The Fumblerooski Podcast - They're Back -Ep 53 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: December 12, 2021

We celebrate 1 year of our show with SPECIAL GUEST Brian Kostiw of the Down To The Wire Podcast. We talk about the Patriots who continue to surge and discuss our concern for the Ravens and Bills who might be in some trouble.

Good evening. You are listening to the Fumble Brewski podcast by Power 88 Dean Radio. I'm Adam Wright along with Justin Tucker and CJ Medeiros. Joining us on this special episode is host of the Down to the Wire podcast. Out of Bryant University is our personal friend, Brian Costew. Brian, welcome back to the podcast. It's been a little while. How are you doing tonight? Adam, man, I'm having a great night. I still can't get my name right in pronunciation I've known you for the past 10 years but still still love it man. I always go by Kostu my parents my sisters always correct me they're like you know it's Kosta right it's just it's just been it's like

second nature now that your name is pronounced Kostu. No, listen, man, it's second nature to me to take it as Kostu. But anyways, man, I'm having a great day. I'm glad to be here. Just put on a podcast episode myself, but obviously ready to talk some football with you. I know, I understand you. You just came off an episode now. Are you feeling gassed?

Are you feeling tired? You know, I'm feeling it a little bit, but, you know, I got I got some good stamina. I'm used to doing some shows myself. I actually just had me and my co-host Tyler Stringfellow on and we interviewed. We talked with a special guest and a friend of mine. His name is Trevor Saunders. We ended up talking about our thoughts on the upcoming Jake Paul fight with Tyron Woodley. And we also reviewed the Pats-Bills game and also the Kenny Pickett fake slide drama going on in college football. Really good episode. I hope that after this one's over, I hope you guys go over and check it out.

Yeah, so definitely you guys go follow the Down to the Wire podcast. And unlike us, they cover all sports all sports i mean we could certainly cover all sports but that's a lot for us to do only brian the great brian costu could handle that and uh so brian i don't i believe so you've met justin you've been on the show with justin before you've seen justin before i have never you've never and you met us you you met our former co-host brian mucker you never met cj before so brian cj cj brian how you doing my guy i'm fine i you know i'm just it's always great to wear someone new i say uh let's go absolutely so glad we all we've all gotten to know each other now so we do have a lot planned for you guys tonight.

No shortage of news. The New England Patriots continuing to stay hot. Tom Brady's MVP case and Bill Belichick's Coach of the Year case. And the Buffalo Bills, who are possibly in some trouble moving forward. The Game of the Week and the Fan Box, as always. But first, we're going to start with justin's ravens who got a little bold to say the least at the end of last night's game so they're doing fantastic so the ravens lost off of a failed two-point conversion at the end of the game they

lost their first seed and narrowed their own division lead as a result. To make matters worse, they also lost top corner Marlon Humphrey with what I'm understanding is a torn pec. Yes. So we'll start with Justin, the Ravens fan. How concerned should we be about the Ravens moving forward? I need you to be concerned. I'm very concerned as far as Super Bowl aspirations. I'm very

concerned about that. As far as playoff aspirations, we're 8-4. More than likely, we will make the playoffs. But how far we go depends on our health, because I'm not going to lie, we're losing people by the week. We just lost our top corner. We don't have any more corners to lose. Anthony Everett is our best corner. I don't like our chances against most games now because you're going to ask Anthony Everett to guard who now? Devontae Adams, who is coming up sooner rather than later. He's going to get cooked, and I'm going to lose my mind because of it. Who else am I losing? My right tackle, Patrick McCary, gone for the next few weeks. That is going to be a carousel. Pass rushers are going to kill Lamar now because we have nobody that can protect Lamar. Speaking of which, T.J. Watt absolutely had his way with that right tackle.

Tyree Phillips, I appreciate you. Goatt absolutely had his way with that right tackle. Tyree Phillips, I appreciate you. Go back to guard. You cannot play right tackle. I understand that it's T.J. Watt and he's a Defensive Player of the Year candidate, but that's unacceptable. Lamar cannot be getting sacked three and a half times by one person. I'm very concerned about my Ravens because I don't think we can stay healthy for the rest of the season. I know we're probably going to lose another tackle. I know we're probably going to lose another skill position. And I know for some unknown reason, Greg Roman's

going to screw us over in play calling. That's just something I have to accept because everybody might be upset about the two-point conversion. I'm not for the simple fact that we weren't going to win in overtime because we have no corners. So if we lost the coin toss, we're screwed. So I'm happy with the two-point conversion, but the play design of it was absolutely terrible. Why the hell was TJ Watt unblocked? And why didn't no one put hands on him to make sure he didn't get blocked? Why the hell was TJ Watt unblocked?

And why didn't no one put, like, hands on him to make sure he didn't get blocked? On top of that, no one seemed to block because as soon as I look at, like, a freeze frame, all four of my linemen are on the ground. And all four of the Pittsburgh Steelers linemen are up on their feet. So I'm like, Lamar screwed on this play. And guess what? He somehow got the ball off and Mark Andrews dropped it. Even though it was a bad pass, it's not like Lamar could give him a better one. So all in all, I am concerned with the Ravens' Super Bowl aspirations, but I think they'll make the playoffs because I think they have enough games where they'll somehow pull off and win because that's just how the season's been going. I'm not sure we can keep the first seed I mean or like get involved in the first seed

Because we just lost it to New England We'll see how they'll do And as far as I'm concerned Divisional round to AFC championship at best right now Because we just lost our best player on defense All right Adam I know you're at your house right now Justin are you are you on campus right now at Dean? Yes I am CJ you're on campus right now at Dean? Yes, I am.

CJ, you're on campus right now at Dean? Yeah, I am. CJ, I need you to do me a favor and go and make sure Justin is okay. I think even if you have to leave the podcast mid-episode because, man, Justin, man, you guys are going through it, my guy. I'm so sorry for you right now. Man, it is – the injury bug for the Ravens this year is no joke. I mean it has hit you guys in every single facet of the game. And listen, as a Pats fan, I love this as it's as it's beneficial to me. But man, as someone who's seen their team get hit with the injury bug and the Ravens, Jesus Christ.

I mean, you guys are you guys are just going through the ringer right now. I mean, I hope that I hope you guys can figure something out. I mean, it's definitely a tough place to be in, especially just with guys dropping left and right. I mean, especially with Everett now having to become the number one corner, having to guard. I've obviously said Devontae Adams. If you guys end up making it to the playoffs, if the Bills are in it,

you have to face Stephon Diggs. I'm fine with that. Yeah. There are just – there's just a bunch of situations, man, where it just doesn't look good. The Ravens, ever since the injuries at the beginning of the year, I believe, it was ever since J.K. Dobbins and all those other guys started to go down, I was like, this isn't looking good. Pieces are falling this early in the season.

And you're usually used to guys going down throughout the duration of a season. That's just what the NFL is. You're just used to guys going down throughout the duration of a season. That's just what the NFL is. You're just used to guys going down. So when I saw it happening that early in the season and before some real games were even being played, I was like, this is a telltale sign that something is going to go bad. And I don't know, man, I don't know if I don't know, Justin, how aware you are of the training staff with the Ravens. I mean, is this something that, you know, the trainers could try to prevent?

Or is this just like really unfortunate circumstances? Because, I mean, I don't know when a bunch of guys getting injured like this. Part of my mind immediately goes to the training staff and I end up saying, all right, we're doing like all the players are trying to do their parts in the field. But what are the guys doing their part in trying to keep guys healthy doing? So I don't know. What are your thoughts on that? As far as I'm concerned, I kind of want to look into it because one play we lose Gus Edwards and then immediately the next play we lose Marcus Peters.

And this is preseason. We're not even talking about in-game preseason. We're talking about practices. We're losing guys. Yes. I got the news and I was heartbroken, man. I was so depressed. I didn't want to talk to anybody. I'm thinking, OK, who's going to be my starting corner on the other side? It was Anthony Everett. I moaned. I groaned. I was like, give me somebody else. To his credit, he's been playing well, but he's not Marcus Peters. And we're not getting the necessary turnovers that we would be getting if Marcus Peters was on the field. I miss J.K. Dobbins.

I miss Gus Edwards. My running game is basically Lamar in the occasional Devontae Freeman 10-yard run. I mean, but that's typically what it's always been. The running game's kind of always been a little bit of Lamar. Yeah, it's always a little bit of Lamar. He makes it work, but at the same time, J.K. Dobbins, you could see, could average five yards per carry. So I'm like, okay, I could rely on him, and Gus Edwards doesn't move backwards. He'll give me five yards, no problem. Both of them are gone.

