The Fumblerooski Podcast - Sky with Limits -Ep 224 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: December 1, 2023

Who wins the Conference Championship rematch? Did the Seahawks back themselves into a corner? Is this the Cowboys’ year? Is Aaron Rodgers being rushed back? Adam Wright hosts special guest Chris Hetu to discuss these topics and more!

the Cowboys beat the Seahawks in a shootout on Thursday night football. The 49ers and Eagles square off in an NFC championship rematch and Aaron Rodgers has finally started practicing 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 catch! It's a catch! Sideline! Touchdown! Unbelievable!

Swings it way down the field to Watkins! Sammy Watkins for the touchdown! Thank you. we apologize for those technical difficulties i don't know if the intro just played it did it did and then it stopped yeah it stopped it's it's been stopped for like 10 seconds. Jeez. So did you see me on the screen? No. The video was playing. Okay. Interesting. You were just muted when you came back.

So I was like, I don't know what's going on. So I was gone. What's up? So I was gone. No, you were here. Like when we came out of it, like, you know, when we came out of the video, the intro played and everything fine. And then you came in and then you were just kind of looking around the screen, which you probably didn't know that the video played. And then I was just sitting here being like, oh, because then because your mic was still muted. I don't know. Yeah. OK. So it's just finished. All right.

Yeah. We'll just we'll just continue with what we have. Welcome to the Fumble Ruski podcast by Power 88 and Secret Weapon Consulting. Adam Wright with you, and we have a great week 13 slate of games to preview for you guys and joining us for, I believe it's the third time? Fourth. Something like that. Third or fourth. Third or fourth time. Too many times. We got Chris Heitu, formerly of Fans only sports network and also Wu socks productions. Welcome to the show, Chris. Thank you, Adam.

It's a great pleasure to come on here once again and talk about the sport. We all hold close to our hearts here and that's football, baby. Heck yeah. America's pastime. The real, the new, the new past. I won't, I won't throw too much shade at baseball because i like i like baseball too but um football has definitely taken over um all right so we're going to start off with thursday night football so it was an absolute shootout with the final score of

41 35 the cowboys beating the seahawks here. We'll start off with the Cowboys, who now improve their record to 9-3. They are right behind the Philadelphia Eagles. And Dak Prescott, 299 yards, three touchdown passes, and that brings his season total to 26-6 touchdown to interception ratio, 3,200 yards. And according to the ESPN projections, he is on pace to throw for 37 touchdowns and 4,500 yards. This guy is lighting it up this season low-key and we could look at him as a potential MVP candidate

but I want to ask the big question for the Cowboys since every year for the past two decades they've been the butt of all jokes when it comes to the postseason could this be their year that's a great question and of course that's a question that's asked time and time again about this team and we all know at the end of the day when you mention ESPN and Stephen A. Smith is just waiting each and every step of the way for this team to screw up in some way and I think we we saw it last time when they beat Philly well when Philly beat them in Philadelphia his whole you know I told you but you didn't listen. And that's the thing. Dallas has proven to be a team that at times is competent. But the one thing that you have to talk

about this game is this is the first team above 500 that they've been able to beat all season. If you look back in their schedule, a loss to the 49ers, an absolute embarrassment, 42 to 10, and then a 28 to23 loss to Philly. Cardinals let it slide there. But other than that, you look at the matchups, you've got the Giants, Jets, Pats, Chargers, Rams. These are teams that really this season just haven't been in the competitive spotlight. But the thing is, what we've seen is Dak Prescott finally looking healthy for the first time. He's battled injuries for the longest time.

And I think the biggest one was that ankle injury a few years ago because he was on pace that season at that point. Their projection was over 4,500 passing yards for this man. And this guy right now, he's really turned the tide when it's come to the midseason and even just before the bye week. They managed to flip the script. This team is now 6 and oh at home. Nine and three total is a total record offense. Probably one of the best in the league. And I mean,

you got to highlight CD lamb on that offense because man, last night, 12 catches, 116 yards and a touchdown. This guy is almost on. You just can't stop them. You can't stop them. The thing about Dallas is,

and we saw this be very prevalent last night, there's a bit of things that are missing to this team. And I think the biggest thing is that middle of the field and that middle linebacker core position, because Lane Vander Esch, too many injuries riddled. He might have his career ended pretty soon based on the amount of neck injuries he's had. But the thing is, if this Dallas team can continue to get the pressure, if that secondary can do well without Trayvon Diggs back there, sky's the limit. But in terms to answer your question, Adam, about is this their year? It could be. It could be. This is probably the best Cowboys team I've seen in a while, but it's the Cowboys. They always find a way to get in their own way, and they nearly did that a few times last night.

The Seahawks team did not let off the gas pedal, even being down in the first half. Managed to take the lead just before halftime at 21-20, and this was a shootout. Like you said, no punts in the game. So to finish that point, if Dallas wants to make it to the big dance, they can't let up scores like this, especially on defense. Yeah, listen, before this season started, all offseason long, I said after all of the improvements they made to this team, Brandon Cook, Stephon Gilmore, among others,

I said this is the best- looking team on paper that the Cowboys have had in my in my time covering them this is the best team that they have had and I've been by and CJ and Tuck my other co-hosts at the time laughed me off set every single time because they're the Cowboys and they kind of deserve it every time that they have a lot of talent and they have good seasons they'll win 12 games, 13 maybe. They'll look like the best team in the league, and then they'll look like the same old Cowboys in the postseason. But this team looks really good.

And the way their defense is structured, so they generate lots of pass rush up front, and then they force the quarterback to make mistakes, which is why you have the creation of Trevon Diggs and Daron. Is it Darren or Daron? Not sure, to be honest. I'm drawing a blank myself. I can take a look.

And Darren Bland, right? You have those two. So you have those two players who create a ton of turnovers. And then now you also have Stephon Gilmore, who is the opposite type of player, where he doesn't create interceptions, but he locks players down, which is a type of defensive back that the Cowboys have not had since they had prime Byron Jones. Yeah, that's a good point. Byron Jones. I mean, they're definitely missing him ever since he went to Miami. I don't even think he's rostered anymore. To be honest, I could be wrong. I think he, I'm pretty sure he retired. Yeah.

He had too many, too many injuries and then he, he retired. But the way this team is built it's such a two-way it's such a two-way team they're not a high-flying offense that doesn't defend they're not a defense first team that doesn't play offense they do both and i think a lot of it goes uh goes back to how this run how this uh how this run game has worked out for them which is that which is that it really hasn't been. It has forced them to throw the ball and utilize players like CeeDee Lamb so much more, and Brandon Cooks as well. And these are all players who have been underutilized

during their time with their respective teams that now that they're using them, they look like so much more of a force than they have in years past. They're not just a run first offense. That's just going to run it down your throat with Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard, right? They can actually do a lot more, a lot more things. It's not that it's bad. I mean, Tony Pollard's fine. It's just that he's not the workhorse back that we thought he was going to be when we replaced Ezekiel Elliott with him. We thought he was going to be better, but it turns out when you give him more reps,

the player's going to be worn down a lot more. Some players just aren't meant for that workhorse role. Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, Tony Pollard, like you said, he has just become a serviceable back. We haven't really seen his numbers go up until recent weeks. And I mean, maybe that's just in terms of the fantasy sports perspective. But in terms of his production, it's been lackluster. And I mean, the last couple of weeks, they've been able to get him a lot more involved, which is huge.

