The Fumblerooski Podcast - Turning Back the Clock -Ep 414 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: January 6, 2026

On today’s episode, the playoff field is set and the NFL gave us one more game of the year to end the regular season. The Steelers clinch the AFC North and hold the 4th Seed, the Ravens get sent home with just as many questions as they did before the game. Black Monday hits the NFL, we take a look at each firing and how their tenure panned out. After this Justin Tucker and CJ Medeiros debate the MVP race: Drake Maye vs Matthew Stafford. Along with Chris Costich, we talk all this and more, including the 2025 Most Surprising Teams and the most underwhelming teams.

The 2025 regular season has come to an end. The playoff picture is set. And by God, the NFL writers gave us one last game of the year to send us off into the NFL Wild Card Weekend. We'll talk about that with the Ravens and the Steelers. We'll take a look ahead at Wild Card Week as well. Our most intriguing matchups, Black Monday, coaches getting fired, the MVP race. Drake Mains, Matt Stafford, and more. This is the Fulmarusky podcast.

It may not have always showed it in the staff sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws. Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides. Welcome to the Fulmleruski podcast by PowerDadeeatine Radio in Secret Weptain Consulting. We got C.J. Medeiros.

We got Justin Tucker. Adam Wright in the back. I'm Chris Kostich. Glad for you to join us for another Tuesday episode of the Fumble Ruski podcast. And 2025, man. What a year. What a freaking year. Game of the year nominees every single week, at least two, including this week.

We had some good ones. And most notably, of course, the Sunday night football matchup to end the 2020. season where the Steelers got the win and winning the AFC North over the Baltimore Ravens Tucker I'm sorry man I'm sorry that's that's literally all like

that's literally all I can say because I said it immediately right after the kickoff after Boswell missed the extra point after the kickoff I texted in the chat I said Lamar's about to do this shit because kickoff was brought out to the 50 Isaiah likely massive fourth down catch that was like the play of the year for you guys and then Tyler loop just pushes it to the right to end the season um I'll just leave it off to

you thoughts we haven't hit the 24 hour rule just yet so if there's pain in your voice I completely understand. Let's just get this out the way. First things first, I'm not going to be sour grapes. Congratulations to the Pits of our Steelers. At the end of the day, they deserve to win that game. They won the game, not convincingly, but they still won the game in the end. They did enough to win that game.

Aaron Rogers, once again, abused my defense. Now, granted, Kyle Hamilton wasn't there in the second half, but again, Aaron Rogers does what he does best and abused our defense. Congrats to him. Congrats on winning the Amps C. North. Just get on them, and best of luck to what they do on the playoffs. With that being said, oh, I don't even know where to begin.

I guess the most glaring issue out the way, Tyler Luke, as much as I wanted to strangle his neck last night after what he did, I had to accept the fact that he's a rookie. and from listening to, like, a veteran tackle of our team, Michael Pierce last year, I mean, talk about the game this, last night. He was like, he's a rookie. Just give him some time. That was a big position.

Just don't, don't just give him some time. And after hearing it from him, I kind of relaxed, hearing him from a player talk about this, I decided to leave Tyler Loop alone. He's a rookie. He's going to make mistakes. I have to accept that. This isn't his first time missing kicks,

and it's not his first time missing, like, extra points and field goals. It's fine. With that being said, John Harbaugh, fuck off. It's time for you to go. It's time. It is time for you to go. Zekor, go with him too.

Your defense, with the game on the line, couldn't stop a soul last night. You couldn't stop anybody last night. I understand that she'd obey a woozy. slipped and that's what caused the game-winning touchdown in the end. But at the same time, I still don't believe your defense would have stopped them anyhow. You just would have gave up more time. With that being the case, you need to go because I'm sick and tired of our teams being in the hole in Lamar Jackson, either miraculously digging us out of the hole or we're just going to lose the game

because our defense can't stop anybody. I'm sick and tired of it. You have to go respectfully. Oh, man, that game was. the most Ravens game I've ever seen. We've had disappointments, but that one encapsulates all the disappointments we've had. Because at one moment, you think we're about to win this game. We deserve to win this game. We put ourselves in position to win this game. And then just out of nowhere, our kicker decides, let me miss this with the game on the line

and just shanks it wide right. It's just so ridiculous. Lamar Jackson was not the reason we lost yesterday he played his ass off last night and kudos to him kudos to zay flowers kudos to isaiah likely with the game on the line was trusted to make a play and he made that play kudos to kowell hamilton don't don't put your head down you got injured that's not your fault Nate wiggins I think he played better than what he did against ring bay I'm happy for him keep your head up but the rest of y'all I can't wait for some y'all to be off my team that's just respectfully my defense couldn't get pressure on Aaron Rogers to save his life. I don't know why we could.

This has been a curse mark of our defense the entire year, and it just was so aggravating just watching Aaron Rogers just sit in the pocket, not being pressured all game. We only got one or two sacks, which isn't enough. He didn't get pressured nearly enough for him to feel threatened, and he just kept on making throw after throw after throw, and kept moving the chains, kept moving the chains, And it's just like, can we please just get a stop?

