The Fumblerooski Podcast - Viking Raid -Ep 323 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: December 27, 2024

Should Lamar Jackson be leading Josh Allen for League MVP? How serious are the Chiefs as contenders? Is Caleb Williams a bust or just a rookie? Will the Vikings get the 1 seed in the NFC? Adam Wright and CJ Medeiros debate these topics as well as give week 17 game picks!

Thursday night football rears its ugly head in an ugly matchup between the Bears and the Seahawks. Christmas Day did as well in both matchups. And the Vikings with the Packers in the midst of a tight playoff race in the NFC North. I'm Adam Wright, you're listening to the Fumble Rooski 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 Fumble Rooski podcast by Power 88 and Secret Weapon Consulting. I'm Adam Wright. It's just me and CJ Medeiros today, but we have a good one. Lots of ugly football to cover from the past few days. But no shortage of storylines, certainly. A lot of things to cover. And I wanted to start off with last night's game.

So, again, this is an ugly one. There was not a single touchdown scored between either team. The Seahawks have been extremely, I'd say mediocre. They're probably going to end up making the playoffs. They're 9-7 right now. Their next game that they have is against the Rams. That's going to be a tough one. But overall, they're playing about as well as a Geno Smith-led team could be. And Geno Smith has been, if you win any sort of games with Geno Smith as your quarterback, then that is fantastic. The fact

that they've been as stable as they have been for the past few years with this guy at quarterback, this is going to be the third year in a row. It already is the third year in a row where you have a Geno Smith-led team that leads your team to an above 500 record. Fantastic. Well-run team over there. They need a quarterback. What we wanted to go over was the Chicago Bears,

and more specifically Caleb Williams, a quarterback who we haven't really covered much this year. And Chris, who is not here, he put in the chat this one next-gen stat line. It's that Williams last night, so overall he went 16 for 28, 122 yards, 5.9 air yards per attempt. But he was one of nine with one interception on throws beyond seven yards. I will tell you that is atrocious. And this is a stat that Twitter has been, or X now, has been blowing up with this stat line that Caleb Williams has been having a down year.

Don't let the 19-6 touchdown to interception ratio fool you. Don't let the 3,300 yards that he's thrown for this year fool you either. He is having a down year. I am not going to dispute that. What I will dispute is that somehow through his rookie year, we are calling this kid a bust. I am not even going to tell you that he's going to, he's the best. He's not the best rookie in this class right now. He's definitely probably the worst right now, but I'm also not going to call him a bust just yet. And a lot of people also like to point out another stat line,

which is that Caleb Williams holds the ball for a very long time. This is true, but you want to know who also has held the ball for a long time? So for reference, Caleb Williams holds the ball for on average 2.91 seconds. That is his time to throw. Bo Nix's time to throw, 2.93 seconds. And going to Justin Herbert, 2.92 seconds. Jordan Love, 2.88. They're all around the same level. Three of the four quarterbacks I just named have been very good.

They're probably going to be in the playoffs. But Caleb Williams is the guy who holds the ball too long. When the other guys don't have an issue with that, you want to hear how long Sam Donalds held the ball this year? Three seconds. 3.08. And also, this is the same crowd who's calling Caleb Williams a bust for holding the ball too long, who are trying to say that Justin Fields should have been kept.

You know how long he held the ball in his last year with Chicago? Even longer. 3.2 seconds. That was the longest any quarterback had held the ball in recent memory. On average. And if you look at every single one of the Bears starters on the offensive line, it's even worse. The only starter from opening day who they still have is Darnell Wright.

Braxton Jones, their starting left tackle, is gone. Both of their starting guards, Tevin Jenkins, Nate Davis, gone. I'm not going to try and tell you that their offensive line, when it was healthy, was solid. I'm not even trying to tell you that Caleb Williams is having a good year. He's not. I think the stats are a little misleading. I also think the coaching has been atrocious. They had to fire both their offensive coordinator and their head coach midseason.

I'm just saying the kid's not fully developed yet. Even if this system was good, even if the situation was as good as we were all saying before the season started, which it turns out we were wrong about, even if this season was as good as we were saying, if the kid is underdeveloped, he's not going to be playing his best football

until a couple of years down the road. It doesn't always work where you have C.J. Stroud and Justin Herbert throwing the football and slinging it all over the place like he's a three-year vet. It doesn't always work that way. Look at what happened with Josh Allen. He sucked his rookie year. He was mediocre his second year. He didn't turn into a Pro Bowl quarterback until his third year in the league. Peyton Manning, his league in interceptions his first year in the league. Peyton Manning, his league in interceptions his first year in the league. Jordan Love wasn't ready to start playing football games until three years

after he was drafted. The Chiefs benched Patrick Mahomes, and I don't want to hear that he was ready to start. If he was ready to start, they would have started him. They're not benching Patrick Mahomes for Alex Smith. That's not a good argument to make. Tom Brady didn't start his rookie year. Lamar Jackson didn't start for most of his rookie year. Aaron Rodgers didn't start for most of his first three years in the league. All I am trying to say right now is give Caleb Williams some time. I'm not trying to tell you that he's having a good year. He's not. I'm not trying to tell you that the situation is good.

It hasn't been. And I did try to say that it was a good situation before the season started. I didn't realize how bad the coaching was going to be. I didn't realize that the offensive line was going to get hurt, and even when it was healthy, it would be bad. I didn't realize that bad the coaching was going to be. I didn't realize that the offensive line was going to get hurt, and even when it was healthy, it would be bad. I didn't realize that all of this would happen. Just give the kids some time because most of the time, more often than not, quarterbacks are not playing their best football in their rookie years.

We are too spoiled from C.J. Stroud, from Justin Herbert, from Dak Prescott, from right now Jaden Daniels and Bo Nix, and even if Drake May was on a better team. We're too spoiled from quarterbacks like that who are way, way ahead of schedule in their development. Give Caleb Williams some time, and I bet you he'll be playing much better football. Will he be a superstar? I don't know. But I still think he can be a functional quarterback, potentially even a franchise quarterback in the NFL. And he's much further along right now, at this point,

in Caleb's rookie season, than Justin Fields was in his. And I'll stand by that. CJ? You hit that nail right on the head. Let me just say when it comes to this whole Caleb Williams thing, yeah, I mean he does

have a propensity to hold on to the ball too long, but every time I hear this, or every time I hear things that are anti caleb williams it's most likely coming from the justin fields camp we here at the fumble ruski podcast regrettably have experience with justin fields fanboys because there was a time for like a solid week they were attacking us and say no but he's so good and no no he's not if he was good then he would be starting in pittsburgh over russell wilson but he's just not and i am going to double down on

what adam said i think you were right but i'm willing to go further caleb williams at this point in time is better than just the fields ever was in chicago and we can talk about you know we can we can keep mentioning how long kate williams holds on to the ball is true he does hold on the ball longer than average that is very much the case but like adam said these same people conveniently ignore how long Justin Fields held onto the ball. It was over three seconds. That's a nightmare. What would you say, like 3.2 or something like that? That is...