Last night, 20 rushes, but just around 68 yards. He did manage to find the end zone once in this game. But like you said, the pass zone once in this game. But like you said, the pass game has become this team's bread and butter. And the NFL, it's a pass-first league. That's the way the offense generates points, is by moving the ball through the quarterback's hands. And I mean, right now, we see a lot of versatile options on this Cowboys team at their disposal. But one of the big things I wanted that I wanted to highlight is last night. O-line gave up four sacks in this one.

Seattle didn't even receive a sack in this one. They were under pressure. A lot of times, Michael Parsons screaming off the edge and you could see it in a lot of these replays of guards and tackles trying to shift their way into them to stop the block. And he's almost uncoverable. You can't stop him from breaking through. But keeping it to the offense, they figured it out,

but I think one of the biggest things is protecting Dak because if he goes down, that's all done. All this production we're seeing now, it's not going to be the same. So what we see right now is great production, great adaptation to what you have for your offensive unit. But there's still a lot of kinks that need to be worked out, especially if you want to take down a team like Philly, who leads your division, who you could have beaten in Philadelphia. We would have been talking a totally different Cowboys team at this point.

So for me right now, there's a little bit of things that you need to fix, fix that own line a bit, get them to break in that protection a lot more. And then the run game, it's been serviceable with Tony Pollard, but you still got some young guys that you've definitely gone to in the backfield. So utilize that a lot more. Yeah. Yeah. I'd say we pretty much agree on this subject. The Cowboys have the potential, but things need to be worked on and they need to prove, they need to still, like things look different than in years past, but they need to prove that it's different enough so that they can break through and actually make an NFC championship for the first time since the 90s. I wanted to levitate a little more towards the Seahawks here. And this wasn't terrible for them because they scored 35 points on one of the better defenses in the league. And Geno Smith actually had a pretty good game. 334 yards, three touchdowns. He did have a pick. I still think it was a mistake for them to commit to this guy as a bridge quarterback.

Because they're winning too many games to have a high pick, to get a high draft pick so that they could pick the next guy. So, yeah, they committed to this. that they could pick the next guy. Right? So, yeah, they committed to this. So they committed to Geno Smith, but they're running out of picks that they got from the Russell Wilson deal. And also the Broncos are starting to win games. So, like, their first-round picks don't mean as mean as much anymore yeah that's the unfortunate part

of this I mean Gino Smith unbelievable comeback player of the year last year somebody we didn't even expect that's a guy who I laughed off the field so many times and I watched his games just because of the inconsistencies but it proved hey he just needed the right coaching and the right pieces around him to be productive. And he's got that in Seattle. But that's a great point, Adam, because last year they were lucky enough the Broncos were dog water. And this year they could have been, but Sean Payton's magic is finally starting to take over that team. So now those first round picks, like you said, they're not going to be as valuable to this team.

And they might have to consider making a trade or doing something in order to get a higher priority draft pick or trade with someone within the league for a quarterback but that's also tough to come by these days and Seattle last night in the game I mean I was very impressed I thought they were going to get blown out of the water in this one but able to get DK Metcalf from the start of the game on a 73-yard touchdown. This guy at six catches 134 yards and three touchdowns in this game. Huge performance, and we're seeing good versatility now out of Jackson, Smith, and Jigba. Tyler Lockett, of course, getting in on the mix, and even the run game. Unfortunately, no Kenneth Walker last

night, but Zach Charbonnet having himself a decent night for the most part before he left the game with an injury. So the thing is, it's a great point, Adam. I do absolutely agree because Geno Smith, he's proven to be a serviceable quarterback. This season has been a lot different, though, for this team than it has in the last season. I mean, you look at the way they've been trending lately.

They have lost the last three games. After the win over the Commanders, 29-26, they were 6-3. The loss to the Rams, Niners and Cowboys, they dropped to 6-6. They're still second in the West, but now they're about two, three games out of first place and really kind of just hoping that they can stay alive for a wild card position. So the Seahawks, they've got talent. They've got the production to do it.

But are they going to win a Super Bowl? Hell no. No, I do not see this team going all the way to the promised land with Geno Smith, unfortunately. It's just one of those things. And then, like you said, looking for that draft pick to eventually get the next guy. Because Geno, in his mid-30s at this point, this is the point where we start to see quarterbacks deteriorate a lot more, a lot faster.

And especially with a guy like him, who really hasn't kind of hit his peak until last year. And who knows, maybe he still hasn't. But it's one of those things where this organization needs to look towards the future of the franchise. It's in a good spot right now. Pete Carroll's been able to do something we didn't think was even humanly possible. But he's done it.

But now this organization needs to think about next steps for the future. Yeah. Yeah. And the way I look at it, this team has, I mean, the GMing besides quarterback, I've really liked. The way they've built up this team has been incredible. When the cupboard was bare, as soon as Russell Wilson left, it felt like it was going to be a really long time for them to build up this roster. They've kind of done it in two seasons. The only problem is the most important position that you need to address is the position that's the most difficult to do and almost impossible to do if you don't have a high first round pick. So this is where I think they dug themselves a hole because now they built up to their team to the point where they're not going to lose a lot of games. In fact, they're 6-6 right now.

I wouldn't be surprised if they still finish above 500. But they're not going to have a high pick in order to get that next guy. This is a deep quarterback draft. Bo Nix, Jaden Daniels, a couple other players whose names are escaping me that could slip to them. But are those guys sure things? I don't really know. I mean, LSU quarterbacks, if your name isn't Joe Burrow, don't really work out. And that's the beauty of the NFL draft.

It's a gamble like anything else. You're taking a chance on a guy who may be the next franchise player or may be the biggest bust in NFL history. You just don't know. And that's the thing. Scouts can only speculate. They can never guarantee the talent that they've seen out of a college athlete. That's just the way it works.

We don't know until they take on the big dance, which is the league. And, I mean, that's the thing. Seattle's going to have to take a gamble somewhere, whether it's in the draft pool or it's in the trade center, kind of figuring these things out. But the thing is, they're in a good spot. They're not in the best of spots after this three-game skid. But looking at the schedule ahead, I mean, not great.

You're going to San Francisco for the next game and Philly. Finish the season with Tennessee, Pittsburgh, and Arizona. So those are some favorable games after those two. But Seattle's going to have to fight. They're really going to have to fight if they want a spot here in the playoffs. Because right now, things have looked pretty good for the most part, but there's still a lot that needs to get sorted out. And I believe this next two game stretch will tell the tale of where this team will be sitting

at the end of the season. Yeah, that's pretty well said. I think it's, I think it's going to be, it's going to say a lot. And if they finish worse than they did last year, where they were nine and eight that could be a bit of a red flag for geno smith and it could they could easily have an identical record as to last year they're basically in that same position right now so this team's kind of doing everything they can to kind of just scrape their way to the finish line and i mean you can't tank obviously you're in no position to do that at this point once you hit six wins it's like all right guys come on we got a shot to actually do something here so this team can't back off by any means but they need to keep that thought in the back of their mind of where's this team going to go down the road once gino's eventually going to

be taken off the reins because it's going to happen it's going to happen i'm telling you right and they're and they're too good to tank. Like I said, they've built up their roster around them so much so that they can't tank to get that quarterback anymore. So that's where I kind of make the argument. They can't really – I mean, I get it. Geno Smith had a pretty good year, but look at what he did the rest of the time before then.