My third string went right with them. Mark Ingram got traded to Houston and now he's with the Saints. I am losing players left and right and I don't know who to blame. Marlon Humphrey, that was just very bad timing. That was just, what else can we lose? Oh, our all-pro DB? Gone. And I was like, really? That's why I wasn't so mad about the two-point conversion attempt, because who are we going to have defending Deontay Johnson, who was unguardable that night, apparently. So I do want them to look at it and see like what's going on but at the same time

there was just some injuries like that couldn't be avoided yeah during the game and i'm wondering if that them going for two has something to do with the fact that they knew there was something wrong with marlon humphrey and with a couple tough matchups coming up, namely the Los Angeles Rams, maybe they were so desperate for winning this game that they felt they need to do something drastic and they need to win this game now in order to sort of make something happen. I don't think it's like that. I wouldn't see them looking ahead and seeing the Rams because, number one, I don't think the Rams are that tough an opponent right now considering they just beat up on the Jacksonville Jaguars,

who are basically the Houston Texans of the AFC South. So both teams are terrible. So I'm like, okay, the Rams beat up on who they were supposed to beat up. But at the same time, it's like the Rams haven't been looking good like the past month. Matthew Stafford has been looking bad. Sean McVay has been looking good these like the past month Matthew Stafford has been looking bad um Sean McVay has been looking bad and the whole team as a whole didn't look that good so I don't think the Ravens were looking ahead and them specifically I think Green Bay is one of the

teams where they're like we want to get this one out the way now so when we face them we know that's going to be a tougher one to win but I think that was more so just to deal with the cornerback situation at the present time, not necessarily looking towards the future. All right. So we just want CJ to get a say in this because it's been just me, you and Brian going back and forth. But let's not be exclusive. Let's let CJ speak. CJj what do you have to say well i had some time to sit on this and as it sits now i don't fault john harbaugh as much as i did at first i first i was like you know you have the sure-footed justin tucker you know as your kicker like that's just easy money to get that one. But then again, it's really a damned if you do damned if you don't situation.

Because I know two points risky, but at the same time, do you risk handing the ball back to Pittsburgh when you have absolutely zero corners? I mean, at that point in time, it's like the odds were slimmed and not the Rams are going to win that game. You know, you're going to have to convert a two-point conversion with a bad O-line. Or you're going to need to hope that the coin toss goes your way and that your porous defense can hold a somewhat potent, at least that night, Pittsburgh offense. So, honestly, this is like the most dour of all the uh you know explanations but there was simply nothing the ravens could have done and honestly are they going to make the playoffs more than

likely yeah but i would say that their chance of making the super bowl like winning that game are slim to none and slim might have just left because defense wins you championships they lost a lot of key pieces in free agency and everyone else got injured so i don't know who this defense can stop not unless anthony avarate becomes like trayvon diggs or something like that i wish he would become trayvon no i want him to be better than that. So you want to be J.C. Jackson? Yeah, I'll take a J.C. Jackson over Trayvon Diggs because I know Trayvon Diggs may give me the picks, but he'll get B for a touchdown every now and then. I don't have that problem with J.C. Jackson and I get the picks.

But all that aside, I just can't fault the Ravens. It's going to be a tough rest of the season. But you have this offseason, you know, just regroup, come back, and maybe stay a little bit healthy. It's a tough situation to be in because as much as I want to, like we're 8-4, so we still have a chance to make the playoffs and still have a chance to be the first seed. It's not like the Patriots are far ahead or the Titans are far ahead.

The Patriots are 9-4, the Titans are 8-4, we're 8-4. So it's like, okay,ots are far ahead or the Titans are far ahead. The Patriots are nine and four. The Titans are eight and four. We're eight and four. So it's like, okay, we have a chance at this. But we're so depleted injury-wise. It's a miracle how many times we have to come through last minute and win these games. So it's like we can't tank because we're too far ahead to tank.

And we don't see, like, a potential, like, Super Bowl-winning situation because most of our players are injured. So it's like we're kind of stuck in the middle and to wait until the end of the season to see. All right. Where are we now? I mean, Justin, here's the thing, though. The NFL, at least in the AFC, for the most part this year, it's kind of been a crapshoot. I mean, the NFC, you do see the Cardinals having a good record. The Bucs are obviously going to be themselves. But for the most part in the AFC, you know, you typically don't see, you know, the top seed in that division having that having that spot until like, well,

you don't typically see the top seed rather in the in the standings in the conference, having four losses or even something remotely like that until, you know, the last week of the season is when you see teams with that many losses. We are we're seeing teams right now, you know, still with a month to play football with four to five losses and contention for the conference title, which, you know, is really just unprecedented. So I at the same time, the the entire AFC has been kind of a crapshoot. So the Ravens, obviously, there's still of all the years for them to kind of have a chance in hell. This is kind of the year for it because there's so much just mobility going on in the league right now. I know, but I'm not particularly happy about my last five, like the last five games we have.

We have the Browns, the Steelers, the Bengals, the Packers, and the Rams coming up. I want that Cincinnati one. I think we're going to get it based off they beat us, and I think we can get that one back. The Steelers one is going to be at the bank, so I think we can get that. So I think that's 10 wins right there. The Rams one is going to be difficult because we have no corners to defend Cooper Cup.

Yeah. That nor Odell Beckham either. And then there's, geez, Cleveland. We got Cleveland coming up. I think we're fine because if you limit the ground game, you're going to have to ask Baker to beat you. And I think injury riddled Baker can't do it right now. But I can't say certainty because we just lost our top corner.

So it's like, it's going to be very interesting down the stretch but if we somehow make the playoffs and even take the one seed it's like okay where do we go from here we may get to the divisional round but it's like who who do we face because depending on who we face i do not like the matchups this ravens team is so injury depleted that to be honest none of these games are are really games that you could look at and say they should win this game they honestly I don't see I'm not gonna say I'm not saying that they they're not going to win any more games or they that they shouldn't be favored they should certainly be favored to beat Cleveland and they could make a case they should be favored to beat the Cincinnati Bengals.

The problem is it's going to be a battle for all of them and you can see them losing the majority of these games coming up and you've got to feel bad for this Ravens team because they've just been hit so hard with the injury bug that they have such a long shot that they'll make a deep playoff run let alone let alone manage to hang on to a high playoff spot they may end up barely making the playoffs I mean I mean Adam you talk about the Cincinnati Bengals as if there's still the Marvin Lewis Bengals that we watched for, you know, over 17 years. Unfortunately, this, this bank, even the Bengals, like that's not really even a guarantee anymore. You know, we used to look at the Bengals and basically say, oh, they're the Bengals. You'll kill them on TV.

And sometimes like they would get you every now and then, but it was most likely you're going to take down the Bengals. Now, while I know it could be more difficult for division opponents, that was still even the case when they would face the Ravens. Now, Joe Burrow is actually kind of turning it up and Jamar Chase and their connections actually been kind of solid. So it actually kind of it actually kind of points to a to a tougher road ahead, because frankly, you can't look at the Bengals like like many of us in our generation have for so many years. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. It's not really – the Bengals aren't the Bengals of old. I mean they haven't been great lately, but we see what they're capable of. We see that Joe Burrow is certainly much better than Andy Dalton was during those days when they were good, and they have much better receiving weapons.

No disrespect to A.J. Brown aj brown whatsoever but t higgins jamar chase tyler boyd i mean that's a that's a three-headed monster right there i can't let that one slide because in their primes they had aj green marvin jones and tyler boyd all on one team oh you mean muhammad sanu and mu Sanu. Yeah, but that wasn't... I think this is better. I do. I think this is better. Yeah, you're right.

Because AJ... AJ Brown was not... AJ Green. Sorry, AJ Green. AJ Green, to this point in his career, to that point in his career, was not nearly as good as Jamar Chase is now. Jamar Chase... What. Jamar Chase –

He was a top 10 receiver. What's that? He was a top 10 receiver. Okay. AJ Green was literally top 10. Jamar Chase is in top 10 right now. You don't think Jamar Chase is top 10 right now? A top 10 receiver?

No, I don't. It's a debate, but I can't clear cut to say he's top 10. It's close, but back then – I'm talking about when Tyler Boyd was present. A.J. Green was not top 10. He was just – he was around – I think he was around the top 15. He was around Mohamed Sanu, Marvin Jones, and A.J. Green. This is comparable. I think this is better.