3.23 was the official number for Justin Fields. Also, Lamar Jackson, 3.1 seconds this year. Yeah. This is all from next-gen stats, by the way. I'm not just finding this on some... This is all from next gen stats by the way i'm not just finding this on some this is all from next gen stats this isn't just some cryptic some backwater football page like this is this is the stat page yeah speaking of stats i want to take a pro football reference right in this year keep in mind, season's not over.

Caleb Williams already has more passing yards than Justin Fields ever has had in a season. And on top of that, he also has, did I say touchdown? Or either way, he has more passing yards and more passing touchdowns than Justin Fields ever has had in the season. Justin Fields, in his best season, I guess it depends what you consider best, but he started 13 games with 5-8, had a 61.4% completion percentage, 2,562 yards, 16 touchdowns, 9 picks. Caleb Williams this season has started 16 games, 4-12, 61.9% completion percentage, 3,393 yards, 19 touchdowns, 6 picks. So this notion that Justin Fields was somehow the answer, they were too quick to give up on him, is nothing short of honestly a

joke and the fact we keep getting attacked by these field fans it just shows how wrong they are because if we were wrong i just i'm trying to think of like how to put this because my mind cannot comprehend just the foolishness of these, and I'm using this term loosely, football experts. And I believe that every fan and every talking head that ever complained about Justin Fields' offensive line owes an apology to Caleb Williams, because when Davis, Jones, Jenkins, and Whitehair are out, which is four-fifths of the starting offensive line, and yet, despite that, despite the fact that Justin Fields had all of them, and Williams is missing four of them, despite this, Williams is still putting up better numbers with a midseason head coaching and offensive coordinator change. And look, I said at the beginning of the year

that I was shocked that they didn't fire Matt Eberflus. And I mean, I know they did now. It's better late than never. But I feel like a lot of the issues with Chicago just came down to coaching. Because there is no doubt in my eyes that Matt Eberflus, when he was a head coach in this league, was far and away one of the absolute dumbest head coaches I've ever seen. Not using timeouts, hiring Shane Waldron, the list goes on. But overall, I just, I feel like the Caleb Williams panic is overblown. And to touch on people, you know, like Jayden Daniels, Bo Nix, CJ Stroud, Justin Herber, you know, guys that lit it up their

rookie season. I think we got to remember, they are the exception and not the rule. For every Justin Herbert, I can pull up a Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson, much like Adam said. Basically, you're not going to hear anything from me that you haven't already heard from Adam. It's just, my message is just calm down, all right? Calm down. And as for the Thursday night game, yeah, no, that sucked. That was pretty much it. That's all I got.

I know the banner says, you know, Thursday night football, Bears follow Seahawks, but come on. No one watched that game. Even if you say you did, you probably didn't. That's all. Yeah, and other players who started their rookie years and they weren't that good when they first started. Trevor Lawrence.

I know Lawrence, his play has recently been a little iffy, but he's overall been a decent starting quarterback. He was not good at all. Tua Tungavailoa was very iffy. Josh Allen, obviously. Kyler Murray was fine. Overall, I don't believe that quarterbacks should even start their rookie years, and most stats you will find will back that up, that quarterbacks do much better. But that's besides

the point. They did what they did. So we're not going to argue that right now. We're going to point out the fact that he's a rookie. Give him some time. This isn't like the running back position or the wide receiver position, where if you're not seeing it right when they enter the league, then they don't have it. With the quarterback position, there's a lot to learn once you get there. There's a lot of development that needs to happen that comes from not just game reps, but also coaching from professional staff. And it takes time sometimes.

Not every quarterback is as far along in their development as Jaden Daniels or Bo Nix. Those kids are just further along than Caleb Williams. We thought that Caleb can play right out of the gates. We were wrong. So give it some time. If he ends up being a bust, then that sucks, especially for the Bears who seem to not be able to do it at all.

But give it some time. That's all I'm saying. And that's the only takeaway we really had from Thursday Night Football. Obviously, it was an ugly one. There's really no other storyline from this. So we're just going to move right on. We're going to go to talk about a little bit from the Christmas Day games. The Kansas City Chiefs do not know how to lose games at all. The Pittsburgh Steelers are falling apart. And Lamar Jackson may have just reestablished himself in the MVP race. All of that is next. This is the Fumble Rooski Podcast.

It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws. Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides. Welcome back to the Fumble Rooski Podcast. Adam Wright, CJ Medeiros.

We're touching on the Christmas Day football games. And these things were ugly. There's no two ways to put it. However, the fact that the Kansas City Chiefs, who beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 29-10 in Pittsburgh, they just can't lose. They, I don't, I, I always, CJ, I always disagreed with your take of a win is a win is a win is a myth. Because I always, and the reason I disagreed with it is because I believed if you win the ugly ones early on, and then you eventually figure things out out and you start winning with convincing wins. Then those ugly wins actually mean something because it means a better playoff seed.

And they all count in the standings in the end of the day. So ugly wins are wins, but the chiefs are taking it to a whole new level where it's not even figuring it equal. They're not even figuring it out later on. They're just winning more ugly games. And I will admit the Chiefs have looked a lot better than they did earlier on in the season. Since trading for DeAndre Hopkins and getting Isaiah Pacheco back, they are a much more well-rounded offense now.

I wouldn't say they necessarily have a good offense. You can clearly see DeAndre Hopkins has aged a lot. Travis Kelsey is a shell of his former self, but still a productive tight end. Xavier Worthy is fine. I don't think he's a bust, but I also don't think he's a wide receiver one like they wanted him to be. At least not yet we'll see um and their offensive line has been spotty but fine dj humphries was a big pickup for them at uh at offensive tackle and you know what's actually really cool about joe fooney is not only can this kid play guard but when they need him to fill in at left tackle, he can do it and do it well. Which is awesome.

And the Patriots made a huge mistake in letting him go. He didn't want to come back. Sure, but they should have tried. Do whatever you need to. I mean, look at what's going on. I think he just wanted to get paid a lot of money. But either way, I digress. I don't know what to say about this Chiefs team

because I don't believe they're as good as their 15-1 record states, but I also think a full season, we're on our final game of the season. They're probably going to bench their starters. They already have the number one seed, by the way. I don't know how you can say that this is a fake team when they've played an entire season winning this way. But I digress, CJ. Now, I feel like the reason a lot of people have said that the Kansas City Chiefs are fake is because look at their schedule. It is no doubt, as a whole, they've had a cakewalk.

Think about it. The Ravens, good team. The Bengals are half a team. The Falcons are garbage. The Chargers are solid but not quite there yet. The Saints are garbage. The Niners are garbage. The Chargers are solid but not quite there yet. The Saints are garbage. The Niners are injured. The Raiders are a cellar dweller.

The Buccaneers are underachievers. Broncos, once again, solid but not there yet. You lost to the Bills, who are like one of the two good teams you've played. You beat the Panthers by three. Oh, boy, the Panthers. The Raiders and Chargers that we've covered. The Browns, you know, you've got famous Jameis and his turnovers. The injury-plagued Texans and the Mike Tomlin Chiefs.

