The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 1043 - OVERREACTION TUESDAY, NFL Week 16 Recap, Kendrick Perkins, Aaron Rodgers, Adam Schefter, Darius Butler LIVE In The ThunderDome, & AJ Hawk

Episode Date: December 26, 2023

On today’s show, Pat, Darius Butler, AJ Hawk, and the boys overreact to everything that happened in week 16 of the NFL season over the holiday break including the Chiefs and if they’re truly broken, the Lions clinching their first division title in 30 years, Joe Flacco continuing to play elite football, the 49ers running into a buzzsaw at home against the Ravens, the Dolphins and Cowboys tilt on Christmas Eve, and all the other big takeaway’s from a weekend loaded with football before going through some of the overreactions from around the internet. Joining the show to break down all of the NBA action that we might not have seen on Christmas Day is 16 year NBA veteran, NBA Champion, and ESPN NBA analyst, Kendrick Perkins (48:44-57:13). Next, 4x MVP, Super Bowl Champion/MVP, and Quarterback of the New York Jets, Aaron Rodgers joins the show to chat about getting activated off the IR, and the stir it caused when Nick Bawden was removed from the active roster to make room for Rodgers, his rehab process and what his day to day is like now with no playoffs not he horizon this year, and some of his biggest takeaway’s from the NFL this week including Brock Purdy, the Ravens being incredible, Patrick Mahomes frustrations being overblown by the media, and his thoughts on the Lions winning the NFC North (1:00:52-1:33:39). Later, ESPN NFL Senior Insider Adam Schefter joins the progrum to give some updates on injuries around the league and who we expect to play this week, as well as updates on which coaches are on the hot seat right now, and if he thinks there will still be 7-10 openings at the end of the season (2:03:42-2:45:17). Make sure you subscribe to youtube.com/thepatmcafeeshow to watch the show. Or watch on ESPN (12-2 EDT), ESPN’s Youtube (12-3 EDT), or ESPN+. We appreciate the hell out of all of you. See you tomorrow, cheers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello beautiful people. Welcome back to our humble abode, the Thunderdome. On this overreaction, Aaron Rodgers Tuesday, December 26th, brought to you by Verizon. This program starts now. Football! Happened in a spectacular fashion over the last three beautiful days. We hope you had a great Christmas weekend. We hope the gifts were great. We hope the family was fantastic. And we hope your team a great Christmas weekend. We hope the gifts were great. We hope the family was fantastic.

And we hope your team was terrific for you, whether that's right now as 24 teams. Still eye the playoffs and have hopes and optimism that their season can continue after they've played their 17th game in just two weeks from now. Wow. That ties for the most amount of teams still available with two weeks left. Since 2004, they had 26 or something like that. It's an insane time for the NFL, obviously. And there were some teams that made some statements, weren't they?

Oh, yeah. How about the Ravens? The Dolphins? The Lions? Raiders! Get the first massive win over the Kansas City Chiefs in forever. Knocking them into the oh-no-is-a-dynasty dead. There's a lot to talk about on this glorious overreaction Aaron Rodgers Tuesday.

Aaron will be joining us in about an hour and four minutes. Kendrick Perkins, big perk, will be joining us in about 44 minutes to let us know that the NBA happened yesterday. Yes, it did. Oh, yeah. Did it? Yeah, so everybody was talking about Zay Flowers during the Grinch celebration.

Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! I thought maybe that was Roger Goodell coming in and saying Christmas is ours now, you know what I mean? And it would be a three-fer because it is 24 hours. NFL dominates.

The NFL dominates Christmas now. And i assume there was a big nba contingency that was watching alongside these nfl games but whatever you're talking about having the ravens take on the san francisco 49ers and a potential super bowl preview you're talking about the nfl scheduling this thing far in advance and they're hitting a home run yeah but with that being said a lot happening nba yourself We'll talk to Kendrick Perkins in about 43 minutes or so. Can't wait to chat with him. 16-year NBA vet. People forget because they hear him snore into a microphone and stuff.

And he says racist stuff every once in a while. With good intent though. I don't think he ever means we love him on this particular program. Love Big Perkins. Can't wait to chat with him. And then the third hour on ESPN and ESPN+, which we are the kings of daily, which I'm learning more and more every single day. Shout out to the ESPN Plus viewers.

Adam Schefter will join us. Okay. Let's go, Schefter. Okay, let's dive right in. Talks to Dave Wasier, at Boss of Connor, and at Ty Schmidt. Love a nice taste of freedom on your chest today. The day after Christmas. Hope you had a great one.

Yeah, thank you very much, Pat. Hope you had a great one, too. This is actually a Zito gift about a month ago. He said, hey, I found this shirt in the closet. I think you should have it. It's the same company that we've been buying them from this entire time. But, yeah, it was wonderful. It was a great Christmas weekend.

You mentioned the Chiefs, and I kind of mentioned this earlier. Patriots and Patriots fans in general have kind of ruined football for Kansas City, and I feel bad for them because they think they should, especially in December, which is the most important football, they think they should be blowing teams out. Unfortunately, not every team can go to the AFC Championship every single year like New England did for nine years from 2011 to 2018. But again, that is beside the point.

The football all weekend was incredible. Unrealistic expectations are coming from people watching the New England Patriots did what they did for as long as they did with Tom and Bill throwing their fastest pitches or whatever. It's the first season that Patrick's not going to end up with 12 wins. Oh, crazy. Eye-opener, obviously. And they're talking about an on-the-road playoff game.

We're all wondering after watching them, is this team broke? Yeah. Is this like a year where it's reset? Like, hey, still going to be good in the future. They got Andy Reid. They got Patrick Mahomes. Okay, they're going to be able to figure it out.

But what we're watching, and I'm probably the last guy in media saying this, because I've held on hope that we're getting in the Chiefs season. Oh, Santa Claus is coming to town. That means it's Chiefs season. That's what it has been over recent history. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelsey doing absurd shit on third and longs. All we need it, gotta have it. Travis is running some route that isn't a real route.

Nobody really understands what's going on. Patrick Mahomes is running backwards and then he's just throwing it somehow. We got a first down all of a sudden with 27 seconds left and the Chiefs are down four. Boom, boom, bang, pow, touchdown. We're moving along. A lot of people want to say they haven't been the same since Tyreek Hill.

They won a Super Bowl without Tyreek Hill. So I appreciate how good Tyreek Hill is. And shout out to the Dolphins with their massive win over the Cowboys. We will certainly have to talk about everything they're doing. And Tyreek, if he gets 2,000 yards, which is still possible, even though he only got 99 the other day, he deserves a conversation being the MVP. So I'm not saying Tyreek isn't great,

but this Chiefs team has been able to figure it out multiple times. So all of us that had hope that they would continue to do that or go on to do the same things that they've been doing in the past, I don't think it was dumbfounded. I don't think it was misguided. But I'll tell you what, after watching them on Christmas Day perform the way they played, I don't know if Chiefs season's

coming. I don't know if it's Chiefs season. Chiefs isn't the Chiefs. They're doing I don't know either. I don't know if it's the Chiefs season. What is? The Chiefs isn't the Chiefs. Yes. They're doing stuff that they've been doing the entire time at a much lower rate than they've ever done it before. This never happens in the past with the Chiefs because they practiced it, they executed it,

they didn't put it in until they did it like 15, 20 times in practice. Everybody feels good about it. This year, there's just stuff happening. Now, it was incredibly windy yesterday. I don't think enough people were chatting about that. Whenever there were some drops or maybe a late throw and a pick happens and Jack takes another one to the house

right in the face of Patrick Mahomes. Not even the same reaction from Patrick Mahomes as, you know, picks in the pass. It's like, maybe this Chiefs team... And then a guy was going to steal the ball. He's not a pitcher. Although we all wish he would have done that to the kid. Just would like to go on the record saying, if he does that and then

pulls it away from the kid, laughs in the kid's face, and then walks away, hey, sports, baby. That's sports. Now, he wanted to come out and say, I'm not that guy. There's been some other stuff, maybe, but I'm not that guy, which we do appreciate. Merry Christmas to him, but I don't think the Chiefs team is the Chiefs team.

That worries me, because I like this Chiefs team. And that worries me because I like this Chiefs team. I like how much fun they are. I like that the Swifties were getting involved. I liked how big it was all going to become especially with how they play in the playoffs. How Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelsey, Andy Reid and all the boys play in the playoffs. Electrifying football. I think they're dead.

There's a chance. Time of reaction Aaron Rodgers Tuesday. I think they're dead. Gimmick stuff usually works. Think about it. This time last year, they were doing Ring Around the Rosie against the Raiders. Oh, my God. With their big offense alignment, we're doing the whole. I know.

Trying to hand it off. Eric Biennium? Mm-hmm. Andy Reid, though, we all thought. That's why Eric Biennium had to go to the Commanders. Right. Remember, he had to leave the Kansas City Chiefs to get a head coaching job because whenever he's with the Chiefs, everybody just assumes Andy Reid does everything

and Eric Biennium doesn't do anything. We can bring any slappy in here. We can even bring a guy who's a terrible head coach. Just kind of put him back in here. This would be rehab just like what Saban does for coaches down in Alabama. They put Matt Nagy in there. All of a sudden, this deep state. What is it?

One half of the hammer. God. Cowboys turn digits here. Another team made a statement. Didn't make the top four that I mentioned at the beginning, but still a playoff contender. Holy hell. The Pittsburgh Steelers are a football team,

and the Bengals are dead? What? What did we learn from that particular game? Because good on you guys. The fans basically made that change at quarterback. They were chanting, fire my Canada. Yeah, change. Fired them.

They started chanting, we want rudolph bingo they're like a wwe crowd yeah it's awesome these people are actually chanting and mike tomlin's like you know what yeah all right we'll do it met first time firing offense coordinator middle of the season since like 1980 something for 1960 whatever it was for the pittsburgh 40 something never happens then they make a quarterback change here to Mason Rudolph, a guy who has, in the past for the Pittsburgh Steelers, not played a great football. Sure.

No. George Pickens had a hell of a night. Congrats, George Pickens. Way to go, George. Now, he's obviously humbled by the whole situation that happened. Yeah, of course. Doesn't want to hear it. But Mason Rudolph, a man who was wished to be out of the city of pittsburgh

at one point during his career is now a hero yeah in pittsburgh and a christmas miracle and all of a sudden we're alive again don't do yeah he's an absolute hero i believe the last time he played was a tie against the detroit lions back in 2020 so he's had three years to sit and reflect about his career and his life and he came in and oh boy, is the city rejuvenated. If the Steelers do not go to the Super Bowl, I will be extremely surprised. Okay. Whoa. There's.

Okay. It's like a Tommy DeVito. There's no reason to laugh. It's a Tommy DeVito, Jeremy Williams situation. Since Matt Canada has been fired, there's been two games where Mitch Trubisky did not start. Okay. Let's just throw out the Mitch Trubisky starts.