And the quarterback's certainly better, isn't he? Yeah, I would argue that Burrow's more explosive. All right, we're running a little behind schedule talking about these Ravens. But we talked a lot about this team that lost the first seed. Yeah. Now we're going to move on to talk about the team that gained the first seed from them. Yeah. Yes, sir.

Our New England Patriots. We'll talk about them next. This is the Fumble Rooski Podcast. You're listening to the Fumble Rooski Podcast by Power 88 Dean Radio. I'm Adam Wright with Justin Tucker, CJ cj medeiros and guest brian costu and now the new england patriots beat the buffalo bills 14 to 10 in an absolute rock fight with those conditions out there but they put themselves in the driver's seat for the number one seed and so how do we feel about the chances of New England retaining their spot atop the AFC? Ryan, I mean, listen, I'm not going to lie to you. I'm nervous about him right now. I like the

potential that they've shown over the last seven games. Obviously, they've come up from the pit to despair of where I thought this team was going. They were two and four early in the season, barely gutting out wins against the Houston Texans. I was like, oh boy, this is going to be ugly one because I was looking at the schedule. I was like, there's no way. There's no way we're going to be able to compete with the way we're playing. And we've been able to miraculously have an amazing seven game stretch so far.

And I can't lie to you and say that I'm not grateful for that and incredibly pleased with the way that we've performed so far. But at the same time, this team and the way they performed and the breaks that we've gotten, it is eerily similar in my mind to the 2019 Patriots, where we started off on an amazing eight and no run. Our defense was known as the boogeyman defense. We're having, you know, showboating all over the field saying we're all this and that. And then we ended up going into Baltimore during Lamar Jackson's MVP year and we got shelled and it only and it basically started a you know kind of a you know kind of tumbling effect after that and we still finished

the year 12 and 4 and most years in most situations 12 and 4 would win the division but we ended up blowing a game to Miami and on the last day of the season and ended up costing us the number one seed, went on to lose to the Titans, and the rest is history. So I think that this team unfortunately hasn't really been tested enough. And again, that's not their fault. They faced the Bucs and the Cowboys early in the season when they were trying to find their identity and played some good games against them, unfortunately came out on the bad side of them.

But so far, a lot of the teams that they face have been injured. And again, this isn't exactly anything on them. I think I just want to see them – I want to see them face this Colts team coming out of the bye week. And then I also want to see how they fare against the Bills at Gillette and hopefully more normal weather conditions. Hopefully there isn't a freaking hurricane going on outside the next time they play. And we can see, all right, Bills are going to bring their best. Pats are going to bring theirs. Who's the better team at the end of the day?

And I want to see how that turns out because so far I feel like we really haven't gotten a chance to see Mac Jones and this Patriots team in a legit situation where they need to gut out a win. This is an interesting one. I mean, I don't know why. I'm a huge Pats fan and all, but I'm not entirely sold. I mean, when you look at who they have left, they have a bye this week. Then they play Indy, or should I say they play Jonathan Taylor,

you know, best runabout in the league right now. Some people are giving him MVP lows. They ain't playing Carson Wentz. They're playing Jonathan Taylor. Yeah, no, no, no. They're playing Jonathan Taylor. Don't you forget it. Then there's Buffalo again, this time in New England.

And the only game I would call a shoo-in is Jacksonville because Jacksonville. But then we go to Miami and, you know, there must be like some sort of mental block there because no matter what, they haven't won in Miami since like 2016 when they beat Atlanta in the Super Bowl. So yeah, there's like a mental block. You know, CJ, I don't know what it is. I've been to Miami for one of those Pats Miami games. It was actually back in 2015. Well, basically New Year's Day 2016 when the game was played.

And it was the game where they ran the ball with Steven Jackson like 30 times and ended up bossing us the number one seed. I don't know, man. There's just some bad juju down in Miami. And I don't get what it is. But there's just telling you it's a mental block. I hate to say about bill, but it's a mental thing. It really is. It really is. I mean, we got to win. We got to win. And it's just, it's no matter what it's a, I really think it's a mental thing. I really do for the most part though. It's, it's really only become something that has become a mental block

in the, in the second half of what became the Patriots dynasty. Cause I mean, I remember what, you know, they would lose in Miami every now and then, but you watch games during that era where Brady had Moss and all those guys, and they went down there and they would just smoke the dolphins. And it wasn't really a thing.

It didn't really become kind of a pattern of, Oh, Oh, Miami is kind of a wild card until after, until after, you know, we ended up beating the Seahawks and we went on that run of winning the other of winning the other Super Bowls of our dynasty. And I don't know what it is, but I think it's just because with this with the second dynasty, there weren't as many solidified pieces like the Brewskis and other guys like that that weren't here from the original time. I think there were more that were brought in and maybe it's just like not having that solidified core is you know wait a minute hold on i just realized when we had antonio brown that was the last time i went to miami yeah but that was that that again that was 2019 yeah that was that was like the one kind of

off thing i mean it's not that we haven't won in Miami. We have, but unfortunately, the games that we lose in Miami are some of the most consequential games. Yeah, so, look, like I said, there's that. You can never count out the Dolphins in Miami. They have Buffalo again. They have Indy, and then there's Jacksonville, who are just kind of there, hopefully, to beat up on. Hopefully they don't play up to us or we play down to them.

But, I mean, I'm not going to say, I'm not going to put my stamp on it and say that they're going to keep the one seed. But I will say I do like their chances over Baltimore and Tennessee. Because, you know, Baltimore, we just talked about, was injured. And guess what? So is Tennessee. So that being said, I mean, I do feel like we've got a good chance, unless the Chiefs can pull a winning streak out of their butt. I mean, it shouldn't be that terrible for us, but only time will tell. I do think we have a better chance than most,

but really we control our own destiny, basically. Yeah, I agree with that. They do control their own destiny. The problem is they have to face the Colts, who, again, Jonathan Taylor is a man possessed right now. He's unstoppable. You have to face the Bills again, and you have to face Miami at again and you have to face miami at miami you guys should have won that game against miami the first time in week one but the fact that you

guys let that game slip away means that it's going to be a struggle in miami for you guys to win that one and miami's on the road themselves because i think they're on a four game winning streak too all right i know it's easy to say, but look at who Miami's beaten. It's a five-game winning streak, but they beat the Ravens. Yeah, so I can't talk. They beat us. So it's like, I want that game back, but I can't have it back. I'll have to accept that.

Anyway, so I think it's only a matter of time to see where they are. They have a bye week, so they're secure for this week, but in due time, they will have to face other competition, and then we'll see where they are from there. Since Tennessee and Baltimore are heavily injured right now, I believe they have the best chance of keeping the number one overall seed, even if Kansas City somehow wins out. I think it's the Patriots to lose, considering where they're positioned at. That means I think Tennessee will lose a couple of games. I think Baltimore will finish two, and Kansas City will finish three, and Tennessee will finish four. I believe somehow, someway, Mack Jones has been the best rookie, maybe outside of Jamar Chase.

He's been playing phenomenally these past couple of games outside of the Buffalo game, but it's not really his fault. The weather conditions were horrendous, so horrendous. In fact, the Patriots had to rush 32 straight times before they passed the ball again, which is impressive. So overall, I like the Patriots chances and it hurts me. It hurts me to say that. I think they will, I think, keep the number one overall seed. But again, the AFC has been very competitive. So we'll see.

So looking at these standings right now, as I have the playoff picture in front of me, out of the teams here, the only team that I really see taking the one seed from the Patriots right now is the Kansas City Chiefs. The Baltimore Ravens are way too injured, as are the Tennessee Titans. The Los Angeles Chargers, they lost too many games. Same with the Bengals. They may not even win their own division, let alone the Chargers who still have the Chiefs. The Chiefs are the most healthy team along with the Patriots. So what it comes down for me is which of these games remaining

that they're going to win. So they have the Colts coming up. They have the Bills, Jaguars, Dolphins. on this team as a Super Bowl contending team and a team that will remain in the number one spot. I'm still a little bit skeptical because, like we said, seven wins in a row is still seven wins, but so are those eight wins in a row back in 2019, which were clearly paper wins. And once they faced real competition, they got their teeth kicked in. So, yeah. Justin's reminiscing right now because his team isn't anywhere near where he wants to be.

I think he's in the hospital right now. Give me a chance. I know. I am kicking a man while he's down. And I would like to point out, also, I just want to say that though the Ravens did whip us in that game, we ourselves can reminisce that the Ravens were one and done that year in the playoffs. So were y'all. So were we.

Y'all just left early. Yeah, and we didn't have the MVP. Y'all were 12-4. Don't start. No, don't start that. Yeah, and you had the MVP. The most valuable player to carry you. I mean, to be honest.