Our offense, even though it did stagnate in the third quarter and the fourth quarter, it did come a lot. And I do not blame anybody in the offense, even number 77. We'll get to that another day. But on off, this season has just been one giant disappointment after disappointment. In one hand, I'm glad the season is over. In the other hand, why would you give me this much help just to take it away from me? it's so gut-wrenching being the Ravens fan and I hope no one has to go through this but we're going to have to go through this again because it doesn't look like we'll get rid of

John Harbaugh at this moment in time so there's that yeah as of right now it is still Black Monday John Harbaugh did not get fired to the dismay of many coaches but in terms I mean as soon as Kyle Hamilton got hurt you you probably know the stats yourself it's the matter of Kyle Hamilton being on the field versus off the field are very very drastic and that was probably the turning point Adam what do you got oh never mind um I thought you had something for me yeah anyways uh CJ your pick or your pick uh your thoughts from the game well I genuinely thought the Ravens were going to win and what the reason i thought this was at the end of the first half when

pittsburgh got greedy went for a touchdown they left points on the field i thought to myself oh yeah this is the game that they're going to lose by two or three and we're going to point and laugh and say oh you should have taken the points and you know they came back you know baltimore blue yet another 10-point lead or two-score lead every you want to look at it. But, you know, then I see those huge touchdowns. And even still, I thought, oh, Pittsburgh just becomes just short and then we're going to laugh at them for not taking it.

You know, Pittsburgh was trying to hand them the game. That right there, that should have been the thing that kept Pittsburgh behind the entire way. But no, Tyler Loop just had to miss. And honestly, I thought he was going to make it. I had this whole thing in my head that I was preparing for this. About, well, if you kick the field goal, then Baltimore needs a touchdown, not a field goal. This is going to screw you.

And no, nope, it didn't. Tyler Loop, just, I hate to say, it just made a rookie mistake there. And, yeah, I mean, that sucks. If I were a Ravens fan, what I would be wondering right now is, is he was a solid kicker this year. think he was pretty good. But, I mean, outside of his struggles to hit from beyond 50, which I think he only did like once, all those other misses before that, I think we're actually from 50 plus. So definitely he's got stuff to work on, but I think he's fine. But is he going to be good next year, is what I'm saying? Because you guys know how it is. We've seen it with many

kickers. If they miss a big time kick, like they're just never the same. Like, it seems like once their confidence evaporates, it never comes back. And we've seen that before. As a Pat's fan, And I remember Stephen Gustavsky missing an extra point in the AFC championship game against Denver, which results in New England chasing points the entire rest of the game and having to go for two when they could have just, you know, kicked it and tied. But, you know, and he was never, you know, like one more good year in 2016, but he was never the same after that. So maybe that happens to loop. Maybe it doesn't. A lot of weird people, and even Tuck mentioned this.

before the show that are on what we call Ravens Twitter, said, oh, Justin Tucker wouldn't have missed that kick. He was terrible last year. I think that's a non-issue. So as a whole, I'm actually going to echo what the good Justin Tucker or a friend there said, why is Harbaugh still on the team? I mean, I'm not even a Ravens fan and I'm upset.

Consistency. Yeah, consistency. Yeah, consistent failure. You know what he is. He's just been. becoming the Baltimore equivalent of Mike Tomlin. Whereas I do just good enough and then

you're either going to be a one, then you're probably just going to be a one and done. Maybe you win a playoff game. But, but then either Mahomes or Allen just takes your lunch, you know, rinse and repeat. And one of the things with Harbaugh, you know, one of the, it's a double-edged sword, is that

he sticks by his guys. And that's good because, you know, you want the consistency, but he also sticks by people who should not be stuck by. For example, their defensive coordinator, Zach Orr. Why? All right. Let's just say you don't want to fire Harbo.

That's fine. That's whatever. If you want to pull the consistency excuse, De Costa and Bishotti, be my guest. But why the hell is Orr still there? Or is among the worst defensive coordinators in the league. He is continually bailed out by high-end talent. You know, guys like Roquan Smith,

Namdi Adibke, when he was. healthy. Kyle. Kyle Hamilton. Yeah, I've always, I don't, I just, you know, like Kyle Hamilton, Marlon Humphrey when he's, you know, when he was good. I'm not saying he's not good anymore. We need a down here.

So, but like without Hamilton, that, I wouldn't say that hurt the Ravens' defense. I just think it more exposed Zach Orr. Because like, oh, yeah. What can you do without your best defensive player? Oh, yeah, nothing. If your defense is one guy's store of not being good, then I'm sorry, you're a glass cannon, and that's just the way it is. The Ravens, like I said, they should have fired Orr, they should have fired Harbaugh.

They're not going to. There's actually a report, which we were talking about before the game, that said their offensive coordinator, Todd Monkin, could be fired, which of the three of them, Harbaugh, Monkin, and Orr, Monkin's the least problematic. yes so i just it feels like they're doing the opposite of what they need and like i said like if you want to become the purple version of the steelers then then be my guess because you literally just got the baltimore equivalent of harbaugh i mean of tomlin there and i just and you know there's some people that are saying oh you can't fire harball he is a ring let me go out on his own terms That ring was from the 2012-2013 season.

Rings are nice, but they have a shelf life. The NFL is a what have you done for me lately, and the Ravens haven't done much of anything lately. I do think Harbaugh is holding back Lamar. And as for the Steelers, congratulations. You get your little above 500 year. Please step to the right and collect your one and done. I mean, surprisingly, Steelers ended up finishing 10 at 7, believe it or not.