Those aren't a thing. Mitch stinks? Mitch might stink at quarterback. We like this person. Great guy. Quarterback, okay? Sweet man. In those other two games that Kenny and Mason started,

they are averaging over 400 yards a game, my friend. They're averaging over 25 points a game. If that doesn't scream Super Bowl, I don't know what does. Especially with that defense. And extend Tomlin, okay? What were we thinking? You were thinking. Huh?

You were saying wholesale changes. That's right. You were saying. Bill Cowher came on and said Tomlin's the right guy. Me too. My loyalty is to winning, nothing else. But there's other people that wear cowboy hats. Wholesale changes doesn't mean the head coach, okay?

Well. That just means stuff. Well.ale change doesn't mean the head coach, okay? Well, that just means stuff. Well. Well, good for you, then. Happy for you. Happy that you weren't on the wrong side of history. Thank you. But Steelers are all the way back, though.

I can't wait to see what they look like this upcoming week. Yeah. Because it's been quite a... Now, T.J. Huat obviously is the leader in everything defensively. Nobody talks about it because the Pittsburgh Steelers are not fantastic, and they don't look like they are fantastic. But T.J. Huat just gets to the quarterback, held, tackled, so what says J.J. gets there.

And then Highsmith's a dog, Cam Hayward's a guy. The defense, although I don't know, secondary, I don't know a lot of their names, feels like they made Jake Browning look like the way that Jake Browning has him look. So congrats to the Steelers. Thank you. Appreciate that. Now, ladies and gentlemen, Mesa Rudolph has been named starter for this week.

Wow. Why wouldn't he? Rook Fryer just broke that news three minutes ago. We were all kind of confused when it wasn't decided immediately, but I think, you know, Tomlin likes to do everything in a manner that I would feel he assumes is professional. I like to say this directly to the players before I tell the media and everything like that. Good on him.

Good for the Steelers. I do, too. Joining us, a man who played nine years in the NFL, an absolute stud. Played all the positions in the secondary. His fans, he's a fan of numerous teams. But also just loves good ball. Ladies and gentlemen, Darius J. Baller. Dolphins beat the Dallas Cowboys in a game I think that was huge for the Miami Dolphins and it's not only because everybody's chatting about maybe a Cowboys go maybe Dolphins go this

could be a Super Bowl preview yeah that's right this could be AFC NFC Super Bowl preview everybody's talking Ravens Niners this could be one if both these teams were playing their absolute best ball they got Jason Sanders going five for five, three 50-plus-yard field goals after hearing all week how good Brandon Aubrey was for the Dallas Cowboys. Now, this is how this works. The normally team meeting, and then each coordinator will get up

and kind of describe what's going to happen or what the game plan is, or the head coach will to describe to the whole team what we're going to do. The amount of times that in front of his entire team, Jason Sanders heard that Brandon Aubrey is this freak. This guy comes into the NFL

never been done before. Doesn't miss any kicks. Hits long kicks. Hits big kicks. The game's tight. He makes them. The game's a blowout. Same exact kick. This guy's a machine. Jason Sanders used to be that. Right, Gumps? Jason Sanders used to be an absolute robot at one point a couple years ago, right? Then he got paid and then the end of last year struggled a bit.

Started this year, he was taking kickoffs, going out of bounds, missed a couple. He missed like five or six in a row outside of 50, and now he's all the way back. Okay, so he has the talent and the skill. If you're in the NFL and to get paid in the NFL, you're there. So, like, at the kicking position, you're not competing against anybody but the ball every single time. Andrew Holder and Snapper, obviously, to make this as easy as possible. But whenever all week you just get told

like, hey, boys, wait till you see this. And in Jason Sanders' head, he was that guy. That's why he got paid down there. So to see him bounce back, hit some big balls, that was like a nice showing of competitive that I see from kickers that you can't always find.

You've got to find the moments that you can find who's like a dog and who isn't. But aside from that, how about the Dolphins getting a huge win? What did you see from them that makes you believe in the Dolphins? And what did you see from the Cowboys that makes us go, oh, no, the Cowboys did that? Huge win. I've got to go back to Sanders for a second because he did hit the Kobe, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 2, 5 field goals after the game.

But it's a big win for the Dolphins. The thing, the narrative about them has been all year, can they beat good teams? Can they beat a playoff caliber team? And you beat a team like Dak and the Cowboys came down. Not only that, you get the win. But Tua had to answer at the end of the game. He had to answer. He had to drive his team down and get them in the field goal range.

So it was great to see that. I love what I saw up front with Wilkins and Chubb off the edge and then offensively, you know, Tyreek Hill getting back in there. We did lose potentially Jalen Waller for a few weeks with a high ankle sprain, which is obviously a big deal, but still got Mostert, scored his 21st touchdown. We played well as a team,

as a unit. Tough, hard-fought game. Got a win at home, and now we got another one with Baltimore coming up. I'm excited about that win. We got big games down the stretch. Shout out to the NFL schedule makers who, you know, can't find it sometimes in the middle of the season. Sure. But towards the end here, we got some.

You know, I wore these pants like this with these off-lights today. So that we can, you know, this is the McDaniel look. And a lot of people bury him. You know, how can a guy be good in dresses like that? He's got those big sunglasses on. How about this new tradition of him running off the field like this while holding his entire thing? Is that who we do this for?

Fins up, baby. Fins all the way up, baby. You guys love him? Oh, hell yeah. He's running all the time. He ran on the field to call a timeout in the middle of the game. His play calling. This guy's always running.

We got to lose. I love Mike. We got to lose the corner fade. He called himself out for it on hard knocks, and then he went back to it again with Cedric Wilson on fourth and goal. So, just be done with that, coach. He is always running. Yeah, he did that on fourth down, too.

I think a lot of us were very confused because he's so intelligent of a play caller. He set so many things up. Jalen Waddle went through it a little bit. So now, you know, we've seen a couple times without Tyreek, they've had to do, and they have, 30-something, nothing or whatever, and then they had to deal without Waddell for a good part of that game against Dallas Cowboys defense that I think we all have respect for. They're kind of, they get the Tootsies, you think?

Something's up. They looked different, didn't they? I mean, if you think about it, they held the Dolphins in five field goals. So if you come in that game and you say, hey, we hold them and keep them out of the end zone, you'll take that one touchdown. Most of it was only touchdown scores. So Dan Quinn at defense, I know, you know, probably catching a lot of stuff, but I'll live with that result against that offense.

Yeah, especially if you're – because if your offense shows up a little bit more for you, you're obviously winning that game. Yes. And look what you did when Tyreek was on the field with Tua. Now, Tua is a dog. I enjoy watching him play. You forget that whenever he was introduced to the sporting world, it was halftime of the national championship.

He comes in and wins it. And that's like the dude has it in him. We're all pumped to watch that Dolphins team. I think McDaniel, what he has done with that culture. Now, none of us are watching Hard Knocks on Tuesday. No. Should be. It's tonight.

Clips are great. Love the clips. Me too. Me too. Sure. Me too. At least five more. We're watching tonight.

If so, team on three. One, two, three. Team. All right. So we're watching. Some people didn't say it. I didn't say it. I'm sorry.

Well, I said it the first time and the second time, but I was the one initiating it, so I felt obligated to do it. I'm not allowed there, but we're watching it. Some people didn't say it. I didn't say it. I'm sorry. Well, I said it the first time and the second time, but I was the one initiating it, so I felt obligated to do it. I might have lied there, but I wanted to be. 10 p.m. is late. It is late, and the clips are good, though. They are. I think, like, his leadership style and the team that they have does and can go on a run.

Speaking of going on a run in a leadership style, January 1st. Oh. No, January 21st 2021. 1-21 2021. 1-21-21, which is

a... It is the word like race car. Palindrome. Palindrome, that's the word I know. I didn't know the anagram one. Go hang a salami on the lasagna hog. Same's the word I know. I didn't know the anagram one. Go hang a salami on the lasagna hog. Same forward as it is backwards. What's your face?

How about that? I just learned two new things. Seven seconds. Anagram isn't exactly similar. What? Palindrome is the same. It's a palindrome. Anagrams, you take the letters from one word and use those same letters to make a different word. Forward as in pound drum. You take the letters from one word

and use those same letters to make a different word. Oh, I see a lot of those games. Jumbo word. Exactly. Things like that. The drug thing. The dare thingy. So like dad, you know. Pound drum. Mom. Yep. Boob. Race car. Yeah, you get it.

You got it. Okay. And also, go hang a salami on the lasagna hog. Shout to the slar monster. That is the same forward and backwards. But on 121-21, a massive thing happened for the city of Detroit. A man was hired to be the new head coach of the Detroit football line. Now, the line's been through some stuff. Yeah.

This team has sucked. A lot some stuff. This team has sucked. A lot of stuff. This team has been really bad. Different ways of bad. But it's not just like outright terrible every game where they're losing like 70 to nothing. No, no. They actually put up fights every single week,

and they'd be in it, and then devastation at the end. And you think to yourself, oh, I've experienced that. My team's done that a few times a season. You know, I experienced that. The Detroit's done that a few times a season. You know, I experienced that. Detroit Lions experienced that for every game of every season for 50 straight years. Forever. Seemingly. In it, we're good.

And then how do we mess this one up? Oh, I don't know. A guy hits a 66-yard field goal after a clear delay of game that doesn't get called, and it bounces off the middle when it goes through. Oh, there's another 57-yarder on Monday night that a guy hits miraculously. Oh, there's a catch that goes off two heads. Oh, there's no catch. Oh, it's every – that was their life.

So on January 21, 2021, when they hired this man named Dan Campbell, they had no idea what to expect. I assume there was a lot of folks that said, is this guy going to make my life happier in the fall? Is this guy going to be a guy that's going to win a playoff game for the Detroit Lions? Is this a guy who's going to be able to make us be relevant in the NFC North conversation in which we have been irrelevant for far too long? And then the press conference came.

And this is what Motor City Dan Campbell said, his first statement as the Detroit Lions head coach. This place has been kicked. It's been battered. It's been bruised. And I can sit up here and give you coach speak all day long. I can give you, you know, hey, we're going to win this mini game. I can't.

None of that matters, and you guys don't want to hear it anyway. You've had enough of that shit. So excuse my language. No, it's good. All right. You've had enough of that shit. So excuse my language. No, it's good.

All right. Here's what I do know is that this team is going to take on the identity of this city. All right. And this city has been down and it found a way to get up. All right. It's found a way to overcome adversity. All right. And so this team is going to be built on. We're going to kick you in the teeth.

All right. And when you punch us back, we're going to smile at you. And when you knock us down, we're going to get up. And on the way up, we're going to bite a kneecap off. And we're going to stand up. And then it's going to take two more shots to knock us down. And on the way up, we're going to take your other kneecap. And we're going to get up.