And even if he does duplicate that previous season, right, you're not winning a Super Bowl with that. You're not. It's a Ryan Tannehill type of player where he's shown some flashes, but he caught some lightning in a bottle with the Titans and then fizzled out, fizzled out and all the talent around him disappeared. And he turned back into Ryan Tannehill. Yep. That's kind of how it works. All right. Next we're going to preview the biggest game of this week, which is the Sunday night football showdown of the 49ers and the Eagles. That's next. This is 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 to Watkins. Sammy Watkins for the touchdown. Welcome back to the Fumble Rooski podcast.

Adam Wright with special guest Chris Heitu. All right. So this Sunday night football is going to be a pretty good one. 49ers at Eagles. So this is a rematch of the NFC championship that really wasn't such a great game for a couple of reasons. Number one, Brock Purdy got hurt. That's the top reason. Then number two, their backup got hurt. That's another reason.

Then the guy after that got hurt. That is another reason. Next thing you know it is a it is not a close game and that tends to happen when you go through five quarterbacks in a season but the fact that the the 49ers still held their own for a little while with josh johnson at quarterback oh yeah like i and i so another another argument i want to bring up or just simply another angle is that i don't think i can unsee what i saw when the 49 this 49ers team a few weeks ago wasn't healthy with with brock purdy throwing um the the thing is they're healthy now so if they stay healthy

i don't know which team is, is better than the other. Both teams have been dominant. So this is like, I don't think they're going to prove which team is a fraud and which one isn't. They're both really good. This is just a matter of which team is better. Yeah. And I think the thing is that NFC championship game last year, everything that could have gone wrong for the San Francisco 49ers went wrong and they just had the injury gate open and they lost all their starters in terms of quarterbacks and everything and at one point had Christian McCaffrey thrown the ball that's just how ridiculous it got in the depth chart but I think this week we'll get the game that everybody wanted and deserved from last year, because there should

have been a lot more competition in that conference championship game. The thing is, both teams come into the contest very respective in the same position, really, as they were last year. Eagles, 10-1, Niners, 8-3, with a 4-2 away record on the road. So for this game, it's going to come down to a lot. And I think right now, as you said, it comes down to health. And for the Niners, they finally get Debo Samuel back in full health. McCaffrey, he's looked good all season, so thank God for that because Christian McCaffrey has always been a weak link for an offense, especially in his times in Carolina because that dude is getting hurt all the time.

Granted, he's going to work to the bone. So there's a lot of pieces there that are finally starting to come back together be healthy including Brock Purdy and the thing is Eagles have been a little lucky in these last few games and that's a big thing we've seen it in the ending of every single one teams have had a chance to win the game. We saw it with the Bills last week with that wide open pass to Gabe Davis that fell incomplete. We saw it a couple weeks ago against, let me go ahead and take a look at that.

Cowboys. Yeah, the Cowboys. That was a big one. I mean, the Cowboys did it to themselves. And then the Chiefs, of course, the Chiefs. But granted, Chiefs receivers, we were fortunate enough that night that they were allergic to catching the football. But the thing is. But granted, Chiefs receivers, we were fortunate enough that night that they were allergic to catching the football. But the thing is, the Eagles, they are a dominant unit. I will

not take that away from them. But the thing is, they need to get nipped in the butt for those mistakes that their defenses made because the Niners are going to exploit this now. This is something that we can show that they're vulnerable in. Their secondary is showing the vulnerability, and they are just lucky that those plays did not convert because this team would have been in a whole different position. So I'm already going to make the call right now. I'm taking San Francisco in this game. I just think San Francisco has a lot riding on this one.

Sure, it's in Philly, but this team is no stranger to this type of environment and this type of competitive nature. I think they're going to come in hungry from last season, especially after you can't really say embarrassed because there was really not much they could do. They were just embarrassed because they literally had no starter to throw the ball. Nobody competent enough to be in that under center in that position. I'm calling the Niners in this one because I just think this defense is going to come in hungry under leadership of Fred Wagner Kyle Shanahan's gonna have something drawn up perfect for this offense to really keep the Eagles guessing because besides having Christian

McCaffrey in that backfield going for a check down and just taking it up the gut you also got Debo Samuel who can run the ball competently and then George Kittle get this man involved more he's been very quiet these past few weeks, but I expect him to be a big vocal point in this game coming up. And then Brandon Ayuk, that's another guy. He's sneaky and he gets out in the open. Brock Purdy is in a great position to succeed this week. And I think the Niners will succeed in a very dramatic fashion. I think we're going to see this final score be 26-24 San Francisco on the road. Ooh, I like that one.

Nice and close, high scoring, and the 49ers are gutting it out and getting revenge. I like that one. I'm going to go the opposite way, though. One can make an argument that this team has barely won a lot of these games and that they've gotten very lucky. I'll make the argument that they have gutted these victories out and this team is battle-tested.

Nothing has come easy for these Eagles, and coming out of all of it, they're 10-1. They're winning games. And they're not just blowing them out and getting and I'm not facing any adversity. They're getting punched in the mouth and responding to it. So for that reason, I'm going to take the Eagles. I'm still a little shaky on them to win the Super Bowl this year or even make it there. But I think they're, I think they're good enough so that they can overcome adversity because that is something that is a really encouraging sign

that I've seen from this Eagles team. And I think one of the most encouraging signs of that was the way the defense performed on Monday night a couple weeks ago. No points allowed to Kansas City in the second half. That's something that's almost unheard of to stop Patrick Mahomes in that type of environment, especially in Kansas City. This defense, like you said, it's been battle-tested, and they just have shown that they have experience at this point.

And, I mean, the sky's the limit for this team, quite literally, considering Fly Eagles fly. But still this week, hold strong to those Niners. I just think they've got a chip on their shoulder in this one, and they're going to show up. I certainly do. And I think they've got a chip on their shoulder in this one and they're going to show up. I certainly do. And I think the biggest way that either of us could be wrong in this one is that it's not a close matchup.

Yeah. There's always that possibility. Let's say the Eagles punch him in the mouth again, and then the 49ers get hurt again, And then it's just not even, it's, it's just another done. Yeah. It's kind of basically seeing who's going to be the daddy and all of this one between the two. That's the way I look at it because right now Eagles,

they're young, great unit put together. I mean, I like what you got there with training for AJ Brown, going out and getting Deandre Swift. This is a whole transformed offense from what we've seen, even getting rid of Zach Ertz and all those others. Just a good piece to really complement each position. They've gone out, they've really studied these athletes, and they've gotten the right pieces.

Jalen Hurts, like, oh, my God. I remember in his rookie year when he finally took over in the starting position, people were shocked and they were like this guy's the real deal and then the following next season this team is heading to the promised land so eagles very talented unit very excited for this matchup absolutely and i'll give you i'll give you i'll give a score because you gave one 30 to 27 i think it's going to be i think it's going to be a high-scoring one. And one of these teams, probably the 49ers, is going to come out of the gates and

go up big. The Eagles will come back. And I don't know at what point they will come back, but they will come back. It'll be back and forth, and the Eagles win by three. I like it. I like the call there. So we'll see how it goes, but either way, I just want a competitive game. We're two Patriots fans who just want some competitive football because our

favorite one that lives locally, uh, not that good. All right. Next, we're going to get to the 1 PM slatem. slate of every single game of Week 13. This is the Fumble Rooski Podcast. Here's Edelman broken up in the pass.