Who would have thought? Better than 9 and 8 or 8.9. How about that? We could probably go away from this topic since we've been spending a good little mound on it. But a lot to, if you're Baltimore, a lot to think about this offseason, that's for sure. in terms of other games from this weekend well that was the only win and get in I also saw the Seahawks run all over the 49ers to win the NFC West

Rams getting a win as well so they are now the the Rams are the five seed Seahawks are the number one overall seed get the first round by I think really the big story here Sam Donald back to back here is 14 wins only other quarterback to do that is Tombury.

Maybe we've seen a new era of Sam Darnold. I don't know. Maybe that's something to talk about for next episode or next week. But we could also save 49ers and Rams for Thursday if we want, unless you guys have anything to say about that. The game itself was decent, even though Seattle was clearly the better team on this day. I think injuries after a certain point were just too much for the 49ers to go against.

And that defense was something serious that Seattle has. So, oh, no, good on Seattle, good on Sam Darno. He looked very good in prime time against a fairly good defense and didn't have any ghostial paranormal activity. So good on him and good for Seattle. They have a first round buy, and I expect Sam to do better and do good in the division. that's it. Interesting to note

every time that Seattle has made has gone the number one overall pick they've made the Super Bowl hmm

a little food for thought interesting well yeah I'm going to feel it's tough place place wait did I say pick or seed

you said pick oh yeah number one overall seed geez um Other game, the other Saturday game, that was probably the biggest one, one of the bigger ones, but didn't have a ton of meeting. It was Bucks Panthers, Bucks won, Falcons ended up winning anyways the next day against the Saints. So bucks are out, Panthers are in at the four seed.

Another year where an NFC South champ is below 500. But, I mean, for good reason, considering that the Panthers, I mean, the reps were doing everything above the stuff. under the sun that you could do to have the buccaneers win this game my goodness so i think the just to make the falcon saints game interesting um but thank goodness the football gods came in clutch that was just uh falcon saints was literally just a ball don't lie game you know that you said football gods were not going to let i mean let's be honest that was ref ball in every sense of the word that that might have been one of the worst officiating that was the worst officiated game so far this year you know yeah i remember watching it and just like just losing it i mean

not that i had any vested interest but dang yeah i i did i always want baker to do well i don't know i mean i don't know i want them to do well too but when your tight end trips over zone two feet without being touched is called dpi that backwards pass that landed at the feet of dowdell which they called a loss of six yards out of bounds. They're tight-end getting their helmet ripped off for a no-call. Tenro McElland doing a swim move, you know, one yard from the line of scrimmage. It can call the OPI. These weren't even tic-y-tack calls.

These were just blatantly wrong. It depends on how you see the dot. The dot of one, I will say, if you throw the ball backwards, it can be considered a fumble, not an incomplete pass. No, no, no. But no, but no, it said they ruled it out of bounds. despite the fact it didn't that's what people are upset I'd see what you're saying okay it should have been it's not a balance it should have been just they blew the whistle prematurely

it landed his feet and he could it was a fumble because it was a backwards pass so we could have picked it up and ran they blew it dead and then after review ruled it out of bounds which that's got to be one of the wonkier things that I don't understand how they justify it the rest were all there oh we could have changed it's like well yeah yeah Yes, I think you should have. Well, the correct call. The correct call would have been to just replay the down at that point.

That's the only what? No. Replay the down. I don't know if you can replay the down, just if it's a ref mistake. Yeah, you can. Easily. Anyways, we'll move on from week 18 and start thinking ahead to, Well, for some teams off-season, or well, for some teams post-season, is another team's off-season.

We'll get into Black Monday when we come back from the break. This is the Homerusky podcast. It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws. Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides. Welcome back to the Fulmaruski podcast.

Let's get into Black Monday. Head coaches getting fired around the league. Let's talk about it. Which coach do we want to go after first, or which firing do we want to hit on first? Should we go after the Raiders? Should we go after Pete Carroll to start? This is the most obvious one, I think. Yeah.

Because, like, this. This is now, what, four years in a row where they've gone one and done on coaches? Something to that effect, yes. One and done. Maybe not one and done, but a coach hasn't made two years, I think, since, like, Gruden. And if my math is correct, they're paying four coaches right now. I think they're on the last year or two of Gruden's deal. They're still paying McDaniels, and they're obviously still paying Pierce.

now they're still going to be paying care of what an absolute just unserious organization i was about to say pierce made one and a half years well if you count in a room yeah that's why i was thinking like that's the closest we've gotten here but that wasn't good enough obviously the next season yeah i mean it's just a crap shoot right now in Vegas uh like they're expecting one-year rebuilds and grand yeah like this was a lot of people were thinking oh gino smith and p carroll are teaming up again they got brock bowers they just picked ashen gentie maybe some good things can happen but it was nope the exact opposite they shouldn't have been this bad is all i'm saying i didn't think they're going to be contenders but i expected like seven ish wins yeah there was no reason for

them to come out and look lifeless win or lose yeah and i think when for a rebuild you shouldn't be hiring a 74-year-old coach, like I get Pete Carroll's a legend. Well, let's not forget that he really only did good in Seattle and USC if we're talking to college. But Seattle was the only place he really actually had success. And that's not to disbar what Pete Carroll has done, which is a lot.