I mean, the Mike Tomlin Steelers, who will inevitably, you know, get over.500 and then be first-round exits. Same, you know, same story, same story different year but yeah no like when are we going to start saying that they've had probably be one of the softest schedules in the league and i know a win is a win is a win but once again not all wins are created equal and sure they're scoring more points sure they're looking better but the last three games alone where they're scoring more you you played the Browns, you played the Texans who, you know, once again, like I said, injured,

because you saw what happened to Tank Dell, prayers up, of course, and the hapless Steelers, like, you know, who's another team. But you want to talk fraudulent, that's Pittsburgh in a nutshell, but that's the thing. And, you know, you can disagree, and that's cool, but i also disagree with that narrative oh you know good teams just find a way to win every game i watch kansas city they just keep getting bailed out like remember that defensive touchdown against pittsburgh that was overturned by a phantom roughing call that's the thing i'm not saying it's rigged i I've, I'm not claiming that

it's just like they keep, they continually get bailed out. And that's why, because people are frustrated. And that's just like one of the things for Kansas City. And look, don't get me wrong. They're good because they can always kick it up into the next year during the playoffs. But I will maintain to you, sure. A win is a win is a win, but not all wins are created equal. They're just not. And it says a lot about you. Sure, it's good to win the ugly ones. But when you're winning ugly every week, then that says a lot about you.

You're making it harder than it has to be. And there's no doubt. You know, Mahomes already has a case to be top five this early in his career. And there's no doubt. Mahomes already has a case to be top five this early in his career. And there's no doubt. This season has hurt him. His case to be top three has taken a hit because it's becoming blatantly clear he's having a down year. And the Andy Reid system has helped him immensely once again. If you accuse me of this, then I don't know. I'll get a CAT scan or something. But I'm just saying, though, I feel like this says more about coaching than anything.

And I do want to say one thing about what you mentioned about Xavier Worthy. He has potential, but just I don't know what to make of him because I've never seen somebody that fast needing to be schemed open. And that's an observation I made very early in the year. These plays, these aren't plays that are occurring naturally. They're plays that are designed to get him the ball. How are you technically the fastest player in the NFL, yet you can't get open? They have to scheme the ball into your hands. That's not wide receiver one.

And, I mean, that's not anything you would ever do there. And, you know, Kelsey O'Shell of himself, they don't have a true receiver one. Next season, Rasheed Rice is going to be off injury. You don't really know what you have with Hollywood Brown. Hopkins is a stopgap. I mean, you better hope Rice comes back normal from that injury. And even still, Pacheco's very middling.

I will point out, though, I was just going to say, but so long as they have Andy Reid, it's going to be fine. Because Andy Reid is obviously a top-ten coach of all time. And what it comes down to is so long as he's calling the plays, that's really what it's going to be. Because teams have looked better than Kansas City when they played. It's just Reed is able to out-coach them. The only thing that would concern me, though, is, once again, Buffalo.

Because Buffalo already beat you, and you know they're looking to conquer their demons. Because, once again, Allen's playing better. Lamar's even playing better so i don't know i feel like the competition around them at least in this playoff pool is getting a lot stiffer and truth be told if somehow a team like cincinnati sneaks their way into the playoffs with joe burrows statistically being the best quarterback in the nfl are you going to be jumping up and down as the one seed saying, I want to face the Bengals? No, you're not.

And if you are, then what's wrong with you? And even still, at multiple times during the year, the Broncos and the Chargers, two teams that will more likely than not make the playoffs, have taken you down to the wire. So, like I said, is Kansas City a good team? Yeah. Do good teams find a way to win?

Maybe. But when you keep winning ugly, asking questions is more than justified. And when I hear, oh, good teams find a way to win, that's intellectually lazy. And people who use that argument should not be allowed to watch sports they're not as good as their 15 and 1 record states i think we can both agree on that what i will disagree with is that this hurts mahomes's legacy it does because in the first half of the season he did not have a good year but as the second half of the year has heated up, it's actually quietly been a decent season for him. With a game in hand, and keep in mind,

a game in hand, he still has a game that he probably won't play because he's going to get rested. He did not get rest. He did not sit last season, the final game in 2023. And yet his stats are frighteningly close. This guy has 3,900 yards, 26 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. And his completion percentage is the highest technically that it's ever been at 67.5%. Um, the only thing that's really down is his average yards per attempt, and that's only down by 0.2 from last year. So overall, yes, he had a down year to start the year, but as it's heated up and they've gotten some of their players back and healthy, he's kind of been fine.

Yeah, but that's the thing, though. It's showing that it's more coaching-driven, and I want to point out what you said, is he's getting more players back. It's showing that the narrative that he can make anyone good might just not be true, because there is an undeniable correlation between his performance when his team is healthy

and I'm sure that's the thing I'm sure that's the same for most but there was a time he led the league in picks my point is that's normal for quarterbacks the drop-off is not all I will say is every quarterback needs something everyone yeah but i'm convinced that is not good i'm convinced that travis kelsey's numbers right now are um are elevated just by volume of targets but he's a he's a shell of its for of his former self xavier worthy you and i can agree he's not what he was supposed to be, not even close. And we didn't really believe in him before he was drafted either. No, I didn't.

He was basically just a track athlete. So overall, before they got DeAndre Hopkins and before they got Isaiah Pacheco back, they didn't really have much to work with to begin with. So when I look at that, I mean, every quarterback needs something. It's how much of it that you need that will be indicative of how good you are as a quarterback. Quarterbacks, the truly elite ones, can overcome many of your deficiencies on the rest of your roster in order to make you a championship contender. That is what Joe Burrow did in 2021.

The worst offensive line in the league somehow still made it to the Super Bowl. That is what Tom Brady did year in, year out. Somehow you never really won a Super Bowl with a wide receiver one. You never really did. You had an elite tight end, but that was it. And he was hurt most of the time. Don't forget that. I think the only one where Rob Gronkowski was actually healthy for the Super Bowl and for the entirety of the year was 2014. 2016, he was gone. So the elite quarterbacks, like look at Josh Allen. No Stefan Diggs, no problem.

He's the frontrunner for league MVP. Patrick Mahomes is not going to win MVP. But the fact that they are still, even if they don't win 15 games, if you win 12 with the team that you have, it shows a lot about what Patrick Mahomes can do as an elite quarterback, is that even in down years, you're still a contender, which they are. They shouldn't be 15 and one. I agree with you. Lots of luck this year, but even if you're 12 and five this year,

even if you finished just 12 and five, 13 and four, even 11 and six, that is an impressive feat with this team. And I think the fact that they're 15-1 right now, probably going to be 15-2 because they're resting their starters, it kind of has put a target on their backs that on a down year, while we should be praising them for still being a contending team without many weapons and some of their heroes aging, like Travis Kelsey, people look at the luck that they've experienced and the record that they have that's overinflated, and they say, well, they haven't earned anything that they've done.

They shouldn't be as good as they are. They're not as good as their record says. Two things can be true at once, though. They are a contending team, but they're not as good as 15-1, about to be 15-2. So I think two things are true at once. So just look at what they have done this year. They shouldn't have won the amount of games that they won.