And then it's going to take three shots to get us down. And when we do, we're going to take another hunk out of you. Before long, we're going to be the last one standing. All right? That's going to be three shots to get us down. And when we do, we're going to take another hunk out of you. Before long, we're going to be the last one standing. All right? That's going to be the mentality. Okay. That's all you need to know. We're going to punch you in the mouth,

and then we're going to end up being the last one standing no matter what, no matter how it has to happen. Remember, Dan Campbell was on the Detroit Lions that won 0-16 when a certain quarterback was quarterbacking for them. We remember. So he's been there. He understands what the city of Detroit is all about. And after that press conference, there was a lot of people that were mocking.

Wow. That is not a – that's the opening press conference of an NFL head coach on a Zoom. Here's what I want to say to not only my players, my coaches, but to all the Detroit Lions fans. And I assume there were some Lions fans that thought, here we go. But they were getting kind of egged on to think that way by the national media. Sports media cook this man.

I think Eric Biennemi was potentially up for the head coaching job at the same exact time. So this doofus getting hired over Eric Biennemi was obviously chatted about everywhere. Here's the biggest show on TV. First take. Max Kellerman's reaction immediately after the press conference. Do you think Alliance fans should be excited or concerned about their new head coach? If I'm a Lions fan, I'm concerned. I liked what Biennemi had to say about not getting a job better than what Campbell said.

If I'm evaluating talent, so to speak, at the head coaching position, and the enemy says, of course, this is something I'm working for, and I'm grateful to keep it, and I don't want to distract from what we're trying to accomplish, that sounds like a head coach to me. We're going to bite off their knee. I see what Campbell thinks he's trying to get across. But listen, you see from the introductory press conferences sometimes where like, oh. That's Max Kellerman.

That's on first take. Pretty big show. Another massive show at the same time, Colin Cowherd. Here's Colin Cowherd's tweet about it. If you're looking for winners and losers in tonight's trade, consider this. Jared Goff goes from Sean McVay to Fred Flintstone. Won't end well. Colin Cowherd actually pretty good bar there.

That would have made me laugh if I read it at the time. I'm sure I did. He was pumped about it, and he believed it as well. But then you think about what has happened to this Lions team. Everything that Fred Flintstone had to say in that opening press conference has become true. They started drafting pillars that build the culture that they wanted. They set the culture publicly. This is the type of players we're looking for.

When you get here, this is what we're doing. Dan Campbell's doing up-downs. Panay Sewell is fighting people. Aiden Hutchinson is losing his mind, committing every single moment of his life to this team. It's like everything he projected was like a call to people who were coming to the Detroit Lions. It worked out for the son the Detroit Lions. It worked out for the son of a bitch. It worked out. Here we

are on December 26, 2023. Not that far removed from that opening press conference. And here's the speech that's being given now by Dan Campbell in a locker room

after securing the first division championship in three decades for the Detroit Lions. Man, you never forget your first one. True. There's a lot of you in here, right? The first collectively, man. We didn't know coming into this season, there's a lot of new guys, right? We had some core foundations, but man, you find your new brothers, right? And you build from the ground up and you've already developed through the core, which we did, man. We knew this wasn't going to be easy. You guys came

in and earned it and you've earned it all year. Give me the old guard up here right now. Come on, Dak. Decker. Come on, Dak. Germ. The OG and me, fighters. The OG Neve Bynes! Whenever you do something like what we just did, it's special. It don't matter, man. And it don't matter how many you win in a row. They're special. But I can tell you this, when you're part of the organization, and it's been 30 years! 30 years! It's special, man. And these guys have been dying for it.

Wait for it, man. It's for you, baby. This first one's for you. The rest of you, please go ahead. Enjoy, brother. Hell yeah. That's quite a come up from being the laughing stock of everybody to the first banner in 30 years. Good on Dan Campbell and all the boys and girls at work for the Detroit Lions. Hell yeah.

What a run. Foxy, good for you. One of your best beer chugs. You end up dumping it on your head. That was really good stuff for you. But like, honestly, the ride to get here. Now, if you lose a playoff game, especially to Matthew Stafford, he's potentially coming back.

You know, and that whole thing. It's a sour taste for the entire offseason. But we're going to enjoy the hell out of this at some point, right? Like, right now we have to. A hundred percent, Pat. When you're a fan of a team that has been so bad, like, so, so, so bad. Worst franchise in the history of sports. All you do as a fan is you find a little sliver of hope, right?

You're just trying to find some sort of excuse to come back next year, after next year, after next year, whether it's the draft, whether it's a new player, or whether it's a brand-new head coach in GM. And finally, we finally found that hope that came through. Because normally, like you said, we lose in the most heartbreaking fashion. And that game got. Oh, yeah. Very, very close.

The fighting started. Mullen drops a dime in that situation. All we had to do was fall on a fumble, game over. Third and 28, Justin Jefferson makes the play. But then we did it. We get the interception, and we finally win a division championship for the first time in my life and it literally is like we always talk about on this show culture coaching and then obviously you got to hit some draft picks but dan campbell did all of this

and the way he did it for the people of detroit and lions fans everywhere it couldn't be any more perfect it's gritty it's tough and it's hard work, and we are just so pumped about it. And I honestly, since Sunday, have not stopped thinking about it. Hey, that's all. That's football, baby. It's so real. Sports are the best, and this is a great reason why. Especially for the city of Detroit.

Yes. How about him wearing that IndyCar helmet? Oh, yeah. You know, for the Detroit Grand Prix that happens up there every single year. Pretty big event, I think, for the city of Detroit and also IndyCar as a whole. And then he just got cooked. Oh, yeah. He wore that thing.

He got cooked. They were losing. They get their first win. How many wins in the first season of his head coaching? They were 0-10-1, and they finally got their first win, and they ended up with three wins that year. And he cried. Oh, yeah. And everybody, all right.

Okay. Okay. So they've been through it. Oh, yeah. And now they win the NFC North. And, Ty, have you handed the crown over to Detroit? You know, because I appreciate the fact that Dan Campbell and the boys were like, you know, let's give Detroit one last same old Lions feel.

Yeah. Let the Vikings start coming. Remember? Middle of the holiday, you know, let's let them start creeping in. And then everybody in Detroit's like, wait, have we cured that problem of worrying about the Lions letting it go? Are we the brand new Lions or are we the same old Lions? They started creeping into the family conversations, you know, because they're breaking bread. They're talking about life. The Lions are on

TV. This is the way holidays go. Wait a minute, the Vikings. You know some 60-year-old at some Detroit holiday gathering saw what was happening in that game. This is what they do. I told you. I told you. And instead,

MCDC and the boys prove they're the brand-new Lions and hang a banner. What a Christmas miracle. Now, Ty, are you passing the crown over to Detroit, or how's this whole thing going? Is there a sash, or how's this whole thing going? I don't know if I'm going to relinquish the crown quite yet,

but I did. I told Foxy six years ago when we first met each other, when we were interns, I was like, listen, dude, I know you love the Lions. I know you've seen this story over and over again. But until Rodgers is done playing in this division, it literally doesn't matter what the Lions do. It just doesn't.

And it didn't. I mean, last year that was kind of like the final nail in the coffin to the Rodgers era in Green Bay when the Lions beat them week 18 to knock them out of the playoffs that was supposed to be for the playoffs for the Lions it was it was um Seattle but it's it really is like even with them being in the division it's hard not to be happy for the Lions and for like Lions fans because like I mean my entire life you know not not just Foxy's my entire life like my entire life, the Lions have sucked. You look at that on the schedule, it's like, okay, boom, two wins,

no matter what, doesn't matter. And the Lions, historically, they play the Packers pretty well, but they have done everything right. And then you look at the draft day this year, where all three of those guys that they drafted with their first three picks have made huge immediate impacts, and they get shit on right away just because it's the Lions. Easy to do and it because it's dan campbell and for them to be able to and even this year like you know more so than a lot of other teams like when they would

lose or when they would get beat immediately these guys are frauds they suck like it doesn't it doesn't matter and they kind of just you know i, that bunker mentality, like they had it all year. You know, they had each other's backs. Like, it's really cool seeing them not just shit down their legs down the stretch here and actually close this thing out. But now you do have to win a playoff. I mean, that's just the way it goes. No, we won a championship. It's awesome, but that's how you break the just happy to be here type thing.

Now it's an expectation. Big first step. Exactly. Had the big first step, you have to go win at least your first playoff game this year. I don't know if you have to win the Super Bowl. That's a lot, but if you want to get the stink off of just like, hey, we're just happy to be here. This is great.

Those days are over. Let them at least have a happy to be here moment yeah that's what we're doing we're enjoying this one for sure and barry sanders used to hand the ball the official because he'd been there before i'm like what about the people who had like those first touchdowns happening all the time those people should be a lot of good bananas and not be judged then is that how we're all talking about everybody no you should act professional it's like what if you accomplish something you've never done before and you like been working your entire life for how about the city you have no idea how and you've been working your entire life for? How about the city of Detroit?

You have no idea how long I've daydreamed about this moment. And then I'm still daydreaming about that playoff win and eventually that Super Bowl win. Because you're going to be alive for a while, let's all hope. And all you can think about is someday they're going to do it. They have to do it. Inevitably, in 80 years, they're going to win a Super Bowl, a playoff game, whatever. I saw something about human life expectancy is higher than it's ever been, by the way.

Bingo. See the golfer one. Exactly. So maybe 90 years, maybe 100 years. And so you just daydream about it so much, and that's what keeps it coming back. But that's also what makes you feel like an idiot, because when they don't do it, you're like, oh, another season. I spent three hours every single Sunday watching the team lose.

Let's jot this down. Let's remember happiness for Detroit before anybody else in the NFL right now. On this day. Yes. Got to do it. 30 years. Bingo. You know, hat, T-shirt game, division game. You can take those for granted.

You know, you went to a winning organization out of the gate. I did as well. So it wasn't, I'm sure, a huge deal. Hat tossed. Yeah, hat, T-shirt. Yes. In your locker, you know. All right.

Boom, we got it done. Now we're thinking about the playoffs. But to think about an organization, whether you've been there or not, 30 years, it wasn't even the NFC North at that point. And then not only did you do it, you did it your way. You know, you built the team, you know, him and the GM, Brad Holmes, and the identity of Dan Campbell. You go back to a lot of the Lions fans and pulling up an old tweet I had with them doing up downs and like the team just looking like horse shit dan came up they're

doing up up down it's like oh yeah this team ain't gonna be worth worth nothing and now to see how they've been all the way up to this year this draft you just mentioned it like the draft picks that they took where they took them because of the positional value and all this and then now do you take uh jameer gibbs but then you don't even use them as much until kind of this point in the season and now they look like a genius doing that so just they've done it their way from the beginning they're going to be a tough team obviously some things to fix up but to win a hat and t-shirt man to get that division and first one in 30 years him bringing the old guys you know up to the front that was a special moment i'm sure for that group that's only going to bring them closer. 11-4 right now,

you've got to enjoy this moment. Obviously, it's much more to be done, but it's a huge, huge moment for that organization. And let's pivot away from that to see what happened to the Niners. Man! You know, game of the weekend. It lived up to its billing and conversation pieces for sure. Everybody's talking about Super Bowl

preview, Super Bowl preview. Then we heard the Baltimore Ravens all week were feeling disrespected by the five, five and a half point underdog situation in Santa Clara on Christmas Day. They said they don't like that. All of us were like, it's not that. The Niners are unstoppable.