Like he is a very legendary coach in the, college sphere and the pro sphere but I'm just stating a fact and the other fact is you shouldn't be hiring a 74 year old coach for a rebuild that now you're a little deeper in but good news is that you have the number one overall pick because you lost to the giants and the giants ended up beating the Cowboys week 18 so that's kind of the magic in this whole thing now is where What teams become most desirable in terms of the head coaching vacancies in terms of the number one overall pick, who you have as quarterback, how much cap space you're in? We could talk all of that later, but one team I'm thinking about is the Titans right now because they have the most cap space amongst all the teams that need a head coach. that yeah they have that's the spot and then got the quarterback but you could also get Vegas

who has the second most cap space the first overall pick and honestly hear me out I feel like the roster itself has more talent than the Titans roster just as a whole because they still have Gentie they have Bowers they have Colton Miller Max Crosby you might want to be traded we don't know

but they do have like some really good pieces still it's just you know they got to be in love So those are probably the most attractive spots. Maybe Atlanta, too. Atlanta doesn't have a first overall. They don't have a first.

No, no, but I'm just saying as far as roster construction goes, you have penned. Look at that offense. And they've even got some good pieces on defense. All we hear about with Atlanta is this young, exciting team, ready to pounce at any second. And they just never do. Like, they just can't put it together.

So the team itself, with all that talent, there's no reason they should not be able to compete in that weak-ass NFC South Division if their quarterback can't stay healthy but I mean I'm just saying you still have a first overall pick quarterback and Pennix showed promise so yeah and by the way moving on to Atlanta real quick

that was a hell of a segue by the way hell of a segue um yeah so they they fire Terry Fawnaut they fire head coach Rahim Morris and of course now that the video the video of terry ponton not trying to explain why he drafted michael pennix after signing kirk cousins to 180 million two months prior is resurfacing and i remember watching that on draft now i was like oh my god that's a guy that's getting fired next year yeah i literally said that by the way i just want to point out that was literally

what i said i you know what's the old saying if you have two quarterbacks you don't have any yeah and when you drafted an injury prone person like ninth overall i believe and you gave kirk cousins like a deal north of a hundred million i said like no he should not have a job and if both of them don't pan out then then he's going to get canned cousins that that deals horrific it's one of the worst deals in the league and pennix you know how he had that right knee and Well, now he's got a left knee one. He doesn't have any knees. He has the same upside when he's on the field, but now he has two bad knees instead of one.

Yeah. And when you also look at Atlanta going into next season, they're only going to have $4.8 million in cap space. So that's going to be interesting to see how they play out. I mean, the team itself is like already solid, especially for that division. So I don't think this need a head coach. And I guess that's the other thing about Fontonaut is that, like, he drafted some good players. Like, yeah, he drafted Kyle Pitts, but he also drafted Bejohn and Drake London. Kyle Pitts isn't a bad, especially the way he played this season.

I mean, besides this season, but at the moment, he's currently going down as a bit of a bust. But he's not acting like a top 10 pick in the NFL draft. That's the fun. He did in his rookie season. he didn't in his rookie season but for some reason he fell off a cliff either way sure fine let's let's throw Kyle pits in there just say fuck it

but when you have a team that finishes 8 and 9 and losing seasons back to back years when you should be compete as you mentioned CJ competing for a division title year in a year out that's a bit of a problem and I mean shit I mean

while we're on NFC South, I mean, the freaking Bucks still haven't fired, uh, uh, Todd Bulls. No, they're not going to, uh, he's safe, apparently. For some, Aaron Glenn, Mike McDaniel and Zach Taylor are allegedly safe. And there's just no reason for any of them to be. Yeah, they just, they believe in Aaron Glenn in New York. And I'm like, all right, fine. No, they don't. No one wants to be there.

Who are you going to get instead? Like, no one wants to be a New York jet. Yeah. But you're going to get some low, your coach who just wants to cash in after two years and leave. That's how it works. Yeah. And the craziest thing too is that when you look at the Falcons

before we get to the Cardinals real quick, when you look at the Falcons, if they didn't lose to the Jets, they would be NFC South champs right now in hosting the Los Angeles Rams. Cardinals fire Jonathan Guyanin after

three seasons at the helm of Arizona. This being the worst of the three. That's really all you can stretch it out to be. I mean, the Cardinals did not have a good defense. I mean, Jonathan Gannon, you could argue, only got hired because he was the defensive coordinator on a Super Bowl team. Yeah, that, I mean, that's literally why.

Yeah. And, Chris, you know, and tuck, you know how sometimes when you see an introductory press conference and you know it's going to go south that's how i fell with jonathan gannon like what does he do he's just he's just there he's it's kind of like when well dennis allen was head coach of the saints and it's just like he's a meep you know to use uh chris term he's just there he's he's like a i generated or something don't forget he put on hard knocks with the falcons when i listened to his speeches it's like this guy could motivate me to make a sam which if I was starving to death.

Like, I mean, what does he do? Like, he just crossed his arms sternly on the sidelines and does, like, nothing else. He's just, I don't know. But for a defensive mind, the Cardinals never really had a good defense. Also, don't get wrong. Kyler was terrible, too, but that whole organization needs to burn it all down and just rebuild. I wouldn't say burn it all down. They have pieces.

I want all of it. Like, you know, obviously keep MHJ, keep McBride, keep. Yeah. or Nolan, keep Buda Baker. But everything else, like, Kyler, everything just like, no, it's over. Yeah. Fair enough. Jonathan Gannon also put his hands on a player as well.

I remember that. Yeah, don't forget about that. Prounds fired, Kevin Stefanski. This was inevitable. Yeah, it was inevitable. We were talking about it on Friday. It's one of those firings where, you know, you, say, well, you know, he doesn't deserve it.

