The Fumblerooski Podcast - Snow Day -Ep 313 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: November 22, 2024

Browns win in the first snow game of the year, and in a classic Mike Tomlin trap game, there are more questions than answers for the outlook of the Steelers. The Harbaughs face off for the 3rd time ever, as Jim looks to finally beat his brother John, but Lamar's primetime record currently says otherwise. Daniel Jones requesting his release from the Giants shortly after being benched, the Giants grant his request, ending a very rough time for Giants fans. Chris Costich, CJ Medeiros, and Adam Wright talk all of this and more!

first snow game of the year and the Browns get the upset over the Steelers as the Steelers fall to eight in three Daniel Jones released by the Giants upon requesting his release to the team after getting benched earlier this week along with this Aruski game of the week and our week 12 picks this is another Friday edition edition of 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. This is the BumbleRoski Podcast by Power88 Dean Radio

and Secret Weapon Consulting. Chris Kostich, CJ Medeiros, Adam Wright. Week 12 has just started up. And what looks like it was going to be another Thursday night stinker turned into a Thursday night classic.

The Browns getting the victory against the Steelers last night in one of the weirder games that we've ever seen. 10-6 in the third quarter. Steelers driving the ball with about nine minutes left in the third. Five minutes later, you could barely even see the game going on on your screen. Lake effect weather at an all-time high. And one of the cooler scenes that, one of the cooler football scenes that anyone would ever really be able to imagine. I think that was probably one of the cooler games I've ever watched in my lifetime.

Just based off of weather alone. And with the weather came a much better game. Scoring ended up being picked up a lot at that point. 13 points for the Steelers in the fourth quarter. Browns with 14. Ended up being a total of 30 points in the second half compared to 13 in the first half, all of them being in the second half compared to 13 in the first half, all of them being in the first quarter.

Second quarter, I mean. Russell Wilson, 21 for 28, 270 with a touchdown. Jameis Winston, not his greatest game in the world, but 219 yards with an interception and a rushing touchdown. That catapulted or started up the big comeback for the Browns in the fourth quarter. Nick Chubb, bro, is a grown-ass man. Oh, my God. If you see someone wearing no gloves and no sleeves in that type of weather,

you got to be fucking scared. I was scared watching that. But he had two touchdowns, including the one that, the go-ahead touchdown to put the Browns in the lead in the fourth quarter. And, I mean, this was just the classic Mike Tomlin trap game.

There's always that one game that the Steelers lose every year, and they lose to some two-win team. Last year was the Patriots. I can't remember what the years past games were, but last year being the Patriots was the one that comes to mind for me. Obviously, we're all Pats fans. All in all, very fun game to watch,

but takeaways here, just a classic AFC North battle that ended up being an instant classic. Phyllis, what do you think? Yeah, I mean, AFC North games are always the most entertaining, and they're also, especially this way when, I mean, any game is when there's snow involved, especially to that magnitude last night. But I think the Steelers going forward, yes, they started the season eight and two,

but I think they're just going to be such a wild card down the stretch. They're a team that could play up to competition like they did last week, where they're beating the Baltimore Ravens in a low scoring rock fight. Or you're going to get games like this where they're losing to a team like Cleveland, right? It's just going, you're going to get games like this. And the Steelers down the stretch this regular season are going to be that one team that can beat any team and you wouldn't be surprised, but could also lose to any team, and you wouldn't be surprised. Because the Steelers, they have some talent. They're a massive question mark at quarterback.

Running back is also something that no one talks about. It's kind of a question mark. Najee Harris was supposed to be this great running back, and he never really emerged as that. He's always been okay, but he's extremely inefficient for a guy who gets the volume carries that he does. Their defense is going to keep them in games kind of like it did tonight. But overall, this was a fun matchup to see.

Yeah, this is a Tomlin team all right i just i know everyone's gonna hop and puff about oh but his unbeaten or whatever god or his unbeaten streak of going what is it like above 500 no no one's ever done it before. Cool, awesome. I'm not saying it's going to be broken. I'm not. But it's just, it's the same story every year. You're not terrible, but you're not good. Or, I mean, like, ah. I mean, you're just decent.

You're eh. You know, you're probably going to be a one-and-done team in the playoffs. And something's got to change for Pittsburgh. That's just, oh, my God, that's just what it is, I fear. And you look at their next six games. They're in Cincinnati. They're hosting the Browns. They're in Philly.

They're in Baltimore. They're hosting Kansas City, and then they're hosting Cincy. Yeah, I don't see them running the table on this one, gang. I really don't. In fact, all of them, maybe not the Browns. We can debate that. In fact, there's a very real chance they lose all of them. They obviously won't because that's just not how football works, but it's going to be tough sledding going forward. forward and who knows maybe Baltimore leapfrogs you to be head of the division it's very possible and just on the game he's not the answer but moving from James Winston to Deshaun Watson has got to be a great change of pace. Jameis Winston had 219 passing yards in lake effect weather.

And fun fact, that is more passing yards in a game than Deshaun Watson has had in a game all season. And I'm on pro football reference right now looking it up. Deshaun Watson's most passing yards in a game this season was 196. Jameis Winston had 219 in lake effect weather. I cannot imagine Cleveland's going to be sticking with Watson for that much longer, financial obligation or not. And another thing that I saw, for those of you who don't know,

George Pickens was asked about the game, wide receiver one for the Steelers, and he whined and moaned and said, it was the weather. My brother in Christ, you play in Pittsburgh. The weather there ain't much nicer, I fear. Like, why? the weather there ain't much nicer i fear like why like really did he genuinely think that's an excuse like what why are you from pittsburgh and you can't handle a little snow that's that is softness intensified and as just as for the game itself, it was your typical Thursday night, just ugly game until the fourth quarter where Pittsburgh put up 13 points and the Browns put up 14. Like Chris mentioned, it was a pretty even game. It was like a one score game.

That's just how, I mean, this game outside of the snow wasn't really too much to write home about. But hey, it was the first snow game. Snow games, for all intents and purposes, are always magical. But you got to be disappointed in Pittsburgh. Because when you look at the team stats, why didn't you win? You both got 17 first downs, right? Cleveland went one for 10 on third down. But you let them go four for four on fourth down.

You, as Pittsburgh, ran more plays. You ran 67 plays to Cleveland's 55. You, I mean, you only had one punt and the Browns had three. You had one turnover to the Browns three. You dominated them in time of possession with an over 10-minute difference. But, I mean, the only thing I could say that Cleveland had on you was that you allowed four sacks. Cleveland only allowed one, it would seem. But I just, I don't know, man. What's it going to take to get over the hump of being good but not great? Is being like 9-8 every year, is it really worth it?

