmed by the entire team in general okay fair fair fair but when i look at rankings in terms of like uh yards by the way the texans right ready for this they are fourth in the league in yards allowed. That's good. They're only allowing 297.1 yards a game.

And I know what you're thinking. Huh? How does that happen? But, but, but, they have allowed 28 touchdowns. Terrible. Yeah, that is awful. That is god awful because they're top 10 in pass defense and rush defense but i just don't know what it is so you're strangling teams yardage wise

but but then you just keep giving up touchdowns. I would imagine maybe penalties have something to do with it, maybe. Yeah, you would definitely be right about this game because the Texans committed 11 penalties on top of two interceptions from C.J. Stroud. So I'll give you that one, C.J. Or what's the league ranking in terms of penalties though looking at it right now because obviously obviously in terms of being it could be a one-off you're right you're right because I was looking at the game right where

Houston just couldn't get their foot out of their mouth. So many penalties, like, I mean, drive killers too. But I don't know. So by the way, I think I got your answer. Ready? The Houston Texans, are you sitting down? This is 2024 thus far from the football database. They are in terms of, okay, and the page just threw me out. Sorry about that. Okay. Okay. I found it. I found it. In terms of accepted penalties, ready?

They are second in the league with 92, With 92. Giving up 754 yards. Damn. That's not good. That's really, really bad. And to be fair, this explains why their offense has struggled. You ready for this? Left tackle Laramie Tunsell has 15 penalties on the season, and both of their guards, Juice Scruggs and Kenyon Green, have five apiece.

That's 25 penalties on offense across three players. Well, no wonder your offense is ground to a halt when the Texans' offensive line goes to the Patriots' offensive line school of penalties. It's just, oh my God. And listen to this. For Laramie Tunsell, this isn't even holding, right? So it's not, oh my god. And listen to this. For Laramie Tunsil, this isn't even holding, right?

So it's not a technical thing. Ten false starts. It's just straight up not having your head in the game at that point. You just don't have your head in the game. And then there's defense. Jalen Petrie, four penalties. Foronso Fatukasi, four penalties. Chris Boyd, three.

Aziz Alshair, three. Mario Edwards, three. So it seems like the penalties are spread out pretty evenly on defense, but the Texans' offensive line is just bad. Because also Shaq Mason, another interior lineman, has three penalties as well Titus Howard is two so uh that's literally 30 penalties on the team combined and by the way half of them are coming from Laramie Tunsell that's terrible Adam's making a face he does not like that

that's a quick there's a lot of things i don't like about this texans team yeah and 15 for oops i was gonna say so that's 15 for one guy five and five for the other two and then two and three so that's so combine that that's five and 15 and then put that together that's five, then 15, and then put that together, that's 30. But even still, that's just bad. So Laramie Tunsell needs to get his head in the game because, like I said, two-thirds of his offensive penalties are false starts. So looking back, it's no wonder that Houston's struggling. And Bobby Slowik, hello, fix this.

That is all. Everywhere you look, they're underperforming and i'm glad you brought up the offensive line because their line personnel wise is one of the best in the league but somehow they still underperform and that's a huge problem because the line was part of why I believe that they were going to be such a good team this year. And the line, you know, underperforming, you don't give CJ Stroud enough time to get to, to find his open receivers. Doesn't give the receivers enough time to get open. And subsequently you're going to have a bad offense. It all starts at the offensive line. And it just hasn't been there. And like, there's, there's a lot of things that have been

disappointing about this Texans team. And you always get, you get disappointing teams every single year, but this is one that I wish actually came to be true because Stroud is such a good quarterback when his head is screwed on straight. Texans were such an exciting team, and it sucks that it's gotten this way. But we're going to move on, and we're going to get to the Monday night football matchup. A pair of siblings, John Harbaugh and Jim Harbaugh, head coaches, facing each other for another time. They also face each other in Super Bowl XLVII.