He kind of got fucked over. But at the same time, a lot of coaches like Bill Belichick, like Mike Shanahan, like Andy Reed in Philly, they all get to a point where it's the time's up. It's just the vibes are that you got to go and we got to go separate ways and figure this thing out a different way. And that's how, and that's where Cleveland got with Tepansky or Cleveland and Stafansky got with each other. It's, that's all it really is. Yeah, yeah, Chris, I understand. I do.

I just, I said before, if he gets fired, he's gotten a raw deal. And I maintain that. And by the way, I don't know if you saw the Pete Priscoe CBS report where, by the way, my point, when last time I talked about Stafansky has been vindicated. Quote, Kevin Stafansky reportedly never wanted to make the trade for Dishon Watson. I called it. And then it's like, oh, but he said Baker Mayfield needs to be an adult. Yeah, well, I still called it. So you both can suck on that.

Okay, so my thing is, if he didn't, no, no, no, I didn't say, I didn't say Stafansky wanted Watson. No, no, I'm talking mostly to talk. You said, fuck me. You said, fuck me. What hell is that? What's, my thing is, if he didn't want Baker, who else was he going to go to that was on the market at the time. He didn't say he didn't want Baker. It's just, it was probably like a

kick in the pants more than anything, but he still didn't want Watson. And the fact they're keeping Andrew Barry, who executed the trade for Deshawn Watson and foisting him upon Kevin Stafansky, that's just, I hope he gets an O.C. job or a good job somewhere else because he got screwed, man, I tell you. I'm kind of curious where he's going to end up. Honestly, I can see him ending up several places. Science? That's a possibility. Maybe Arizona?

I like Stefanski in New York. Now think about it. Him, Dart, neighbors. Maybe Oakland? Scataboo? That's... Oh, Scataboo. I mean, Stefansky with a running back

that fucking runs people over? Yep, he had that in that. chub he did that he did he did uh any other ones that we missed that uh we're not or just place stefansky could go well i mean that too but i'm well firing no firings now that's it we talked about carol sophansky ganon morris like that that's all of them kind of underwhelming yeah all right let's move on um to we'll take a quick break when we come back. Let's get into the, what do you guys want to do?

MVP race or surprising or underwhelming teams? What do we want to do? No, let's do it. MVP race, Drake May versus Matthew Stafford. That's after this. This is the Pumble Ruski podcast. It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws.

Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a lose-lose. scenario for both sides. Welcome back to the Fumble Ruski podcast. This may be the best segment of the year, to be honest. I cannot wait for this.

The MVP race has come down to Drake May and Matthew Stafford, as it kind of has for, I would say, the last two months. There's been others that have kind of hung around on the outside, but it's been Drake May versus Matthew Stafford. After Sunday, I haven't checked recently, or at least today on Monday, but after the Rams beat the Cardinals, the odds were set to Stafford at minus 125 and Drake May at minus 105. So Stafford is currently the favorite horse as of right now, but by a hair. You can really just chalk it up to the 50-50, a coin flip. we're going to have a nice little debate

I lean I lean more to Drake May but I can make a great argument for Matt Stafford as well and I'm going to stay neutral in this and kind of sit back and let you boys have at it CJ arguing for Drake May and Tuck arguing for Matt Stafford

I say this now because we kind of already some pleasantries were sort of said to begin or right before we began the episode so duck i will let you start and give me your case for matthew stafford you're making it sound like i said obscenities to yeah no i'm kidding he drake tuck has actually never said actually a bad word about drake may um anyways give me your give me your MVP case for Matthew Stafford? First off, I want to say that while Drake May has a solid MVP candidate, I do not think is as good or as valid as Matthew Stafford.

I think Drake May's case really comes down to what has happened the last three weeks, and I think that's basically unfair to Matthew Stafford. I don't think an MVP where he should really come down to the last few weeks. I think it's about the longevity, what you have done within the last few weeks. those 17s, 18 weeks and who you did it against and the numbers that it comes down to and the quality of the performances. If you look at Matthew Stafford's stats, 46 touchdowns, eight interceptions, 4,700 passing yards and a 65% completion percentage. He finished fifth in the AFC, I mean, I mean the NFC, and the only reason he did that is because his defense couldn't stop Seattle when he needed them to the most.

outside of that he's been playing absolutely amazing and they should have been the number one seed outside of that one game against seattle if he is the number one seed with these stats this is not even a question but since he's number five we're going to look at a guy in drake may with admittedly lesser stats and be like oh he should absolutely be the MVP i don't know what it is is it a team award that just so happens to go to the best player on the team or is it the most valuable player on the team And Matthew Stafford, without question, has been the most valuable player on the Los Angeles Rams. And that's not even a question. If you look at his performances, if you look at his play, look at what he's doing against, and look at the winning he is done. I think Matthew Stafford should be the MVP of this league. CJ, your case for Drake May. Lutz do you want to first respond to anything that Tuck said, but I assume that your argument for Drake May will address those.