They still could have easily have won 12 games this year without that. But I just wanted to get to my next takeaway, which is the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team on the other sideline, because it's been atrocious the last few weeks. And now we have, I mean, we've said, we really have said all season long, there's something about the Steelers team. They may be a playoff team, but they weren't as good as their 10 and3 record suggested. And we're seeing that now. Russell Wilson is, so far, overall in this season, he had a renaissance year. But I didn't think that he was going to continue.

And here we are. They've now lost their third straight game. And that defense that we've all championed as one of the better defenses in the league, it still probably is, but not lately. The defense that we believe that could carry them to a Super Bowl, they've given up... I mean, they've given up 27 or more points in three straight games. And if you really go back, if you just go past that one game against the Browns, against the Jameis Winston-led Browns, then there was also the game against the Browns, against the Jameis Winston-led Browns. Then there was also the game against the Bengals.

They gave up 38. Now I know Joe Burrow's having a career year. But, I mean, if you're the defense we think you are, and that you're going to be carrying this team to the playoffs, this Steelers team is as fake as it gets. It's kind of somewhat semi-giving me 2020 Steelers team is as fake as it gets. And it's kind of somewhat semi giving me 2020 Steelers vibes where they started. What was it?

11 to know. Yeah. I'm just saying this team is not what they were supposed to be. Adam. Can I ask you a question? Sure. How is this Steelers team different from the Steelers teams we've seen circa 2019 onwards? It's not.

This is what they do. They either start cold and end the season hot, or they start the season hot and taper off. Either way, they'll start at these two opposite points they'll meet in the middle for like a nine and eight or ten and seven record and they'll be like i said you know the steelers brass will gloat about oh oh my god, another above 500 season for Mike Tomlin. He truly is a top five coach of all time. Now excuse us, we're going to go get our backs blown out in the playoffs. But seriously, this is what happens every year. And is anybody expecting them to win a playoff game? I know I'm not. I don't see them beating the Chargers. Heck, I don't know if I see

them beating Denver. And oh great, you've T.J. Watts injury had a lot to do with it. But still, you can't ever let your team be just one guy. And for Pittsburgh, something just has to change because this is a team that has grown comfortable with mediocrity. All they have to cling to is, oh, Mike Tomlin's never had a losing season. As I say this every year, and I'll say it again, that's really cool. What award do you get for that? What do you get out of this? What do you get about being not terrible, but not a contender?

You are literally stuck in the depths of mediocrity. And keep in mind, this has been a slow burn for Pittsburgh. This issue has been a thing since 2017. And I say this because 2016, by the way, was the last time they won a playoff game. And even still, they barely beat an injured Miami Dolphins without Ryan Tannehill before getting their doors blown off by the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game. This has been an issue for a bit. And you can point the fingers at Roethlisberger's decline, but even towards that area where he was good,

they still weren't winning anything. And, you know, you drafted that bust in Kenny Pickett, and now you're content to hop on the QB carousel. And look, don't get me wrong, Mike Tomlin's a good coach, but there has to be a shakeup in Pittsburgh. I'm not saying get rid of Tomlin. I'm not suggesting that, not by a long shot, but maybe get another receiver, maybe take a swing at a quarterback.

Maybe something has to change because I know that the Steelers fans are content with being just okay as long as they don't have a losing season which by the way is wrong but i feel like the organization is not you cannot get complacent and at and this being the whatever it's like the 20th like the fourth or fifth straight year of this i kind of wonder maybe they are getting complacent that's just where i think this is it happens every year yeah it's i mean they've been dinking around with a quarterback position ever since roethlisberger retired and they drafted a quarterback in the wrong year to draft a quarterback kenny pickett should not have been i don't think i think every single organization in the league should have avoided that 2022 quarterback draft like the plague.

Because it was not a good draft. Terrible, terrible quarterback draft. As bad as it gets. And that's the one where the Steelers took a quarterback in the first round. Last takeaway. We're going to the next game. And there's nothing to take away from the Texans that we haven't already talked about,

but Lamar Jackson on potentially winning league MVP. Now the, between, so we talked about seeding, and now the playing field has been leveled a little bit. The Ravens are now no longer a wildcard team. As of right now, they're right there in the division race. And they're leading right now. They control their own destiny. They're the number three seed right now.

They're right behind Buffalo. And technically, they're still in the race. Technically, to get the number two seed, that is. So, when I talk about narratives playing a factor in the MVP voters' minds, Lamar Jackson, now that he's right behind his team, right behind the Buffalo Bills, suddenly that stat gap becomes a lot less of a factor. Because now Lamar Jackson has thrown for 39 touchdowns to four picks, and he's going to end up throwing for over 4,000 yards.

And Josh Allen is having another great year. Overall, 26 touchdowns to six picks, 3,500 yards. They're both probably, Allen's probably going to end up somewhere around 30 touchdown passes. And that matters a lot because, again, I don't agree with the narrative of playoff seating being a factor in the MVP race. I'm sure it plays a little bit of a factor, but I feel like it only plays a factor if you're out of the playoffs. Like if you're a team, if you're like the Cincinnati Bengals with Joe Burrow, who are probably going to end up missing the playoffs.

He's going to have the best season out of everybody right now because he's going to end up with over 40 touchdown passes. He's going to get close to 5,000 yards. Statistically, I mean, statistically, he does technically have a chance for 50. And so does Lamar. But all I'm saying is it only factors in when you miss the playoffs. That's what it should be. What it ends up being is playoff seeding. So let's say you're having a better statistical season. Your team barely squeaks into the playoffs. You're going to lose that league MVP to the guy who's also having a great season, maybe not as good statistically, but has the number one seed.

You probably have a really good team around you, but you don't end up with a higher, with, you know, you're not carrying quite as much just because at that point, you're looking at it. At that point, it's mostly because of the team around you. Whereas, let's look at a team like Lamar Jackson's Ravens. Their defense is awful. It is terrible. The Bills have a top 10 defense this year, statistically.

They've been able to limit points that have been scored against them. And their targets haven't been great, but their offensive line has been top three. The Ravens is not top three. This is where coaching matters, offensive line matters, defense matters, and a team's overall success. And Josh Allen is an unbelievable quarterback having a great season with not so great targets. But Lamar doesn't have a good line. His line is very suspect. And the defense is terrible.

He's going to throw for over 40 touchdown passes, which is unreal for a run-first quarterback. I disagree with who's going to probably end up winning this MVP. Because it's probably going to be Josh Allen, unless something crazy happens. But I think Lamar Jackson should win it. But it has gotten closer, and according to DraftKings, they are separated by about 200 points. But CJ, what are your thoughts?