That was a fun matchup as well. But this one was just last night. We're going to cover that. That's next. This is the Fumble Rooski 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 Fumble Rooski podcast by Power 88 and Secret Weapon Consulting. I'm Adam Wright, CJ Medeiros, Chris Kostic. So the Ravens ended up beating the Chargers last night on Monday Night Football, and it was a pretty comforting win for the Ravens. Ravens ended up winning 30 to 23. So it was a one score game, but for most of the game, it was not that way. Up until the last couple of minutes, it was, it wound up becoming a,

it was a 30 to 16 game. It wasn't one score game for most of the time but during the time when it mattered it was 30 to 16 um and this was a big game for a couple of reasons number one the um the ravens if you end up losing this game then you're there's no chance you're catching the stealers for the division and subsequently you're not getting good enough playoff positioning in order to make a deep playoff run and potentially make a Super Bowl. This is also good for Lamar Jackson's MVP case. And Josh Allen in recent weeks has caught Jackson just based off playoff seeding and him playing with a very bad roster himself.

As I've mentioned before, this is an argument I disagree with, playoff seating being a factor, because as long as you're getting into the playoffs, if you sneak in, then that means your quarterback or running back, whoever it ends up being as your MVP candidate. That means that they took a not so great roster and managed to drag them into the playoffs. And I think that's worth consideration for MVP. It's not just having the number one overall, number one overall seed. You know what I mean? Because at that point, when you, when you have the number one seed, it probably means a lot of other things are going right on that team too. It's not to say that it's a bad thing to have the number one seed and win league MVP. If they're deserving of it, then they get it.

But the fact that it's become such a factor to the point where if Lamar Jackson doesn't get good playoff seating, at least win his own division, then he's not getting league MVP. I think that's a ridiculous argument. So it's an argument I disagree with, but it's an argument that is used. And I think we would be giving you guys a disservice to talk about what we believe should happen rather than what will happen. And as of right now, Lamar Jackson is trailing behind in the MVP race against Josh Allen, according to betting odds, which when it comes to awards, betting odds are very reliable. And looking at it right here, an 8-4 Baltimore Ravens team

that is just one game behind the Pittsburgh Steelers, that bodes well for his odds. And it also helps Derrick Henry's odds of winning Offensive Player of the Year. We already talked about Saquon Barkley. He's taken the lead and he's taken it by storm. That doesn't mean he has it in a blowout right now because as great as Saquon Barkley has played,

Derrick Henry still has 1,300 yards, he has 13 touchdowns, and he's averaging six yards a carry. The guy is still having an amazing season. So if Saquon gets hurt or if he starts to fizzle out a little bit, if Derrick Henry continues his production, this game where he took 24 carries and turned it into 140 yards, that's huge for him. As for the Chargers side, we didn't have that high of expectations for him in general. A 7-4 record is still very good and well beyond expectations that we had for the Chargers. And they're still having a very good season.

The needle is pointing up for them. For J.K. Dobbins, who was ruled out of this game, this hurts him pretty bad, no pun intended, because he was a very good candidate and my favorite candidate to win Comeback Player of the Year. He was trailing behind Joe Burrow, and we are now at a point where if he misses any time, which he didn't, he couldn't afford to miss any at all. He's probably not going to take the award, which sucks because when you are a running

and you tear your Achilles, it's usually career ending. In fact, in most cases, it has been. There's only been one or two cases where they have actually been able to come back and have a decent, I say decent emphasis on decent career. Because most of the time they're either out of the league within a couple of years, or they never even make it back to begin with. And J.K. Dobbins had a very strong case for that. Overall, this isn't a negative reflection on either team. The Chargers didn't have that high of expectations to begin with, and they're still overachieving, and the future looks bright over there.