Yes, it will. It will. So first we want to talk about what the MVP is. The team itself is one thing. This is something we were talking about Allen versus Jackson last year, right? And I said, hey, you know, technically, if you want to go based on stats, why not Joe Burrow? He did lead the NFL in yards and touchdowns. And this is something, you know,

that that was mentioned to me before. I think Adam might have said it. No, it was me last year because I was really mad that Joe Burrow was not being. No, no, no, no. Someone, you know what I'm about to say. I think Adam said this. No, I think Adam mentioned something and it was something, you know, to try to change my mind. Something that I was kind of like, I've been turning over in my head ever since about how, about how, it's not necessarily about the stats.

but it's more so about how valuable are you to your team, like making the playoffs, for example, but like what you do for your team. And, you know, I've kind of come around on that. I really have. So you look at these stats. You're still great, you know, leading the league in completion percentage, and I think pass a rating, I'm not sure.

4,394 yards, 72% completion percentage, and 31 touchdowns to eight picks. I think he might have also led the league in yards per throw. I'm not entirely certain. And if not, I think number two. So as a whole, one of the biggest knocks against Drake May is his schedule. They're saying he can only beat up on Cupcake teams. If that's the case, then why isn't Stafford beating these Cupcake teams?

He's losing to them, actually. When you look at common opponents, Drake May is 6 and 0, Stafford's 4 and 2. People say, oh, the Panthers are a Cupcake team. The Falcons, Cupcake team. Okay. Then why can't Stafford beat them? Why didn't he win? Especially against the Falcons. Why did he throw three interceptions against the Falcons? Why did he throw two really bad ones against the Rams? That's pretty damning, is it not? Furthermore, Stafford can't even win his own division. Also, Stafford went four and two in his divisional record. Drake May went five and one, even splitting with a very good Buffalo bill. Someone say you should have won that second game, but we've already, we've been there done that. So the thing for May is this. These are ethical yards, for lack of a better term, and touchdowns as well.

Matt Stafford, what's his nickname? Say it with me, boys and girls. It's Stat Padford. A lot of his numbers just seem to be empty calories. Over half of his touchdowns have come, like, I think on like the one yard line. And over 60% of them, I think like 26 or 27, have come. come from inside the 10. He is a fade route merchant. And also, oh, no, no, no, no, Tuck, you're going to laugh. But answer me this. Put May on the Rams and put Stafford on the

paths. If you think the Patriots still win the division with Stafford and Stafford has to play behind an average offensive line throwing to old man Stefan Diggs, I got to look at you a little funny. You see, Stafford is mostly a product of his weapons. He's a product of McVeigh. There is a reason. There is a reason he has not been a serious contender before he got to the Rams. And that's McVay thing. Because look, it's empty calories. He can pad his stats all he wants. Matt, I don't even go as far as to say, this is some, you know, to borrow something from the NBA, this is some SGA level nonsense when we talk about ethical points. He is a stat patter. Drake May puts the games away and they take

him out. Stafford puts the games away and they let him go in there. When a great quantity of his yards and touchdowns, or at least his touchdowns, are coming in the fourth quarter in games that are already decided that is some Mickey Mouse nonsense, if I've

ever heard it. Didn't even win his own division for what it's worth. But Drake May, he's more valuable to New England than Stafford is to the Rams. That's something even you can't agree with. Rick May puts up those numbers, perhaps even better, since he's got a stronger arm at this point, because Stafford's older, let's be honest, and he's more mobile than Stafford as well. Also, remember, hey, tuck, hey, tuck, I have a funny one for you. Do you remember the Josh

Alan Lamar Jackson MVP debate from last year where you said, hey, let's factor in rushing yards. Why don't you want to factor that in for Drake May? Like, I'm sorry, this is something you said last year. But now all of a sudden, now with Drake May, you and the media's like, oh, well, now we don't need to talk about it. Which is it? It's fine. Bring it in Russian yours. I know, yeah, sure. I'm just saying, like,

dude, the fact that people are like, oh, Stafford's so much better, May is a cupcake schedule when Stafford can't beat those so-called cupcake opponents when he cannot win his division. He cannot beat the Sam Donald Seahawks. He cannot beat the injured Rams. Yeah, congratulations. You beat

the lowly cardinals. Whoopty-do. like i'm just saying man like that and you're saying like oh hey you can't judge it off the last three off the last three games well considering the fact the rams have been ice cold their last three games speaks volumes they they had the one seed locked up they were the one seed for weeks on end and stafford just said hey what if i choose to play some of the worst ball of my career right now This is nasty. What do you mean nasty? It's true.

I haven't said anything that is statistically untrue. Who has the harder division? Stafford or May? Doesn't matter. Most of his watches weren't even in the division. I'm like, what do you know? That is not true. Who has the harder division?

If my opponents within my division are significantly tougher than a person I'm having the MVP race against, it's obvious that is a proponent to this conversation. Are you telling me the NFC West is not a harder. the same opponents head to head. I have to face tougher opponents. That's just a fact. Who? You have to.

No, you don't. You're not a problem. What is who is I? This season, the Rams had tougher opponents. Okay. And? Matthew Stafford. They are not beating the team's New England beat.

If New England's opponents are so much easier, why isn't Stafford beating them? What was the score against the Rams versus Caroline? 31.28, right? It's not like he's not putting up numbers. He played them out of that game. Two really bad interceptions. Matthew Stafford is my MVP. Oh, he lost a fumble as well.

He lost the fumble too? Yeah. Returnovers against the Panthers, a team that may put belt to, I might add. And, you look, I'm not going to lie, the Falcons gave New England a scare, but Drake May didn't throw three receptions against him either. Still won. And yet they still have the same amount of MVP, I mean, interceptions. They still have the same amount of interceptions. Matthew Stafford just has more touchdowns and more passing yards.