Hey, don't, I actually said that. I said, I'm picking the Niners against anybody. I love the Baltimore Ravens. I've been one of the biggest Baltimore Ravens fans, I think, publicly for a very long time. Not only because what I think about Lamar Jackson and that offense kind of coming together, but also because real home field advantage there. If they get it, actual home field advantage. So I'm a massive fan of them.

I just thought that the Niners were unstoppable. I thought they were unbeatable. Now, I know they've lost the game. Everybody has. But they've looked now how they looked last year going into playoffs, which is a buzzsaw. If it wasn't for what happened against Philadelphia Eagles in the first quarter where they ended up being in a position where they couldn't even throw a pass in a game, that's tough. That's a tough thing. In a professional football game, not even being able to attempt a forward pass, that's tough.

Now, it happening in the biggest game of the year, also tough. It happening away at a different place with a team that shit talks and everything, also different and very good. So the Niners had to sit on that all year. They're all the way back. They're rolling. They're the team. No way they lose to the Baltimore Ravens. Well,

this Baltimore Ravens team is a bunch of dogs. So good. Holy hell. What they were able to accomplish over there. Not at home, which is certainly an advantage, and I would like to see Brock Purdy. We saw him in Cleveland. I would like to see him in Baltimore to see how it goes, although

nice weather. Christmas. Very nice. Everybody's talking about the lack of snow. Nice weather. Not too shabby there. I would like to see that. Instead, they go into San Fran, into Santa Clara, and they just bully them. You know what I mean? They just beat them up.

Now, granted, Brock Purdy had a couple bad picks, a couple incredibly unlucky picks. Kyle Hamilton is 6'4". Let's never forget that. He's 16 yards off the ball here. He will also make plays up near the line of scrimmage and into backfield. This dude is everywhere. He's an absolute stud. Roquan Smith, Patrick Queen, dogs at the linebacker position.

That one could have bounced literally anywhere in the 53 and a third except for where it did, and it's not an interception. What a game changer, but the Baltimore Ravens made it happen. That was an incredible play by them. There was another deflection for an interception that Brock Purdy threw, and you think to yourself, well, this guy's unlucky. Well, a lot of people have gotten unlucky against the Baltimore Ravens. You know why? Number one defense in the league. Number one defense in the league. You talk about Lamar

Jackson being the favorite for the MVP right now. It's like, okay, probably not going to get it because of stats. That's just reality of the situation. But the reality of the situation is Lamar does not care. Lamar just talks about winning. Lamar negotiated his deal this past offseason. Only had one mindset. I want to win a Super Bowl. He already has an MVP. The defense signed. Special teams solid. And the offense has weapons all over the place and they're only getting better.

D-Butch, this Ravens team. Obviously, we're overreacting. That's what we do. Of course. Once you start looking into the Baltimore Ravens, you start looking back at some of the wins they've had, how they win, how they go about handling their business,

and then that culture. We talk about culture. That Ravens culture has been set for a long, long time. They have a lot of chips on their shoulder, obviously, because everything that's said about everybody on that team, seemingly all the time, like likely, well, he's not going to be good as Mark Andrews. It's like he is. He has turned into being

a great outlet for Lamar, and we can't wait to see them both on the field, especially in this brand new offense. Then you think about like, Odell Beckham Jr. came to the team. He's getting the ball. Now he's got those Christmas cleats on. Those are the story of the night, but he's blocking downfield. Gus Edwards has 12 touchdowns. It's like,

this team's the real deal. And once you start diving in i think a lot of people are doing that on this particular tuesday d butch yeah i mean this i was on this squad from the beginning you know i believe in this team you know and coming into this week i told you they were the top five on both sides of the ball just like the dolphins were but i mean this is a team decimated by injuries somewhat earlier in the season on both sides of the ball had some slight fracture in the offseason and when Lamar was trying to get his deal done with kind of some things you never see from the Ravens culture,

some players speaking out, some things going on. Then they get that figured out, and then it just hit the ground rolling. Todd Monk in his first year as the OC. Mike McDonald, his second year as a DC now with some issues early last year, but they figured it out. You mentioned Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen. You know, with Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw, I feel like these are the two units where you got like legit off-ball backers like kind of throwback backers who are three down backers don't have to take them off the field for

passing situations running situations absolute dogs and then on offense they can win any type of football game if they got to drop back and throw the ball around like they did against the Lions they can do that if they got to run and with some ugly ones, they can do that as well. So just a bunch of dogs on that team. And it's one of those teams also who you know they're listening to what's being said outside. You know they're stacking chips. They're all looking at Lamar every week like, yo, you mentioned it last week.

Like how aren't more people talking about this guy? Why isn't he getting talked about in prime time more and things like that? You mentioned the stats. When you watch him play, he's just electric. And he's a game changer. You see that on the field week in and week out. And in his defense, I think you talked about Kyle Hamilton, the linebackers. Not a lot of household names in that secondary outside of those guys.

But they play well as a unit. I love watching this team play. Yeah, I enjoy watching the Ravens. I think that was my big takeaway from last week whenever they're in primetime. How do we not have more Ravens primetime games? We hit this law every single year. These schedule makers seem to get it right. We've got great games coming up and everything is on the matter.

We appreciate that. They've got big brains. They're using AI now. We know they're using AI now. But it feels like let's not AI or overthink this. You put Lamar Jackson on primetime, it's going to be entertaining. Every single play is electrifying. Even whenever refs can't backpedal.

What are we doing? What are we doing? How is this a thing? And how does this remain a safety? I get that throw. Full panic. The side shot, slow motion of him panicking halfway down and realizing that Lamar's a lot closer. And it's like they quick snapped it.

I guess he's got to go up and get out of the way. But that whole stumble, you're talking about near shitting of pants, I assume, for that ref. That is exactly what he's not supposed to do. Do not be in the way at all. Well, let me get my legs out. Nope, can't do anything. Now, we assume Lamar Jackson is athletic enough here. If that ref is not in a way, he probably runs back to the left,

puts the ball in his left hand, throws it out of bound, passed the line of scrimmage, and there's no safety needed for intentional grounding. Nope. But instead, we don't take into account that maybe a guy, not as athletic as he should be. Sure. Him laughing afterwards, problem.

I saw a lot of people saying Chase was getting him anyways. It's like, do you know that? Yeah, come on. Do you know that with Lamar Jackson? Come on. I seen Mason Rudolph there for 300 and some yards. Yeah. Okay.

You don't think Lamar Jackson might put that ball, left hand, throw it out of bounds? Chase was getting him anyways. Okay. Let's be honest. Whoa, whoa. He wasn't getting him. But who's the head ref there? Bill Vinovich.

Yeah, just imagine him, though, because he sees his guy trip. He's got to come in. He knows he's got to throw the flag and give the safety. And you're like, damn it. No, you don't, though. No, you don't. The ref's a part of the field. I understand.

I've been knocked off of coverage. They've been getting quarterbacks. Yeah, quarterbacks. I mean. That's on purpose, though. I mean, don't run 30 yards backwards. Okay, Mason Rudolph's not as athletic as Lamar. You won't see it.

Neither is Kenny Pickett, and neither is Mitch Trubisky. What's that? This is being athletic to run 30 yards backwards with guys running after you. This is a part of Lamar's game. The panic, I appreciate. The laughing afterwards, I assume we we still got a game to call. He was. You see him right after.

He punches the turf because he knows. These refs get very upset about missed calls. Whenever they're reviewed and they get overturned, we watch the guy be upset for probably five to ten minutes. Just, I can't believe I got that one wrong. Just not happy about it. We respect his professionalism, but we can make a common sense call. Can we not?

Can we not say, yeah, maybe, Chase, maybe, but also, guy tripped the court. I mean, what do you, what do we, because those two points at this time, we thought were going to be very important. Oh, yeah. We were like, hey, listen, this is going to be, what if this is what the game has decided upon?

Yes. Tough. He's obviously cutting back to the corner. Yeah. Putting that ball in his left hand. Jumping, spinning, throwing it out of bounds, pass the line of scrimmage. No intentional playoff. To the very least.

He might get all the way around. Who knows? Yeah, we don't know if he's potentially. A lot of people are saying Chase is tackling him regardless. Well, of course, when he has to run towards Chase. Yes. Because the ref's on the grind. Ref on the grind.

Ref on the grind. He's getting that ball to the line of scrimmage. No doubt about it. No doubt about it. Thank you, D-Butt. You heard Tone? Tone's not the only one. There's a lot of people that are saying that on the air.

Ridiculous. That ref was not expecting that. That was, man. He thought he was reffing all white. Tough spot. Tough spot. People were saying they were. Alex.

Oh, yeah, that was kind of the segregation. Al Moore? Alex Moore, St. Petersburg compliance manager. Well. Okay. Well, let me tell you about the compliance situation we have. He's very thankful that the Ravens will go on to win that game. Oh, yeah, by a lot.

He jujitsu back rolled out of there, and his first thought was, I hope this game doesn't come down to that. What if I don't? Oh, my God. What if they won by two? I hope this game doesn't come down to that. Let's talk about another team then. Oh, no.

I don't like it. Oh, who's this? I don't like that we have to do this. Uh-oh. Better do it. Did we just see a dynasty? Fa, fa, fa, fa. Fa, fa, fa, fa. Fa, fa, fa, fa.

Fa, fa, fa, fa. Feels like it, doesn't it? Yeah. A little bit. Taylor Swift was there. She walked in with Santa Claus. She did. Taylor Swift walked into the game on Christmas with Santa Claus.

Yeah, pretty cool. Big news. Taylor Swift's at the game. Bigger news. Santa Claus, see also at the game. All this was going to be it. This was going to be gigantic. The Chiefs were going to secure another playoff spot.

They were going to secure another AFC West. They were going to do exactly what they've done for the last six years, seemingly. This is Chiefs season. This is Patrick Mahomes' time. This is Travis Kelsey dancing all over faces. And all they've got to do is beat the Raiders. Raiders are already fired their coach. Raiders haven't been able to beat

the Chiefs in forever. That's QB. That's all you've got to do. Playing a rookie. How about this? Keep the Raiders from completing the pass after the first quarter. Okay. That's all they had to do. They did that. No Josh Jacobs. They did that. No Josh Jacobs. They did that.