But as far as the Raiders go, this was a huge game for them. No two about it they needed it and they got it so i give them credit there you guys yeah after losing to the steelers last week this is a game the ravens needed badly and this is the exact reason why i told you adam this is not a get right game i told you this on Friday. You called it a get-right game. It was not a get-right game. Yes. It's a get-right game. A get-right game would have meant that they were going to smoke the Chargers by 30. Okay, well, at that point, it comes to definition.

I just think when you need to win a game, then I think that's a get-right game. I see it as synonymous with a must-win. I don't know. I see a get-right game being a blowout. Like, you go up against a shit team, and that's where you get yourself right. Well, in that case, I mean, this wasn't a blowout. No, but Ravens looked fantastic, but the Chargers, I thought, also looked incredibly good as well.

I mean, you look at how the Chargers stacked up against the Ravens. So they ended up with 100 less rushing yards and ended up with the same amount of first downs and basically like 10 seconds less of not even 10 seconds less of time of possession which is kind of wild or am i reading that wrong no i am reading that wrong they had a minute less of uh time of possession but chargers look fantastic especially in the first quarter this is a this is a team that starts out hot but i'm worried about how they're going to end up finishing the game. They're very good at shutting down teams in the first part of the game,

but it's the latter part that's going to be a little bit concerning down the road. The Ravens, Lamar still looks good. Derrick Henry's still looking fantastic. I'm a little bit worried about i'm not a little bit worried i'm very worried about how disciplined this team is because it's just it's still like the very minor very little things that's going to bite him in the ass in the playoffs like little legal formations that cost derrick Henry a touchdown. Obviously it didn't matter because a play letter Lamar Jackson scored, but come playoff time,

that may not be the case. Or even last week where you got Zay flowers in Isaiah, likely slapping at each other, trying to get lined up on the final two point conversion of the game to tie the game up or to take the lead, whatever it was. And no one's out to catch a pass for Lamar because they're both dicking around on the line of scrimmage. So I'm still a little bit worried about the discipline of this Ravens team,

but all in all, it's a win they needed to have and a win that, a very good win nine penalties on 102 yards for the Ravens by the way CJ the the Ravens needed this win and I mean need in every sense of the word. Because, look, when you think of the AFC West, you obviously think of Kansas City. When you think of AFC frontrunners, you think of Kansas City. But the Chargers are no slouch. Jim Harbaugh has taken this team and has performed better than I think even most Chargers fans, all seven of them, expect.

And Derrick Henry obviously doing it again on the ground. 24 carries, 140 yards, didn't get any touchdowns, but still 5.8 yards a carry. Lamar Jackson, three total touchdowns on the day, two through the air, one on the ground, a typical Lamar fashion. You know, he spread the love, you know uh got the ball around everyone's a flowers mark andrews rashad baitman but what i really appreciated for the chargers was defense completely shutting down any kind of justin herbert air show holding herbert to 21 of 36, 218 yards.

Only touchdown Herbert got was on the ground. But, of course, part of me believes that old Quentin Johnston might have had a purple jersey underneath his Chargers jersey because, oh my God, what a guy that is. And I need to discuss the stat line real quick before we move on to the crux of the argument. He had five targets, no catches, and three drops. Oh my God, just terrible. No, I'm vindicated about it.

If you remember when he was drafted, I said I wasn't a fan. People were fooled by this season. Oh, but I wasn't and look what happened. Yeah, defensively the Ravens were able for the most part to shut down the Chargers air show. Sure, Ladd-McConkie had a good game. Six catches, 83

yards. But it was nothing like super, super massive. It was a back and forth game throughout most of the you know throughout most of the time they played but ravens were able to separate with 13 fourth quarter points allowing themselves to beat the chargers by a score and another thing that people don't talk about is the Steelers, who are the division lead, also lost this week and the Ravens won, win the ravens needed for the chargers not the end of the world you probably are too far behind kansas city now unless kansas city goes on some major skid which hey they only beat the panthers by three anything can happen but yeah a good team win for the ravens and a touch on adam's point about jk dobbins it's impressive and i hate to

admit this but burrow was probably going to win regardless because whenever there's a quarterback up for that award, they always get it. I mean, heck, look at Joe Flacco. He won Comeback Player of the Year last year, and for what? For coming off his couch? Which they did. Well, they did change the guidelines in order to win it. Now you have to come back from an injury. But I do agree that Joe Burrow, just by being a quarterback and being a household name at this point, he's going to take it. And it sucks because it's something I disagree with.