One person talking at once, please. Go ahead, Brian. Okay, Mr. Wright. But, I mean, at least we didn't have a running back pass for a touchdown on us. Listen, I'm getting sick and tired of this. I don't understand how Patriots fans can talk like they didn't lose to the same team. Oh, we did. We didn't lose to a pick six for his final pass with the Patriots.

We cannot let this slide. All right. Am I the only one that thinks that pick six was blatant pass interference? Logan Ryan was draped all over Mohamed Sanu. We all know it. We were all there. We all watched it. And I remember when I saw it, I was like, how is that not passive?

But, you know, it's whatever. That's neither here nor there. Y'all were still down 14-3 with barely any time left. Y'all weren't moving the ball at all. Yeah, he's right. He's right. And honestly, that defense really showed just how effective that defense was or ineffective they were. They were obviously still a very good defense,

but everybody thought it was this all-time great defense when we were calling them the boogeymen during their 8-0 run. They're like, this team is historic. They were facing terrible competition. And then we went in, they faced real competition, and they got killed. I think the only real exception was Stephon gilmore who won defensive player of the year besides that it was kind of an overrated defense their defense was not that good and their offense oh my god that offense was hard to watch but we are talking about this patriots team so what do we think about this patriots team though i think it's better than that patriots offense i think it'll it'll be more sustainable because i think Mac Jones will not screw up the game.

And I think they have a consistent enough running game where it's fine. And they have better weapons surrounding Mac Jones because I don't know what they gave Tom Brady in 2019, but it was effing horrendous what they did to him. It was effing horrendous. All I know for my case— It's a shame, too. Yeah. For my case with the Patriots, I'm confident with Mac Jones, but at the same time, a rookie quarterback has never won the Super Bowl.

I don't know. Has one even ever appeared? I'm not certain on that, but I know one has never won the Super Bowl, so I'm just like— And I think that's for a good reason. That's not just some fluke of it being like, oh, all these rookies are put in terrible situations, which I guess I get it. Some rookie quarterbacks are. But it's it kind of just does show that, hey, a rookie quarterback, you's just – while I'm getting more and more confident in this Patriots team, that sole fact that a rookie quarterback has never made it or I believe won a Super Bowl

is just still very present in my mind. And also, let's talk about the fact that he only threw three passes. I get that the conditions were terrible and you don't want to throw the ball that much. But to only throw the ball three times and to have only thrown the ball once going into, what was it, halfway into the fourth quarter, that just shows me how much they don't trust their rookie quarterback yet. I mean, it was kind of in like extreme wins. Even Josh Allen only completed half his passes.

Yeah. So, I mean, when Josh Allen, who's a fairly competent quarterback, is only completing half his passes, I'm like, I'm honestly fine if you kind of keep a rookie shot away from that. Because, I mean, the plan of attack was working for us if things had gone downhill. I mean, it was a close game, but if things had gone downhill, maybe Bill ends up changing the game plan. And if not, we can speculate on that at a later time. But you look at the way things transpired in that game. And I mean, say Mac Jones goes out there and he only completes like 30% of his passes, throws two picks and cost the pass the game.

I feel like that's going to be more of a detriment than anything. So because the pattern was working and you had an effective game plan out there, I'm fine with the way the game went. I mean, Bill Belichick kind of hinted at it before the game. He came out wearing a Navy shipment face mask and proceeded to run the ball 46 times. So, I mean, I don't know how the Bills didn't see that one coming. Yeah, but look, if you throw the ball 8 to 10 times, that's limiting. That's limiting it.

But the fact that they only threw it once going into the fourth quarter, I get it. The wins are crazy. You want to limit it, but you couldn't have thrown a few check down passes, a few screen plays, done a little bit of that. They didn't do any of that. They just straight up just ran it down the gut and i remember at the in the fourth quarter the bills started to started to stop the run and there were a few drives where they could have just ended it right then and there and tried to go for a fourth down but they just kept on they just kept on going and they started to lose yardage and there were these plays that just ended up in three

and outs yeah the only thing i have to say about that is if they try to do a screen and it goes backwards that's considered a fumble so you have to be very careful with that so just catch the ball like that oh you know not even get the chance if the wind doesn't let you catch it. That's what quick passes are for. Just do it. I'm not questioning Bill Belichick's run at all. The way they structured it, I thought it was a very good game plan. I just thought it was a little bit extreme to the extent that they took it.

That's all I'm saying. I mean, it is extreme, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter luckily this isn't college where it's where everything that you do is dependent on how many points you get it is you know unless it comes down to like some super tiebreaker but most cases it just comes down to wins and losses so if if bill belichick had done this and proceeded to lose like 21 to 7 i'd have many many concerns and questions and be i'd be very critical of him but obviously he was able to manage a lot of things on the defense and luckily we were able to kind of get out ahead of it and manage to get the dub right all right so we talked a little bit about the patriots now let's talk about the team that they beat coming up. The Buffalo Bills are potentially in a little bit of trouble.

We'll get into that next. You're listening to the Fumble Rooski podcast by Power 88. This is the Fumble Rooski podcast by Power 88 Dean Radio. I'm Adam Wright along with Justin Tucker, CJ Medeiros, guest speaker, Brian Costa. I'll get it right this time. And yeah, you like that? It's the first time in a long time, man. I don't think I've ever gotten it right.

I've always thought it was Costu. But the Buffalo Bills have now fallen to the last wildcard spot with a 7-5 record. So the playoff picture they're literally at the bottom they and on top of that next week they have the buccaneers and then they have the patriots in a few more weeks so do we see the bills turning us their season around here and surviving this sequence i don't think they have a choice. I don't think they have a choice. It's either they turn it around or sooner or later you'll start to see some other teams sneak ahead of them like Pittsburgh or the Chargers or even Cleveland if they're not careful.

So the Bills are in a bad situation. They're 7-5. They're still in the playoffs, but they have tough matchups ahead with the Buccaneers and the Patriots. If they lose those two games, they bump to potentially 10-7, because I don't think they'll lose to the Panthers, nor the Falcons, nor the Jets. So 10-7. Now, normally, I think that would make you get into the playoffs, but depending on tiebreakers, I think it might not be enough to be guaranteed a playoff spot because of the way the AFC is this year.

I don't know who will finish first. I don't know who will get the last playoff spot. That's just the way things are right now. So the way the Bills are, I think they just had a tough outing weather-wise with the game against the Patriots. And we'll see what a true matchup will look like in better weather inclement or conditions and so I think the only thing I'm concerned with can they can the offense sustain drives and get points can the defense recover after losing Tredavious White outside of that um I guess they will have to start winning more now in order to secure a playoff spot. I guess I'll take it then. Buffalo, and I'm going to put it nicely, they're in trouble.

And I really do think so. I mean, let's take a gander at their schedule, shall we? They're in Tampa. That could be deadly. Then they host Carolina. They should win. Then they're in New England. That could go either way.

Then they host Atlanta. They should win. They host the Jets. They should win. But there are two games that if they drop the Tampa and New England game, I genuinely don't see them winning. If they lose twice to the Patriots, unless the Patriots lose out the rest of the way,

then I don't think they would make it. I mean, but if they lose both games, they're not winning the AFC East. But if they lose to Tampa, I mean, I don't know. They would need, like, a lot to go wrong. But I genuinely don't. Also, I would now like to call into question Sean McDermott's coaching. Because you have, like, a decent team. You have Stephon Diggs.

Ooh, Cole Beasley. MVP caliber quarterback in Josh Allen. And what are you doing? Nothing. You're seven and five. Now, look, I know every contender has a few losses that you have no business losing. Usually it's like one loss is just embarrassing. Yeah.

But they lost embarrassing fashion to Indy where Jonathan Taylor just ran up and down on him. They lost to Jacksonville. Goddamn Jacksonville. Even though you didn't score a touchdown. Indy's a good team though. I know, I know. But Buffalo was still favored to win that game. That's my point.

And then you lose to New England who ran the ball 32 times in a row. And the team on the night averaged 5.2 yards a carry and you were stacking the box almost every play and you couldn't stop it yeah I think it's time to call into question Sean McDermott's coaching at least for this year and then McDermott just sore loser that he is he's like let's not give Bill Belichick too much credit. Buddy, you're getting outcoached. You have like three. And if you want to go back to week one where Pittsburgh upset them,

you have like four out of your five losses have come in embarrassing fashion. You should be embarrassed. And I genuinely don't see them. And if New England beats you one more time i genuinely think it's over for your hopes of winning the afcs then your best shot is the wild card and they're not even a shoo-in for the wild card i don't think they need to right the ship fast yeah they they need to win because the colts are coming up the charger i mean the colts are on their way the chargers are on the way the browns are on the way so they need to win because the Colts are coming up. The Chargers, I mean, the Colts are on their way. The Chargers are on their way.