Chiefs look terrible, bro. Very bad. But it's not just how they look on the field. With all the good juju around the team, Santa Claus, Scott Calvin, Taylor Swift, Swifties, obviously Brittany Mahomes, beloved. Stone Street. Stone Street, always there. Quarterback, the Netflix thing, awesome. Became a big fan of Patrick Mahomes. beloved Stone Street always there, quarterback, the Netflix thing

awesome, became a big fan of Patrick Mahomes with all the good vibes and all the good that has happened feels like the football gods are not blessing the East Kansas City Chiefs either, yesterday was one of the windiest games I think I've ever seen, now they didn't talk about it much but it did feel, whenever you see Travis Kelsey moving late, Devontae Adams moving his hands

late, ball is kind of floating and hovering you would assume it was pretty gusty out there, not to make kicks missed and things like that, but also football gods just... Not about it. Did you see how mad Travis Kelsey got? Oh, yeah.

Travis Kelsey came off on a sideline after another three and out. It shocked his helmet. This dude has the number one sports podcast on earth. Then you broke it. This guy's got, he's been on TV 364 times. More commercials than any more commercial than Jake from state farm.

Yeah. State farm is like one of the number one NFL. This guy's on more Jake's job. Third down. We're off the field. We're spiking. Oh no. Tommy Townsend says I'm going to complete a 24 yard pass in the windiest

conditions on earth. Oh, I need my football. And he reaches. Don't give him his football helmet yet. Let me give him a little. Hey, I'm going to give you a noogie, actually. Wake up. Travis Kelsey wasn't the only one, Matt.

Uh-uh. No. We haven't seen Patrick Mahomes different than we've ever seen Patrick Mahomes. Here's Patrick Mahomes chewing out the offensive line. I don't know. Now, it didn't become a Derek Carr, Saints center situation, McCoy, where they thought about fighting him. They listened to him.

They respect him. Obviously, Tooney respects him. We've won a Super Bowl together. That's Patrick Mahomes. You can go ahead and get out whatever you want to get out. But Patrick Mahomes now, numerous times over the last couple weeks, during Chiefs season, whenever football matters, they've got to play their best football.

Losing is cool. Oh, no. This is cool Patrick Mahomes. He's not so cool anymore. It's his season. You know who else is bummed out? Who? Taylor Swift,

Brittany Mahomes. These two new best friends they got handshakes. They travel to games together. Did someone just die? Bummer. Yeah. Potentially a dynasty.

Yeah. Now Taylor Swift saying to Brittany bring his moral life to this football game. Okay. I'm worth like four or five billion dollars.

I sold every stadium. I got hits after hits and everything like that. But watching how like committed Taylor Swift is to the Chiefs, it's awesome.

Really incredible. I love it. Yeah. Which is why I don't like that they're not winning because this situation happening in the playoffs with 40,

50, 60 million people watching is good for the NFL. But it's not just that everybody's bummed out. How about the football gods just dumping all over them? Did you see Pacheco hop up on the training table? Oh, man, I just got kneed in the head by a teammate.

Boom. Oh, my God. Table can't even stand. Another concussion. So what can go wrong did go wrong and is currently going wrong for the Kansas City Chiefs. And we're in a place that we haven't been in a long, long time. I think this year is potentially a, we're going to sit this one out year for the Kansas City Chiefs.

And I don't like that at all, Ty Schmidt. Yeah, I mean, it's a backbreaker. Because like you said, we've never seen this in terms of the body language. I mean, these guys are always having the most fun. Mahomes, laughing, giggling. It's always talking about his brother doing the TikToks and all that kind of stuff. How bad we hate him. Exactly.

He's ruining everything. Kelsey, the guy honestly looks like he's never had a bad day in his life until these last couple weeks. Even when he's getting a shot, which hurts. Hurts. That's Travis Kelsey. He's getting a shot yeah which hurts hurts he's you know yeah because that's travis kelsey he's always happy always happy literally patrick mahomes always always happy that's what it has been and now you know unfortunately we're going to get all the oh this is all taylor's fault when she's just up there wearing a monogrammed 87 santa hat just trying to cheer her man on the The internet was saying she was the Grinch,

and she stole the Kansas City Chiefs' happiness. No, they were also saying she was the what? Yeah, Yoko Ono. I don't like that at all. It's absurd. Whatever greatness gets added to greatness, it's good. What's that? I saw it on my Twitter.

She was like a deep agent for the Eagles as well. Oh, is that why? Well, the Eagles need a little help. They need to get her and Big Dom back then, if that's the case. I jumped off the Chiefs last week, though. It's been like this all year. I think we should also talk about how good the Raiders are. Yes, Raiders are good.

That Raiders defense. Yeah. Phenomenal. I mean, obviously, two touchdowns within a matter of seven seconds. On the one play, they just dropped the ball during a handoff. And on the other play, I think the wind gust was maybe 78 miles an hour. Let's not do this. I think it was 78 miles an hour. I think the wind gust was maybe 78 miles an hour. Let's not do this. I think it was 78 miles an hour.

I think the wind gust was 78 miles an hour. Remember a couple weeks ago, Patrick Williams was sick. He was sick. Now he's got a 78-mile-an-hour wind gust. That's why he's so upset to the guys. He's like, hey, guys, we were running ball and it was a 78-mile-an-hour wind gust. That's what he was saying to the offensive line.

I can't believe I didn't think of that. And once again, he was going to give the ball to the kid, but then an adult tried to steal it. He said, neither of you get it. How about that? Here's a pick six for Patrick Mahomes. I'm going to keep this one. Merry Christmas.

Raiders, phenomenal. Need to be talked about. But the conversation is certainly, are the Chiefs dead? Now let's pivot away from the NFL. Let's go to the NBA because they had a day yesterday. Yes, they did. Yesterday used to be their day. Mm-hmm.

And Jolly Olds Roger Goodell says it's our day now. We've got three games in the primetime one where you guys got Braun Celtics, cool. Lakers, Celtics, yeah, big fan. We got Super Bowl preview. We got Lamar Jackson taking on San Francisco 49ers.

Good luck over there. But there was a lot of people that watch NBA. We were not one of them. So joining us now is a man who played 16 years in the NBA, is an NBA analyst and pundit on ESPN, friend of the program, ladies and gentlemen, Kendrick Perkins. Big Perk, how you doing, man? Tired as hell. Tired as hell.

Look, look, I worked a 13-hour shift yesterday on Christmas Day, but I enjoyed it. I enjoyed every minute. You know what happens when you get Christmas and basketball on the same day? You get me. You get me all day long. That's a great day for the world. We like that from Santa Perk, you know. Now, people are saying you work 13 hours on Christmas

so that you don't have to stare at that white Santa Claus all day. Now, that is what people are saying. But I did catch you guys on TV yesterday, and I thought you did a fantastic job, by the way. And you deserve some flowers for that being a holiday and committing that many hours to watch it. We appreciate it. Hey, Perk, hell yeah.

We appreciate it, Perk. And a lot of people are going on vacation after that day. Instead, you're right back in the studio, especially joining us. Let's dive in. What happened yesterday that we need to know about? I've seen that LeBron was down and out. Then he swats somebody, but his teammate gets a penalty. The Celtics end up dominating.

What's the big storyline coming out of yesterday, Big Perk? Well, it's a few. It's a few. Starting off with the Celtics- out of yesterday, Big Perk? Well, it's a few. It's a few. Starting off with the Celtics-Lakers game, right? Because that was the marquee matchup for Christmas Day. And the Celtics proved to me and the rest of the world that they're the best team in the NBA. Oh, you don't say.

Yes, and I'm not just basing this off of what they did yesterday to the Lakers. I'm talking about the clean sweep that they had for us in L.A. They beat the brakes off the Clippers. And then to come in and do what they did. Look, when I look at that starting five with Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum, Eric White, Drew Holiday, and Prezantis, that is so electrifying. And I know all the people that they say they shoot too many threes. I was one of them.

But I'm a believer in their three-point shooting. And I'm a believer in their perimeter defense. This team should be favorite to win it all. West Virginia coach, right? Yes, Joe Mazzulla. Fantastic. Dog. Dog.

Joe Mazzulla, absolute dog and it figured out I understand uh that people think about you know shooting too many threes because at West Virginia before Joe Mazzulla beeline was there and whenever we were hot you know pit snoggle and the boys we were on a run you run into a night where you're cold though or a series where you're cold all of a sudden it ends you're saying they got big enough they're big enough in the paint they run good enough offense where even if they do get cold, we're going to win still, the Celtics. Yeah, because one thing about it, they're a top five team offensively. We're a top three team offensively, and they're a top three team defensively.

And we all know in order to win a championship, you got to defend. And when I just think of Derrick White and Drew Holiday, I'm talking about when I say pests, those guys are professional pests when it comes to hounding the ball. And they do other things in the interior. Like they may be 6'4 and 6'5, but they play 7'1 at times. Their ability to rebound in traffic, block shots. And I will say this. I've been very, very critical

of Joe Mazzulla since he's taken over the job. But I will say this. I've got to give him his flowers because he's doing it his way and his way is working. And right now, the Celtics are on people's ass like back pockets.

I like that. Hey, Park, I love everything you're speaking right now about Joe Mazzulla. He was so young, dropped in there. Previous coach, he's throwing around the whole building. Yeah, his problem was he hated wearing

pants. That just happened. That happens. Then Joe Mazzla gets plugged in. Congratulations. Right. Because that guy like coach of the year type conversation, right? Yeah, you doke a one coach of the year and then Mizzoula finalist coach of the year.

So this guy gets dropped in in the middle of that whole situation. Like, yeah, you're next. And now here they are, number one team in the league, says Burke. Good on you, Joe. Connor has a question for you. Yeah, Burke. Another team who's been at the top for a little bit now was the Denver Nuggets. And there was a kind of pregame warm-up

that kind of hit the internet this week in the Yoke. It's basically just throwing up air balls and not really giving a damn about anything that isn't inside those four quarters. Are they going to go on a run again here? And was yesterday one of the bigger times where you think the Warriors missed Draymond more than ever because of how Aaron Gordon and Jokic played inside? Yesterday was all about the Nuggets,

and they just reminded us why they are the defending champs. I mean, they're coasting through the season, and rightfully so. They're just saying, we want to get to the playoffs. Once we get to the postseason, we know what to do. We have our two superstars in Jokic and Murray. We have our other core pieces in Caldwell Pope and Aaron Gordon. We have Reggie Jackson, who's going to come off the bench and provide what we need to provide.

We also have Christian Brown, who has been there. They have the experience. They have the experience. They have the IQ. All they're saying is that we're just going to win games. We're going to fly under the radar. And like Michael Malone said, hell, we're trying to be a dynasty.