I disagree with the voters' kind of logic there because being a comeback player of the year means that you're it's coming back from something it's an individual award it's not like most valuable player where it's what you do for your team and what you lead them to do and be able to elevate your team in such a way um it's an individual stat which means like that that's not i mean if you're a quarterback or not that shouldn't be what dictates it but unfortunately it does that's all i got i'm done i'm done too yeah well i'm still look i think the the future is very bright for this chargers team i don't think there was anything to that i saw from this chargers team last night that made me believe that they're bad.

They didn't have a bad game. It's just the Ravens had a good game. And in that way, it was kind of a get-right game. Be convincing, right? Doesn't always have to be a blowout. You beat another competitive team, and you looked good doing it, which is fine. Doesn't always look like a blowout in that way.

But next, we're going to get to our week 12 edition of Top 3, Bottom 3 with our good host, Chris Kostic. That's next. This is the Fumble Rooski 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 Fumble Rooski podcast by Power 88. Secret Weapon Consulting, Adam Wright, CJ Medeiros, and Chris Kostich, who is going to run point on our Week 12 Top three, bottom three. Chris, all you. My God.

So we're going to start with the top three on this one. Two teams we already, we basically just got done talking about, the Eagles and the Ravens. Eagles winning seven straight, beating the Rams in pretty convincing fashion. And obviously convincing fashion because they won by 17. But they were able to shut down the Rams offense pretty well. Hold them to 20 points. Only 20 points, surprisingly.

And I mean, Matt Stafford still had a good game. 24 for 36, two touchdowns. Karen Williams had 72 for a touchdown. Puka still went off, same with Cooper Cup, but it was the Eagles offense that was led by Saquon Barkley, 255 yards and two tutties that got the win. And Eagles might have themselves their first ever MVP. They might just have them. They might just have them.

They might just have them. Ravens, obviously, getting a big win off of a bad loss last week against the Chargers. And John Harbaugh getting a win against his younger brother, Jim Harbaugh. And Lamar had a great quote after the game, too. I don't know if you guys saw it. Yeah, it meant a little bit more because, obviously, a sibling rivalry but got a feel for john you can't let the little brother win and john harbaugh's 3-0 against his brother jim so um last team on the top three the dallas cowboys

and you know i was thinking about it it literally right before we got into this segment about maybe putting the Buccaneers where the Cowboys put up 24 on the fourth and the commanders put up 17. And we saw probably one of the coolest kick return for, for a touchdown by Kavon Kavante Turpin, muffing the kick, having to take it from just short of his own goal line Hitting the B button Getting a spin move in

With no momentum No running, no nothing Hit a spin move and all of a sudden he's gone Probably one of the Cooler touchdowns that we've Ever seen in our lifetime And of course Cooper Rush Having a pretty solid day, two touchdowns that we've ever seen in our lifetime. And, of course, Cooper Rush having a pretty solid day,

two touchdowns, 24 for 32. Rico Dowdle had 86 yards. CeeDee Lamb had 10 catches. And obviously the biggest thing here, they end a five-game losing streak, and they beat the Commies, a pretty good Commies team. Thank you. commies a pretty good commies team i just i'm so i'm so out on the cowboys that at this point even an upset win just doesn't phase me anymore like it's this is just a yeah i guess it was a good game but i mean look at the