Yeah, yeah, because he's a goal line merchant. And also a hundred and five more pass attempts. Thank you. I would hope he has all this more stuff, considering the fact, they just let him throw more. And I don't know why. Like, that's literally why he gets the nickname, which followed him from Detroit, Stat Padford. He is, this is empty calories we're looking at. And furthermore, if the stats were so good, why didn't they translate to a division win? Like, why didn't they beat the Seahawks? You can blame the defense all you want, but I mean. That's why that is nasty. That's Stafford nickname. The first season he was on. another team. He won a Super Bowl. That is nasty and you know it. Damn it. I wanted to get a

take. I get it. I wanted to rip a take real quick. If you're going to if you're going to Matthew Stafford, at least do it right. Listen, if you put up the stats, you can put up the stats. That's whatever. But if you have elite targets, if you have Puka Nakua, Devante Adams, the best offensive line in the game in Kyron Williams and one of the best offensive minds in the game, there's no excuse for you to finish lower than the fifth seed you almost he's in a better finishing as the sixth seed that close he is literally you can't do that you can't do that he's in a better situation thank you adam i was i was going to get there but you took the words right out of my mouth thank you i appreciate that so it's like the lebron wade meme but no but that that's

literally like what this is he's in a better situation don't cry to me about the schedule when he has at least a top five offensive line of statistically better defense and arguably one of the best receiver tanvers in the league is in a better situation thank you out matthew step for his office line is not healthy all right nephew set for his line is not healthy all right i'm going to jump in new england's the linesman the linesman is coming in to separate the two for a sec um all right we've we've heard a we've heard a lot on both sides the listeners at or the viewers can make their opinions i'll say my piece on both sides you know uh cj mentions the one-yard touchdowns and whatnot the the fade balls inside the 10 um you know my

i guess my response to that is you know if you have the number one receiver in the entire fucking league which stafford has had in two teams now um I would be throwing jump balls all fucking day, too, as a quarterback. Like, if I had Pooka Nakua as my wide receiver, I would just be throwing fade balls all day. I'm not saying whether or not it's ethical, but that's just, that's just, in my opinion, smart fucking football. Get the ball into the- Like, when the game's over, though. Yeah, yeah.

When the game's over that's why I say ethical, because like, okay, like when the game's over, it's like, all right. And it's just, you got to take it was- what at that point you wipe away half the touchdowns then if we're going to do that but especially for him in terms of since i did say before this i want drake may to win MVP but i see it both ways very well and it's a lot harder for me to really be like drake may's definitely winning you know because i do believe matt stafford has just as good if not better of a chance to win MVP over drake may And Drake, I guess my thing is that Drake May has better stats with a not as good of a roster, which no disrespect to the Pats. The boys are fucking their nails.

But Rams roster versus the Pats roster, you lean the Rams. He just, Adam said it. He's in a better situation. And Drake May also has... 100 less pass attempts, which, by the way, Aaron Rogers did the same one MVP with Brady having debatably better statistics, but Rogers had, what, 150 less pass attempts? Now is one of the big arguments there. Mention strength of schedule or strength of schedule.

Well, common opponents. I obviously agree with that. But he also leads the league in completion percentage, leads the league in yards per attempt. it's the efficiency of Drake May and not saying Matt Stafford isn't efficient he's efficient as hell obviously but Drake May is right is that much better in terms of efficiency and even we talked about all year two at the advanced analytics say the same freaking thing um so that's what that's what I will say in regards to that is that Drake may I think Drake may you look more at the statistics Matt Stafford you look more of the common sense of

Apooka Nakuo. Why the fuck not would you throw the lob? But anyways I think yeah that was probably the two important parts of the arguments that I actually wanted to touch on in my end. But Draft Kings currently has Stafford favorite at minus 125 Drake May plus 100. Stafford minus 135 Drake May plus 105 on that

MGM. All right. We're going to take a quick break. We'll get to our final segment of the day. 2025 surprising and underwhelming teams. This is the Fulmaruski podcast. It may not have always showed it in the staff sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws. Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides.

Welcome back to the Fumbaruski podcast. Let's get into our surprising and underwhelming teams from this season. A lot of very surprising teams. Well, the Patriots being one of them, of course. Winning three games last year, this year, they win 13, or 14, pardon. Four wins last year, 14 this year. Good. jaguars same exact thing i mean winning three four games last year coming back to win 13 this

year by the way we mentioned speaking of which jaguars and patriots uh only two of three teams they are the two of the only three teams in NFL history that have gone from winning three games the previous year to winning 13 plus the next year the other team is the 1999 Colts Peyton Manning's second year but I mean if we're talking surprising teams I feel like those two

are probably at the top of the list for me I don't know about you guys but yeah they're also at the top of list for me as well especially you know not a lot was expected though I'm like yeah New England went on that spending spree by most accounts they crushed the draft but a lot of people got to realize

even with the schedule they've overperformed a lot of people have said like maybe this is like a seven to eight win team even i as a fan thought they're sealing like everything goes right you're looking at 11 wins if you told me before the season they would have gotten 14 i would have said dude i wish there's just wishful thinking on our end but no apparently not uh but for me a team that I think, you know, like definitely surprised me. Come on, let's be honest. The Bears. Yep.