There's no sign yet. 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. To Gates! Side-line! Touchdown! Unbelievable!

Slings it way down the field to Watkins! Sammy Watkins for the touchdown! Welcome back to the Fumble Rooski Podcast, Adam Wright. Special guest Chris Heitu. We are on to the Sunday night, excuse me, the 1 o'clock slate of the Sunday games of Week 13. We're going to start off. We're going to get this one out of the way. We got the Chargers and the Patriots. So, Patriots are hosting in this one, if that means anything.

But what do you got? I mean, this matchup in and of itself, joke. You got two joke franchises or teams in the moment going up against each other. Chargers do the thing they always do, which is the Chargers. They find themselves in a good position and throw the game anyways. They somehow, someway. Brandon Staley, you're out the door by the end of the season. I wouldn't even be surprised if you're fired before the end of the season.

Patriots, it's just not their year. Mac Jones looks a shell of what he once was in his rookie season, has really deteriorated to the point where he has zero confidence in the team now. Even the locker room has zero confidence in his ability to lead, and even has the head coach thinking otherwise. And even people are questioning if we'll see Bill in this position next year as the head coach of the New England Patriots. but in this one gonna make it short and sweet i've got chargers taking it in foxborough final score 28 to 14 that's a good one i like the score um

and i think yeah definitely the chargers because they have more offensive firepower and more on defense, which is hard to do. So I'll definitely go with the Chargers. And the Chargers have a tendency to choke, and their coaching is horrendous in big moments, but I don't think it'll matter. So maybe the Patriots make it a game. I hear Bailey Zappi could get the start this week because him and Malik Cunningham have gotten the majority of practice reps.

So I'll go to the Chargers. It'll be, I'll say, 26-17. Solid, solid score. All right, we move on to the next one. We got Cardinals at steelers so the cardinals are in that tanking spot but they're also taking a test drive with kyler murray to evaluate if he's the right guy for the future and to that i say well if this guy is right for you then you're going to play your way right out of the top five picks. Now they,

they're, they're in the top three right now, but they're not helping themselves by starting Kyler Murray this year. So they might just play their way in the Steelers team. I know Matt Canada was fired and they scored over 400, over 400 yards of offense for the Steelers for the first time since Matt Canada was hired. But 16 points still does not impress me, especially against the Bengals. Give me the Chargers.

Jesus. Give me the Cardinals. Wrong team. Interesting call there. I'm going to go the opposite route. I really like what Pittsburgh's done this year. I mean, Kenny Pickett, very, is what most people would call a very average quarterback, but he's been serviceable for the time.

And even though the receiving core is nothing that jumps out to you, you still got some solid pieces in there with Deontay Johnson, George Pickens, Pat Friermuth finally coming back off an injury, and Najee Harris and Jalen Warren complement each other perfectly. You couldn't ask for a better tandem there, and that Steelers defense has really just been quite solid these last few weeks. Kyler Murray, I think it's one of those things where he, in these last two games, because we've seen them lose them both last week, absolutely embarrassed by the Rams, but it's one of those things where he, in these last two games, because we've seen them lose them both last week, absolutely embarrassed by the Rams. But it's one of those things.

Do you really start the guy and expect him to be good? No, clearly not. Because, I mean, this guy came off an injury. The offense is already in a rhythm, in a groove of its own self that he's got to adapt to that. And I think he's still working on those things. Granted, we're three weeks into him starting at this point. Well, this will be the third week coming up. But I think at the end of the day, Pittsburgh, you're at home. You have no reason to lose this game whatsoever.

I think that the favor is all in your hands at this point. It'll still probably be an ugly game. So I'm going to call this final score 20 to 13 pittsburgh yeah i'll probably go somewhere close to that um probably around the same same level i'll go i'll give them two touchdowns for pittsburgh so 14 and then let's say let's say 19 for uh for the cardinals um just because i think i think i think kyler murray is reminding us that he is still a pretty good player and they have the best quarterback in this matchup. So I'm going to roll. I'm going to roll Cardinals upset. Could end up with egg in my face. Maybe not. All right. Next matchup. We have the Colts who are visiting the Titans.

The Colts, they lost their prized top four pick in Anthony. But Gardner Minshew has been able to keep the ship afloat. They're six and five. Titans, on the other hand, they did move to Will Levis, who's shown that he's shown to be better than people what people thought but they're still four and seven so Chris what say you I mean this is a divisional matchup here so I mean anything goes when it comes to that it's really tough to predict how things will unfold once game time happens I mean right now for the Colts they're in the South. They're definitely looking to drive forward to try and get closer

towards the Jaguars who are just ahead of them right now. But the thing is, I mean, I don't know. This one's tough to pick. I'm going to go Indy in this one, though. I just think this team has a better defense to rely on, a better run attack with Zach Moss in the backfield. Jonathan Taylor, not expected to play this week after that injury from last week. Gardner Minshew, proven very serviceable, able to feed the

ball to Josh Downs and Michael Pittman Jr. I like what the offense has to bring. I didn't, I could not stand early in the season when Will Levis took over. Sure, he had that great first game there, and then people were being like, oh, this is the next Tom Brady potentially. This is the Drew Bledsoe storyline all over again. I'm like, guys, shut up. That literally does not uphold. You're literally comparing Will Levis, Will Levis to the GOAT. Like, come on. Let's not go there.

I got the Colts winning. It's going to be an ugly game. I'm going to call final score of 16-13. Yeah. People know Will Levis for his girlfriend or ex-girlfriend, whatever's going on. And they're also going to know him for losing this game against the Colts. The Colts just have too much going for them. And I think Gardner Minshew is one of the better backups in all of football. He's able to keep the ship afloat.

If Anthony Richardson were coming back this year, we'd look at this team as a playoff team. But we're not, but we're also not looking at the Titans that way. So give me the Colts. I think this is going to be another ugly matchup where you probably won't get too much scoring. 23-21 Indy over Tennessee.

But with that being said, let's move to our next matchup. One of the best matchups we have, actually, of Week 13. And if it weren't for a great Sunday night football matchup, this would be our game of the week. We have the Broncos at the Texans, a game that is basically, I would say a battle of the middle class. Like neither of these teams, we will see winning a Superbowl, but it could also have some major playoff implications for wildcard weekend because the Broncos could be in the playoffs and so could the Texans. They could both end up being in here and both of them have pretty favorable schedules coming up. Both of them are playing out of their minds right now. So what do you got, Chris? So, I mean, this one is just a great matchup because it could go either way.

Both teams sit at 6-5, have an amazing chance to make the playoffs. Texans, I knew Stroud was going to be a good player. I didn't think he was going to show up this quick. It's one of those things where you just don't expect it. And then for the Broncos, come on, man. Five straight wins. Sean Payton's really turned the tide on this team, and I think the big thing is getting a check down guy involved. Getting the ball to Javante

Williams in the backfield and Samadji Pirine. Those two guys just complement each other so well, and despite having a pretty mid-tier receiving core, Jerry Judy's starting to step up his game a bit. We're seeing a lot of production out of Cortland Sutton. So Russell Wilson looking good, but I really like this Houston team. They're hosting this one. It's in Texas. I'm sure Denver is going to bring a lot of downhill pressure onto Stroud, but Stroud has been able to find his mark with players like Nico Collins, Noah Brown, and just a dashing of others, Dalton Schultz. This team looks like it's in a good position. D'Amico Ryans has really transformed this franchise into what he wants it to be.