commanders too i mean they kind of lost it more than the cowboys winning it that extra point if it's made then they probably end up winning the game it goes over time but you probably end up who who are you trusting in overtime cooper rush or jayden daniels jayden daniels but jayden daniels also had two interceptions this game so i mean in this in this once out of 10 times scenario i'm gonna probably choose cooper rush well one of them was on the hail mary which was which is abased play. Oh, it's true. Yeah. And then the other one was earlier on in the game. I will concede Jaden Daniels had a bad game to start, but he got better as it went on,

and he is a big part of why they were able to come back and have the chance to tie it up if it weren't for their kicker missing the extra point. So I think this is more so a game that the commanders lost yeah and washington also in trouble now because austin eckler's gonna probably miss some time with concussion and brian robinson jr is out again or he's injured again right after i traded for him to fantasy tough tough I traded away Tony Pollard, who got 20 points. Yeah.

I traded away Tony Pollard and J.K. Dobbins, but got Josh Jacobson in return. Just fuck you, then. Fuck you. I'm good at fantasy, I guess. I don't know. Welcome back. I'm glad I traded Dobbins, man. Aging well.

All right. Yeah. Bottom three. Already talked about this team, the Houston Texans. I said this already. They've just been zombie walking through, zombie walking, sleepwalking through this entire NFL season. They haven't looked good at all.

I said this at the beginning of the season, like right after the first month. This team hasn't really looked good, but that was also the beginning of the season. So I don't want to really make any wild claims just then, but I think it's time that we started making some wild claims about this Texans team. Now Steelers,

the typical Mike Tomlin trap game from Thursday night where they lost to the Browns and losing to Jameis and the Browns. And this is right after they take full control of the AFC North against the Ravens the week prior. They're able to win by not having to kick or have any touchdowns, just kicking straight field goals. And everyone got on Dan Orlovsky's case about, you're not going to be able to beat the Ravens by kicking field goals, even though they had just done it.

But his point was that they're not going to be able to do they're most definitely not going to be able to do that again. And I mean was Dan wrong? Probably in a sense, but

after the Steelers just lost the Browns, the take isn't all that terrible at the end of the day or the point the point stands but the Steelers team you don't I just don't know what we're going to get out of the Steelers team anymore unless it's unless this is just the typical two win team that gets the win over Mike Tomlin and the Steelers. And we just call it a day from there and nothing's going to happen after that.

I mean, when you lose, when you lose to the Browns, a team that is, has not had a good season this year. I mean, Javon Jameis Winston is had his moments. I like Jameis Winston,

not as a player, but he's just, he's a likable guy and he has his moments. I like Jameis Winston. Not as a player, but he's just a likable guy and he has his moments on the field. But it just feels like the Steelers are that one team that could beat anybody and you wouldn't be surprised. And they could also lose to anybody and you wouldn't be surprised. It's kind of that rare concoction that you very rarely see in sports in general. And I don't think they're going to escape it. I can see them winning a

playoff game. That's how wide of a range that I have the Steelers. They could easily, I think they'll make the playoffs at this point, but they could easily be a one and done. They could easily lose to any of the teams that they have left on their schedule. They're facing the Bengals twice. They're facing the Browns again, Eagles, Ravens, Chiefs, but you could also, they could also beat any of these teams. And I, I still wouldn't be phased because they're a team that plays up and down and it's really hard to predict how they're going to play on a week-to-week basis speaking or CJ I want to add anything now you guys pretty much got it it's just

I am not sold on Pittsburgh because even when they win, they do it in like the ugliest fashion. And it's not sustainable, especially come playoff time. And your other bottom three teams you get. Wait, did you get there now? I haven't gotten to the last one yet. I just wanted your take on the Steelers because we already talked about the Texans. Yeah, no, that's pretty much it.

Just keep going. Okay. Well, I kind of was expecting to count to talk more because i was going to start counting through the one score games that the steelers have been in um oh but it's okay uh not a whole lot to go on it's okay speaking of teams that we don't know what the hell we're going to get on a week-to-week basis, the Arizona Cardinals only putting up six points in a 16-6 loss against the Seahawks. And here's the thing.