I'll leave you with that. Yeah, no, I don't know if the Steelers will finish 9-8, but Adam, you had a point? Yeah, so the Steel steelers they benched justin fields because they wanted to fly the ball more i wonder if at any point in this game they ever thought that maybe they could have done more dink and dunk in this game with justin fields since fields did lead them to a four-2 record, he was part of that game. They were kind of, don't screw up and let the defense do all the talking. And this snow game

where you're facing Jameis Winston and a Cleveland team that hasn't been all too much to write home about, that would have been kind of the game to start fields and kind of start establish more of a platoon between two quarterbacks um there's a possibility right there that they could have um that they could have moved off from russell wilson because that's the whole reason that they started wilson was to play play of more vertical offense and to do more things but when you're playing in the snow where the weather equalizes passing offense, Fields could have been a good option there. Yeah, or even just start out with Russ, go until whenever the snow started.

So, I mean, that would be really tough, though, to get Justin Fields in there halfway through the third quarter or start of the fourth quarter essentially it's it's just a tough thing to do when in especially in that type of weather getting a literal cold arm onto the field so i think that in hindsight it probably would have been a good idea but at the same time it's it's just a tough it's just a tough spot because a it's the weather and you don't know what you're going to get if you get the cold body out there at that point yeah and here's another point um play in pittsburgh has been very mediocre over the last, let's say, five, six years. However long it's been since 2017, that's like seven years.

Quarterback play has kind of been the reason for it, and they've really barely stuck their toe in the water. When you talk about really finding a quarterback who can do all the things that prime Ben Roethlisberger was able to do. You drafted Kenny Pickett in the first round, but that happened to be the worst quarterback draft in recent memory. So I feel like that's something that they should look at because is Justin Fields or Russell

Wilson winning you a Super Bowl? I don't think so. Like not even close. So I feel like they need to take a more serious look at the quarterback position. Yeah, that just goes more in line with how they seem to settle for being good, but not great. So long as that above 500 streak isn't tarnished it seems like that's what they're willing to settle for you but the thing is as an organization as storied as pittsburgh you can't keep playing it safe you cannot continue to settle for just being okay and a one and done or just missing the playoffs every year at some point probably not this season just because of where your pick is but at some point in the future you're going to have to trade up and take a swing at a quarterback because you haven't had a good quarterback since

Roethlisberger and even in Roethlisberger's like two years, he just wasn't very good. So you're going to need to see an elevation from that because defense and running the ball does not win championships anymore. It just doesn't. Like that old-style smash mouth, knows the grindstone football, it's very unlikely if your offense is mediocre. Yeah, and that mean, that's been the other problem with the Steelers, that they've been stuck in this purgatory

forever, essentially. And they keep getting these 500 records, but at the same time with those 500 records, you get a middling pick in the middle of the first round, and not a top 10 pick. So at that point, yeah, to your point, CJ, they're going to have to step up and trade up and trade out of that middling first round pick for a top 10 pick, which is why they can't seem to get over this hump of mediocrity

that they seem to always be in every year. Yeah, and worse yet, or arguably arguably worse depending on how you look at it is that they're not going to tank and that's good you know don't tank because you have too many good pieces to tank but that means you're going to have to trade up you're gonna have to take a swing at some point because look we all love russell wilson you know he's a funny guy. Not Jameis funny, but you know. But he's not the Russell Wilson of 2013-2014 vintage. He's cringe funny. Watch that Subway commercial. You'll know all you need to know about that guy. Exactly. Mr. Limited, as I call him, will not lead you to a Super Bowl. He's not that guy anymore. And Justin Fields was never going to lead you to a Super Bowl. He's not that guy anymore.

And Justin Fields was never going to lead you to a Super Bowl, despite what his fans may say. Adam knows a thing or two about that. You know, we all know how it feels about his fans, and he's right to feel that way. But overall, I mean, something's got to change in Pittsburgh, whereas Cleveland, just take the win, be happy. And this showed all in all that Deshaun Watson is in fact replaceable.

If Jameis Winston can hop off the bench and literally outplay him, then something's also got to change there. I would expect him to draft a quarterback this year. I mean, they have the pick too. Justin, Bears fans are so quarterback starved that they really led themselves to believe that justin fields was a franchise quarterback even after year three where he had a number one target and they he still looked the way that he did just wasn't it um and there you're gonna get plenty even especially if caleb williams ends up being a bust you're going to get plenty, even especially if Caleb Williams ends up being a bust,

you're going to get all of the, they should have held on to Justin Fields type of people, but two things can be true at once, and the fact is no matter what happens with Fields, no matter what happens with Caleb Williams, Fields is a bust. Yeah, I love everyone also saying that the Bears pick Mitch Trubisky when Mahomes is still on the board but fact of the matter is Mahomes probably

wouldn't have done as well with the Bears anyways I'm just like there's something wrong with that three quarterbacks within three first-round quarterbacks, all had lots of upside in the last three, rather in the last decade. And somehow, somehow you managed to botch all three of them. If I may, I have a theory. It's got to be coaching because you saddled Mitch Trubisky with John Fox, who was already on his way out. You get rid of Fox, you bring in Matt Nagy,

but the thing is Nagy didn't want Trubisky. Nagy was kind of saddled with him. And then, you know, you get Nagy, his quarterback, and Justin Fields, and you realize, oh, wait, he's terrible. So you get rid of him, you bring in Iberflues, but Iberflus doesn't want Fields. So then you bring in Caleb Williams and the writing's on the wall, Iberflus will be fired. So there's no way they're going to give up on Caleb Williams that fast, right? There's no way

you're going to bring in another coach who doesn't want to be saddled with your first round pick. You cannot do that. Not to a guy like Caleb Williams. Unfortunately, it is Chicago, and it is kind of a tradition there. I don't put it past them is all I'm saying. We probably don't want to go too far down this rabbit hole since this was about Brown Steelers, but all I will leave this out is give Caleb some time. I think Caleb will be all right.

I think that should be the message for every fucking rookie ever to play in the NFL. Jesus Christ. Most of them shouldn't even be starting. I, I strongly believe if I strongly believe most of these quarterbacks, if they didn't start their rookie year, then things would turn out much differently because it's how you develop early on that's a big factor. I'm not an NFL owner.

Also, CJ, not to shit on your parade, but I think that's everyone's theory is the coaching thing. I think everyone is aware of the coaching character. I just said it last week that it was coaching. I think everyone and their mother knows that the Bears have a bad coaching problem from the last 10 years. All you got to do is just bring in a coach that would commit to Caleb because Nagy with Trubisky and Ibrafus with Fields did not want to commit

to them. They want their own guy. You have to bring in a guy who would commit to Caleb. Yeah. All right. Well, we had some breaking news earlier this morning. We're going to touch on this real quick before we get into a break. Daniel Jones requesting a release by the Giants.

And the Giants, you know, to their credit, they bid him adieu. They bid him adieu. Said, fine. That's fine with us. We honestly are done with you as well so and i that was the writing on the wall for the last year anyways this entire year was just a matter of all right when are they going to make this move when are they going to do it and they announced earlier this week that daniel jones is being benched for tommy cutlets and then he's seen yesterday being a practice squad safety and it's one like

it's one of those things where it's your dog that's about to die and you let him just go do whatever the fuck he wants on his last legs while he still has the time left remaining that's basically what the giants just did with with with Daniel Jones. Too close to home, man. It's too close. Yeah. I'm sorry. Sorry about that. But it was like a decade ago,

but still, sorry, but you guys know what I mean? It's like the giants are going to forever shoot themselves in the foot with the sake one thing. And this is just quite the time for them to finally get rid of Daniel Jones because they had draft classes where they could have gone rid of Daniel Jones and gotten a better quarterback.