They've got time, and they've got a great chance of making the postseason. I'm going to take the Houston Texans at home. I just think they've got a lot riding on this team. And last week, oh my God, that was just such a heartbreak when Amendola missed that field goal right off the post come on you're gonna want that back to send that game to overtime and i think they're gonna bring that revenge this week and throw a pie right in denver's face and make

people think twice about them give me houston final score of that one is going to be 30. 30 to 20. Ooh, that's a comfortable margin. And, oh, I've fought every urge to go against Houston this week because Houston is coming off a loss, but Denver is coming off a victory. Quite a few, actually. Five straight. Give me Denver. I denver is riding some strong momentum i think russell wilson is locked in he finally has his head out of his ass

and i i always thought that this team could be a playoff team if they if they could just get it together i think roster wise i don't ever think anyone was looking at this team and saying, they have nothing on that team. They actually do. They have some good players. Cortland Sutton's pretty good. Jerry Judy, he hasn't shown that he's a wide receiver one. I get it, but he's still been a really good player. And their offensive line improved a lot. I think that's something that's being overlooked quite a bit. Russell Wilson, 20 touchdowns of four interceptions, 2,200 yards. That's the Russell Wilson we know. Not last year.

I think Russell Wilson last year left Russell Wilson's body and possessed Geno Smith, and now they've swapped back into their normal selves. Give me Denver. And this is going to be a slugfest. 26-21, I think that's going to be the final score. Okay. That's a good call right there.

A lot riding at stake for both sides. I mean, I could see your argument too, definitely, because Houston, they've got the future ahead of them with this kid and CJ Stroud. I think next season this team will definitely be right behind Jacksonville very closely, maybe even above them in the standings. You never know. So it could be one of those things.

Yeah. All right. We'll move to our next matchup. We have the Lions and the Saints. The Lions, what I have seen from this team in the last few weeks, just this season, I don't think I can unsee it. They've lost to their division rival Packers, who are not very good this year,

and allowed them back into the playoff race. And they also got their doors blown off by the Ravens a few weeks ago. And they're visiting the five and six Saints. Chris, what's your pick? So, I mean, they're playing in the Superdome. It's one of those things. It's New Orleans. The Saints are always going to come ready and hungry and ready to go.

But, and that's the thing. This is a tough one. Because right now, I mean, Detroit's sitting comfortably on top of the NFC North. They definitely got some things to worry about down the thing. This is a tough one. Because right now, I mean, Detroit sitting comfortably on top of the NFC North. They definitely got some things to worry about down the stretch. You got the Vikings coming up. I mean, Green Bay, that was definitely embarrassing to lose in Detroit, in Ford Field on Thanksgiving. Like, come on, guys.

Like, that's your Super Bowl right there in general. But at the end of the day, I mean, Green Bay playing Kansas City this week, we all know who will probably win that one. But regardless, when you kind of look at this matchup, the Saints have a lot more to play for. Falcons sit in first place at five and seven. Like, what is this? What is this crap that the NFC South has given us as a product this year? So the Saints, they have a lot to play for at home, and they've got a great, great offense with Chris Alave. Unfortunately, that Michael Thomas is hurt yet again,

but Alvin Kamara, ever since his return from that suspension, he's been the Kamara we've known ever since then. It's tough because I love Detroit so much, but I'm honestly going to go the opposite route. I'm going to take New Orleans in this one just because this team is at home. They've got something to play for, which is that division. It's anyone's division in the South. Technically, by mathematical equation,

Carolina still has a chance at 1-10 to make the postseason. So everybody in the South is playing for that first-place seed because whoever wins the division is going to the postseason. Give me the Saints in this one. It's going to be a doozy. It's going to be one of those big defensive matchups. We're definitely going to see some picks from Carr and Goff go through the air a few times.

I'm going to say the final score of this one is going to go down as, I'm going to say 20-16. Yeah, this division blows. And I mentioned when I was talking about the Lions during our last episode on Tuesday, I told Chris Kostic, I said, this team is not battle-tested, and they're not going to get the chance to be battle tested for the rest

of the season they're not facing good competition so therefore yes i have lost a lot of faith in this lions team over the course of this season despite their eight and three record but i still i still do not believe that they're going to lose many games if any for the rest of the season give me the lions i think this is a get right game or a get right game in the most fraudulent quotations that you will ever see the most paper three touchdown passes you'll see from jared goff and probably 250 to 300 yards where we know he wouldn't do that garbage against any other competitive team. Give me the Lions.

They're going to win by a comfortable margin. I say 26 to 7. Yeah. I mean, I love Detroit. Detroit has been such a fun team to watch this year. But like you said, this isn't really a battle-tested, experienced unit. And if they make it to the postseason, I'm sorry. sorry I love the hype but this team is not making the Super Bowl we definitely thought that there was a chance to in week one with that win over Kansas City but it's week one man there's

still a lot of time and honestly the end of the season you take a look at the schedule they play the Vikings in week 15 and then again in week 17 with the Cowboys in between that. That's a tough, tough stretch of games to end the season. Then you got Denver in there too and Chicago following this week. So a lot on the table for Detroit. It's not going to be an easy way to end off the season. So for them, it's all gas, all gas, no pedal. You know, I guess on paper. That's what it was.

Yeah. I guess on paper you could look at those last three weeks and say that's a tough stretch, and definitely it will be against the Cowboys. That's going to be a tough matchup. That should have happened on Thanksgiving. That would have been a fun matchup. Yeah, but both teams host, so they could never do that.

They have to host. It sucks. I wish they could yeah they have to host that it sucks i wish they could play sometimes um but the vikings are listen they're playing with josh dobbs i know that there's a lot of hype around him in the way that he's played but they're six and, and most of the reason why they are 6-6 is Kirk Cousins before he tore his Achilles. So maybe they lose one of those games, but I still have this Lions team finishing 13-4. At the absolute worst, they're 12-5.

Yeah, and I mean to kind of touch on the Vikings real quick, they got a bye week this week, which is really good because the last two games that they've had both been losses. And we've seen Josh Dobbs come from that really hyped-up quarterback suddenly back down to reality. And people are starting to see four picks against the Bears. Like, get out of here, bro. Like, come on.

And then even two or three against Denver. They had the game in hand until they started turning the ball over several times. That's what lost them the game. Turnovers kill this Vikings team, and they beat Justin Jefferson back. It's really proven that he needs to be in that offense in order for them to be successful. Yeah. All right.

Our next matchup, we got the Falcons visiting the Jets, two teams that really badly need to win in order to stay to stay in the race the falcons more so the jets because the jets are really starting to fade out of it they need a couple of wins so that if aaron rogers comes back or when when at whatever aaron rod whatever rogers says um that he could potentially run the table as as we used to mention in 2016, and maybe they'd make a run. But, Chris, what's your pick? You know, this is a tough one because, in my opinion,

this is probably one of the toilet bowl games of the week. I mean, Atlanta, first place mathematically in the NFC South. They're playing the Jets, and the Jets have something to play for here because Aaron Rodgers, 21-day practice window now for him. He's able to return and actually do workouts with the team. So one of the things the Jets want is the playoffs. It's something that the fans have been on their knees begging for since the day I was born, I want to say. As long as I can remember, the Jets have truly never seen

the postseason, obviously with Mark Sanchez, but you know, we don't count those days. Anyways, it's one of those things where this team wants a shot at the whole thing, and it starts with this game. This is a favorable matchup. You're at home against the Falcons team that has shown up recently, but five and seven, like really, we're really going to sit here and talk about that. I like the Jets defense, what they have. It's going to come down to Tim Boyle.