The Browns are on their way. So they need to be very careful these next few weeks. I agree. So I think that no matter what, I think that one way or another, we're going to see a big shift in this Buffalo Bills team. And it's going to be one of those two extremes. And it's because, like you said, CJ, you saw the end of that game where McDermott and those two corners, I believe, ended up going up on the podium. And I believe it was Micah Hyde and then Poyer, I believe it was. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, and Jordan Poyer. My bad. Yeah, so they're up on the podium, and they're complaining. They're talking about things that aren't going their way. You saw McDermott saying, let's not give Belichick all this credit. And whether you want to or not, you have a right to say that your team didn't play well that night. They didn't, you guys didn't execute in areas that you needed to, but this is either going to go one or two ways. This is either going to be a wake-up call to where they end up saying, all right, we, all

right, we got, you know, we got it, you know, taken to us by this rookie quarterback who only passed three times and we couldn't end up beating them for the life of us. Or this is going to go the way I think most typical things go with the Buffalo Bills when they face any sort of adversity and they're going to fall off a cliff because that's just what happens with the Buffalo Bills when they face adversity. Last year, they didn't need to worry about the New England Patriots challenging them for the AFC East throne. But now they finally actually have someone that's going to put a little bit of pressure on them. And what happens to the bills and frankly, any other team in the AFC East, when pressure

is put on them, they fold under pressure. And I think that I think in their minds, having a rookie quarterback that just, that just beat them in their own stadium and a freaking hurricane. And now they have to go down to Tampa and face the guy that was that the guy that gave them nightmares for 20 years and Tom Brady. I think it's I think it's just the nail, the final nail in the coffin form. And but personally, regardless of how you feel about this team, you're going to see a change.

This isn't just going to be them coasting from here on out and they make it in with, you know, you add on the extra game and it's like a so andso record or like a 10 and 8 or a 10 and 9 record or or a 9 or like a 9 and 7 back not 10 and 9 my bad uh 10 and 8 record rather 10 and 7 it's not gonna be like that you're it's there's gonna they're either gonna excel and go and go beyond it or you're going to see kind of a drop off so this team is so they might make the playoffs at maybe 10 and 7 11 and 6 possibly but you know i don't see them that team that we saw last year that went 13 and 3 that's not a real team they're gone that team's gone if it if it what if it did exist if this is the same team just facing adversity and cracked.

They're posers. Then they're posers or that team just is gone. They're just frauds. A one-hit wonder. But there's no chance in hell they're beating the Buccaneers. And even if you beat New England the second time, which they very well could, they still still have a chance they're not taking the afc east by doing that so so i really think that they around the bottom of that playoff picture they're there to stay that's just there's not really any there's not much more to it you know they're gonna they probably going to beat the Jets, who they're facing soon.

They're probably going to beat the Falcons. They're most likely going to beat the Panthers over there. But those two games against New England and the Buccaneers, you know, those are tough games, and I don't see them winning both. The Buccaneers are hell no. No way in hell they're beating them. My issue with this is it's not completely out because they still have to face the Patriots again, and the Patriots still have to face Miami again.

So it's not like they still have to face Buffalo and they still have to face Miami. So it's possible they could lose that because the Patriots always have this thing of losing in Miami, and it's quite possible they could also lose to Buffalo, which means they could finish like 11-6. And if Buffalo finished 11-6, depending on who has the better record in the division, Buffalo could actually overtake them and actually earn a home playoff game. So it all depends on these final couple of games. If New England beats Buffalo, then I think it does promptly put the door shut on them. But if Buffalo beats them, then they still have a chance at this.

I don't think they'll beat Tampa, but the rest of the games are very winnable. So what's your definition of nails in the coffin? Is it as in making the playoffs or like Super Bowl contenders? Winning the division. That's what I mean. If they lose to New England, I don't think they can win the division at that point. I think that ship sailed already.

I don't. So you don't think that even if they win that game that there's no – I mean, how else are they going to get it again? You would have to beat Miami. The New England Patriots would have to beat Miami, which you guys already lost to. So it could be plausible you guys lose to Miami again in Miami, who's on a little hot streak right now winning five games. So I could see, the Bills could win, lose one game to the Bucks, which we're all expecting to happen, and still end up with maybe a third or fourth seed with a home playoff game in the Patriots somehow looking from the outside in in the wildcard round. And may have to face the Buffalo Bills in the playoff. We don't know how this season will turn out because it's the AFC.

It's really competitive this season. And so when I look at this team, they had bits and pieces, and yes, they do struggle a bit. But overall, their defense is actually fairly competent, even though they did lose Tredavious White. That game, most of their runs, 41% of their yards came from three runs, and one of them was a 65-yard touchdown. The defense is about even with New England, I would say, at this point. And their secondary probably, in some ways, you can say is better. I think J.C. Jackson is better than anything at corner that Buffalo has right now. Now that Tredavious White's out of the picture. They might have them at safety because they have one of the best safety duos

in the league in Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer. But the rushing game, the rushing defense is about the same. And honestly, at pass rush, with Matt Judon back there wreaking havoc, advantage New England there. I'd say it's about so-so. It's about even right now. But I can still see them matching up with New England and still beating them. It all depends on what New England does.

They do control their own destiny. The problem is they still have to face the Colts. They still have to face the Bills. And they still have to face Miami again. Three teams that they might lose to and we all can see them losing to. It's not out of the realm of possibility of them losing to these three teams and being out of the first seeded spot. So it all depends on what the Patriots do. But Buffalo can win out, well, outside of the Bucks. They can win out because these are all winnable games. They're not losing to the Jets. I don't think they're that incompetent. They're not losing to the Falcons either. And I don't

think they'll lose to Carolina. What it comes down to is the Patriots game. If they can win that game, then all they have to do is see how well the Patriots do in Miami, which they always struggle in. And then depending on the way the conference lines up i'm not sure how many conference i mean how many division wins they have but if they have more than the patriots they'll take that if they both finish 11 and 6 the bills will have it and they will have own playoff game so it's not over yet but they did and definitely felt like they should have had this one yeah but i don't think they're going to lose all three of those of those games the patriots they could lose one or two maybe two maybe but two i would say two

and one is the more likely scenario they go 12 and five and that's what that's what winds up happening with new england you know and they lose one game and maybe that costs them the one seed to to kansas city but that's about it they would be 11 and 6 because they're 8 and 4 and they lose one game and maybe that costs them the one seed to to kansas city but that's about it they would be 11 and 6 because they're 8 and 4 they're 9 and 4 now if they lose it twice they they'd be 10 and like 11 and 6 11 and yeah so they're 9 so if they lose two games if they lose two games yeah that leaves their final record at 11-6. If they lose one game, that's 12-5. That's what I'm saying. I think out of the games, I love how we're not counting Jacksonville.

You can't. I'm sorry. If we lose to Jacksonville, we deserve to get waxed in the playoffs. I'm sorry. Yeah, exactly. That's a slam dunk. But if you go 2-1 in those games, in the games that matter outside Jacksonville, then that's a 12-5 record and most likely at least the number two seed, if not the one. could lose two out of three or all three of those games because you guys struggling against miami in miami you guys still have to face the bills who are not an easy opponent and the colts are coming on strong they just dismantle the titans no problem i know it's the i mean not the titans the texans i'm always saying it's the texans but it's hard to get a shutout and they shut them 31

nothing that was early on in the season though back when the back when the Patriots were experiencing turbulent sorry turbulence and you know they had they threw together this whole new team the defense was struggling the offense was struggling Mac Jones looked like a rookie you know of course they were going to struggle early on but they've kind of found their groove after that Jets game where they just killed the Jets. That was kind of a get-right game for them. Then they beat the Panthers, then they beat the Chargers, then the Browns, and it just went on from there, and now they've kind of figured things out. I just think it's a different team from then. But by that same token, how can you say that about the Patriots and not say the same about the Dolphins?