They have draft. They've had the last couple of years of draft classes. They could have done that, but they decided not to. This one, they could have done it. They had the sixth overall and used it on neighbors. Yep. This one, they could have done it. They had the sixth overall pick and used it on neighbors. Yep. Instead, they got to take a risk on maybe one, maybe Cam Ward,

maybe Shitter Sanders, somebody. Depends on where they finish. Exactly. Exactly. And they have to take a shot now. They have to take a wild shot in the dark to hope and pray to God that one of these quarterbacks in the next draft class is going to end up being the next Eli or something. Well,

I think this is going to, I think this pretty much confirms that they're going to go quarterback round one this year. And if you look at the quarter, if you look at the team right now, that's projected to draft number one, it's the Jacksonville Jaguars who probably aren't going quarterback this year. So you can see the scenario where I'm sorry. I said, yeah, I can't imagine.

Yeah. They're probably not, they're not going quarterback this year and they're not going to give up on Trevor Lawrence just yet. So you can see a scenario where maybe they trade back with the Giants who need a quarterback. They take Shadur Sanders and then that ends up being, I mean, listen, who knows what's going to happen? Maybe they stay where they are and they pick somebody else. Maybe the Giants end up being that bad and they'll have the number one pick anyways, but either way um also i think this is all entirely on the giants as an organization and not on daniel jones first of all he probably was he was drafted was it sick fifth sixth overall i'll say sick he was overdrafted

so he already had high expectations higher than he he should have had. As a quarterback coming out of Duke, a school that's known for basketball rather than football, he had higher expectations than he should have had. And then he had that one decent season, just that one okay year where they finally made the playoffs, and then they threw him the bag, and they pushed Saquon Barkley out the door. They should not have done that. Listen, I've always spoken against paying your franchise running backs, but two things can be true at once. Yes, overpaying for Saquon Barkley would probably not be the best financial decision, but I hate paying the average quarterback even more. If you were to pick between the two, I would obviously want neither, but at least, at least just pay your, I would,

if I had to pick, it would be Saquon Barkley. And, you know, so listen, Daniel Jones is what he is, is the point I'm trying to make. And I think he had some unfair expectations of him coming out of the draft. Then he had even higher expectations getting the bag when he shouldn't have. And now he's kind of been the scapegoat when the Giants front office really fumbled here. And Chris, you said it to your credit. They could have easily kicked him out a little while ago. And let's say they gave up last year. They could have gotten, let's say, CJ Stroud or just any other quarterback. Let's say they gave up on him this past season. Then you could have ended

up with one of the quarterbacks from this draft that ended up being a really good quarterback draft most of them are playing very well right now and there is there were there been a lot of drafts where you could have just kicked Daniel Jones to the curb and then you could have went out and gotten somebody else and developed them but you reached on Daniel Jones in one of the worst quarterback drafts in recent memory back in 2019. Would be the worst if it weren't for Kyler Murray. And you've been trying to make up for it ever since and trying to sell Daniel Jones as a franchise quarterback

when he's just not. And he never really was. Yeah. Yeah. And another thing too his one okay year came in year four which is a contract year and you guys already know i've said it a million times about why i don't trust players that break out in contract years and even still is this really a breakout i I'll give him credit. He had a 67.2% completion percentage in his one good year. He had a little over 3,200 yards, but 15 touchdowns to five picks.

Oh, my God. That is so pedestrian. 3,200 yards is so pedestrian. You know what else is pedestrian? That 9-6-1 record they got and they said here's a bright idea let's just throw him like a four-year where there's 140 160 million dollar contract and see where that goes where he was literally being held up by brian dable and saquon barkley and look adam you got a point you know, why you don't pay running backs

the big bucks. But the fact that you chose Daniel Jones over Saquon Barkley is insane. And there have been reports coming out now that the Giants head coach, Brian Dable, is allegedly, and I quote, coaching for his job. I never speak for running backs, but that's the one situation where i'm like wait a second well yeah because option b is daniel jones and keep going you're just saying like and look and i know jones is a mistake of the gettleman regime i get that that's not lost on me it's really not but forget firing dable because i think dable's a good coach you need to fire joe shane yeah i don't care if he brought in neighbors i don't i genuinely don't care i don't care that he drafted dexter lawrence or can't miss prospects. I don't care. I genuinely don't care.

And I know no GM is going to be perfect. Even some of the greats were never perfect. But this is a mistake that sets your franchise back four years. This is a potential franchise-killing mistake. Saquon Barkley, Sanchez will about his injury history, he's still a great running back, but you literally chose Daniel Jones over him. So if you gotta

fire Dable, then it would only make sense to fire Shane as well. Because just that contract, even at the time it was announced, where we were or at least Adam and I were on the show, even back then we said, this is not a good idea. And this means Saquon Barkley is going out the door.

What were they thinking? And now we're vindicated. This is just shameful, man. And I really, I really hope that they don't keep him around just because of the drafting of, of Malik neighbors, because that's a, that's kind of a can't-miss prospect. I don't think anyone had really any doubt that Malik Nabors was going to pan out in some way, shape, or form. That would

be like saying Elliot Wolfe's job is safe because he drafted Drake May. Everyone and their mother knew that they were drafting May. And May was one of the top prospects in this draft, and he ended up panning out and becoming exactly what we thought he would be. His pre-draft comparison, his NFL comparisons, were Josh Allen and Justin Herbert, and that's exactly what he looks like right now. And that's kind of the same thing with Malik Nabors here. He's just a prospect that you were not missing on.

So why are you keeping your job over that? Yeah. Another thing I also want to point out, and never mind that it's not necessarily related to Daniel Jones, but Tommy Cutlets being named the starter over Drew Locke, I think is kind of pronounced to me because Drew Locke has been basically named the number two quarterback behind Daniel Jones this entire year. And then they're like, nah, never mind. We're going to have Tommy DeVito be the starting quarterback. Just for the vibes. Just because our fans like him, basically.

I think I saw somewhere that it was a money-saving move because I think Locke has contract incentives and the Giants are trying to save money. That is something that I read. Of course they are. Mark Schlereth went off on this subject a couple days ago. I remember that.

And he was pretty heated about it. But that's the business of sports. Teams love to be cheap. We're going to move on, though, to better things other than Daniel Jones. But when we come back, got a Ruski game of the week, prime time action week 12.

It's 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.