So that's what they're trying to be. They don't give a damn about the regular season, but they're going to win games. You're talking about Daddy Mike Malone? Yeah, the warm-up of Joker. He hit the Internet yesterday.

He's phenomenal. Not only him just lacks it. Let me go put this off the roof and hit nothing. That's the best player in basketball right there, by the way. Best player in basketball. Let me see. Yeah, no. You think you'd make that, by the way.

That's like the video you would normally think would hit the Internet. Is him just nonchalantly making it all? Nope. There's another video of him spinning the ball on his finger while he's chewing his nails. He's just sitting down. Ball ends up hitting him in the head, and he's like, ugh. And then he just— Yeah, he just enjoyed Christmas Day.

Loves life. Love watching him play ball. Last question here for you from D-Book. Go ahead, Bob. Let me ask you about KD. So, a report came out yesterday, I believe, about him being frustrated with what's going on in Phoenix. Also saw Devin Booker kind of getting into it a little bit with his

teammates. Everything good out there in Phoenix? Oh, I don't like it. Hell no. Hell no. And KD needs to start with himself. He needs to be frustrated with himself. Look, KD is the only guy on that roster, I believe, that has a championship.

So with that being said, just like when he went to go to state and all of a sudden Draymond Green and Steph Curry and Steve Kerr, the coach, taught him how to win at a high level, he needed to take that same energy to Phoenix. He has to be the leader. And I'm not just saying go out there and score 40. That's part of it. But go out there and actually be a vocal leader.

KD's body language last night was horrible all across the board. But what people don't realize is that, and this isn't any sport, when you have body language that affects your teammates. Your bad body language affects your teammates. Your bad body language affects your teammates.

I saw Kevin Durant not sprint back in transition. I saw him turning the ball over. I saw him complaining with the refs. If you're doing that and you're supposed to be the leader of this team, an extension of Frank Vogel, then all of a sudden everybody else is going to follow.

Here's the problem that I have, another problem. Eric Gordon, okay, who is on the vet minimum, had some comments a couple of days ago about, you know, being more of a focal point in the offense and things to that nature. If you're doing your job as a leader in that locker room, guys that are on the vet minimum, that's a role player, they're not coming out saying those type of things. All right, Park.

And don't come give me, oh, they haven't been healthy. They haven't had Bradley Beal, Devin Bookie, and KD all on the floor at one time. Devin Bookie and Kevin Durant is enough. You're the man. Ladies and gentlemen, Big Perk. We appreciate you, buddy. Appreciate you, Perk. Thank you, buddy.

Appreciate y'all. Happy holidays. Happy holidays. Merry Christmas. But let's talk about you real quick. So, Santa comes in, does his thing for your, a lot of kids. And then.

Four kids, yes. Really? That's it? Not 10. Not 10, but people actually do ask me if I have 10. Hey, where's the rest of them? No, sorry. This is it, guys.

Well, they might be on the way. We have no idea how the Hawks operate over there. They're like rabbits over there in Ohio. But, like, whenever you're. So, this is a full. You've got to be preparing for a long time. Now that I, that first Christmas with Mackenzie, I was putting stuff together. Nice.

That was cool. That was a cool moment. That was a really cool moment. You got to do that for, because Santa brings Santa's gifts. Yep. And obviously parents' gifts are coming through. Now Antonio Brown has some different. Wow.

No Santa gifts there. He had a lot of thoughts. He was pretty active. He was pretty active. But anyways, you, this is a long week, I assume. Holiday's a long, long, long week for you. Yeah, you need to just prepare early. And like always, we didn't feel like we were prepared.

So we're doing stuff the day before Christmas Eve, all that. But everything always turns out well. Everything went great. Kids are pumped. We got dirt bikes for the little guys. A little bit of road rash. A little bit of road rash like 10 minutes in, but everyone's still out there riding. You got to set up those things on the back wheel.

Those little tripod thing. Little... Yeah, they're a little older, I guess. I think they're old enough that they don't need that, but they just got to fall a few times to really kind of get their bearings. Absolutely. Just like bicycle, learning how to ride a bike, you know. I took my bike right down my front hill right into the side of a truck. Absolutely. Just like bicycle, learning how to ride a bike. I took my bike right down my front

hill right into the side of a truck. Perfect. Yeah, because I was told to stay here. Stay up here on the flatland. Kind of small. Working on real tight quarter circles. You know what I mean? Sure. And then I just wanted to go ahead and go down. Didn't know the brakes. Ran right into the side of a truck. That's why my nose is the way it is. I believe. Okay. But once you do that,

you learn quick. Oh, here's the brakes. Yeah. That's what you got to do. That's old school. I love that. That's what you guys still got going on. Speaking of new school, how about the brand new Lions? Obviously, you're the all-time leading tackler for the Green Bay Packers, the former Kings of the North.

The winter's coming, and who is it? It's the Packers. Big Bad Wolf will be joining us in about a minute or so. How do you feel about what Dan Campbell's been able to accomplish, how quickly he's been able to do it, AJ? It's pretty impressive. I mean, the fact that it's been 30 years and I saw Foxy, I see how excited he is.

He's pouring beer on himself. I get it. I understand you should enjoy this moment. You really should. But maybe this is just the Lions moving forward. This is just who they are and what we should expect. And we did take a trip back in time to the old Lions as the Vikings were mounting a comeback.

Oh, yeah. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, they're coming. The Vikings scolding their way all the way back. Is this the same old Lions who are going to lose in devastating fashion and not get their hat and T-shirt for the first time in 30 years? Justin Jefferson's doing Justin Jefferson stuff. I believe he told somebody in a pregame show, like, yeah, I'm going to put on a show today.

It's Christmas. It's Christmas weekend. I'm going to put on a show today. And's Christmas. It's Christmas weekend. I'm going to put on a show today. And he did. Thought they were going to do it. Thought the Lions were going to rip the happiness out of the entire city of Detroit. But instead, bottle rocket gets tossed.

A pick is had and the Detroit Lions have won the NFC North in their first division in 30 years. Nick Mullins goes for over 300 yards yet again. Is that a sign of things to come, especially with Matthew Stafford maybe coming to Detroit for that first playoff game? We shall see a lot of stories. Joining us now

is a man who's currently quarterback of a team that won. Yeah. Hell yeah. Big win. Uh-huh. Not close, but won. Jacoby Brissett, by the way. This guy. He's a player. Yeah. Maybe give him two, three quarters. You know what I mean? See what he can do with that. That might be something that you might mess around

win a game. Instead, this team gets a big time dub. This guy was on the active roster. Big conversation about that. Four time NFL MVP. Merry Christmas to ladies and gentlemen, Aaron Rodgers. Whoa! Baby face.

Super baby face. What's going on, guys? Something's different, right? What happened? I don't know. You got super baby face right now. Shaved? Is this the...

What do we... Hey, Merry Christmas, you know? Hey, you look amazing. You look 20, 30 years younger. Merry Christmas. Not that you look 20, 30 years older. You just look like a super baby face. No, I get it.

I think I did. That's why I probably shaved. No! What I'm saying is, you look good years older. You just look like a super baby face. No, I get it. I think I did. That's why I probably shaved. No. What I'm saying is you look good, but you did. It was just different. That's kind of a backhanded compliment. Well, Artie Smith said I gave him the same thing. I don't mean to always do this, but it does appear to be the way I speak.

I'm from Pittsburgh. I apologize. Merry Christmas. You look fantastic. Let's dive right in. Big time win. Let's go. What are we seeing?

What are we doing? How are we feeling here? Well, I feel good about it. Obviously, we had a big lead there, 27-7. They came back and Greg hit an unbelievable 54-yarder to win. But a lot of great performances on Sunday. I want to highlight Brees Hall. Brees, 95-plus yards receiving and rushing, and he's done it twice.

I saw a stat that said he's done it like 22 games, and the other guys who've done it, it's been over 100 games. So a big shout-out to Brees. He's a talented guy. This was an awesomely blocked play on the front side. And, you know, give him a little bit of crease, he's going to go the distance. But I'm proud of Trevor. I thought Trevor played a nice game.

It was a good win for us. It's always more fun when you win. We've got a short week now. We play Cleveland on Thursday. A lot of good storylines there. Joe Flacco's starting to quarterback for them. And we can only play spoilers, so we'll try and do our best. Go ahead, AJ. Hey, how impressive is it to watch Joe Flacco play, coming off the couch,

driving his kids around and all that stuff he talked about early in the year and then now how productive he is being on the field? Could you describe how difficult that might be to someone that doesn't really understand that? I don't think anybody can understand it unless you realize how difficult it is when you get older just to kind of stay in shape if you're not working. I'm assuming he was working, but to not have any training camp,

any offseason, and to just come in off the couch and be able to play like he's played. I look at the first game he played, and I feel like they went right down the field on one of the first drives, if not the first drive, and threw a kind of classic Joe Flacco one ball for a touchdown, and that probably got him going pretty good. But Joe is one of the prettiest throwers of the football, I think, that I've seen in our time. He's got kind of that longer delivery, but the ball comes off nice. You watch what Coop did in the game.

I mean, he was fantastic. 265 yards receiving is ridiculous. But Joe has always been a great deep ball thrower, and he had a couple, obviously, dimes. I mean, look at that. Just, like, deep out. Look at that. Just deep out. Here's the awesome throw. Put some top on it and then letting Koop just use his body and make a play. Always been a fan of Amari's and happy for Joe.

I don't really know Joe personally. I've kind of run into him a few times over the years, but always am told that we would be friends if we spent time together, whatever that means. Oh, Joe dabbles with ayahuasca. Maybe that's what he was doing the whole first half of the season. Oh, plants. Could have been.

Could have been. Yeah, not 100% sure. We've talked to Joe Flacco before. How'd it go? Yeah, he basically just said, hey, guys, and then that was it. Yeah, somebody was doing our show from a building in Denver. Yeah, McManus. It was Brandon McManus was doing our show in Denver from the Players Lounge.

We FaceTimed him randomly, and he was like, yeah, a couple of the boys are here. Joe's here. We're like, Joe's there? Flacco? Flacco's there? He turned, and Flacco goes, hey, guys, and then he just walked off. It was like Flacco's on the show. Flacco's been on the show.

We don't know him at all either. He's so cool. What's that? Joe cool. Joe cool, man. He's so cool. I don't think he talks to anybody. I don't think he, like, even when he was at Baltimore, right, for so long.

I don't think there's a lot of, he just kind of handled his business. He said, I guess it's allegedly come out, I don't know if he said it, that whenever you got injured, he called the Jets and was like, hey, is there any interest? They said no. So, like, I assume the Jets aren was like, hey, is there any interest? They said no. So, like, I assume the Jets aren't the only team in which his agent or he reached out to. It's like nobody wanted this guy either.