Obviously, 49ers lost. The Rams lost. And this is an NFC West that it's like you just can't afford to lose the games that you're losing. Like you, if you're an NFC West team, you need to get all of the wins that you can get because it is a dogfight for the division right now. Like the Niners only have five wins. The Cardinals have six wins. The Seahawks have six wins. The Rams have five.

Everyone's a game within a game of each other. Like you need to get all the wins that you can get. And with the Cardinals that have been struggling to build off a momentum, it's been tough. It's not been pretty. They still are so inconsistent on getting Marvin Harrison involved. Like Trey McBride have being one of their main focal points in the offense is great. Trey McBride's a great tight end.

He's one of the best in the game right now. But, you know, when you're coming in hot off of a four-game winning streak that has you beating one of the teams that you beat was the Chargers in primetime that catapults you into a four-game winning streak that you beat was the chargers in prime time that catapults you into a four game winning streak where you win five of your last six. And then in three of those games, you put up 28 or more points and then you only put up six against the Seahawks. I just,

it's, it's what the Seahawks do. You think that they're, they're streaky. The Seahawks are a streaky team. The Cardinals end up being that streaky team, but now this is at the point where you need to keep it going. The Cardinals could very easily win this division at this point.

Not easily, obviously, but they have the chance to do that, which surprisingly enough is the case because the 49ers are looking like the 2020 version of themselves right now, post Superbowl and no one can stay healthy. The Rams defense sucks. And the only thing that they have going for them is Kyron Williams, Cooper cup and Puka Nakua, but they don't play defense.

The Seahawks are basically in the same tier of the Cardinals of you don't know what the hell you're gonna get you got to do something you just if especially if you're the Cardinals you have to be able to do something here yeah I think I think you summarize them perfectly like another team that I don't think they're quite as sporadic as the Steelers. Cause again, I think the Steelers are one of those rare teams where you genuinely don't know what you're going to get with the Cardinals here. They seem to have just been up and down. They're just very streaky. They started off the season, not having a good year. Then they started to get hot and now you see they just laid an egg. And the upcoming schedule is, I mean, they have a couple winning

winnable games, but if you look at the totality of this remaining schedule, it's kind of scary for them. You could easily see them go stone cold to end the season and maybe they don't even make the playoffs they have the vikings up come uh on december 1st and then you have the uh you have the seahawks again who you just lost to you have the patriots that's a win panthers win but then you have the rams they've been getting tougher as the season has gone on. Then you have the 49ers who are, yes, they don't look good, but we know what they can be. So with how tough their division has been, because everybody's kind of in the same boat where they're just struggling to stay above water and how tough your schedule is, they're not a slam dunk to make the playoffs this year

like they're not close to it i mean no one in the nfcs nfc west is a slam dunk for the playoffs sure but this cardinals team has been up and down all season long yeah they started the year on not you know they didn't have a good start to the season and then you got hot and now suddenly you're losing games and not just losing them like this is a kyler murray-led offense with marvin harrison jr who don't get me started on him trey mcbride's had a very nice year, but a Kyler Murray led offense scoring six points. Wasn't it like last week where we were talking

about this guy being an MVP candidate? Yeah, he was moving up the ranks. So what the hell happened here? Six points? I also have, and I think I also have something for you of why the Cardinals sucked and only got six points. James Conner only got seven carries for eight yards,

three and a half yards per carry in total for this team. Like, they don't have a bad run game. They really don't. They really do not. Like, Amari DiMarcardo, James Conner, Trey Benson, they're pretty solid running backs. Why is it that they're getting a combined 13 carries? I mean, the fact is –

Bobby Slovic's school of run game management. Yeah. The same thing that I can't stand the Seahawks over and the Cardinals are doing it. I mean, the Seahawks over, and the Cardinals are doing it. I mean, the Seahawks were ahead almost the entire game. That's kind of a game script issue. And also, in those seven carries, James Conner turned that into eight yards. That's 1.1 yards a carry.