I mean, look, I liked Ben Johnson. I thought Caleb Williams had a lot to go on, but just they're getting, I mean, look, is it unconvincing? Yes, but they're getting these gritty wins than like these down-to-the-wire shootouts. Caleb Williams has clutched up. I mean, sure, that's also bitten him in the ass a few times, but I think they're only going to get better is my point. And this is a team that they've definitely got got a lot more to prove. Caleb Williams obviously isn't done developing. I think Ben Johnson is just hitting

his stride. They went out and they won the AFC or the NFC North as well. For once, they're playing big brother to the Packers. And I'm not saying the roles are going to completely reverse, but this is a team. I don't think they're going to win the Super Bowl, but they could make a deep playoff run. I would not count out an NFC championship. game appearance. I mean, they have the two seed. They have it and going up against a pretty being up Packers team. So I think their chances me eat.

I was about to say they face off against each other in the playoffs right now. I want to see. I'm watching that. That would be if the other Packers who always own the bears get a little brood by them, losing the season series two to one. Yikes. Yeah. Tuck, give me a surprising team that surprised you this season.

Surprise me. Well, we already touched on the Jaguar. Ours and Chicago, but if I had to guess, look at the way it started and how it ended. Surprisingly, I would say the Houston Texans. The way they started and the way they ended are two completely different teams. They started a little shaky. They started off, what, one in three, one and four, and then all of a sudden that defense became that defense, and then C.J. Strauss started to come on late in the season.

I'm not going to lie. that defense is the best defense in the NFL because Denver's defense for some reason didn't want to stop the Los Angeles and the Chargers from gaining that first down. But otherwise, they would have been number one in total defense. But, oh, no, that defense is scary with Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson, Jr. And that offensive, C.J. Strau can keep his form and revert back to what he was his rookie year. They're a very dangerous team in the wild card spot. Oh, yeah.

um they ended up starting o and three by the way just to just to correct that uh underwhelming teams i think the one that uh might crack it for me uh i'm gonna have to go with the commanders here now you could say that it was a fluke from last year their nmc championship appearance but i mean they kept a lot of the same guys at ad debo samuel but when you really actually took a deeper look into the team. They were old. They had injuries. It turned into the season from hell.

Because most people were expecting this team to make another run like they did last year. Magical, not magical, however you have it. But this season was overwhelming for Washington. A team that probably was projected to win 11 games, only wins five. easy Chuck, give me a team Oh, for me I could easily go

Like my team and say the Ravens But I'm not going to be that guy I could say Kansas City Because the way they fell from Grace From making the Super Bowl To where they're at now With the potential retirement of Travis Kelsey On the loss to the Las Vegas Raiders

But I'm not going to lie I'm picking a playoff team I don't know about show up But Philly doesn't look scary Like they did last year They seem very beatable especially for a six-seated 49ers team that has to go in and face Philadelphia. I could quite easily see the 49ers beating Philly at Philly.

And if the offense doesn't figure it out, yeah, it's going to be a long day for Philadelphia. They just don't look like a team like I'm scared of. Hopefully, Jalen Hertz turns it on in the playoffs, but right now I'm not nervous in the slightest with that offense and what they have running. Kevin Batulow's coaching for his job right now, I feel. I concur with that 100%. And we're going to have squawking the Eagles on as well for Friday's episode, potentially to get a little preview for Eagles 49ers.

CJ, give me an underwhelming team. I'll blaze through this one. Look, I know every fiber of my body wants to say Kansas City, but I feel like that's low hanging fruit, but I'm sure none of you all pick Detroit. Yep. This is a team where, you know, I say it, every off season during the coaching cycle about how coordinators matter, case in point,

their pantry got rated, offensive coordinator, gone, defensive coordinator, gone, passing game coach, gone, D-line coach, gone. And I think they might have missed one or two others as well. And it showed roughly the same roster with vastly different results. And sure, I guess the other you could say the secondary was banged up. But why did the offense go flat if that's the case? And also, for the love of God, damn Campbell, take the points, brother. Like, that's something that he's got to learn.

Like, his, shall we say, gambling addiction on fourth down is really starting to hurt him. And it has cost him at least two to three games this year. He's just, he's got to mellow out a bit. Like, I don't know, maybe you get new coordinators. Maybe something changes. I don't know. But lions don't look now, but golf's getting older. A lot of these guys are getting older.

you're not exactly swimming in cap space as we speak your windows starting to close what are you going to do about it i'll go a step for i think i think dan kell might be a little too deep into uh going forward on fourth down or just the aggressive play calls to start mellowing out i ease in too deep like you can't you've now established that reputation you can't go back on it there is no going back on it i would because like if you if you to say if you were to do it if you were just not go for it on fourth down like fourth and one from the 23 just hypothetical uh you may start losing the locker room because that's what you got that's what your guys expect to do that's what you guys believe in you to do and now you're going to stop doing that you're going to lose the locker room if you keep failing but i see your point yeah i i i i I think the my more

works. Yeah. My more point, I guess, is that like the guys also see that you're not falling back away

from what you believe it. All right. That'll do it for us today. That's all the scheduled content that we have. Thank you for tuning into another Tuesday episode of the Fulmbruski podcast.

And we have new episodes out on Friday at ADM. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. And we also have all our episodes available on Spotify, speaker, IHeartRadio, Google Podcast, and so much more.

Be sure to follow our Instagram. Fulberuski underscore podcast, keep up with the pod and latest coverage on the NFL. Otherwise, from C.J. Medeiros, Justin Tucker, Adam Wright, in the back. I'm Chris Cost. We'll see you on Friday over and out.