This is the Fumble Rooski Podcast. Chris Kost, Chad Amright, CJ Medeiros. It's time for our Rooski Game of the Week. The Ravens versus the Chargers on Monday Night Football. Monday Night our ruski game of the week the ravens versus the chargers on monday night football monday night football charges coming in after almost chargering their game against the bangles almost blowing it or they did blow a 21 point lead but ended up coming away with the victory

anyways the ravens coming off of a bad loss to the Steelers in last week's contest. Now, this is going to be an interesting one. Chargers love to revolve themselves around the run game, and we love to talk about how bad the Ravens' defense is, but when it comes to their rushing defense, they're second in the league in rushing yards allowed per game, but their pass defense is at the bottom of the league.

They are last in passing defense right now. Most yards allowed per game in the passing game for the Ravens, whereas the Chargers top 12 in the league in those two stack categories. But at the same time, Ravens also have a top two offense in the league. So this is going to be a handful in some ways for both sides. I could see Jim Harbaugh having to take his team away from the run game, which is probably going to make him want to gouge his eyes out. But I'm going to go with the Chargers in a sneaky, sneaky win against the Ravens. Getting the upset.

But it's going to be a good game. Neither team is going to go down very easily. And, of course, it's the Harbaugh brother bowl, of course. Jim Harbaugh versus John Harbaugh. That's probably going to be the main storyline on Monday night, but I'm going to take the chargers on this. The chargers have been a sneaky, good team and they've not only been flying under the radar,

but they've been a really, really good team. I mean, they've everywhere you look, they've been at the very least solid. Their defense is one of the best in the league. Surprisingly, um, just goes to show how much coaching matters when it comes to defenses. Uh, and their offense has been stable. And I think that's why I'm going with the Ravens here is because on offense they've just been a stable team. They're not a team that, I don't think they're a team that can dance sort of with the Ravens offense, at least not good enough.

And I don't think the Chargers defense has the personnel to really contain Lamar Jackson in this Ravens offense. We saw the Steelers do it, but that's because they have good personnel on top of putting up the numbers. The Chargers, they're a good defense and they have some decent personnel, but most of the personnel that they have is aged and i just don't see them containing lamar jackson enough so that the ravens lose this game and i also think this is a get right game for the ravens by the way they lost that game to the steelers last week i think they're gonna they're going to come back with a vengeance. Give me the Ravens. Oh, yeah.

Kids, we got the first Harbaugh Brothers Bowl since like, what, 2013? 2012? I want to say 2012. 2013. Oh, 2013. It's been 11 years in the making.

I'm so happy. But we got to look at the personnel-wise, right? Adam brings up a valid point about the Chargers' defense. Do they have the ability to contain Lamar Jackson? I think the only way they win is with a lot of designed QB runs from Lamar and, you know, obviously a bunch of Derrick Henry. But the thing is the Ravens offensive line isn't, it's not great. That is, I mean, at least for me, really what's concerning. Because I'm watching these guys moving so sluggishly,

and they're getting beat off the edge. They're getting just toasted when it comes to run blocking. And the only reason no one talks about it is because they have derrick henry it's one of those offensive lines where lamar jackson and derrick henry make them look so and i mean so much better than they actually are and the chargers pass rush i'd argue is pretty solid at least it's better than baltimore's because baltimore has had trouble getting to the quarterback and i would and even though you've got lad mcconkey and quentin johnson i still trust justin herbert to air it out because for some reason for some un for some

reason unbeknownst to man the charge the ravens defense despite being the exact same unit as last year minus patrick queen has completely fallen apart the wheels are are just completely coming off and like i said i think they just missed mike mcdonald more than they would care to admit but the real story is going to be Ravens offense against Chargers defense. I think the Chargers pass rush has enough juice to at least make Lamar uncomfortable because the Ravens offensive line hasn't been as great as I thought it would be. And I know it's nowhere near what they, or what the Ravens have wanted.

However, I just, it's kind of weird to think about because the Chargers, I'm trying to think of how to word this, sorry. It's a paper defense. You know, you got Joey Bosa, you got Khalil Mack, but they're getting up there in age, especially Mack. And don't get me wrong, Mack's pretty good,

but he's not as good as he was last year, only has four and a half sacks. But like I said, all these names on the chargers are either old or they're just kind of it's very much a paper team and but i do think these names have enough uh have enough play left in them to kind of make lamar uncomfortable to stifle the pass game. Because if the Ravens want to win, like I said, it's going to have to come on the ground. But I think the Chargers are multidimensional enough, because the Chargers are a ground-and-pound team too. But with a Ravens secondary as weak as it is, I think the Chargers are going to take full advantage.

As a result, I think the Chargers going to take full advantage. And as a result, I think the charges are just going to eat this one out because the Ravens, you could say it's a get right game, but last game they got punched in the mouth. And a lot of these teams, I keep saying it when they get punched in the mouth, sometimes losses snowball. I also don't like the rhetoric of saying this is a get right game

because you're basically implying the ravens are going to mow down the chargers by 30 and i this is not the same chargers from last year either um another couple other stats i want to throw out there lamar jackson 17 17-5 career record in primetime games. Could potentially be 17-6 or 18-5. John versus Jim Harbaugh. Third time that these two have faced off against each other. And John Harbaugh currently has the upper edge against Jim, 2-0. One of them obviously being in the Super Bowl.

But the first matchup, November 24, 2011, Ravens beat the Niners 16-6. So for all we know, Jim Harbaugh gets the good old third times the charm on this one. But that's going to be a very, very fun game to watch. Nevertheless of whoever we think is going to end up winning. But we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to get into the rest of our week 12 picks. This is the Plum LaRusca podcast. It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet,

but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws. Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides. This is the Plumber Ruski Podcast, powered by Party 18 Radio and Secret Weapon Consulting. We go into the early afternoon slate of this one.

First game on the list. Well, you'd guess it because we're Pats fans and I'm on ESPN looking at the list. It's the Pats and the Dolphins. Dolphins have the spread at seven. And when was the last time the Patriots beat

the Dolphins? Let's be real. It's been a while. It's been a while. That's why I got the patriots give me the pats come on no but real shit though this this pats team is been it's been interesting to watch because outside of the games, like Drake, I love Drake may. I love Drake may so much,

so much. And outside of the actual gameplay, I mean, obviously there's some times where I want to gouge my eyes out from some of the play calling or just some of the game planning in general, outside of actual gameplay because a lot of these Pats games are one-score games right now or have been one-score games.

The coaching, just stuff that goes on outside of actual gameplay is so infuriating. Take yesterday, for example, Alex Van Pelt. He gets on an interview, press conference, and he said, Yeah, Marcus Jones texted me asking to play offense. And I said, Hmm, why not? I actually didn't even know he played offense or both sides of the ball. Are you fucking kidding me?

Are you fucking kidding me? The fact that that was real, too. Yeah, that. How does that get by you? How does that get by you? Van Pelt is such a clown show of a coordinator. And I've been giving him credit. I've been giving him credit all season long for at least not stunting the development of Drake May.