Like, the way I look at it, and I use this argument against the Eagles last year. They say, well, why didn't you run more? You would have won if you run more. This is one of the flaws. This is probably the biggest flaw when it comes to a run-first offense is there's really only one type of game script you can score on, and that's when you're ahead. And if you have, if you're playing from behind and they force you to throw more, then that puts you at a disadvantage

because you're not, this team isn't built to throw. They're built to run more. Now, Kyler Murray still threw for 285 yards. He's still a capable passer, but if you're asking him to win just based off his arm, then you're going to be at a disadvantage. It's the same thing with Lamar Jackson for most of his career. It's been the same thing with Jalen Hurts. Most of the time when you have a run first offense and they force you to pass, then you're dead in the water. And that's the issue that I have here. I like this Cardinals team. I think they're good for a run-first team. But I just have something against run-first offenses in general.

There's a reason why the pass-heavy teams end up making deeper playoff runs. And we're seeing it here. I can't guarantee that this Cardinals team is going to make the playoffs or even come close. Yeah, that's symptomatic of the entire NFC West. It's going to be one of those divisions that probably won't even be decided until week 18, where one team literally has a win-and-you're-in situation. You know what I mean? Actually, folks, for those of you at home, do yourself a favor.

And look at the standings. Go to the NFC. And the NFC West, the Seahawks and the Cardinals are 6-5, and the Rams and the Niners are 5-6, unless somebody breaks out, this is a division that's going to come right down to the wire. And it's not because they're all good. No, no, no, no, no.

This has got to be a division where they're not all bad. They're just eh. They're average. I mean, the Cardinals are probably ahead of schedule. I mean, they're better than probably we expected them to be. It's not the NFC South. We can at least say

that much. That doesn't say much. It's not a high bar, but it's a bar. And I just, you know, they're not bad. They're not good. You know, the Niners, you know, they at least have the injury excuse. The Rams have had that. It's just I'm not thrilled with literally anybody there.

And regardless of who makes it, I'm confident in saying they're just probably going to be a one and done. I think as far as this NFC West goes, I think I have the most confidence that the Seattle Seahawks will come out on top. And I just think Gino Smith is a better passer. The Seahawks can actually win off of their passing game, at least win games, not win Super Bowls. Gino Smith will never be mentioned in the same

breath as the word Super Bowl. But if we're talking about winning a division, that's really close. I think DK Metcalf and Jackson Smith and Jigba have proven to be really good wide receivers. Their defense has gotten healthier and subsequently they've gotten better as the season's gone on. Overall, I like the Seahawks. Probably the best to win this division. Yeah. Probably, yeah. Unless the Niners magically get healthy, which I don't think they will.

No, they won't. I feel like that Seahawks, I mean, if the Niners do get healthy, they'll be able to run the table, I feel like, butahawks, I mean, if the Niners do get healthy, they'll be able to run the table, I feel like, but it's very unlikely. It's really going to come down to the Seahawks and Cardinals, though, at this rate. Rams don't have an O-line or a defense that can get them to the playoffs. Yeah. All right.

Well, that is all the scheduled content that we have for today but we have any other thoughts before we end the show today no all right well that'll do it for us tonight thank you for listening to us we have new episodes out on tuesdays at 7 30 p Eastern standard time and Fridays at five. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. We also have all our episodes available on Spotify, Spreaker, Apple podcasts, I heart radio, Google podcasts, and so much more. Also be sure to follow our Instagram at Fumble Ruski underscore podcast to keep up with our podcast and the latest coverage on the NFL. And also be sure to tune into our Thanksgiving special. We do this every year.

It is a annual event. We cover every single, um, we cover every single, uh, Thanksgiving matchup, all the ins and outs. And we also talk about one aspect of this season that we're thankful for. That is all tomorrow at 7.30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Be sure to tune into that. Otherwise, we will see you on Friday. Over and out.