He thought there was a chance maybe it was over. It's been fun to watch that. A lot of good stories in the NFL right now. One that kicked, you know, every other story to the side there for a little bit because it involves you and the New York Jets. So you got put on the active roster after your 21-day window closed last week. Okay, 21-day window to make a decision on whether he's going to be active or he's going to be IR for the rest of the season.

This is the NFL. This is the NFL's rules. So whenever you go to the active roster, Nick Big Bottom Bodden is his name, gets sent off the team, okay, down to the practice squad, I do believe. He's been in the NFL six years, fully vested, so his contract is guaranteed throughout the entire season. This became a massive conversation because if you're not

going to play, why are you taking Nick Bigbottom Bottom's spot? Why are you doing this? You're a bad guy. And now, I assume, that there is some sort of conversation that you would like to have or inform people of why this took place, how this took place, practice practice is that the reason is there a chance you play what happened there behind the scenes and when did you hear how pissed off people were about you getting put on

the active roster last week well i figured there'd be some conversation about it um the story is Simple. We lost to the previous week, and I was, again, targeting the 24th to come back. So I assumed I was going to go on IR. I asked to be put on IR because, you know, there was a conversation, do you want to practice? And I said, not at the expense of somebody getting cut. you want to practice? And I said, not at the expense of somebody getting cut. I know how this works. And I didn't need to feel like I needed to practice to continue my rehab. I could do on the field stuff on the side. But obviously, I got overruled there. You know, it is what it is. And yeah, that was a, you know, interesting interesting situation i called nick right away i just said hey i just hope you know this isn't coming from me i'm i asked him to put me on ir um but he

actually said hey look i'm vested i can i'm getting my money i'm fine don't worry about me he's got he would have got elevated this this last week uh if he'd been uh been healthy but he'll be back up this week i'm sure um but you know it's just the same old thing. You know, it's it's the same people with the same comments. I think what we should do, Pat, is the same people who are criticizing me, you know, are coming up with these conspiracies, you know, about my injury or whatever. Let's before they talk, let's go back to 2021 and let's just let's make people say their vax status to start then that'll that'll frame all these comments in the right window okay so before they before they say something let's have them say uh any instruments probably going to shut us off here but let's have them say hey i'm so-and-so uh uh double vaxxed with uh uh pf Pfizer and triple boosted.

And my opinion about this is this guy's a bad guy because he just wanted to practice and took money away. Then at least you'd know, and everybody could know at that point that they're, they have their puppet masters who are puppeteering them to say this certain thing about this guy and that they're still upset about the fact that I believe in medical freedom. So it's a, it's the same tired narrative.

And, you know, it's an interesting spot for me because I'm basically just saying, hey, I are, right? This is, you know, this season, you know, is over for me. Again, I got overruled. So because of that, I was on the practice field. I love the practice. Didn't want it to be the expense, you know, of but uh again that's out of my control but again it's the same same people so let's make sure we're asking the right questions to these people before they start spouting off so we can actually frame each one of these specific comments in the right uh

in the right perspective I'm not sure we're ever going to be able to get that passed but I do appreciate that you at least look into some of these people and be like, oh, I wonder what this person has said about me maybe two years ago while I was in the middle of winning an MVP and other stuff. And there's a lot of that that has happened against you. We got to ride alongside of that, by the way. And that still is lingering effect of it all, let alone people that have never really heard you speak.

They're still mad I'm a double, I'm co-MVP. You know, not just the two MVPs that I won, People that have never really heard you speak. Go ahead. They're so mad I'm a double, I'm a COVID MVP. You know, not just the two MVPs that I won, but also because I didn't bow down to the, you know, medical industrial complex and the mass formation psychosis. And I decided to make a decision that was in the best interest of my health. Of course. And they're still trying to get their jabs in. You know, they're still trying to take a victory lap.

You know, somehow I couldn't beat science this time. It's like, oh, really? I was on the practice for 11 weeks. I was, you know, in line to be able to push to play after 14 weeks. So take it easy on the victory laps and have another jab while you're at it. Okay. Well, I don't know if they'll do that. I hope they're remaining safe.

Are those still? Those are still. Oh, yeah. I'm watching. Two and one, baby. Yeah, they're remaining safe. Those are still. Oh, yeah. I'm watching. Two in one, baby. Yeah, I'm still watching. I'm watching the commercials for it. What'd you say?

Mass formation psychosis? Is that what you said there in the middle of that thing? Yeah. That's a good one. Look that one up. I know Connor knows about that one. Oh, yeah. Look that one up.

As soon as it came out of your mouth, as soon as it came out of your mouth, my brain was like, that has to be something. Where the hell? Now, the journalist in me should ask a follow-up for you to explain that all. But I think the people that don't call me a journalist for that thing would not be happy if you were to explain that. So I think it is an interesting little give and take on how some people feel about stuff, especially because of things that have happened in the past. But let's talk about your practicing and you being back on the field. You were throwing with flight school,

and I think that was mass formation psychosis as well. There it is. All getting on the same page. Hey, hey, hey. You know, everybody's got to be mass formation psychosis. Exactly. Right on the same there. And look how happy you are every time it's said.

I cannot wait to find out what the hell this means or where it came from. But you were doing flight school. You were doing flight school. You were thrown into the practice squad, guys. After practice, you were doing your thing. Now I guess you played corner and you had a jumping, spinning interception last week that obviously captivated headlines and conversation because they said, this guy might actually be back healthy. What we doing now are you running quarterback against the scout

team how do you feel how are you playing and what are what do the next few weeks look like for you well we had mostly walk through last week and then friday we had like a helmets practice so i took all the uh the look team 11 on 11 reps. And then today is a walkthrough. Tomorrow is more of a, I think, helmet practice, so I'll take the scout team reps there. Yeah, it was, you know, good practice on Friday. I feel really good. I'm obviously bummed out about the season

and not getting a chance to, you a chance to get back on the field. But it is what it is. I think you just got to figure out where your perspective is and your focus. Isn't it? The holidays help you with that. If you're sitting around counting the things you don't have, you'll miss out on the blessings that are around you. So I'm thankful for a lot of things that happened this season, not for the injured part, but there was a lot of little miracles along the way, friendships and special people showed up for me

and just little blessings in the midst of the frustration. So a good time to reflect over Christmas, even though we were in the building yesterday for a little bit. But, yeah, I'll be excited to close out the season and then look forward to coming back next year and the years to come. Are you spending it? We're spending it right now. We feel good? Yeah, I feel great.

I feel great. I really do. My body feels good. Not able to reach a top speed, which who knows what that is for me these days. Running or throwing? Running or throwing? No, no, no. The arm is good. The throwing. I mean, I've been throwing a lot since week eight. So eight weeks post-surgery. So this is 15 tomorrow. surgery so this is uh 15 uh tomorrow so uh arm feels great um back to you know all my workouts squatting everything it's just i can't uh can't sprint uh you know whatever my full speed was but but the running's been been good i'm able to move around laterally and um so it's good to feel you

know more like myself it's good to be with the guys. I've always loved practice and loved competing, but obviously wish there was something to play for playoff-wise. Yeah, I think we all thought that storybook ending was going to come to be what it was. And I didn't understand the reaction whenever you said that you're not going to play now because the team has been eliminated. That was the plan this whole time. You know what I mean? Team's still alive, mathematically still alive,

and you feel healthy enough to get on the field. You were going to play. Like that was kind of what the story was this entire time. But the people who we did not ask, you know, the qualifying question. Yeah, I should have asked the back status there. Yeah, I didn't quite understand it either. I think the whole point was, you know, if we won against Miami, then the goal, the plan was to take 11 on 11 reps for the first team

and then see how I responded. You know, what I was saying was there's no guarantee I would have been cleared because I would have to respond the right way. There's no guarantee I would have been cleared because I would have to respond the right way. And then Mr. Johnson, Joe Douglas, Sala, you know, Dave, Neil Eletrosh, Heather, everybody would have got together and said, yes, we feel comfortable allowing him to play, along with, you know, no setbacks during the week of practice. But, you it's it's the what if game which is hard to go down but that would have been the week's schedule so um i think some of this stuff was a

little bit uh kind of taken out of context when i said i just wanted to remind people it wasn't a guarantee we beat miami always playing but that would have been the week's schedule that we would have gone down um was to try and get ready to play. So because we got eliminated, that was my whole point. Yeah, I'm not 100 percent, but the willingness to play and being cleared to play wasn't dependent on 100 percent. It was dependent on how I looked in practice, how I responded and my ability to move in a small area and to do play under center, which I've proven in practice that I can do that. But the whole point was if you're not 100% and we're out of the playoffs, they're not going to clear you.

My story about 2018 was I was, you know, nobody's 100% late in the season, but I was, you know, as good as I could be in 2018, and I wanted to play even though we were eliminated from playoff contention, because I wanted to play for Joe Philbin, our interim head coach. I thought that was the right thing to do, and so I shut it down, and that's why I played. Different situation when you're not 100% healthy, obviously. Well, and the last game of the year there, I believe, against the Lions, right?

Was it against the Lions? We were there. Yeah, I took a clothesline. I took a clothesline, kind of like the one that A.J. gave me in the 2006 family night scrimmage. Oh, A.J., in front of the families, huh? Wow, hope you're happy. Had to do it.

Did you flip off your coaches, too, immediately afterwards? Yeah, well, Aaron was playing quarterback when he's not live, wearing a red jersey in a scrimmage in a stadium that was full, and he's pulling keepers and running the ball around therimmage in the stadium that was full and he's pulling keepers and running the ball around the edge and trying to juke people out and we're not allowed to hit them and he gets upset if someone gives him a little shove after the whistle. AJ, you were representing the entire defense

at that exact point, huh? That's what you're doing? All of Lambeau. Just all of Lambeau. I think the fans were probably like, ooh! And everybody on defense was doing a whole... AJ was being a leader there, Aaron, you know, a real leader. Tone said. You don't agree with that?

I have another word for it, but, yeah, I'll share that. Mass hysteria? That's what, I think that is the, anyway, speaking of mass hysteria, Tone has a question for you. Yeah, Aaron, did you notice yesterday on social media any extra Merry Christmases to you from Detroit since now that you have left the division? They have won their first division title in 30 years.

And how do you feel about the Detroit Lions finally doing it? I'm not happy. I mean, although I'm in New York, I definitely still want the green and gold to take the north every year but they got a good football team Jarrett's had a really nice season obviously St. Brown is a fantastic receiver there are a lot of guys two really good backs Jameer has had a really nice year and I've always been a fan of Montgomery the way he runs the ball his toughness lines really good on both sides of the ball.