But now I'm finding out that, according to reports, it's been Brian Dable who's been behind the scenes working with him and has apparently been doing a lot. Brian Dable, yeah, that's what I said. The Giants coach. Yes. You're thinking of the other Giants coach. Brian Dable. How brian dable yeah yeah wrong but ben mcadoo's been been in the i misspoke ben mcadoo has been in the background working with him brian dable's still on the freaking team um yeah um he's been in the he's been in the in the background kind of working with him so um but i'm still taking

mccartney i'm still what's that i said also you gotta give credit to the qb coach tc mccartney man's been good yeah uh either way they need a new coordinator but the fact is this patriots team is terrible outside of i mean they have some personnel on defense when they're healthy and have their head screwed on straight but overall on offense their offensive line is a mess they have no targets to throw to and drake may has been the bright spot. He has been the beacon of hope for the Patriots. Not for this year, but for years in the future. Granted, if he doesn't get hurt, seriously injured. And because of that, Drake May has been forced to play hero ball.

And it has forced a few mistakes on his part. Despite him playing very good football. He's forced to make some plays that he otherwise would not have to make. And that's exactly what's going to happen here. The Dolphins just have too much firepower on offense. Now that everybody is healthy, you have to a back, you have Tyree kill, you have Jalen Waddle. That's all you need. They're going to get way ahead because this Patriots defense is nothing to write home about. It's a shell of its former self.

And that's what we're going to see. And I think this is going to be a comfortable win for the Dolphins. I have Miami in this game too, but not for the reason you think. We can attack Alex Van Pelt as much as we want, but he has at least shown some willingness to try to change his mind about some things i mean look better late than ever finally about jonathan jones the coordinator that makes me irrationally upset is defensive coordinator demarcus covington how has the offense steadily improved, but the defense

steadily declined? This is a defense that has only racked up 25 sacks, nine of them coming in one game. A defense that has only forced eight takeaways on the year. One of the least explosive defenses, and that is a recipe for disaster against the dolphins look tua is not a good quarterback we know this but so long as he has a crutch in tyreek hill he and jalen waddle so long as he has guys that can elevate him to make him look better than what he is he will be fine meanwhile there's drake may who's the anti-Tua, who makes his team look better. Because I might actually want to walk back New England's offense looking better, or at least offensive line, because apparently this New England offensive line

is bottom three in run blocking and pass blocking. But they've looked better, and that's only because Drake May makes everyone around him look better. He's getting the ball out around him look better he's getting the ball out quicker is tough he's getting the ball out quicker that's according to next gen stats he gets the ball out quicker than brissette did also passer rate uh more to your point uh pressure rate bottom three as well oh yeah ain't that the truth so there's that so not just offensive line he has receivers that don't even

look for the ball he threw a catchable ball to demario douglas and that goober wasn't even looking for it it's just it's so just sad and the worst part is it's gonna build this fraudulent narrative that tua just has new england's number Whereas if you think about it, has Tua ever had like an elite game, like an actual, like good elite, solid statistical day against New England? Now, New England, Miami, it's so weird. I was like, oh, Tua continues his streak, but Miami doesn't beat New England. New England has always beaten themselves. Miami, Tua is a quarterback that you win with, not a quarterback you win because of. And they're going to drag Tua to victory again.

Like I said, I still have Miami. Just that New England, I say this every week, is just so devoid of talent, speed, just splash guys, big names. It's like something's got to change. Hopefully it does for them this offseason. But there's not the offseason yet. Give me Miami. So I'm still taking the Patriots.

Dolphins have won seven of the last eight against the Patriots. But I'm just saying, fuck it. Christian Gonzalez is going to strap up Tyreek like he did last year, and that's it. Just tank for Kelvin Banks and call it a season. All right, so to kind of build off of CJ's point real quick before we move on to the next game. So to CJ's point, I would say that four of the six times that Tua has played New England,

he didn't have the greatest game. His worst game was against New England January 9th of 22, 15 for 22, 109 yards, one touchdown. Most recent time that he played the Patriots, October 29th of last season, 30 for 45, 324 for three touchdowns and interception. But other than that. So yeah, so it's like one good game.

And by the way, I watched that game and I was tearing my hair out. Cause two, it wasn't a corking deep balls. These were dinks and dunks that Helen waddle were just taking for 20 plus yards. I remember like they would hit Hill, but he wouldn that Hill and Waddle were just taking for 20 plus yards. I remember like they would hit Hill, but he wouldn't, and Waddle, and they just wouldn't go down. And remember, they're not good. You know, they're not great route runners. They're just

fast. And they can't really take hits. They're just fast. And you have guys like running into them and they just won't go down. Like Tua just does a little check down and they take it 20 yards while breaking three tackles somehow. God, I hated that. Yeah. All right.

Moving on to the next game. I don't want to talk about this fucking game anymore. Cause I'm just going to get more mad and mad as we go on talking about the Patriots. The only reason I watch is for May anyways. Yeah. I don't even want them to win. I just want May to have a good game.

Three tighties and 300 yards. Yeah. Hopefully. Minnesota versus Chicago. In Chicago, the over-under on this is oddly low, 39.5. But, I mean, the Vikings haven't really put up the same offensive numbers as they usually do in chicago they went like two games without scoring a touchdown then put up 19 last week against green bay i mean we're now like basically in the middle of this chicago gauntlet

that they have to go through and and that's why that this four game, that the three game losing streak prior to the loss last week to Green Bay was so infuriating for Chicago fans. Because they still had to play all their NFC North games at that point, plus the Niners, plus the Seahawks. So they have to go through this gauntlet. And honestly, if they get more than four wins coming out of the end of the season, maybe they squeak one against the Packers and or the Vikings. But that's why the last three-game stretch that they had was incredibly important important and they completely

squandered it so i'm taking the vikings on this i there's not much of a other reason really besides that the bears bears have basically given up on ibra fluce they don't want to play for Ibraflux. That's basically it. I just don't see myself picking the Bears ever again with that knowledge. I'm going the Vikings. And I like, listen, give Caleb some time. And I still believe that some of his best football is ahead of him. And I think he can still play good football this year. But I don't think we're going to see him at his best fully developed this season.

I think it's going to take a season or two, which is unfortunate because I really did believe that we would see him come right out of the gates and just ball out. Clearly, that wasn't the case. They have a decent situation around him personnel wise. Clearly, there's a coaching issue that needs to be solved. But overall, I think this could become a game. It's all going to depend on how Caleb Williams plays. One, you could have a game like Caleb did last week,

or you could have a game like caleb did two weeks prior where they lost to um where they lost to arizona so you don't know which caleb williams you're gonna get so i'm gonna roll with i'm gonna roll with the vikings that's a safe pick and the vikings are vikings are the overall better team and i I hate to say it. I can't believe I'm saying it. But Sam Darnold is the more consistent quarterback. And that's not Caleb's fault. That's not Caleb's fault. It's not.

He's on the Bears. He's on the Bears. I think he's going to be all right. Give it some time. But we won't see his best play until next year or the year after. Yeah. Caleb's going to need some time. But in the meantime, give me the Vikings.