They struggled. I think they lost like seven games in a row, and now they're on a five-game winning streak. I don't know how we can say that about the Patriots and then not give the Dolphins at least some credit. Because New England's definition of a slow start is two and four. That's reasonable. When you start one and seven, that's not on accident. They're just in a good, a nice little hot streak. They had a nice little token win, if you will, with the Ravens. Besides that, I mean, I just think it's kind of fool's gold with Miami. They're playing well,

but they may be better than one and seven, but I sure as hell do not believe they are a playoff team. I'm not saying they're a playoff team. I'm not counting them as far as playoff teams. What I'm telling you is, for whatever reason, you guys struggle against the Dolphins in Miami, regardless if they're a playoff team or a playoff contender or not. So what I am telling you is, it is fairly possible for you guys to lose to that team in Miami. So we can't just go past that and think, oh, it's not possible. You guys can most definitely lose against the Colts.

You guys can most definitely lose against the Bills. So that's all I'm saying about it. I'm not saying it's going to happen, but these are all possibilities that can happen. I'm not going to say you guys are losing to Jacksonville. If y'all lose to Jacksonville, just give up. Sure. Unlikely but possible. If we lose to Jacksonville, I'll call it a year. I'm sorry.

What if they lose to Jacksonville and then go on to win the Super Bowl? I don't know. I don't know, man. Can you really call it a Super Bowl win at that point? Well, that's the regular season, man. They've lost some... Yeah, but you lost to Jacksonville.

In 2018, they lost to the Lions, who were not a good team that year. Just saying. All right, we are really behind, so we are going to move on to week 13, Sunday's best game of the week, the Lions. They finally get a win. That's next.

You're listening to the Fumble Rooski podcast. Stay tuned. Welcome back. You're listening to the Fumble Rooski podcast. I'm Adam Wright, Justin Tucker, CJ Medeiros, Brian Costew, our guest. And we're on to our week 13 Sunday's best game of the week. And this was Lionsikings now this was an absolute thriller which happened here uh so the game started off it was the first the first quarter was somewhat was fairly quiet you know the vikings started off with a six nothing lead that's it was nothing then in the second quarter really just the lions really took off with a 20-0 run just in the second quarter.

And they took a 20-6 lead in the halftime. Then at about halfway through the third quarter, the Vikings started to chip away and eventually took the lead 27-23 with about a minute 27 remaining off of a turnover by Goff. When they were going for it on fourth and one deep in Detroit territory. Goff got strip sacked. They scored a touchdown off that. Took the lead.

So the Lions immediately responded. They drove down the field. And in the final seconds, as time expired, got off to Amon Ross, St. Brown. Touchdown. They take the lead. They win on a walk-off, and the Lions, they win their first game. They will not go winless. I just got to say, it would be very sad to have their imperfect season be a tie. It's like, it's Oh, 16 and one like that. You didn't lose every game, but you didn't win anything either. Yeah. So guys, what are your thoughts on this game here? I mean, I guess I

can go first with this and I can just say that, uh, to my friend, Miles Crone, who I'm Brian, he goes to Bryant with me. He's a Lions fan. Unfortunately, I feel terrible for him. And I'm so happy that that man was finally able to see his football team win this year. I'm very glad for him. And while I've made my case against the Detroit Lions, I think that with the way they've played over the past couple of years, I think they should get their Thanksgiving rights revoked from them. I think that unfortunately their franchise just needs to see some rapid change changes undergo, whether that's ownership or whatnot. While I have my, while I don't exactly like them, I am, I'm happy for the fans that they finally got to see a win this year. I am so happy for Coach Dan Campbell. I really am.

He's actually a good coach stuck on a terrible team. I mean, his scheming isn't awful. The plays he draws up aren't awful. In fact, some of his play calling has been really good. It's just that he really doesn't have anyone who can execute. He is no one who can go out and make the play. And they somehow beat the Vikings. They almost blew it.

They tried hard, but then they realized that it's good to win football games. And they actually did it. And, huh? I said, who could have figured? It's fun to win football. I know, right? Yeah, I know. Detroit kind of need, they need to be taught that, but yeah.

Yeah, and I feel that, you know, obviously some big roster changes have to be made because when Amon Ross St. Brown is your best receiver, you have issues. You really do. And it's just – I don't know. Even though they have a good coach in Campbell, I honestly don't think the future is bright for them. I really don't.

I mean, I know they have a GM and all, and they've got a good GM, and they've got high draft picks. But you have to remember, the Ford family owns the Lions, are about as incompetent as incompetent gets. Yeah. So I wouldn't hold my breath from Lions fans.

But you know what? Take your win. Enjoy your win. You've earned it. It's really all you can do, unfortunately. The only thing I got to say to that is, I think they can progress because they can't go anywhere else. I mean, the sky's the limit when you're on the ground floor.

Will they get off the ground floor? Yes, I think they'll have, under Dan Campbell, I think they'll get better players through the draft and hopefully through free agency where it's like, okay, they'll have like two or three more wins. I'm happy for them. Congratulations for Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions for finally winning their first game, especially against a divisional rival like the Vikings.

I don't know what the Vikings were doing on the final play. I don't know why they just allowed the receiver to get into the end zone and let him catch the ball. If he gets close to the end zone, I'm putting my hands on him to make sure he doesn't have a chance to catch this. And I still can't believe Jared Goff got his first win without Sean McVay on a walk-off touchdown. Now Detroit are going to say that Jared Goff is clutch.

Let's calm down. He had a good game, but that was just either terrible play calling or just terrible management by the players on the field. There's no way he should have had that much cushion in the end zone and allowed that ball to be caught. I'm happy for the Detroit Lions. I'm happy for Dan Campbell to give the win to the families of the Oxford community. I felt that was very touching. But overall, I think sky's the limit for them because they can't go anywhere but up, considering their situation. You okay?

I mean, I don't... This is a great win for the team. I'm so happy for the Lions. And just watching Dan Campbell jumping for joy, watching Jared Goff running. The first person he runs to is the head coach. And all of this happening in the direct aftermath, in the wake of the tragic events that went on at the Oxford High School in the Michigan area. And the fact that he dedicated the game ball to those who are suffering in the wake of what happened. It was just all, it just couldn't have been scripted better. And I mean, it's great you know I'm hearing so much from all of these all these sarcastic fans who are saying who needs a Super Bowl win when you could just win one game during the season

and celebrate like it's a Super Bowl it's just apps it was just absolutely incredible to watch I was kind of watching on my phone while I was uh right before I was broadcasting a game, doing pregame shows for a hockey game. And just seeing that happen, it was just incredible. Twitter blew up. There was Adam Schefter saying breaking news. Detroit Lions won a football game. There's no – I don't even want to get analytical with this, like breakdown how that happened and why the –

let's just enjoy the fact that the Detroit Lions just won a football game. And Dan Campbell got himself a win in such a disaster of a season. I agree. I'm happy for him. Just an incredible, incredible game. Maybe I'm over hyping it but you know we'll we'll wait for the super bowl and then we'll we'll have something to really overhype especially a certain matchup that i would love to see coming out we're going to talk about that later not happening but okay we're we'll we'll

talk about it later we'll talk about it later uh but we we do want to move on to our next oh wait that is our next topic which is a possible super bowl matchup that has been called by um some some betters as a as the most likely super bowl matchup to happen we'll talk about that coming up next. This is the Fumble Ruski podcast. Oh, brother. This is the Fumble Ruski podcast. Welcome back. I'm Adam Wright, Justin Tucker with CJ Medeiros and special guest Brian Costew of the Down to the Wire podcast. And so Tom Brady is now the odds-on favorite for league MVP. Bill Belichick, the odds-on favorite for coach of the year. And both of their teams are at or near the top of their conference. The Buccaneers are about third, but they're certainly in contention for the one seed.

But, guys, so hear me out. How would we feel? And we'll start with the Patriots fans so we can get the pessimism of the Ravens fan, the salty Ravens fan, Justin Tucker, later. How do we feel about a possible Patriots-Buccaneers Super Bowl? Well, you know what? I'll go first. I would be happy.

I would, but only if we win because I could not stomach a loss to that team on that platform. And Adam, you and I have talked about this. I know we have wildly different views, but I think they would try to rig it for Brady. But you think they don't, and I understand why you think that. But if we won, I would only be genuinely happy if we won. I will not accept any other outcome. I mean, most likely, most like other Super Bowls, I'm not going to be happy unless we win.