You can't be throwing a 92-yard interception that's taken to the house on a Hail Mary. No, absolutely not. That's one of those things they've got to eliminate. But I like what that defense has. I think Desmond Ritter is not a competent quarterback by any means, and it's one of those things I think the Jets are going to exploit defensively. And the run game with Brees Hall for New York has been beautiful these past few weeks, and even Garrett Wilson finally started to get more involved in that offense. This Jets team

is looking for something that people could not have imagined. So give me the Jets. I'm going to say the final score of this one will be 23-16. Yeah, the Jets earlier on in the season, if you remember, were giant slayers. They beat some teams that they had no business beating. And this isn't a giant, but I also believe they're going to play up to this competition with how close Aaron Rodgers is to a full recovery from an Achilles tear, an injury that usually is a career-ending one

for quarterbacks around his age. But he came back in a few months, which is, which is absolutely incredible. I think this team is inspired and they are pushing to win some games so that they can stay in the race for whenever Aaron Rogers does come back. I'm going to take the jets as well. And I think they're going to gut this one out because they need victories badly. And I'll give a final score since we've been doing that all episode long. Let's go 17-16. Another close one, another rock fight. Neither team plays very good offense, but the Jets need it bad.

Absolutely. This team 100% needs a win, and this is their chance this week. If they don't, I wouldn't even consider bringing Rodgers back. Yeah. And we'll talk a little bit about that when we get to it because what he's been saying about is actually pretty hilarious. Dolphins at commanders, the dolphins,

they are eight and three, but I think of them in the same way. I think of the lions. The dolphins are just not battle tested. They don't beat teams above 500, but they beat up on the teams. They should be, which is still important. And this is a team that they should be, but the commanders always play up to their competition. Almost always. But still give me the dolphins. It'll be a close one, but dolphins let's go 31, 34.

Yeah. I mean, that's the thing that's been the story about the commanders this year i think the biggest story though for washington has been sam howell this man as a rookie leads the league in passing yards that's almost it's shocking to think about and i mean he's got the pieces to do it he's got he's got terry maurin, Byron Pringle coming in from Chicago, former Kansas City Chief. And then you've also got Logan Thomas. You've got Antonio Gibson and Brian Robinson Jr. in the backfield. The defense, despite getting rid of Montez Sweat and Chase Young, they've still proven that they can play in football games and be competitive enough to bring it to you. However, like you said, I just think Miami just has so much firepower.

They blow out the teams that they should, and they lose to the teams that they should. But that's the thing. This is not a battle-tested team. This is not a team that has shown that they can be consistent in terms of taking down top opponents. And even if they do win the AFC East, they'll lose in the divisional round and be out before we know it. That's just the way it is. The odds are stacked against them in this one, but they need that division title, especially with the Bills on a bye week sitting at six and six and then sitting at eight and three. Nine and three would be more than comfortable for this unit. I think Mike McDaniel is going to have Tua and Tyreek shred this commander's defense.

I'm going to go final score of this one, 35 to 17. Ooh, not even close. Yeah. Unfortunately, it's just going to be one of those things. I think despite the commanders are playing at home, Miami's going to force them into positions that are going to make them really question their play. And Sam Howell's going to make some mistakes. They'll still throw for a lot of yards, garbage time yards though. Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised. And all right. Next, we are going on to the

4 p.m. slate. This is the Fumble Ruski Podcast. 4 p.m slate this is the fumble ruski 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 We'll be right back. Welcome back to the Fumble Ruski podcast by Power 88 and Seeker Weapon Consulting. Adam Wright with Chris Heetu. We are on to the 4 p.m. and primetime games in week 13. And we're going to start off with panthers visiting the buccaneers so you alluded to this earlier this is a very close division and everyone is kind of in it you may think the

panthers they're just going to keep losing games because they don't care anymore you'd be wrong because they don't have their first round pick so they're not playing for anything right now they want to win some games that's why they fired head coach frank reich they want to show that this kid bryce young can play and the buccaneers for obvious reasons they're four and seven and they're in the worst division in football. They're still in it. So Chris, what do you think? I mean, this one's a tough one because you're talking about two lackluster teams with quarterbacks who have proven serviceable. I think Bryce Young has a much higher ceiling, obviously, than Baker Mayfield. But Baker Mayfield, the weapons he has at his disposal is

perfect. I mean, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, the smashing of others, Rashad White in the backfield, and that defense with Levante David leading the charge, solid unit to put up front. I mean, Carolina, they just need to figure some things out, and who knows, maybe the firing of Frank Reich will actually open the floodgates to show a good performance out of this team. But I've been bold with some of my takes from played

safe with this one. I just think Carolina at the end of the day, they've got talent, but it's not matured enough for them to take down this Bucs unit at home. I think the Bucs just have enough to really take this game. It's going to be a close one though. I'm going to say the final score of this one, 24-20 Bucs. Yeah, I am going to roll with the buccaneers as well the panthers are going to win a game at some point i just don't think it's going to be this week if they do win a game and this buccaneers team is still fighting to make the playoffs i I just don't think the Panthers have enough firepower. So give me the Buccaneers. I'm going to go 21-10.

Okay, solid. Solid call. All right. For our next game, we've got the Browns visiting the Rams. So the Browns, without their starting quarterback, Deshaun Watson, who knows who they're going to start now. Actually, they did bring in Joe Flacco. Yep.

And he has been getting most of the reps in practice. So that is the likely starter. Unless it's DTR. We'll see who it is. Then you've got the Rams. Who are we picking? Yeah, that's an amazing question because both these teams have a lot of question marks here. Rams looked good at one point.

Injuries really killed this team, especially with Kyron Williams and Cooper Cup being out for extended weeks at a time. But Cleveland has proven to have such a very volatile defense, a great pass rush, that at the end of the day, Myles Garrett's looking like another Defensive Player of the Year potential candidate, probably a runaway candidate at this point. However, we did just see this Rams team come out of nowhere with that run game Kyron Williams off of injury looked amazing it's just a question if that they if they can do it to Cleveland but like you said biggest thing about Cleveland last week quarterback absolutely rocked DTR and left with a concussion had to go with PJ Walker who I'd assume they're probably going to

this week and keep Joe Flacco in reserve in case they need to relieve him of those duties. But no Deshaun Watson for the rest of the season. The run game, not solid because no Nick Chubb anymore. Jerome Ford's been good. He's been all right, but it's been one of those things. And then the receiving game, Murray Cooper struggled last week. Pretty sure he left the game with a concussion as well. And it's just one of those things. I think right now the Rams, they're still in the position where they could potentially make a postseason push. Browns got seven wins. That's good. But I just don't think there's enough at their disposal for this one to really win, especially lacking a good and reliable quarterback. It's going to be an ugly game, but I still think the Rams might be able to take something

and make it a two-possession game. Give me the Rams in this one. We're going to go final score of 28-17. Okay. I think I am going to roll Rams as well because one has their starting quarterback, the other doesn't. That is probably the biggest reason that I have. And yeah, the Browns have been winning games without Deshaun Watson.