This game basically reinforced everything we already knew. The Texans, this just isn't really their year, if I'm being honest with you. We already knew this because, look, once again, injury-wise, they didn't put through the ringer. Stroud's having a sophomore slump. It's not a cause for alarm. It's just these things happen. You know, you got to come down off the high, you know you're going to get better but the ravens oh my goodness they they've been something i'll give them that and honestly the mvp race isn't as cut and dry as a lot of i think

the bills fans make it out to be because we keep hearing these things like oh josh allen is the far away favorite and once again it's i really do believe that it's narrative and record-driven. Josh Allen's the only team to beat the Chiefs. And I guarantee you that even if he lost to the Chiefs, then Jackson's probably the slight favorite. But now we're seeing things kind of getting close because the other thing that shows powerful as narratives is record. Because if the Ravens can pull that rug out from under the Steelers, which I believe they're leading now because they were tied in Pittsburgh, I believe held tiebreaker, but Pittsburgh

just lost and Baltimore just won. So that's probably why we're seeing it. It just goes to show, I've said this many times, the MVP, I don't want to belabor the point but good lord the mvp race is ridiculous it always is it's it's not about stats i say this every year because if it were actually about stats and about who the best player in the league actually is there's a very real chance we would have had a wide receiver win mvp there's a very real chance you know someone like joe burrow would win because statistically he is the best quarterback in the league but you know, once you factor in things like record and the narrative, then that's usually what kills people like that. It's literally most valuable quarterback.

That's really, that is my stance. But as for Baltimore, I'm noticing these past few weeks that their defense has really started to buckle down and that's what I like to see because if their defense cannot even be world beaters but just even be half as good as what they were then probably even like 20 percent better then honestly they're gonna be a force to be reckoned with because the play calling is getting better. The defensive coordinator, Zach Orr, has made some adjustments, and I'm sure our friend Tuck will tell you that the defense has actually seemed better at least, at least on the eye test.

And honestly, like I said, it's all for Baltimore. I'll leave you with this. It all hinges on defense. Yeah. I mean, as far as the MVP race goes um it has tightened up and correction it's 345 points total that they're uh that they're separated by on according to draft kings and every single other uh betting site has around the same odds so it's tightened up a lot i just don't know if it's going to be enough

this late in the season for Lamar to actually catch Josh Allen, unfortunately. All right, we're going to move on, get to our game of the week, Vikings and the Packers. That's next. This is the Fumbaruski podcast. It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws. Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie.

Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides. Welcome back to the Fumble Rooski Podcast by Power 88 and Secret Weapon Consulting. I'm Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros. We have our game of the week, which is the Vikings who are hosting the Packers. And this is an interesting one, because the Vikings, they have a lot to gain, and not quite too much to lose, because there's really not much time left for them.

And they already have the fifth seed. They're probably going to stay there. If they do end up losing this game. But if they win, then that leads us into a very, very highly anticipated matchup on the last game of the year for the Lions when they host the Vikings. And then it's going to be a battle of who ends up taking the number one seed between division rivals. So the loser ends up following all the way to at least the fifth seed.

The winner ends up with the number one. So this is going to be a really fun matchup to watch. But what we're watching is this one right now, which is the Packers who have a chance to gain some ground on the Vikings because if they end up beating, let's say they end up beating the Vikings, then they have the chance to take their spot. Jesus, can you still hear me?

Yeah, I can hear you. I just can't see you. Yeah, I keep losing. I keep losing. Then they have the chance to take their spot on the fifth seed. The Packers obviously aren't really in the race anymore for the one seed or even for their division, for that matter. But they can gain some ground in the playoffs but cj what are your thoughts this might this no not my this is the

game that i think is it could be a precursor to the game that decides the AFC North or the NFC North. But there's a very real shot this is because if the Packers defeat the Vikings, then that basically means, unless the Lions lose this week, that they're shooing for the, you know, for NFC North supremacy, you know. That's really all there is to it. It's really cut and dry. And the thing is, if you're the Packers, right, I think I can rest relatively easily that your dreams of NFC North supremacy aren't a thing that's going to happen, right? The winner is going to be either Minnesota or the Lions. However, the Packers,

I believe, also clinched a playoff berth, meaning you can play spoiler. And that's why I think that's something that fuels a lot of these teams that are, you know, they're not going to win their division, but they can still make the playoffs, is that they like playing spoiler. And that's what I think Green Bay is trying to do meanwhile for the vikings i guess the the catch all is just everything you know just keep doing what you're doing the defense has looked solid sam darnold is playing like a man possessed justin jefferson jordan addison tj hockinson and uh uh the the running back there that they got from Green Bay, Aaron Jones, that's it, have just been giving defenses fits. And that's what it's going to come down to.

You know, just how well can that Vikings offense perform against the Packers defense that's been very up and down. However, what I do hear all the time is all these Packers fans boasting and bragging about, well, every time they play jair alexander's schools uh what's his name justin jefferson yeah i keep hearing every time without fail mind you that uh oh he straps them up they have the answer to stop justin jeff response is, okay, maybe they do. Cool. What, so Alexander's going to be on Jefferson, right? Okay, nice, nice. What's your plan to stop Jordan Addison? And they say, well, Xavier McKinney, to which I say, ah, that's a safety.

He doesn't do man-on-man coverage. Try again. So even if he does strap up Justin Jefferson, then Jordan Addison's just going to eat your defense for lunch. Then, oh, and sure, cool, maybe McKinney does play man, which he can't do, I might add. By the way, McKinney is not a viable option to take out Addison, and if you disagree, you're wrong, because, you know, once again, he's a safety. And even if you do, okay, you're going to cover TJ Hopkinson? You can't now. So that's the point. And even if you do of all them, is your run defense good enough to contain Aaron Jones? No, it is not. So my point is the Vikings just have too many ways to hurt them. It's all going to come down to Sam Darnold, who Sam Darnold might be perhaps, I won't say fraudulent, but

he has a resume behind him that doesn't elicit confidence. But Jordan Love, we keep saying this, he's not Aaron Rodgers, he's Brett Favre. So you know he's got at least one interception in him. And I think the Vikings make that count because of Brian Flores' defense is a scary defense. So give me the Vikings. It's going to be a good game though. I'm expecting some fireworks. Yeah, I hope it is because both of these teams have been really good this season and both have faced some significant adversity especially the Vikings who had to thrust Sam Darnold in as a the full-time starter for JJ McCarthy McCarthy was injured during the preseason but um and Darnold was

probably going to start to begin the year but I don't think they were expecting for something like this. And Darnold deserves his flowers for everything that he has done this year. For a quarterback like Sam Darnold to throw for nearly 40 touchdown passes, which is what he's going to end up getting close to. I've never seen a quarterback like this, who's, he was a major draft bust. He was probably one bad stint away from being out of the league entirely. And now all of a sudden he's about to throw for close to 40 touchdown passes. And he's about to make it a very difficult choice for the Vikings this offseason when he becomes a free agent, and they have to choose between resigning him

and bringing back J.J. McCarthy to be their full-time starter. They drafted him, but how do you let go a quarterback who flirted with 40 touchdown passes for you and got you a really good record? I mean, this is going to end up being probably 13, 14 wins on the year. And we're going to sit here and say, well, let's just let them walk in free agency. And if you bring them back, that's going to be a very expensive guy just to bring back and compete for the starting job job with JJJ. McCarthy because he's not going to ask for a cheap contract. He's not taking a home-down discount for you.