But I don't know. I feel like the ratings of this game would be all right, you know, across national TV. I think I think they would be OK. I mean, what do you guys think? Do you think the ratings would be all right? This would be the most hyped up Super Bowl probably since. What would we give it since probably since Patriots Seahawks exactly that game had that game was the most watched television event in TV in U.S. history exactly this would be I mean just think about sorry I'll let you I'll let

you I'll let you continue and then I'll i'll go on so yeah this is going to be if this was to happen it would i talked about on my show this would break any tv record that you've ever seen before screw any movie screw any whatever everyone in the world regardless of whether you watch football or know anything you know about the about the falling out that happened with the patriots you know about the history of the Patriots dynasty and whether you love it or you hate it, seeing this matchup is anything that anyone could talk about. I mean, this is literally WWE stuff. If they were to make the Super Bowl and play against each other. I mean, listen, we already know the NBA is rigged. I mean, the 2002 Western Conference Finals against the Kings and the Lakers proved that the NBA is rigged,

but we still watch it because I don't know, seeing the games live and seeing Jason Tatum do his thing is still fun. But those games are rigged. If these teams actually make it to the Super Bowl legitimately, I have to call that into question. I've had to defend myself against people saying, oh, no, the NFL isn't rigged. It's just how it goes. But at this point, if they're to make it to the Super Bowl, you can't not question it at this point. This Super Bowl, not only would these two teams be facing each other, they're also facing each other in Los Angeles of all places. The city of stars is where this game is going to be happening.

And then also they have the record-breaking halftime show with Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, and then others just performing at this thing. I mean you want to talk about a television blockbuster? There's no bigger blockbuster that you could have than this. Absolutely. This is it. And Adam, not even to preface, this would be it. This is the pinnacle of television. I don't know anything that could physically top this.

Just think about the storylines that would just transpire through this game. You have 20 years of dominance with these two together. Tom Brady leaves in his first year. In his first year without the team, he wins a Super Bowl. Then the very next year, when Bill Belichick retools, goes right back to the Super Bowl, meets up with Tom Brady, who just won league MVP, Bill Belichick's coach of the year, Tom Brady's league MVP, they clash each other and just imagine if tom brady loses and if bill belichick wins he gets the he he is able to strike the empire strikes back oh my god just think about the headlines the soap opera the amount of money this the league would make if this happens like it would just be this is something that will be that will be mentioned

through league history for the rest of our lives we'll be taught we'll be telling our kids about this matchup if this happens this would be the most groundbreaking thing there's no other matchup that i want there's nothing i want more than for this to happen. Do I have to speak on this? Because I damn sure don't want this to happen. I'm going to make that perfectly clear. I don't want to see it. I don't want to be involved in it. I don't want to touch it. I don't want to watch it. I don't want to watch the Patriots and Tom Brady in the same Super Bowl at one time. No, I don't want to see it. You guys just talking about it makes me sick. It is ridiculous that I am surrounded by Patriots fans that want to see this. The only reason CJ wants to see it is because he wants to see his Patriots win.

That is it. Oh, no, I want to see the Patriots win. There's nothing in my mind. I don't want to. If Brady goes out there and wins, I'm going to be sick to my stomach. I'm like, I'm not like there's nothing. I'm not like i'm not like there's nothing in like i'm i'm not i'm not like i'm not if brady goes into the game it's screw brady go patriots like there's

nothing in that that like there's nothing in my mind where i end up saying where i'm saying oh but go brady too i hope i hope he he plays a really good game no i hope the patriots put him on put him on his tail like i i hope they they do. So, I mean, yeah, I mean, I want it to, I want the, I want the Patriots to bring it to Brady. If, if we were to play them in the Superbowl, I don't want it to be a close game if we're to play them in the Superbowl, I want it to be the Patriots firmly take control of a game and gut it out. Cause if you, because frankly,

if you put Brady in a game where he has to like go, go out and win it, he's going to win it. Cause he's just done it so many times. It's just second nature to him. So I don't want it to be close whatsoever. But from someone who understands marketing and understands just like the pure economics of it, this would be groundbreaking. Oh, yeah, it'd be groundbreaking. Me breaking my foot on the ground because I don't want to watch it. I'd be in so much misery just because I know I'll be next to Adam saying, go Patriots, let's go Patriots.

And I'm just being like, why am I here? As someone who's been with Adam during a football game, that is actually exactly how Adam cheers for his football team. And I'm just right there like, please don't do this to me, Adam. We're in public. We're at Buffalo Outlings. Don't embarrass me. Don't do this to me, Adam. We're in public. We're at Buffalo Outlings. Don't embarrass me. Don't do this to me.

We're at a church. Hey, Justin. Hey, Justin. You know, if you broke your foot on the ground, you'd end up joining the Baltimore Ravens at the hospital. Oh, no. What's that? Oh, yeah.

Is that what you're going to do? At least they wouldn't doubt my commitment to the team. At least they wouldn't doubt my commitment to the team. I'm not happy about this. I'm not going to enjoy this. I hope this game ends in a tie. I don't care. I know it can't end in a tie.

I just don't want to be involved in this game. Hopefully the Ravens beat the Patriots in the AFC championship game. Hopefully Green Bay beats the Bucks in the NFC championship game. So I don't have to deal with this. Hopefully. So I don't have to deal with this. Bold of you to assume that that's going to happen, that the Ravens will make it that far. And you're assuming the Patriots will, and you're assuming the Bucs will. I think they have the best – well, according to the odds, they have the best chance to meet each other in the Super Bowl. Okay. Why does everybody try to take the odds?

The AFC this year, the odds suck. Okay. Well, who else do the odds? The AFC this year, the odds suck. Okay. Well, who else do you see representing the AFC besides Kansas City? Kansas City, the Ravens, and New England. Nope. That's it. And not even the Ravens. You say that, and then we somehow finish with the first seed.

I don't want to hear this. I'm going to replay this. The first seed is a lot different than actually representing. I think we could represent. You think the Patriots could represent? I do. Well, we are healthier. True.

But we still have – you guys only have one more win than us and the same amount of losses. Right, but we're on our way up. You're on your way down. Again, I don't think so all right you can you can we'll we'll see how this ends up playing out but anyways we have our fan box coming up next this is the fumble ruski podcast you are listening to the fumble rusoski podcast by Power 88 Dean Radio.

I'm Adam Wright, CJ Medeiros, Justin Tucker, special guest Brian Costew of the Down to the Wire podcast. And we are close to the end of our show, which means the Fumble Rooski fan box is upon us. So we post a question box every Mondayay and you can respond with hot takes questions and more and we will discuss it and give you a shout out on our podcast respond to next week's fan box question to be featured on our show so the question of the week was how do we feel about ben roethlisberger's career so as many of you know going into this week ben roethlisberger decided he came out and

he has told those closest to him that he's going to be calling it a career after this season is over and of course what way to to announce it than to go out and win the game right after saying it. But I really shouldn't have asked this question because the answers I got were a little graphic. And they weren't that bad. I'll mention them. A little? But they were some interesting answers. So the first one was a pretty normal one. It was Robert Shelley, who we've had on our show plenty. And he said the real question is who had a better career, him or Eli? And to that I say it's easily Big Ben. That's a hard one.

No, I'd say Big Ben. Eli obviously has the two super super win, but, but so does Ben Roethlisberger. And he put up statistics and Roethlisberger has it. And he was able to make the playoffs more than often than just like during his super bowl years. When,

whenever Eli wasn't making the playoffs or wasn't making the super bowl, he wasn't in the playoffs for like, besides I think like two other, besides like two other post seasons Big Ben obviously has the better overall resume but when they make the playoffs they kind of struggle and play down to competition like 2015

mostly but you're still getting there the Giants just didn't do that outside of the Super Bowl years yeah but that's still a competitive product that's on the field. That isn't nothing. They both finished with two Super Bowl rings.

I mean, I would take Big Ben over Eli just because more accurate, better arm. I feel like Eli gets a lot of love because he's a Manning. Because I guarantee you, if that famous last name was on the back of his jersey, fringe Hall of Fame at best.

I firmly believe that the vast majority of his Hall of Fame consideration rests on the fact that he beat Tom Brady in the Super Bowl twice. Yeah. There's been a lot of bums bum quarterbacks who have won who've won a super bowl and we don't remember them quite as much let alone say oh they're going to the they're going to the hall of fame because of it eli manning he didn't even put up that great statistics during it he just made some good throws when it mattered, and that was really all he did. But I wouldn't call him a bum. I'm not saying he's a bum, but I'm just telling you that he's not as –

his whole Hall of Fame case rests on the fact that he beat Tom Brady twice. When he needed to deliver, he delivered against arguably the greatest football player of all time exactly my point points in his career like that's but that's if you can look past that he really doesn't even have anything all right we got it against him all right all right so so ryan Lion DeLongchamp said overrated and a rapist. Oh. That's something. Certainly is something. Can't deny.

