The Josh Innes Show - NFL Playoffs

Episode Date: January 10, 2025

It's NFL Playoff Time! Can the Texans pull the minor upset of the Chargers? Will we see any upsets? Can the Packers hang with the Birds? I do have one slight upset that I'm taking this weekend. Plus, we look at some props. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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All righty, everybody. It is obviously Friday. So college football playoff second semifinal game is tonight. We talked about that earlier. We've got the NFL playoffs also this weekend, which is exciting. Exciting stuff this weekend. I'm kind of surprised by the fact that Baltimore's playing on Saturday night it's kind of a the schedule's funny like Minnesota and LA makes sense for Monday we still don't know

if that game's going to be played in LA or if it's going to be played in Arizona but um I look I'm excited the NFL playoffs get me really jazzed I'm ready to go uh obviously things start off with the Texans and the Chargers on Saturday because that's the Texans window, which now the whole world is now onto this idea that this is the Texans window. I forgot which media person I saw talking about it, but every year the Texans have played. I didn't know that it was a fact that every year the Texans have been in the playoffs. They've played at 330 on Saturday, but it is a fact that the Texans have played at 330 every year they've been in the playoffs. And I've been to a couple of those games.

I was at the first playoff game at home when JJ had the pick six against the Bengals. That was fun. I was also there. Me and Jilly flew down. I guess this is when we still lived in Philly. We flew down for the Chiefs playoff game that the Texans would end up losing like 30 to nothing and JJ threw a pass that was intercepted or something early in the game or he fumbled they put him in like a wildcat type of deal and he fumbled uh I guess that means I

would have been at the playoff game the next year too and they played oh that year I think the next year um was wait what year was I hammered I think 2011 was the year that is when i went down and talked to marvin lewis hammered because i think ben was ben was obviously still there and i think he moved in 2012 i think so i think that's how that would have played out so i think that the year that they they beat the bangles the first time is the year that I was hammered and went into the locker room and asked Marvin Lewis a question at the press conference while I was tanked. In my defense, my boss knew that I was supposed to go down there and do some media stuff, yet they still plied me with alcohol in the station suite. I really miss those days. When I look back on things like that,

and I look back on my career and the things that I've done and haven't done and everything else, I go, boy, those were really the salad days. I'm in my early 20s. I'm getting to sit in a luxury suite for every Texans home game. I got free alcohol, free food. I got my run of the place going down to the locker room. I got a highly rated radio show. And here I am like, nope, I got to go try something else. That's my biggest problem, kids, is I always think there's something else out there. I'm

surprised I've stayed married as long as I've stayed married. In my mind, there's always something else out there. And that's not a good mindset to have a lot of the times, kids. Sometimes it's okay to just be where you are and see what happens. But see, old uncle Josh here is always wondering what the next move is. Where's the next thing? And your boy Josh gets real bored real fast. But at that point in my life, I wasn't bored. I was like early 20s, big city, girlfriend. I mean, everything fucking ruled, man. Like if I can go back in time and I'll be like, Josh, like I think I made the right decision to go to Philadelphia. I think that was a move to make. It made sense. And I needed to go do my own thing there.

But if I really look back on it, knowing what I know now, perhaps I should have never left. Although I probably would have been miserable working in Houston because they hired a bunch of dweebs after my boss left, like a bunch of dweeby PDs. So maybe it wouldn't have been as much fun. And the station stopped being as successful. So maybe, I guess maybe the biggest issue is I should have just rode the thing out in Philadelphia and really embraced that a little bit more. Cause like, look, as much as I love living in Houston, I know this is off topic here, but as much as I love living in Houston, like the radio doesn't matter. They're like being the big radio guy on the AM station in Houston doesn't matter.