I don't think it's going to continue. And this Rams team, while they're not as good at their best as the Browns were with their starting quarterback, they're still five and six and they have plenty of offensive firepower to keep up with the Browns, not only the Browns offense, but overcome the, their, their ferocious defense. Yeah. So give me the Rams in this one. All right, so we move on to our Sunday night football matchup, which is the Chiefs at the Packers. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

This one, this is a good matchup in a way because, I mean, Green Bay finally kind of starting to take a little bit more flight. We're seeing Jordan Love develop these last two games and actually look like he could be. Honestly, thing is, I gave up hope on Jordan Love a long time ago, but this season he's proven me wrong in several different ways, and I definitely think the biggest one was that win over Detroit on Thanksgiving because Detroit, they're a great football team.

They really are, and they're a team that we will definitely see in the postseason this year. But we're seeing Kansas City come in here. In Kansas City, we all know who they are. We all know what they bring to the table. We all know what they've got. This one, I think people cannot sleep on because I think it'll still be a close game. Packers, the fact that it's in Lambeau is huge for them. They will have a chance in this game. Will they be able to do it? I don't think so. I just think Patrick Mahomes is too experienced, too well known to

this type of spotlight that it'll be fine. They'll be able to work out the kinks and get through it by the second half. We're going to say the final score on this one is going to be 24-23, game-winning field goal by Butker. Yeah, I'm taking the Chiefs too, and I know there have been a couple of teams to upset the Chiefs. I know the Chiefs have their issues at wide receiver most notably, but you have Patrick Mahomes, and like Tom Brady before him, as long as you have Patrick Mahomes, you have a chance and you're going to beat the teams that you should be. Most of them upsets happen, but I think they're going to take this game against the Packers. They,

they have some games that they need to win in order to keep, to keep pace with everyone else in the AFC. And this is a gotta have it game for the Chiefs in order to do that. The division is safe for them, but that top seed is not. So that is something to play for. And I think the Chiefs are going to come and they won't light it up. It'll still be reasonably close. But I'll say 26 to 17. They'll take this one. Solid. All right. We have our last matchup, which is Monday Night Football.

We have the Bengals visiting the Jaguars. This would have been a great matchup, a good matchup if it weren't for stupid injuries joe burrow and company against trevor lawrence who is coming out you got a good young team a couple of good young teams but what we have is jake browning for them yeah and it's unfortunate because I mean, we saw the first Monday night football flex happened yesterday. Patriots got booted out of that against the chiefs into one o'clock slot. You think they might consider doing it for this one?

Cause this was definitely set up so we could see Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence go head to head. But unfortunately the season did not dictate it to go that way. And we have to see it this way. It's so unfortunate. Cause I love Cincinnati, but I'm sorry. The odds are stacked against them. Jake Browning, not a competent quarterback. I don't even think I'd really, I mean, it's tough to, it's harsh to say.

I don't even know if he's a serviceable backup at this rate. You couldn't even take down Pittsburgh, who talent-wise does not have as much talent as what Cincinnati brings to the table. However, better coach team. Got to give it to them on that. However, Jacksonville, they've turned it up these past few weeks. Trevor Lawrence is a field general that we've never seen in a long time. He's able to throw the ball all over the place, really break it up into all of the weapons he has at his disposal. And Calvin Ridley, these last two weeks, has finally emerged out of the fog that we had seen him kind of sifting through for a long time throughout this whole regular season. He's finally turning it up. ETN in the backfield. Come on, man.

That's an easy one right there. So despite the weapons that the Bengals have at their disposal, they don't have the most important weapon, which is their quarterback, Joe Burrow. So unfortunately, I'm going to take Jacksonville on this one. Final score of the matchup, 34-14. Absolute torch. Yeah. I had the Jaguars from the beginning of the season winning 12 games. And one of the obstacles that I saw them facing was the Bengals.

Now the Bengals aren't much of an obstacle and they're going to win this game. The tradeoff, I think, will be that the Ravens got a lot better than they were last year. And that'll be a bigger matchup for them. But still, I don't see the Bengals with Jake Browning winning this game at all. This is going to be a massacre. So give me 35 to 14, the Jaguars win. Yeah, and I actually just looked at their schedule. Their next three opponents are all AFC North opponents. You got Cleveland and then Baltimore following this game. So yeah and actually just looked at their schedule their next three opponents are all afc north opponents you got cleveland and then baltimore following this game so pretty pretty tough

division that jacksonville's taking on but this is going to be their first test and unfortunately it's not really one to blink at anymore yeah and at least they have the division that was proven last week so that's kind of a test test because CJ Stroud has turned that organization around near almost single-handedly turned players who looked like wide receiver twos into ones. Maybe tank Dell's the real deal. He could be, but what they have should not translate into a playoff team.

It shouldn't, but see when, as long as you have CJ Stroud, I can't believe I'm saying this about a rookie, but I am. As long as you have C.J. Stroud, you have a chance to make the playoffs, which is unbelievable. Yeah, it really is. It's something we never expected. Crazy times in the NFL. Yeah, but yeah. All right. So that concludes all of our game picks. We're going to move on to Chris's guest segment. We're going to talk about Aaron Rodgers and his return from this Achilles tear and what that means for the jets going forward. Not just this season,

but the season after that's next. This is the Fumble Rooski Podcast. and comes down with a football, and they're saying it's a catch. It's caught! It's a touchdown! Unbelievable! Slings it way down the field to Watkins! Sammy Watkins for the touchdown! Touchdown! Welcome back to the Fumble Rooski Podcast. Adam Wright with special guest Chris Hitu. We've moved on to the guest segment of our show where we have Chris,

who is going to talk about Aaron Rodgers and his miraculous, very lightning fast return from this Achilles tear that he suffered on opening night during Monday Night Football. Chris, what do you got? Yeah, I mean, basically to talk about this injury really, I mean, we all remember a few weeks ago where on the Pat McAfee show he broke the news that the possibility of him returning was very possible. And it really sent shockwaves throughout the rest of the league and the sports world.

This is an injury that we have all known is when it happens, your season's over. And there is no chance in hell that you come back. But when the media talked to Aaron Rodgers, he reported to them, I think anything's possible, which is such an interesting way of looking at it. But then even saying that to Rodgers, everybody was saying to Rodgers that trying to push this recovery was definitely not a smart move. And he told them that he was going to brush it off and keep pushing forward. And he got himself on a supplementing rehab that was designed to regenerate tissues, consuming high levels of collagen, drank bone broth every day. At nine weeks after following the injury, they did an ultrasound. The doctor said he had never seen an Achilles at nine weeks like that. So according to what we're seeing and what we're hearing is the fact that whatever is being done rehab wise for Aaron Rodgers, and I don't understand why my camera is blurring out, but whatever.

We'll deal with that at some other point. It's working. It's working. And we're seeing the potential, not even just being a potential, but the talk is coming into reality. Rodgers just reported, well, it was just reported the other day, I think a day or two ago, that he is back in practice in a 21-day window where they're going to evaluate his performance and determine if he is ready to come back and take the field. Rodgers did also claim that he's not ready yet. So that's obvious.