And for one reason. So we got to talk about last week, right, for the Bears. We always talk about get right games, but we don't talk about our back breakers. That game against the Packers was a stereotypical backbreaker, you know, where you're a fringe team, you need it. And there's just that one loss. That's like a dagger right to your heart, a loss that will just kill you inside. And I just think they got that. They got their backs broken. You know what? We're going to say a pause to that just in case. But no, that's a game that saps your spirit. And furthermore, the Bears, that's not a team. That's a bunch of rogue

agents playing for their future. They have quit on Eberflus. Eberflus does not have the locker room. And anyone who tells you otherwise, hit them with a stick because they are lying to you and that's not very nice. Meanwhile, the Vikings, they have the added bonus of just not being the Bears. And don't get me wrong, I think both teams are going to get theirs and I think it's going to be an ugly game because two middling teams in a divisional game, oh, God, that's going to be a snore. However, I still have the Vikings just because, you know, I don't think that O'Connell's lost the locker room unless he has behind the scenes to my knowledge, which I highly doubt.

And, yeah, we're living in a world where Sam Donald's more consistent than their one overall pick. What a time to be alive, but what a time to pick the Vikings. I'm picking the Vikings. To give you an idea of the coaching disparity between O'Connell and Eberflus, O'Connell has 10 more wins in one-score games than Eberflus does. That's believable.

Yeah. I can't wait to see McCarthy. What if the kid can actually play and he has Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison and TJ Hawkinson to throw to? That's going to be fun to watch if this kid can play. Yeah. Moving on to the next game game Colts versus Detroit.

I mean, this is an easy one, at least for me, it's, it's Detroit. It's Detroit. Um, but I will say on the cold side,

Anthony Richardson had a really good, uh, build up the confidence backup to yourself type of day last week against the jets, 20 for 30, 272 yards and a touchdown, plus two rushing touchdowns after being benched. I mean, for a young quarterback, you always like to see that.

And I know I said you should never start an NFL game ever again, but maybe I was being a little harsh. Was I being a little harsh on that when I said that like five weeks ago, whenever that was? A little is a word. Yeah, maybe. You're being a lot harsh. Maybe I was a little harsh.

It goes back to what we just said probably like half an hour ago at this point. We need to take it easy on the Rooks. We need to take it easy. Well, Anthony Richardson isn't a rookie anymore, but... He might as well be. Yeah, he might as well be. He was hurt all last year.

Yeah, he only played, what, like three games? Something like that, yeah. Yeah, but the Lions are just way too good. I just don't see a world where I pick against the Lions as of right now. So, give me the Lions. Anthony Richardson and the Colts can't have shit in Detroit. Give me the Lions. Anthony Richardson and the Colts can't have shit in Detroit. Give me the Lions. This is an indie, bro.

It's not really going to be close. This is an indie. This isn't in Detroit. This is an indie. Well, I wanted to say the phrase. All right. Yeah. Give me the Lions.

The Lions have been destroying everybody. I don't think it's going to be close and they're still the team that i have going to the super bowl um i mean i almost i almost give them a better shot when they have joe flacco as their quarterback but the fact that they brought anthony richardson back in to start i mean That whole organization doesn't know how to treat quarterbacks. They just don't. You said you were going to bench him for the rest of the season. Then two weeks later, he's back in. It's like, are you disciplining him or are you not?

None of it makes sense. No. Yeah, no. This is a simple one. Give me Detroit. I just, it's so weird. Richardson had to build the confidence backup game, and he's probably going to have a get your confidence destroyed again game

because Detroit's in a class by themselves. Maybe Indy keeps it close, but at this point, you're not even playing to win. You're just trying to prove you can hang with good teams you want to establish yourself as like a scrappy plucky team that that can like keep it close you're probably not even gonna win lions are also undefeated on the road this year. Oh, yeah. Give me the Lions. Bucks-Giants. First game with Tommy DeVito

back in action with Danny Dimes. Released. Just such a wild week. One day that you bench your starting quarterback, and all of a sudden, the next day, you bench him or release him. Weird. But

in other news, for Tampa Bay, you're getting Mike Evans back. You're getting Mike Evans back. I mean, it's really, the reports are more on the, more than likely that Mike Evans is going to be active on Sunday, this and that. So that's huge for Tampa Bay, considering that they're now four and six on the season and are on a four-game losing streak. So this is going to be a good game to kind of beat the shit out of somebody.

But at the same time, Giants do pose as a defensive threat at all times with that D-line. I'm going to take the Bucs regardless, but just something to keep in mind for this one it's the buccaneers easy it's the giants just don't have a very good team and you just you just released your starting quarterback you paid just over a year ago um i love seeing tommy devito it's kind of funny seeing him in there. Seeing his agent, too, who literally looks like Tommy DeVito,

except if Tommy DeVito was an agent from back in the 60s and was a mobster. It's kind of funny what Danny got or else. But, yeah, still give me the Buccaneers. I hope the Giants do well with Tommy DeVito, but I'm not banking on it. This is relatively simple. I'm taking Tampa. Look, sure, Tommy DeVito might be fun. And sure, it's like, ha, ha, ha, funny Italian stereotype.

Isn't that neat? But that doesn't win you games you want to know who does win you games mike evans being back supposedly even if he's not i i still have tampa relatively easily that not a lot of thought has to go into this the giants are just in a state of disarray and you know dable might be coaching for his job. I don't think that's going to save him. So it just give me Tampa. Yeah. Uh, Evans full participant in practice yesterday and currently holds a

questionable status. Cowboys commanders. Do I really have to say too much about this? I mean, we're getting a, we're probably going to get a Jaden Daniels, get myself back into the front running for Offensive Rookie of the Year race here. Even if he still is the front runner, he needs to have himself a game

where he kind of gets himself a much clearer lead at that point. And you're going up against a Cowboys team that is beaten up, battered, absolutely terrible. Their defense sucks. So yeah, I could see this being another big ground attack against the Dallas Cowboys as well.

Cause Eckler and Brian Robinson jr. I've been playing pretty well this year. So I could imagine that those two end up getting a touchdown each in this one, but give me the commies. Yeah, commanders, I'm taking them. The Cowboys have just been a massive mess. Not all of it has been their fault. Sometimes injuries just eat away at you,

and then there's nothing you can do about it, right? I mean, name the thing that they could have done differently this year i mean there's really not much well in the off season there's plenty they could have done but that none of that that still wouldn't have changed the fact that dak prescott is hurt your starting quarterback you paid a lot of money who plays very well when he when all of their ducks are in the in a row it, it's just not, it's just not Dallas's year. And Washington is on the up and up. I think Jaden Daniels continues to play very good football. Although, although he, I mean,

if we're looking at the offensive rookie of the year race, it's, if the quality of play continues to go the way it's going then i mean bone nicks in the next couple of weeks could end up passing jade and daniels but who will who see who knows we'll see oh boy this is uh this this is a game and it's a game i think the Commanders are going to win. Dallas, they are just annihilated by injury, so much so even their stadium's falling apart, so they're going to have to go to Washington, which apparently somehow now FedEx feels more structural integrity than big pieces of sheet metal falling out of AT&T.