Being the big radio guy at WIP does matter. And I should like I see these guys now and I'm like, that is me. That should be me. I'm better than these guys. And look, then there's part of me that wants to know, do I even want to do that? You know, like I have all these conflicting things. But my ego tells me, and I know that I'm right on this, that I hear the people that are on the radio in Philadelphia that have these big ratings now, ratings that weren't there when I got there because they just weren't. But when I got there and I'm thinking, Josh, maybe if you would have just gotten out of your own way of hair and just embraced it a little bit

more, you'd probably still be there. You'd be going on like a decade. You'd be the morning show host there. You'd be making decent cash and you'd have huge audience and all that. But then there's a part of me that doesn't even think I wanted that there. You know, like, I don't know. I'm an inconsistent person. I don't like when people say, what is your dream? I don't have a dream. It changes every five minutes. I don't know what to tell you. But all that to say the Texans, it's a roundabout way of saying that the Texans play the three 30 game against the Chargers, and I think the Chargers are going to win that. I have very little belief in the Texans at all. If I'm looking at the props in this game, I'd probably look at, boy, I love this.

Both quarterbacks are dead even when it comes to passing yards. I think CJ is going to have to throw more in this game, too, because I think they're going to be trailing. So CJ 231. half isn't bad. Um, lad McConkie, I think is going to eat. Cause that's what lad McConkie does. This dude's a beast. 75 and a half for McConkie. Isn't bad. Um, I mean probably Dalton Schultz. I think they're going to throw a lot of underneath stuff in this one too, uh, for the Texans. Let me see what it is for them to combine for 500 passing yards. For the two quarterbacks to combine for 500 is plus 135. I'll probably take that, too.

I think this thing could come down to some slinging. I don't really buy into the Chargers' defense all that much. I know early in the season people were blowing the Chargers' defense. Like, oh, my God, Chargers. I don't really think their defense is all that good. I just, I don't know, man. I just, I don't buy into the Texans. The Texans have given us no reason to have any confidence in them going in, which might be the reason they may win. We're kind of sleeping on them. We're kind of ignoring them. The world's kind of circled them as a lost cause. Really the last two months of the season have been a dud. Guys aren't stepping up and making

plays for them we're blowing them because they had one good drive against a shitty titans team and then pulled the starters like i don't know man i watch this and i'm i have very little confidence in the texans so if they win great i don't think they're going to win i would take the chargers that's not to say i think the chargers are great but i do like herbert i love lad mcconkey m McConkie may go for 100 in this game. It's very possible. The dude's a beast. So I'm going to go with the Chargers to win the game, and I just have very little confidence in the Texans. There's no mojo. There's no vibe. Go back to 2011, and I know I talk about this a lot, and some of you might go,

geez, Josh, get over it. But in 2011, man, the vibes were immaculate. Even with a third-string quarterback, first playoff appearance for the team in franchise history, first playoff appearance for a Houston team. I believe that would have been the first since blowing the, well, I guess actually it would have been the first, was it the first playoff appearance since the either losing to the Chiefs in the playoffs or losing the Bills game. I forgot which one it was, but it obviously had been like 20 years since the city of Houston had been in the playoffs.

The vibes were immaculate. Third string quarterback, nothing to lose. You're playing the Bengals. You think you can beat them. Things are fun. JJ is a great player. Guys are having a great fucking time. Next man up.

And they go in and win that game. So then when they move on to the next game and they face the Ravens, you're kind of like, oh, it's house money. And early in that game, I mean, throughout that game, they had a shot to go up to Baltimore and beat them. And then, of course, they, um, uh, Jacoby fumbled the punt and, you know, they end up losing the game. I want to say that was the year.

Maybe I'm wrong. It might've been the next year, but Rich had a thing where like his retina became detached and he had to like leave the show because his retina became detached but he still found a way to go up to a playoff game so I think it was the Baltimore playoff game but he couldn't fly because of his detached retina I think it was a detached retina so he had to drive he's like I'm not missing this game so rich he was a sideline reporter at the time rich drove up to baltimore i believe that was the year that rich had the detached retina i think i don't think it was 12 i think it was 11 but i guess technically the year would have been 2012 but the season would have been the 2011 season and uh so there you go there