You helped him revive his career, which I'm sure he's thankful for, but this is going to be a difficult decision, kind of like it's going to be a difficult choice picking this game because I still, long-term and in terms of winning games that you need to win total let's say clutchness as they call it these days i'm not sure about sam donald yet we know he's having a really good year but let's put him up against the Packers, are they winning this game? I'm going to say yes. I think they take it. The Vikings, top to bottom, are so overwhelmingly talented. And you mentioned it before, pick your poison. Because even if you do shut down Justin Jefferson, who's getting Jordan Addison?

Who is covering TJ Hawkinson. Even if you do manage to shut down the passing game, they have Aaron Jones. So literally pick your poison. And it's not even to say that the Packers have been bad on offense. They've had some good guys to emerge. Christian Watson has been solid. Romeo Dobbs has been good. Jaden Reed has emerged as probably their wide receiver one this year.

And Josh Jacobs has been a good running back himself. Jordan Love is a very good quarterback. Definitely not Aaron Rodgers, but I see a lot of Brett Favre. So this will be a close one. I expect some fireworks. I expect lots of offense, not much defense, but give me the Vikings. I think we'll, we're going to agree on this one here. Yeah.

We're going to move on, and we're going to get to our game picks. We're going to start with all the Saturday matchups. We're going to get to Sunday 1 p.m., 4 p.m., and then primetime. That's next. This is the Fumble Rooski Podcast. It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws. Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns.

Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides. Welcome back to the Fumble Rooski podcast by Power 88 and Secret Weapon Consulting. Adam Wright, CJ Medeiros. We're going to get to our Saturday matchups as far as our game picks go for week 17, if you can believe it. Unreal how we've made it this far into the season. This season has just flown by.

But we'll start with a 1 o'clock matchup, the Chargers visiting the Patriots. And I got to say, it's probably in the best interest for the Patriots to lose this game, and I think they're going to end up losing it. I'm taking the Chargers. Chargers are in the midst of a playoff push. The Patriots, their season is such a lost cause

that we're already looking ahead to the draft where they currently own the number two overall pick with the chance to move up to number one and that pick becomes very valuable with uh the amount of needs that they have this offseason cj yeah uh i do want to point out though and i'm sure you've heard me say before on this uh channel shall we say that i have said that strength of schedules are ridiculous like the way the nfl grades it is a ridiculous way to do that yeah i want to point this out new england's about to get screwed because if they lose out the jacksville jaguars lose out the jags are going to snatch that second overall pick because they have had an easier strength of schedule because you know their logic is you know teams an easier

strength of schedule that do bad need to pick more because you know bad but like am i the only one i mean sure you call me biased pats fam but whatever but am i the only one? I mean, sure, you call me biased, Pats fan, but whatever. But am I the only one who feels like the fact that the Jags beat New England so they shouldn't be able to swipe that pick from them if they're tied? Like, I can't be the only one who believes that the NFL's decision to go from strength of schedule, I mean, to go from head-to-head record to strength of schedule is ridiculous. And a lot of people feel the same way, but whatever. As a whole, though, yeah, new england they're already looking ahead to next year but for the chargers you control your own destiny for the playoffs it's very simple win and you're in

the chargers quite literally just have more to play for so i think they go to new england take care of business give me the Chargers. Yeah. I mean, this is about as lopsided a matchup as it gets. I think the only other intrigue to it is that Drake May and Justin Herbert are facing each other, and not just in play style, but in literal physical looks. Like, Drake May actually looks like Justin Herbert. Like, look at pictures of them together.

It's insane. I can only hope that he turns into something like that. And I think he will. But our next matchup is the 430 showing, and it is Broncos at the Bengals. Both of these teams have a lot to play for. The Broncos are fighting to get into the Bengals. Both of these teams have a lot to play for. The Broncos are fighting to get into the playoffs here. And the Bengals face a very, very uphill battle. They need a lot of things to

go right. And just winning this game will make things a lot easier for them. They still need things to go right, but they need the Broncos to lose if they win this game, because that means the Broncos need to lose out for the season. So if they win this game, they already beat the Broncos. The Broncos need to also lose to the Chiefs. And there's also a couple other factors. The Dolphins need to lose at least one game. The Colts need to lose one more. So many things need to go right for them. But for this one, I'm going to take the Broncos. The Bengals have been a really good team on offense this year. That's the key phrase, offense. The Broncos are a much more well-rounded football team.

They can defend a lot better than the Bengals can. I think this game will still be a shootout, but it'll come down to who can do damage control the best. In that case, I'm picking the Broncos. Yeah. The thing with Denver... I'm picking the Bengals. The thing with Denver is

this is not going to be a popular take, but it's still my own. I think that in the way we say the Bengals are half a team, Denver I also believe is half a team. In the sense that their defense is really good,

but they run a, let's face it, a dink and dunk offense. They say they don't, but they do. That most recent game against the Chargers proved it. Where all of Bo Nix's longest throws have literally come from like, they're just short passes that their receivers are able to just knife up the field. Meanwhile, I think Sertan versus Chase is going to be a fun matchup,

but who's going to guard T. Higgins? And on top of that, the emergence of Chase Brown has not been talked about, but all this kid can play, so give me Cincy. I think they're going to even out, but Cincy just has enough talent on offense to overcome because once the Denver defense starts playing subpar, then it's pretty much over. I mean, if their defense plays the way that they did against the Browns for that one game, then I could really get a little worried about this Broncos team, but we'll see what

happens. Saturday, 8 o'clock p.m. Eastern Time. We've got the Cardinals visiting the Rams. And this is really a last gasp of air for the Cardinals. They need this game against the Rams badly. The Cardinals, ever since they put themselves in a position to make the playoffs. They've been struggling ever since they've lost. They've lost quite a few games. I believe that's four out of their last five that they've surrendered. Um, so looking at that, they need this game badly. And for that reason, I am going to pick the Cardinals. I don't think the Cardinals

are as far off from the Rams talent-wise as people think. People look at the record, they look at the Rams having two wide receiver ones in Matthew Stafford, and they think, okay, game over. Well, Kyler Murray's still a pretty solid quarterback in himself. James Conner is a pretty good running back himself. The Cardinals got their bookend tackles back. And they also have some good targets. They've got Marvin Harrison Jr. They have Trey McBride.

I'm going to take the Cardinals in this one. They pull the upset. They live to fight one more day. Yeah, it's possible, but just based on where they're standing, I'm taking the Rams for the sole reason of the Rams have more to play for. They just do. The Cardinals, honestly, and I feel like McVay's just going to out-coach Jonathan Gannon because I'm still not so on Jonathan Gannon as a coach. And the only reason that I feel like the Cardinals aren't going to play

the scrappy underdog card is just because they've got to be one of the most frustrating teams this season. They're just a grab bag. You don't know what's going to happen. One day they're going to fight Seattle for the division lead, or then they're going to lose to Carolina. I don't know. I have no idea what to make of them.