I don't know if you all saw that. That was hysterical. But, oh, my God, yeah, no, this is going to be, I mean, in an ideal world, we'd be seeing a Jaden Daniels masterclass right now. So that's something that I could see happening. I know it's a divisional game, but Dallas is another team that's just got the will sucked out of them. You know that Mike McCarthy is going to be gone at the end of this year. They're a rudderless team with that direction. Give me Washington.

Panthers versus Chiefs. If you want to talk about get-right games for anyone involving the Chiefs. This is your get right game. Chiefs obviously coming off the loss last week to the Bills. Panthers not having a great season, but coming off of a two-game winning streak. Imagine that. I wouldn't have thought that I would

be saying that about the Panthers. What about you guys? No. No? Exactly. You've been winning too straight. No. I'm taking the Chiefs on this, and, I mean, it's odd.

What much else do you want me to say? Chiefs versus the Panthers. I mean, I could see this being a close game. I could see it being a close game, but other than that. Won't be a close game. I could see it being a close game, but other than that. Won't be a close game. I'll make it quick. Chiefs win it. They're going to go 10-1. Panthers are not a good football team. They won two in a row, but they

were also against bad football teams. Good. Done. Chiefs. It's literally going to be the Chiefs. This is like the gift. I mean, after you got punched in the mouth by Buffalo, now you get like an early Christmas present where you just have like a really bad team you can just wail on,

even though it's in Carolina. You know, you're going to march into Carolina and you're just going to beat them up in front of their fans. However, on the off chance, and I mean like on the.01% chance Kansas City loses, oh, my God, you are in trouble. But that's probably not going to happen, so it'll be fine. Give me Kansas City. It's a team they should murder.

Oh, yeah, no, they should. In fact, forget even losing. If they win, but it's like a one-score game, then we're going to need to actually have a conversation. But either way, I think they're going to obliterate Carolina. Yeah, we were talking about this on Tuesday

too. Chiefs basically need to win three of their next four because the last four of their last five are against teams that are playoff contenders in the Chargers, Texans, Steelers, and Broncos. They got the Browns mixed in there, but it's the Browns. So talking about it before, I'll say it again. This is a game that Chiefs kind of need to get

to kind of catapult themselves into the final stretch of the season. They got this game, and then they got black Friday against the rate, uh, against the Raiders, uh, Texans Titans. Texans. Texans.

Uh, Texan. Will Levis. Uh, the good thing though, for the Titans, I will say, is that they're getting LeJarius Sneed back, and who hasn't played in over a month,

which, I mean, if you guys want to be surprised about some shit, Titans defense without LeJarius Sneed has been remarkable, to say the least. Second best defense in the league this year in terms of yards per game allowed. He's not out. He's not back. Legereus, Sanitia, and Chidobe Awuze are out. Okay, cool. Still Texans.

Thought I saw... Oh, I must have read that one wrong. My fault. My fault. Oh, he's being put on IR. I read that wrong. Nice. My fault. My fault. Oh, he's being put on IR. I read that wrong. Nice. My fault. Your top two quarters you got through trades and free agency are both on IR.

Oh, I mean, it seems that it doesn't matter. There's still the second best defense in the league, but too bad that their offense is bottom of the barrel. All right. Texans all around. We're going to take a quick break,

get into our late afternoon slate and Sunday Night Football matchup. Friday edition of the FumbleRisky Podcast. I love football. It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws. Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot.

He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides. This is the Fumble Rooski Podcast, powered by Parody 18 Radio, Secret Weapon Consulting, Chris Gostich, CJ Medeiros, Adam Wright. Lead afternoon slate. Three, four o'clock games once again,

because a lot of teams on the buy this week. Falcons, Bills, Bengals, Saints, Jets, and Jaguars all on the buy. So not a ton of games. I mean, granted, this has been a couple weeks in a row now that there's only been 3, 4 o'clock games. So kind of hoping that there's going to be one good 4 o'clock game. And the game we're going to talk about right now is definitely not going to be that game. Broncos-Raiders. Need I say more?

Give me the Broncos. Yeah, I'll take the Broncos. In the same way that the Commanders have a nice game, an easy one for Jaden Daniels to rack up his stats and reinforce his case for Offensive Rookie of the Year, so does Bo Nix. Bo Nix has had a great stretch of football in the past month. He was named Offensive Rookie of the Month, rather of the week.

And I think he's going to continue to play well. Give me the Broncos. I got to go with Denver herever here once again nothing too complicated raiders just another rudderless team that's quit on their head coach then just you know two friend or two teams in the same division just on opposite trajectories however i don't care how nicks plays a loss here as unlikely as it is, would, I'm not going to say put Nix out of the convo entirely, but he would have to work like a beaver to get back into it, I'd tell you.

But honestly, I don't think he will. However, this could be a game where you can really improve your fortune, shall we say. So, yeah, easy. Give me Denver. Hell yeah, man. Hell yeah. Niners-Packers.

This is going to be a good one. It's going to be a good one. But history shows that you should pick the Niners in games between San Francisco and Green Bay. Especially in Green Bay. Weather's not going to be great. 44 degrees and cloudy. I know that we are in Toyota-thon Jordan love time right now, but Niners need to win a game.

Holy hell. They need to win a game because this little thing that they got going on here, they're 5-5. They lost to the Seahawks last week. Holy moly, do they need to win a game right now. So I'm taking the Niners. But this is going to be a real grinded out, upset type of ending here that they're gonna have to pull off

i'm gonna go with the packers i just think jordan love is a really really good quarterback especially when it comes to getting involved in shootouts like i know that they will with the 49ers he's a type who yes he throws a lot of interceptions. He's already shown he's the very, he's the next Brett Favre, not the next Aaron Rodgers, but it all becomes worth it. Just like Brett Favre, he throws for lots of yards, lots of touchdowns, and he has an emerging wide receiver one in Jaden Reed, who I really like. Romeo Dobbs, he still has. Christian Watson. I really like this Packers team. I think they're a good young team on the up and up. And Jordan Love is the embodiment of that. Give me the Packers.

I think this is going to be a good game. It's probably the only other game that could have contended with Ravens, Chargers for game of the week. That being said, I got gotta go with the niners i just think they they they're feeling the pinch a little bit more than the niners and i feel like i mean more than the packers and i think the niners can probably capitalize on love's mistakes more than the packers can capitalize off Purdy's. So I do think it's going to be close.

I wouldn't be shocked if Green Bay pulls it out. It's as close to a coin flip as you can get. But I also trust the Niners' defense more than I trust Green Bay's. So, you know what? Give me the Niners. Seeing how the NFC West is shaping up right now, we're about to talk about the Cardinals and Seahawks and Eagles

and Rams. For those NFC West teams, you need to get all the wins you can get at this point because it is going to be an absolute dogfight in this last stretch of games, in this last month and a half of football we're going to have left. With that being said, Cardinals Seahawks.

Cardinals 6-4, Seahawks 5-5. Cardinals coming in on a four-game winning streak. And I just talked about this. Seahawks coming in off of a big win against the Niners, breaking a two-game losing streak. But the Seahawks have only won two, count them, two of their last seven games. Something's got to give here.