I mean, he kind of did. I mean, you're not wrong. I mean, word on the street is he's very good with kids. Oh, stop it. All right. You know what? I will lie. Big Ben just – there were two things Big I won't lie. Big Ben just... There are two

things Big Ben doesn't know. How to beat the Patriots and understanding of consent. Oh, God. Alright. Alright. I'm glad you didn't respond to this

fan box question, CJ. Oh, I specifically did not respond for you. I want you to know that. All right. Thank you, CJ. Patrick Williver said, easily Hall of Fame. I think I can agree with that. Yeah, easily Hall of Fame.

He probably will. He'll be in the Hall of Fame. Yeah, he'll be in the Hall. Secret Weapons Consulting. By the way, CJ, do you know this guy? As a matter of fact, I do. He's very near and dear to me. I'm not going to say who he is, but he's very near and dear to me.

Very nice guy. And do, like, one of your parents follow us? Because I'm pretty sure there's another Madeira. I don't believe so, no. All right. Then maybe it's another. All right. But whoever this's another. All right. But whoever this is says seven out of ten.

You agree with this rating? Maybe in his prime. What does that mean? Like, out in his career. Like, to rate his career. Maybe in his prime, but. I mean, Big Ben. I mean, I don't personally view Ben.

Like, I never really viewed him as a top three quarterback at any point in his career. He was notorious playoff choker. He's kind of like the reverse Eli, whereas Eli always had good luck against Tom Brady in the postseason. Big Ben could never catch a break against Tom Brady in the postseason. So I feel like that, whereas that would help Eli, this kind of hurts Ben. But honestly, Big Ben, oh, this is hard. I mean, he's a good quarterback. Some would say Hall of Fame.

I don't think he should be first ballot, but I think he'll go. But, I mean, I feel like he should be, like, the line of what Hall of Fame is. Yeah, certainly. All right so joey peduzzi said fat lard who loves men i'm not even you know what adam i'm not even gonna open that i'm not yeah i didn't i didn't touch it either brian are you brave enough to touch that uh not with a 10-foot pole no you know what that's probably smart you know what i will say what i will say though is he does look like an offensive lineman or a pass rusher just the way he's built so there's a reason he's hard to sack. He always breaks out of – he's a physical guy. Yeah.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure a bunch of women do that too. We're going to get sued. Jeez. All right. No, no, no. Let me just say that's not okay. The fact it happened was not okay. Someone should probably still do something about this.

Of course. Yeah, no. I'm sorry. I can't help myself. was not okay we we someone should probably still do something about this of course yeah no i'm sorry i can't all right we're gonna get away we're gonna get away from uh ben roethlisberger and get to something a little more positive uh so the reason i'm not gonna say so the i know what you're going to say. Yeah. That's it. That's it. The reason our episode is being released at 5 on a Thursday is because on today, Thursday, it was a year ago today when our podcast started so it was me justin and our old co-host

brian mucker i was trying to get robert shelly on the show he was brian's out yeah he's out tonight that's tough oh yeah he's he's usually as what a surprise right but i I mean, it's been a great ride so far. I've literally been learning how to podcast as we've been going along. And it's been a great experience. But, Justin, you want to reflect a little bit on this past year doing this podcast doing this show it's been an interesting year from trying to work through the covid pandemic to trying to learn how to talk in front of a camera to eventually feeling more comfortable to do this it's been an interesting transition now we actually have to get mics and stuff and hopefully like like brian a soundboard because that's amazing uh i i'm so thankful that i did

not pay for this thing this is all being brought to you by brian university brian university inspired to excel hey hey this is dean cobble stuff right here we believe in the dean difference good sir yeah this is there we go this is a dean podcast yeah I don't even think Dean has anything like that. They have the radio station, but they don't have – it's rarely available because they have a lot of DJs who kind of are always doing their own thing. So it's never – like we rarely have the opportunity to do talk shows, which is why we're always doing it over Teams. We do have – We do need more equipment right now. So I did get a pop filter from my internship at a Rhode Island radio station. And the problem is my dog ate my pop filter. So what a pop filter does is see how i'm talking into this and it sounds like this

like that and i'm literally using my the case for my mic to cover it that's what i've been doing for the past like three months since i loved that pop filter it i was really sounding good it was awesome and then my dog you should have seen it there was a trail of just black stuff a trail of pieces of of pieces of the the pop filter that went from from my room right where right where i do my podcast to his crate now he's only a year and a half years old but good lord does he piss me off sometimes. A year and a half? He's like 10. 10 and 6 months in human years?

Yeah, not... So one year is 7 years in dog years. But anyways, we're talking about the podcast, not that. I thought they got rid of dog years because they ended up saying it was a stupid statistic. It's pretty accurate. Who's they? The dog year police year police yeah you never heard about them it's offensive to dog no but anyway get me started on them but anyways what ended up happening how we started this podcast was i mean we've always been as a group we've always been talking sports not behind a camera giving our two cents. And we

feel like we generally know most of the time know what we're talking about. And we enjoy doing it at the very least. And we've always been saying, well, man, we need to get a podcast going. And we never did. And I'm going to, I'm a sports broadcasting major. so I really wanted to do something for that, to really start to sharpen my speaking skills and to get some time behind a mic to work on myself in those regards. And one day I was like, we need to start this. We need to get this going. So I talked to my friend Brian. I talked to my friend Justin. They're like, yeah, we should do that sometime. I'm like, yeah, I think it was a Monday. I'm like, how about next

Tuesday? Let's record. And they're like, oh, really right away. I'm like, yeah, we're, we're getting, we got to get this done. Like, cause we keep on saying we're going to do it and we never do. And that Tuesday it was an, it was the eighth and we record, we dropped our episode on the 9th which was a year ago today well today's the 8th when we record tomorrow's going to be the 9th and it was a year ago

when we dropped our first episode and 53 episodes later here we are still going and they haven't shut us down yet just we gotta make sure we limit those comments about ben roethlisberger don't we well ben roethlisberger should have limited himself yeah i see brian looking at the soundboard oh boy all right but we are this was probably our also our longest episode to date, probably about – I'm thinking it's about a minute and – an hour and 30 minutes.

So for those of you who stayed around, you guys are troopers. But anyways, do you guys have any other – excuse me. Any other thoughts before we close out the show? I appreciate Matthew Judon. I like the fact that he said, I appreciate everybody on the entire offense, except Mac Jones. He didn't really do much. I like that. Outside of

that, that's all I got to say. Well, he is right. Yeah, he's allowed to say it. Yeah, I mean, listen, he's allowed to say it, but obviously Adam, thank you so much for having me on for this special episode. I'm really great. Really grateful.

I was able to tune in. And for anyone who's interested in listening to my podcast as well, I have a general sports talk podcast. It's called Down to the Wire. You can follow it. You can follow it on all streaming platforms at Down to the Wire. And if you want to follow any updates, go to my Instagram at down dot toothewire, again, at down.tothewire for any updates regarding shows or even small clips. Obviously, Adam, I'll pass it off to you to close it out. All right, guys, I just want to thank all of you for being a part of this podcast for the

past year. I've been wanting to get a show going. Justin, you're not even a sports broadcasting major. You're a psychology major. You're doing this out of the kindness of your heart, and I appreciate you being here for every single episode. You haven't missed an episode, and I admire the hell out of that. Actually, I think you missed one, but that was it. Way to throw him under the bus now, Adam. Jesus Christ. I missed it due to a project that's fine and cj thank you for joining us on on uh on our show um i really appreciate you climbing climbing aboard with us you're a great addition brian i'd i love having you as a guest i love you guys this feels like that drunk that drunk conversation where you're like, oh, I love you guys.

Or like that drunk conversation that you had at one point. Yeah. I don't know what you're talking about. Oh, yeah, you don't know what you're talking about. Okay. All right. Okay. For legal reasons, I don't know.

Well, actually, I wasn't even there, so. You're not culpable in anything, CJ. I know. I'm 19. I drink milk. Good. Good, good, CJ. I know. I'm 19. I drink milk. Good. Good, good, good. It's good for your bones.

I drink milk too, of course. It's good for your bones. Adam, you built me the diehard. You know I love milk. So that'll do it for us tonight. Thank you for listening to us. Make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel. Check us out on Spotify, Spreaker, and Google Podcast. Also, be sure to follow our Instagram at FumbleRooski underscore podcast

to keep up with our podcasts and the latest coverage on the NFL. Otherwise, we will see you next week. Happy one year and over and out. Bye. Thank you for watching. Peace. See ya.