But I guess my question, Adam, and I'm sure everybody's asking this too, should the Jets bring Aaron Rodgers back this season? Yeah. So Aaron Rodgers joked about this and he said, it doesn't matter if I come back and re-injure my Achilles because then I would be on track to be, I would still be on track to be ready by opening day when I was originally scheduled, which is insane to think about because he's right. Literally he would still like with the amount of time he has taken to recover,

he's still like with the, with time he has taken to recover, he's still like with the, with, if he restarted right now, he would still have enough time to be ready by opening by opening night next year. So, but if he, if he tears it again,

he's done. In my opinion, he's done for his career. I thought he was done for his career when he did it the first time. But the fact that he's recovered so quickly, and he is playing the quarterback position, which still requires a lot of lower leg movements. You've got to step into those throws.

But it's a lot less than what you do at other positions. If you're a wide receiver and you tear your Achilles at age 39, you're done. It's over at running back. I'm surprised you're still in the league health, uh, when you're healthy and you tear your Achilles. Um, so I want to say yes, because there's not too much to risk, but I mean, he could, he could, but you could always get hurt at any time. Well, I guess another question, I guess I could phrase it this way is, do you think that this move by the Jets, if they were to reactivate Rodgers, do you back. And I think that's the driving force here. Their star athlete, who they've been bending over backwards for ever since they acquired him, they're doing whatever he says.

So I think that's what's doing it. And if Aaron Rodgers, if the athlete himself is motivated to get back on the field and prove something and also inspire his young teammates, then I think that's a good idea to, to, to, I think that's a good idea to bring him back for. And I think if they were to, if they were to say, step in and say, no, we're shutting you down. Think about what that would do to the, to the locker room. We don't believe in you going into next season. They're going to think We don't believe in you. Going into next season, they're going to think,

you didn't believe in us without Rodgers. Why should we do it when we have him now? And they could do a lot of things. They may not win the Super Bowl this year. They could just sneak into the playoffs and be a one-off. It would give them a lot of momentum going into next season where they could spend a lot of money on the offensive line, work a little bit more on that wide receiving core past Garrett Wilson,

get another year of recovery from Brees Hall, who's recovering from an injury himself, an ACL tear, which historically running backs aren't good coming back from the first year. I think that would do a lot of good things. And I think the positives outweigh the negatives. So I would say yes. Yeah.

You broke. You cut out a little bit. I actually still can't hear you. Okay. How about now? Yes. Okay. Okay. How about now? Yes, I can hear you. Okay, perfect. Anyway, so the point is, Rodgers, and you mentioned this, he's already proven, and he proved

when he was coming here, he wanted to be in New York. I actually just saw a video of him this morning on the phone with somebody in the ticket office, talking to a customer, a Jets fan, talking to them about tickets and saying, hey, I'm going to pass you over to Mark here and send Mark your email and he'll send it to me and I'll get you some tickets to the next game. We'll get you out here. And that's just something that's so exciting. He's engaging with the fans. He's showing New York. He's showing his teammates that he's playing. At that point, the Jets organization really does not have a lot that they can do in terms of being like, well, we can't stop it. If he wants to play and he's ready to play and he's healthy and he's cleared, we got to put him on the field.

That's our franchise right there. This team went all out with Green Bay just to get him to New York. So you got to start him if you can start him. And the only thing that I would say would make this an act of desperation is them rushing him back. And the thing is, this is rushing like they are. This whole process has been rushed. But if the doctors are saying it looks good, you can't really deny it that he's getting better. It's just been done at an unremarkable pace.

And for this team to be where it's at now, if they can change that, please get Rodgers back on the field. Because that means the hope is there. And the hope already is instilled in this organization, despite the record not reflecting it as of right now. So, in my opinion, the Jets are in not a good position to make the postseason. Don't do it. Don't force it. As much as this guy chirps and says he wants to, we all know how Aaron Rodgers acts with the media, what he does in general with

his persona. It's just one of those things. If they're in the position to do it and Rodgers is ready, get him in, but make sure with every piece of you that he is okay. The only reason, the media even said this this week, the only reason this entire Jets coaching staff has not been fired is because of Aaron Rodgers' presence and what he brings to the table. So that's what they got to count on. They got to count on that the team's in a good position to win a championship and that Rodgers is ready. Yeah, that's a good way to look at it because that's that's the

only way at this point because he was the key to everything before he got hurt and then the worst case scenario happened so for the coaching staff to still be around because you have that excuse rogers was hurt and this roster wasn't built to play without him that's fair that's a fair analysis but if if he comes back and you still suck then and still suck the next year then that coaching staff is going to be gone so you can see why they want rogers back so they can say well it wasn't my fault yeah our store our star quarterback got hurt and we've been going with our backup in our third string the entire season. So this is what, I mean, I can understand why they're trying to rush it, but I can also

see that Aaron Rodgers has been the driving force behind it as well. Like they're just seconding it. They're saying, yeah, yeah, I think you should come back too. Yeah. like they're just they're just seconding it they're saying yeah yeah i think you should come back to yeah and i mean the only thing i guess the final thought that i can say on the topic is really i mean rogers has proven to be one of the greatest quarterbacks you've ever seen play the game and there will be never there will never be a guy as great as he has been. It's just like any other quarterback. They're one of a kind, and Aaron Rodgers has proven that. But the one thing that I obviously stressed before this point was even made is don't make this your last season. And from the organization and from the player, do not make this your last season.

Do not make it the end-all,-all because there's still time. There's still time to go ahead and play the game. And especially with Rodgers at his age, despite being 40, if he continues to work the way he does, I don't see his talent falling off like that. I think this team still has a chance for at least another year. So you don't know until you know, but as of this point, we got to go with what we know. And the fact is get Rogers in if he's ready and the team's in the position to win. Imagine if he retired right after that, that would be complete douchebag move for that. It would be so bad. He said how many times that this is not going to be his only season with the jets he recovers from an achilles tear plays three games and then says yeah i'm out of here

yeah that's it that's crazy he would be if he wasn't already the most hated player in the nfl he will be then yeah at least in new york and that has like like a third of the population of the U.S. Yeah. Yeah, it would be crazy. It would be crazy. But I think it's definitely based on what he's been saying, what he's been doing, I think all signs lead to him being with this team for a while.

And I think the Jets are definitely very fortunate that they were able to make this move this offseason. Unfortunate with the way it unfolded to start this season. But if all goes well down these stretch of games, which if I take a look right now, they've got the Falcons, Texans, Dolphins, Commanders, Browns, Pats to finish the season. Some of those are tough matchups, so the Jets are going to have to come ready to play. But if they can win at least two or three of those games, there is a chance. There is.

But who knows? It's going to come down to the rest of the picture. There's a lot of math that will unfold for this team to make it worth their while. Yeah, it's going to be a tough one. But all right, I believe that is all of the content we have for this episode. But do you have any other thoughts before we end the show tonight? No. The only thing I can say is I thank you for bringing me on once again.

You guys run a great show as always. I'm constantly looking at your posts that you make on Instagram and everything and keep pumping out content, keep talking about the game we love, which is football, and, you know, sky's the limit. Yeah, man, we're working on it. It's busy. We're all very busy, but, you know, we'd love to get out all the content and keep you guys entertained because we love to show that we love football.

We want to show our passion for it through the content that we put out so that you guys can feel what we feel about the NFL. All right. Well, thank you very much for joining, and that will 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. We also have all our episodes available on Spotify, Spreaker, Apple Podcasts,

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