Something's got to give. But I don't think this Cardinals winning streak is going to give. Calum Murray's playing really well. James Conner's playing pretty nice as well. Cardinals are a very frisky team. I love it. Absolutely. Give me the Cardinals.

The Cardinals have been a nice football team this year. They've been a pleasant surprise. But how much of a surprise are they? They're 6-4 right now. How good do we see them being? I see a little bit of a hiccup here.

Do we see them continuing some sort of scorched earth trial? No, they're not that good. They're a decent team. They look solid. But the fact of the matter is they've won four games in a row. And I think this is the type of team, the Seahawks, where you run into and your luck runs out. You're bound to run into some sort of hiccup, and I think this is the type of team that's going to do that.

They're going to punch you in the teeth. Geno Smith is still a solid quarterback. They still have really good weapons over there in Seattle. And if they're healthy and they have their head screwed on straight, they have a decent defense too. So yeah, give me the Seahawks. This is a game where you can convince me into going either way. I think it's going to be a shootout because the Cardinals defense is just

kind of, and meanwhile, Seattle's defense is just banged up still so when you get down to it i do think that this is the game for the cardinals to prove that they're i won't say legit but should at least be respected at least more so than anyone in the NFC West. So that being said, I have to go with the Cardinals. I think they continue the hot streak, whereas I think Geno's magic is running out in Seattle. I think it's going to be a shootout, but I don't know. Seattle just doesn't wow me like they should. And that's a shame, too.

Their roster is just frustrating. They should be a lot better than they are. But maybe a lot of that's Geno. We don't know. And injuries. I will say Geno has 11 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. It's not really helping his case out. And, I mean, game last week, he didn't even play that well. Had one interception, no touchdowns.

Take the Rams game, for example, as well. Actually played pretty well in that game. 363, three touchdowns, three interceptions. And Puka and Cupps returned back. But three interceptions. Look at the Bills game. They lost 31 to 10. 212 yards, one interception.

No touchdowns. Three touchdowns to, what is that? Five interceptions in the last three games. And two of those games, you didn't even throw a touchdown pass. I love what Geno Smith is doing, but he

has been underwhelming for how he looked at the beginning of the season. But that being said, Sunday, not football moment. We've been all been waiting for caring to carry under what Eagles versus Rams and Eagles have been playing a lot better defense recently. That is for fact. I mean, granted, one of those games against the Cowboys led up six points.

What do you expect? It was Cooper Rush and the Cowboys. But you held Jaden Daniels in the Washington offense to 18 points last week as well. This Vic Vangio defense is coming together a lot more smoothly than it did at the first half of the season. I don't know if we're going to see the same amount of good defense, though,

in this game because this is still a very high-powered Rams offense that they're going to be going up against. But the real question is, is how is eagles offense going to do against the rams defense and obviously vice versa how is the rams defense going to handle the eagles offense i'll tell you saquon barkley a.j brown give me the eagles devontae smith is going to be out for this game. So I was waiting for you to mention him. I didn't know that,

that I need AJ Brown to go off that I need him. Well, he's going to get the targets there, but it's just a matter of balance for me. The Rams have everything they need on offense. They don't have enough on defense. And I think that's going to be the difference maker here for the Eagles. The Eagles have been a nice two-way team. They've been slowly getting better this year. They've flown under the radar, which is something you never see for a Nick

Sirianni-led team. Usually they're... Nick Sirianni loves the spotlight, and so does the rest of the Eagles team. And they've been slowly working their way into relevance. And dare I say, Superbowl contention. CJ, give me the Eagles. Didn't mean to cut you off, but CJ and I were saying a dark horse Superbowl contender at this point.

Yeah. I mean, they gotta be, they've turned it around pretty well. It looks like Sirianni is able to keep his childish impulses down to a minimum. But I'm still going with Dele. Because the thing with the Rams, it's not even that their defense is terrible. It's that half their defense is terrible.

They've got a really good pass rush, but oh my God, that secondary gets burned. I'm talking more like they get burned more than the state of Texas in the summer months. It is brutal. Like just watching them get toasted game after game after game. Oh God. And look, the offense is obviously going to give Philly problems,

but Quinion Mitchell at corner, that man, he's a problem. Quinion Mitchell, Cooper DeGene, two rookies that have stepped up this year. And I do think the Rams offensive line probably won't be able to contend with a lot of Phillies pass rush. So, but either way, as long as you have cuff and Nakula,

you got a chance. And you know, Stafford, Hey, I mean, age is not getting to him. Not at all. So overall,

I still got to go with Philly. I think it's going to be an entertaining game. It's going to be a bit of a shootout, but I still have Philly. Sneaky good game. This is going to be a very entertaining game. I think both offenses are going to show out more than what you think it might end up being. I need Cooper Cup to do well. I need AJ Brown to do well.

It sounds like people in a, who have, we need the offenses to go crazy on Sunday night. How about that? Surely not because of any fantasy reasons, right? No, no,

you, you kidding me? No, I don't part. I don't partake in sports gambling. I don't do that. Come on. You think I waste money on that shit?

Yes. I will say, last night, I was with my buddies watching the game, and one of them was saying, all right, you're scoring the next touchdown. And me and one of my other buddies jokingly was like, what about Jameis? How lit would that be? And of course he gets the rushing touchdown in the snow. Believe me if you want.

You know what? I believe you. This is your sign to put all your money on A.J. Brown plus 150. Yeah, right. There was someone else that scored. Oh, one of our other buddies said Gian Warren as well, and we didn't put any money on that game either. But yeah, that is all of our scheduled content

for this Friday edition of the Ruski podcast. You guys got anything to add before we take off? Nah. I love Drake May. I love Drake May. I love Drake May. And I love football. Do you really love Drake May or are you just saying things, naming things and saying you love them?

I mean, I don't know. I have this meme on my phone that shows how much I love Drake May, if you want to. I love Drake May. It's the meme that I send in every time that Drake May goes crazy. It's a Spongebob meme, right? Is no one understanding the Anchorman

reference? No. I've only seen that movie like maybe once. It was on in the background when I was hanging with friends. No, I don't. Watch it again. I love Lamp. I feel like it. I love I feel like I love carpet

do you really love the lamp or you just naming things and saying you love them I love lamp I love lamp I used to be a lamp but yeah I love Drake May alright well that'll do it for us tonight thank you for listening to us new episodes coming out

Tuesday at 730 PM p.m. Eastern Standard. Of course, Fridays at 5. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. We also have all of our episodes available on Spotify, Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts, and so much more. Be sure to follow our Instagram, FumbleRooski underscore podcast, and our TikTok, FumbleRooski pod. Keep up with our podcast and the latest coverage on the NFL.

Otherwise, from a couple of chill guys like ourselves, Chris Gossett, Chad Amright, CJ Medeiros, this has been another Friday edition of the FumbleRuski podcast. We'll see you on Tuesday. Over and out.