um but um yeah the vibes just aren't there anymore for the Texans. It's not really fun. Like to start the year, the vibes were good and they started well. But in Houston, like it's hard to keep people interested in shit. It is a city that does not give a shit. For the most part, the city's just kind of like, all right, cool, whatever. What do you got? I don't know why that's the case. I feel like it's gotten worse. Maybe it's because more and more transplanted people have come into Houston. I think that's part of it. So you've got a very fractured city as it relates to the interest and the rooting interest of people in the city. I think that's a big part of it. I think just the fact that it's still the Texans and there's not

that same level of passion that the Texans, they don't generate the same level of passion as the original football team did or would. You know, I just think that's all part of it. And the fact that CJ hasn't played well and the fact the team has been really in a malaise for almost two months. I just don't think people believe in them right now. What about the ticket prices are for this game? Let's go to StubHub. That's kind of where you can gauge a little bit of an interest. How interested are people in this playoff game? I know that when we went down there, it was tough to find cheap tickets when they

played the Colts, but things have obviously slid a bit off the rails since then too. They've gotten worse since they played the Colts. So let's see. Let's go to our StubHub app. So I'm talking like good seats were still a couple hundred bucks. And even the Christmas game, and I think partly because of Beyonce, the tickets were really expensive too. Let's see here. Let's look up the Houston Texans and see what we can find on StubHub for the cheapest tickets. See what the get-in price for this game is. I mean, you can get in for $60.

So yeah, like even the lower bowls are in the hundreds. So yeah, the vibes just like, it's not a good vibe for this. Like people are just not even remotely interested. You really have to be good to keep people's interest in Houston when it comes to the Texans and people aren't interested. I guess the one positive, and I think it was John Granato who brought this up, and it's a good observation by him, is that the Texans at least are not facing a team like Pittsburgh who would overtake the stadium. There ain't going to be any Chargers fans there.

There aren't Chargers fans at Chargers games. So at least you're not going to have to be competing with the other team's fan base like you would if you faced a team like Pittsburgh, or if you were in the NFC, a team like Detroit who came in and invaded the stadium when they played Sunday night football I feel like Sunday night football may have been the actual beginning of the end for the Texans because things were still kind of cooking then and you felt pretty good about it and you get the five turnovers and you should win that game against a team that now is the one seed in the NFC maybe they wouldn't have been had you beat them like you should have.

And then it all kind of fell apart after that. Like maybe that was like the red letter date that the line of demarcation might have been Sunday night football against Detroit. That kind of is where it all fell apart. All right, let's play a few commercials here and we'll look at some of the other games. All right, if you're ready to win some real cash during the basketball playoffs, you got to check out Pick 6 from DraftKings. When it comes to basketball payouts, DraftKings Pick 6 posterizes the competition, including prize picks. It's a very simple

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Pick 6 not available everywhere, including New York and Ontario. Void where prohibited. One per new customer. Bonus award. It is non-withdrawable Pick 6 credits that expire in 14 days. Limited time offer. See terms at pick6.draftkings.com slash promos. When planning for life's most important moments, sometimes the hardest part is simply knowing where to start.

That's why we're here to help. When you pre-plan and pre-pay a celebration of life with us, every detail will be handled with simplicity and professionalism, giving you the peace of mind that you've done all you can today to remove any burden from your loved ones tomorrow. We are your local Dignity Memorial provider. Find us at DignityMemorial.ca. The Dignity Memorial brand name is used to identify a network of licensed funeral cremation and cemetery providers owned and operated by affiliates of Service Corporation International. All right, so you got Pittsburgh and Baltimore. Baltimore should beat the shit out of Pittsburgh.

It's on the road for Pittsburgh. They've been terrible the last month plus. Rusty was great for a while, but it's kind of melting down. Russell's passing yards are only 209.5, and I think he's going to have to throw a lot, so that might be in play. The biggest question mark you have is, is George Pickens going to quit?

Because George Pickens gives up on a lot of plays. George Pickens is a whiner. George Pickens is essentially a prick. So is George Pickens going to actually show up and try? Or if things start turning early, is he just going to tune out and be worthless? That's why his yards are a risk at 55 and a half. I think the tight ends are going to do very well in this game too for Baltimore. So Mark Andrews at 45 and a half isn't bad.