I just feel like the Rams are more consistent and Puka Nakua and the company are going, and at least Cooper Cup, who should break out of his funk, I think are going to end up feasting on that Cardinals defense. The front seven is good. The back four, not so much. Yeah. All right. That does it for our Saturday matchups. we'll just jump right into the sundays

and for this one for the next one we have the jets visiting the bills and this is another one that i just i can't think of a more lopsided matchup here the jets have been a mess all season long. They were supposed to be much better than they were. And I don't think, the team's quitting and they're turning on Aaron Rodgers, rightfully so, because the guy's kind of a prick. Even the media is just openly coming at him because he called out the media. So he's just, he's picking fights with everybody at this point. And the Bills, on the other hand, they still have a little bit to play for. Technically, after this week, if they win this game, then they can sit all their starters against

New England and the Patriots can win and fall all the way to pick number six and you know all that good stuff but looking at it give me the bills it's not hard yeah bills once again two opposite teams on two opposite trajectories the bills once again you still have something to play for you know you want to grab that two seed you know and keep it out of the hands of baltimore and so on you want to secure it right meanwhile the jets they're just a team where i say this every week they're just falling apart aaron rogers basically has no friends left he's scared away everybody that loves him except for that one small group of supporters that will just stick with him thick and thin and yeah and then it's just just an incompetent team and ever since that whole woody johnson thing came out the jets have just

been so just pathetic that's really what it comes down to that's that's been that way the whole time huh they've been that way the whole time yeah they? They've been that way the whole time. Yeah, they have, but that's just a defeated team. That's a team that's given up. It's a team that's quit. And I think Buffalo makes short work of that. Word of caution, though, you better hope Josh Allen's hand still isn't screwy. Yeah. All right, let's move to the next one.

Titans at Jaguars. This one, in all of the worst ways, most boring ways possible, it actually has lots and lots of implications. Not in playoffs, obviously, but in the race for a top three pick. And the Jaguars, if again, we've, we point CJ, you pointed this out. If the Jaguars lose out, they get the number two overall pick. Um, but if they win this game against the Titans, um, not only does that bode well for the Titans chances to get a higher pick, but also it drops the Jaguars like a rock in this draft. And they need playmakers.

So do the Patriots. I am going to take the Jaguars to win this game. I think the Titans are just as much of a mess as the Jaguars are just as much of a mess as the Jaguars are, if not more. At least Mac Jones has a little bit to play for. He's trying to make a case. He's not doing a good job at it. He's not doing a very good job at it. But at least he's trying to do that.

Will Levis, it seems like he's trying to do that. Will Levis, it seems like he's a sinking ship. It feels like they might be a team that goes after a quarterback this offseason. I don't think they will, but we'll see what ends up happening. Maybe they go after Sam Darnold this offseason. Who knows? It would be a stupid decision because – Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm going Jaguars.

I have to go with Titans. And reason being, I'll keep this quick, it's a battle of two sinking ships. The only question is who hits the ocean floor first. You know? Am I wrong when I say that's pretty much it? And I just feel like the Titans, I don't know. I just feel like they have more talent.

And Levis, he's still a train wreck. But Mac Jones, man, what a fall off from 2021. Also, the Jags, even though they're two organizations in free fall, you could semi-convince me they're a quarterback away. Meanwhile, the Jags, they're about to fire their head coach. And honestly, it wouldn't shock me if their GM went too. Give me the Titans. Just the Jags are just a race car on fire that's just skidding towards the finish line

not because they want to win, but because they want the season to be over. Yeah. All right. Next game is the Panthers at the Buccaneers. And the Panthers are out of playoff contention, but they seem rejuvenated by a first overall pick quarterback that they took during last year's draft, who's finally looking like the player they wanted him to be. And good for them. Good for them

for the treasure chest of picks that they gave up and their number one wide receiver to the Bears in order to get that pick. It's finally panning out for them. So we'll see if that development continues. There's still a lot to be seen from Bryce Young. We need to see more development going into year three. For that, I'm actually going to take the Panthers on this one. I think the Buccaneers are fighting for their playoff lives. They're starting to freeze up a little bit. They just lost in an upset to the Cowboys.

And what makes us think that the Panthers are going to be any worse than the Cowboys? Because at least the Panthers, again, they're rejuvenated. They have a breath of fresh air. They have a beacon of hope with this quarterback in Bryce Young. So I think that's going to help them out a lot. I think they take this one against the Buccaneers. Yeah.

Kampa is another team that, like Arizona, is just stupidly frustrating. Like, they should be so much better than they are. And honestly, I wouldn't be stunned if Raheem or not Raheem Morris, Tom Bowles gets fired at the end of this year. I know it was something that I had said halfway through the season, but, but I feel more vindicated in this. And honestly, if you're the Panthers, you're not tanking technically for a qb right bryce there's been a total uh energy shift for carolina and you actually might have the guy after all so that being said you're now playing spoiler it doesn't matter if you win because you can still

grab someone like abdul carter or titaro mcmillan regardless how we feel about them but still that's what you're playing for you're not playing for a qb and either way like i said you're out here playing spoiler give me the panthers because these division games like i keep saying there's always some weird stuff that happens yeah and bryce uh excuse me baker mayfield uh he's supposed to flirt with 40 touchdown passes this year 34 so far if they miss the playoffs that would be you shouldn't fire i'll tell you this right now if you miss the playoffs no ifs ands or buts you need to make todd bowles walk the plank career year for bro for baker mayfield and you're just going to miss the playoff completely with that would suck. Uh, Raiders visiting the saints and Derek Carr is out again. Alvin Camara is out.

I've said this before, and I don't know why people haven't been saying it as well. The saints need to reevaluate their quarterback position. Like they really need to badly. And I'm not sure why that this hasn't become more of a story. Maybe it's just because it's the Saints and they're not as storied of a franchise as some of the other quarter, the, some of the other teams,

but the Raiders are as well. I think the Raiders take this one. Just because the Saints are missing so many players. Good God. This is just Titans, Jaguars, the sequel. This is a true tank bowl. And, you know, like you said, the Saints are another team that just needs to go quarterback.

You know, they're just another team that's just been riding the QB carousel every year. You know, the car doesn't stay healthy, so they're going from stopgap to stopgap. And meanwhile, the Raiders, they stumbled into a win against Jacksonville, but I don't know neither team has much to play for even though the Saints have a lot of people hurt I'm still going with the Saints but not confidently because I know the Raiders are trying to win but something

tells me I know that their GM Tom Telesco is angling for that pick, and they're not going to let a loss happen again. And yes, I am choosing the Saints to win, but only because I do believe the Raiders are going to outright tank. Yeah, I mean, we're at the point where we don't even... It really doesn't matter. Cowboys visiting the eagles the only person who chose the cowboys in this game is chris and i don't think chris knows that cd lamb is done for the year that uh guys i want to add some context that pick was made before the news broke yeah so it doesn't matter chris you're locked in now buddy yeah that that's your pick he and i'm

not changing it i can but i won't and jalen hertz was also ruled out for this game kenny pickett is going to end up starting i don't think it's going to matter because the Eagles have so much talent around them that I think they're going to do just enough to win this game. Jalen Hurts is going to come back in week 18 and they're still going to be in contention technically for the number one seed. Technically, because I mean, it's going to be very hard for them to get it but they can it's there um and look oh are you done yeah i was just saying i know cooper rush has been playing solidly but take away cd lamb let's see what happens you know meanwhile at least kenny pickett has aj brown and davante smith and saquon and dallas goddard oh yeah and dallas goddard so and that offensive line and the defense so yeah honestly the only reason i feel like cooper rush has been playing well is because you know he can just feed cd lamb but now his chops are going to be tested here.