Rashad Bateman's a solid play. Bateman's also a good play for his longest catch. His longest reception in this game is 22 and a half. He is a threat to make big plays. I don't know if he's made as many big plays lately, but I know throughout the season he's been a great candidate to make big plays so Baltimore is just going to go out and and and throttle Pittsburgh they should like it should be a situation where they easily throttle these guys now it is competitive it is the third time they've played they know each other it's the playoffs uh pride throw all that shit you want into, but I don't buy that Pittsburgh has much of a chance in this one. Uh, let's see Denver and Buffalo Buffalo should beat the hell out of Denver. Uh, although God, I really hope they do. Cause I hate Sean Payton.

I need Sean Payton to lose. I need it. Uh, Bo Nix at two 23 and a half. Isn't bad. Um, Josh Allen's tough to gauge cause you can get a lot of running and passing from him. Sutton is at 64.5. I'm not positive on that. I think that the passing yards would be solid, although I need to look at the weather in Buffalo. The weather in Buffalo is going to play a factor, too. You've got a rookie on the road. At least he's got a good head coach he's working with, but a rookie on the road in the playoffs.

Tough place to play. Weather might play a factor. Let me make sure on that. Let's go to Buffalo. Buffalo, New York. Let's take a look. Let's see. 10-day forecast.

No, Sunday's a nice day. Fuck it. There's no weather involved at all. Sunday, partly cloudy, partly sunny, 30 degrees, afternoon game. So, look, I actually really like the passing yards in this game for Bo Nix. I think he'll do that. I don't think they're going to win, but I think they're going to be trailing, and they're going to have to throw the ball.

Packers and Eagles, Jalen Hurts is going to play. If the Eagles are able, and I say this every time about the Eagles, this isn't breaking news. If the Eagles are able to control the ball and control time of possession, the Packers will not get them off the field. So if you have a lead, you're going into the fourth, they can put together one of their eight minute drives of run, run, run, and take the ball out of Jalen Hurts' hands throwing it, and can probably win this game, and they should. Although, I'm not writing off the Packers. I saw somewhere that Ron Jaworski said that Jordan Love is overrated. Maybe so, but I like Jordan Love, and I think Love's going to throw for over 220 and a half in this game, because for no other

reason, he's going to have to, because they're going to have to throw the ball, and I think Love's going to throw for over 220 and a half in this game because for no other reason he's going to have to because they're going to have to throw the ball because I think the Eagles could be on top. But I could also see a scenario in this game where the Eagles, who are the higher seed, the Eagles are presumably the better team. This could be a scenario where they blow a home playoff game. Like, it's not out of the realm of possibility. They're a four and a half point favorite. That's fine.

But I could see a scenario where they blow this game. So, cause I look, I think people are kind of sleeping on the Packers. I get it. But if they're able to move the ball, like basically what's going to have to happen is the Packers cannot allow the Eagles to have a lead and sit on a lead. The Eagles are virtually unstoppable when they have a lead. And I know that you could say that for a lot of teams, they are a hard team to rally against. They're very good. Obviously, their defense is solid. They're able to run the ball with both the quarterback and with Barkley. If they're able to do that, Green Bay will not beat them. It's not going to happen. The key is, if I'm Green Bay, I can't expect to stop their running game. Like you want to,

and you want to force Jalen to beat you through the air, more power to you, try it. My goal going into this game is going to have to be to outscore them, which I know sounds ridiculous because it's not like the Eagles are like a high flying 50 points a game offense. What you want to be is in a position

where you're controlling the tempo of the game and you're doing your shit and not allowing them to get into their running game, which will destroy you. And before you know it, you think you're in a ball game. I mean, look at that game a couple of weeks ago. It was against Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh thought, Hey, we're in this game with the Eagles. Nine minutes later, there's like four minutes left in the game and the Eagles are about to go up two scores. Like that's the kind of shit they can do to you. So if I'm going into this game and I'm Green Bay, I'm thinking get ahead and play with a lead. Do everything you can to get ahead and play with a lead, which I know sounds obvious, but it's true.

That's what they have to do. Let's see here. Washington and Tampa. Tampa could look. I don't think Tampa is all that good. And I was super pissed about Tampa last week but again they're one of those kind of teams that I think can scare you offensively and they may be able to scare you more than Washington can uh Washington has to go on the road got a rookie

quarterback making a start not that Jane Daniels hasn't played in big games before he clearly has so that's nothing that should frighten him in any way but I'm kind of leaning Bucks although the Bucks have been kind of a mess the Bucks have like they barely won that game last week against the shitty Saints and they've kind of stumbled through some stuff I've never really been a big believer in Washington but I am a big believer in Jaden Daniels that's what makes this tough for me because Jaden Daniels is a big game dude and he's played in big games before uh but i could see like tampa's probably going to win this game and let's see what the receiving yards are for some of these guys uh i would look at jaylen mcmillan's receiving yards because jaylen mcmillan's been a favorite target of baker mike evans is down to 76 and a half he's obviously in

play as well. Zach Ertz has been getting a lot of love for Washington lately too. So these are all guys that you could pay some attention to. What's Baker's passing yards? 238 and a half for Baker isn't bad either, but I think Tampa's going to win. And then Minnesota and the Rams, I think the Rams can win this thing. These are two teams I love to bet because I love betting on Jordan Jefferson. I love betting on Puka Nakua.

So these are two dudes that I like. I think the Rams could win this. They're only a two and a half point underdog. Like it's not totally inconceivable to think that the Rams who were just kind of, you know, two months ago were looking like they were going to sell everybody. I think they could beat the Vikings.

The Vikings are gettable. We saw that last week. Look, a depleted Lions defense. Like, dudes hurt everywhere. The team's loaded with injuries. But what did they do? They were able to go in and take on the Vikings and were able to handle them pretty good in a home game, right?

This could be a scenario where the Rams could do the same thing. I don't think the Rams are great, but I don't think Minnesota is either. I think we're overvaluing Minnesota a lot. I get that they could have been the number one seed, but now you have to go from getting beat up by Detroit to the next week going to play a primetime game against Los Angeles, whether it's in LA, whether it's in Arizona, you have to face the Rams. And look, I'm a believer in Stafford still.

I'm a big believer in Puka Nakua. I'm a big believer in Kyron Williams. This could be a situation where there's an upset. Like if you look at all the games where there's potential upsets, and this is a small upset, they're a two and a half point dog. To me, that might be the biggest one, a home dog against a team like the Vikings who could be had. You could also say the Texans is a home dog, but I don't trust the Texans. I don't believe in the Texans, but I really, really believe in the Rams for some reason. I don't know why. I like McVay. I like the whole setup. I'm still not buying Sam Darnold. Like remember last week, it's well, Sam Darnold's the guy for the future. They

got to keep giving it to him. He's, you know, he's a sneaky MVP candidate. Give the guy some love. And then he sucked ass. They figured out how to stop him with Detroit, a team that was loaded with injuries. I'm taking the Rams. I'm going Rams. So I'm going Rams. I don't believe in the commanders either. That game's tough.

I'm going to go Rams. I'm going to go Eagles. I'm going to go Buffalo. I'm going to go Baltimore. I'm going to go Eagles. I'm going to go Buffalo. I'm going to go Baltimore. I'm going to go Chargers. And I'm kind of like, you know, iffy on the commanders and bucks. I'm not positive on that one. I guess I should have a definitive take, but I don't have a definitive take.

Also, just circle Pook and Akua for receiving yards. That's all this dude does. Like, Pook is going to go out. What's his total? 90 and a half. I know it's a lot of yards he and Justin Jefferson Jordan Addison had kind of a down game last game so I think he pops back up as well uh he's at 59 and a half so Jordan Addison to make some plays could be in there as well but uh Pook and Akua is always a guy that I circle the dude's a beast if they give you one of these things on FanDuel where you could take him to have

like 25 yards in each half I would take to have like 25 yards in each half, I would take him to have 25 yards in each half. I love the dude. So big Puka Nakua guy here. All right, more to come.