Well, no CD Lam Cooper. How good are you really? My guess is going to be not very. Give me Philly. All right. Colts visiting the Giants. Colts. And that's not even because it's a compliment to the Colts.

Just the Giants are such a dumpster fire. There's really not much to look at and say this is a positive. The Giants are probably the biggest dumpster fire in the NFL. I believe, you know, obviously their head coach is going to get fired this offseason. Once again, I think these are for factors beyond his control. They've given him nothing. The GM is stipulated every turn and honestly there are whispers that gm joe shane might get fired as well so the benefit the colts have is that they don't have to deal with that the main nice thing i can say about the colts is that they're not the giants so by that logic alone give me the colts

yeah yeah that's an easy one all right dolphins who are traveling to the browns this one it's gonna be the it's gonna beins. I mean, especially without Jameis Winston. At least Jameis Winston would make this somewhat of a game. And Jerry Judy has been benefiting from it this year. They don't even have that. They have DT. Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Dorian Thompson-Robinson.

I wasn't even going to attempt it. That's how you know your season's over. Yeah. It's going to be miami like you said and honestly real question if you're miami do you want to win this game i know technically you're still alive but you don't even control your own destiny you're going to need the chargers and the broncos to lose out and i think the chargers are winning this week there's a real chance that denver does as well i personally don't think so but either way your odds are like less than 10 so yeah if you're miami i feel like maybe you should try to get a better pick but whatever

yeah they're still winning though yeah all right so we're going to our primetime game since the 425 game against um again hackers vikings we've already done as game of the week falcons visiting the commanders um this game only becomes interesting because we is literally only because Michael Penix is now starting instead of Kirk Cousins. Michael Penix, I mean, there was a little bit to like. I saw some of his throws. They looked fine. His stats aren't as bad as the interception shows because if you looked at the interception –

That wasn't his fault at all. Kyle Pitts literally lateraled it to a defender. He had the ball, and then he just goes, here you go. You know that scene from The Waterboy where he's just so angry at that one guy who was talking bad about his mama, and he gives it to him so that he could be angry and then just deck him? You remember that scene? Yes, yes.

That was what Kyle Pitts did. I don't know if he said something mean about a family member and he just has that thing that Bobby Boucher has, where he's like, he gets angry at only people with the ball. I didn't see a cheap shot right after the play. So clearly he's just. Yeah.

I'm actually. So what are you saying? Yeah. I'm actually – so what were you saying? Yeah. Yeah. So I'm going to take the Falcons on this one because I think the commanders have been a good team, but the Falcons do have a pretty good roster around them and i think a second game for pennix will be good for him i think we're going to see some good production out of him

and i think we're going to see what he can actually do against the commander's defense that's not all too much to write home about i think we're going to see some inflated statistics with him going up against fellow rookie Jaden Daniels. So I think this is going to be a highly anticipated matchup. And give me the Falcons for the upset. Understandable. This game is, I think, going to be a tight one in Washington because both of these teams have something to play for. Even though the chances are slim, there is a shot that Washington can get the NFC East.

And they're also, obviously, like I said, have they clinched a playoff spot yet? Because I don't think they have. So they're trying to go to the playoffs. Meanwhile, because I believe it's simple as winning your end. Meanwhile, Atlanta, they have the divisions on the line here. You know, you want to snatch that away from Tampa because even if you tie, you have tiebreaker. But, you know, you want some more of that insurance, you know,

just in case the worst happens. So both these teams really is something to play for. However, I think the name of the game here is experience. If Penix was starting week one and still got his feet wet, I think that, you know, then maybe it would be more of a, I'd be leaning towards him, but I'm just not. I think that the experience that Daniels already has over Penix is going to be the difference maker here. And yes, I am going to say, you know, it's like I said, it's experience.

That's really what it comes down to. Don't overthink it. Experience outrakes everything. And if I'm being real, I think the spotlight might be just a bit too bright for Penix. Yeah. All right. Last game. It's our Monday night football matchup.

Detroit is visiting San Francisco. This would be... This had the makings to be such a storied matchup like 11 months ago. The problem is the 49ers actually suck and this would be i mean this is literally a rematch of the nfc championship last year where detroit had the victory if they didn't go for it on fourth down so many times and i'll give credit to the 49ers they came all the way back from a 17 point deficit but you still oh man that was a tough game it was also an entertaining game and it won't be this game unfortunately and i'm going with the lines

this is not a super bowl preview. This is simply the injury ball. Both of these teams, I mean, not an NFC Championship preview, I meant. Sorry. This is not, like I said, an NFC Championship game preview. This game is the injury ball. Both of these teams are just ridiculously banged up. You know, the Lions, I think, have the most players on IR in the entire league, and the Niners, literally, they started the season missing big names like Dre Greenlaw

and Christian McCaffrey. Greenlaw, I think, is back, but at this point, it's too little too late, isn't it? At least, I certainly think so. So, honestly, give me Detroit because even though technically they're more injured, I just feel like the Niners have given up. You have nothing left to play for. They've already been eliminated from the playoffs and the Lions, even though they're injured, they still have that chip on their shoulder, you know, that Dan Campbell toughness that he instills into them. And this is something that I really want to make sure we're all on the same page about. The big reason why I do think that the Lions are going to win this game is because the NFC North is not up for, is still up for grabs. It's not, I mean, the Lions aren't really a shoo-in. And, you know, work's not done yet.

And even if the Packers manage to beat the Vikings, then congratulations, and you've got the Packers smelling blood in the water behind you. So if you are the Lions, then i would say do you uh you do you sorry you don't pull the starters you don't quit yet you have the division in your control and the one seed a lapse here means that all goes away so i think detroit knows that and And I think they're going to rise to the occasion. Give me the lions. Yeah. Well, I mean, it sucks that the 49ers ended up being this way and maybe they bounce back, but Oh, well, um, it's an easy dub for the Lions going into what is going to be a really, really tough matchup against the Vikings.

I hope it turns out to be everything that we expect it to be because that is quite the showdown. That one that will go down in league history, least nfc north history is one of the best one of the most anticipated matchups in recent memory all right that's all the scheduled content that we have today but do you have anything else uh nope that's pretty much it all right well that's week 17 for you we have one more week and then it's on to the postseason where i just hope that some of the football is a little better yeah this has not been a great year not at all um but i'm glad it's almost over and then maybe in the postseason we'll have some better stories

that'll do it for us tonight thank you for listening to us we have new episodes out Tuesdays at 7 30 p.m eastern standard time and Fridays at 5 be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel we have all our episodes available on Spotify, Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts and and so much more. 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'll see you next week. Over and out.