Defense has been playing good. So they've got a good football team. So they're going to host a playoff game. I think the NFC is pretty deep. I think we can all agree on that, right? When we saw there's got to be some NFC teams feeling better if they watched that game yesterday and saw how Baltimore, you know, beat Sam Fran. Philly's been up and down. Dallas has been up and down. You know, Detroit's, you know,

had their moments too where they haven't looked great. Probably should have lost to the Bears. Packers beat them in Detroit. So, you know, I think the NFC is pretty wide open. AFC is interesting. Obviously Baltimore looks really, really strong. There's a lot of teams still alive for kind of the seventh spot. Buffalo is ascending. Josh is playing really good football. And they're starting to run the football well.

So it's going to be interesting the last couple weeks. A lot to play for for a lot of these teams. It will be elimination games. I think Green Bay plays Minnesota this week, and that's kind of an elimination. I guess it is an elimination game unless some crazy stuff happens. So where's that game at, Ty? Is that in Lambeau or is that?

I believe it's at Lambeau, but no, it actually might be in Minnesota. Oh, no, it's at, no, because Kirk got hurt at Lambeau, but no, it actually might be in Minnesota. Oh, no, because Kirk got hurt at Lambeau. Yeah. It must be at that other stadium. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. No. Goal.

No. Goal. No. Do you hear that? Your nightmares, Aaron? Huh? Mine is actually good, too. No.

It gets. But I'll tell you what. It's looking like the loser of that game is going to host the New York Jets. Yeah. Next year. Oh, really? Well, because the way schedules are set up. Well, I mean, there would still be some interesting week 18 scenarios,

but it looks like now, you know, obviously it'd be fun to play in Lambeau and that'd be hyped. It'd be fun to play in Soldier Field as well, because I had decent success there over the years. So I don't know if there's probably a world in which Chicago, what, wins their last couple and then either one of those two teams lose their last couple, so hopefully Minnesota, and then we could play in Chicago next year. Yeah, that'd be great to get you back to Chicago.

I know the Chicago residents have been missing you. Oh, yeah. Speaking of Chicago, how about Justin Fields? There'd be a warm reception. Oh, yeah. Now, let's say you were to play at Lambeau. How do you think that would go? Obviously, we got a pregame video.

We got a pregame video. You'll get all emotional. Yep, nice package. You'll get emotional. That'd be super cute. Guy who looks just like Aaron will be in the stands, and they'll show him 50 times. Remember, this guy had a run, too.

Now, he can't just shave and look like 20 years younger. You know, that guy's stuck with that face. True. Which, you know, that's him. He's had a good run here. How do you think that would go if you were to play at Lambeau? Oh, I don't know. I mean, I was there in 2009 when Brett came back,

and that was, you know, I think there was some cheers for sure. There were some boos as well. He played pretty friggin' lights out that day, if I remember correctly. I think he threw four touchdowns. Although Spencer Havener had two touchdowns for us that game. I think we came up a little short in the end. And then the next year when they came back, we beat them in another tight one. touchdowns for us that game. I think we came up a little short in the end. And then the next year when they came back, we beat them in another tight one.

I think it was like 26-21 or something. But yeah, those were emotional games. I mean, the first time we played, I believe, was at the old Metrodome on a Monday night in 2009, and that was crazy electric. That was a wild night um and i actually played halfway decent but farby again played unbelievable and they and they beat us um so there was a lot of energy it'd be it'd be emotional for sure um but yeah definitely hoping for lambo or or soldier field yeah that'd be fun for all of us, I think. And let's put that in the middle of the season at primetime.

Because middle of the season, primetime game is kind of down. That seems like a lock. That feels like we got one in the bag if we need it for next year. Excited to see you return to the Jets. I think Jets fans also getting back on board with like, yeah, this is how. Yeah, here we go. I think, not all of them, but i think there is a momentum towards next season that we're all pumped about speaking of momentum seems like it's lost in one particular

place go ahead ty yeah aaron you're no stranger to this because it seemed like they the cameras used to get you you know like when you'd be pissed there's obviously that gif uh on twitter if you throw in the microsoft uh surface but for whatever reason we never used to see that you know in the first several years of Patrick Mahomes' career. And then the last four weeks or whatever, every time the camera shows him on the sideline, he's either ripping someone apart or yelling at somebody or getting pissed. Do you think with the way they've been playing, that's just a culmination

of him kind of always having to be perfect if you will or you know he's the the poster boy for a lot of stuff and he's kind of just starting to lose his shit because they're starting to lose games and and people are talking about the drops and his receivers and them not playing their best football and the dynasty might be over like what's your take on on all the stuff going on with mahomes right now I would say mostly overreaction. No! Yeah. Yeah.

What? You know, I think the first shot was him talking to his line. That's fine. I mean, listen, you know, we've all had outbursts in the sidelines, you know, yelling matches or throwing stuff.

I don't really, I never really threw my helmet, I don't think. Somebody will probably find a clip of me doing it at some point. But I definitely, I tossed a few surfaces over the years and did, you know, some yelling, mostly to myself or just out loud or up in the air, some colorful metaphors. But, you know, it's an emotional game, and he's hyper-competitive. You know, watching the game yesterday, obviously I'm a big fan of Pat's and love watching him play. To me, it seems like it's tough right now because there's not a lot of on-time throws. You know, Pat's so good, you know, with the second reaction stuff. And it's tough right now because there's not a lot of on-time throws.

You know, Pat's so good, you know, with the second reaction stuff. And even yesterday, he made just silly plays, you know, where he's extending, extending, you know, a late throw or moving up in the pocket, pump fake, you know, making stuff happen. The touchdown he had where he kind of moved left, moved right, threw back across his body. I just think there's too much of that. You know, they're relying too much on that, and he needs some.

We all do. We need some rhythm throws. And so, you know, it seemed like yesterday it was like either a screen to Rice or Kelsey where it was like, you know, Pat just running around. So, you know, some more easy throws I think would be good. But, again, the AFC, I mean, I know Pat has never played a playoff game on the road. Who gives a shit?

Like, that's still, it's still him. And obviously, you know, they have a lot of talent on both sides of the ball. They have great coordinators. They're going to be a tough out for anybody. But it's interesting. That team is really good. I think Buffalo is really good. As good as Baltimore is, you know, I don't think there's anybody, you know,

on either side like we felt about San Francisco earlier in the season where these guys are going to steamroll everybody. And San Francisco is still really good. Really good. Oh, yeah. But I don't feel like... No, they're dead, remember? Yeah, it's over.

They're dead. They're dead. It's figured out. Not that Baltimore's defense is, like, number one in the league and might be tough to play. Offense. And they have good night. And, you know, the football gods, Brock Purdy, like, you get nothing.

It's longer. Listen, I mean, Brock's had a great year. And we all have nights where we struggle. And he had multiple bounces kind of go against him. This was just not a great read. And I don't really understand the concept on the backside, to be honest, because there was nothing really holding the backside safety. They ran an under and a kind of stick return.

So if they had maybe run Kittle on a corner route here, then Hamilton's probably held, and then he can make that throw in there. Of course. That's what I thought, too. That's what I thought. But listen, Brock's had a really nice season. I'm going to segue and offer this up to the panel here. And obviously I'm a little biased because of the position I play.

And MVP has really become a quarterback, best quarterback award, or best quarterback on the best team award. Sorry, quarterback on the best team award. Or a running back or a receiver, you know, if they had 2,000 yards, right? can get if they are a receiver you know if they had 2 000 yards right is this is this a year where it's just going to go to the to the quarterback on the best team or does a guy like cmc have a chance to legitimately win this or tyree kill um is mostard on there i mean he's got like 20 touchdowns too i guess he's not. 21. Yeah. Is this just – what are the odds now?

Okay, so Lamar's number one. Then what? McCaffrey. Who is that? Tua. Josh. Brock. Dak.

Tyreek. And Jalen. Yeah, so it's basically Tyreek who's leading the league by a couple hundred yards at receiver. And CMC, who I believe is a couple hundred yards up as well. Correct me if I'm wrong here but uh i think both those guys deserve uh a lot of uh consideration the other guy you know it's and i saw some stats and i know josh has had turnovers this year but the guy has 40 combined touchdowns again in four straight years and the team has been what they won four straight years. And the team has been, what, they won four straight, I believe. And three of those were pretty damn good opponents, playoff teams.

If they finished the last two and went out, and if Miami loses their next one, week 18 is going to be for the division. So Bills would be 11-6 then. Pretty good. Pretty good record. It looks a little bit more appetizing. You know what I mean?

What if Josh has eight touchdowns the last two weeks and finishes with 48 combined touchdowns? How do you not put him in the conversation? Well, it does feel like there is a chance that somebody here at the end could come win this thing, you know, because every single week, and D-Butt was actually going to bring this up because you won an MVP four times.

And I think J.J. Watt would say, you know, one of the times you won it, he's potentially Christian McCaffrey or Tyreek Hill in this particular situation. He's brought that up a few times. Just while J.J. – I don't know how often you talk to J.J. That is something that is in the back of his mind. It is right here. You need to know that when you're talking to him. He said, hey, Burnley's fun

doing this. It's a blast. Right back here. Do you agree with him? What year was he talking about? 2014? I don't know. I have no idea. I believe it was 2016 as well because he said he had touchdowns that year. Yeah, he said the MVP,

there's two different awards. There needs to be the best and then the mvp he said the most valuable player will always be a quarterback touches the ball every single play has to make every decision will have to make the wide receivers good has to make the team good definitely the most valuable player is always going to be a quarterback he said but there should be a best player award as well and he thought about that after losing to you and sitting in a car afterwards, so pissed off about life. That's what I think happened personally, Aaron. What, in 2012, where we had six touchdowns against them?

Or what's he talking about? 2014 here. This is the year he had. The Texans have got his back. Five touchdowns, three receiving, 20 and a half sacks. I think it's a record. Close. 22 and a half?

22 and a half. 22 and a half. 78 tackles, five fumble recovers, one interception, one forced safety, all pro. Now that is... 29 TFLs. Oh, he was D end and D tackle. He was all pro at two positions. It's a good year. That's a great year. Yeah, really good year.

You cooked that year. You had to have had a great one in 20. 38 and 5. Jesus. Not bad. So, J.J. got to the point where he started looking at your stats. He was like, yeah, all right. That guy had a great year.

Is it valuable or is it best? We know you have to go. Listen, J.J., hey, he had a great career. He's the yellow jacket guy. I mean, like, I think I'm going to be able to hold that over him for the rest of our lives, which is great. When you guys are in the Hall of Fame, you know, family portrait. Oh, yeah. Just standing right over JJ.

Yep. You know, just the whole time. Just all over. Hand on the shoulder. Man, it might have been like a two-minute discussion instead of a five-minute discussion for you to get in the Hall of Fame. If you had won the MVP. Just couldn't do it, could you? Just couldn't do it, J.J.

Aaron, enjoy the rest of the day. We appreciate you joining us. And I'm happy, you know, that you're not on IR and away from the building and not able to do anything. I'm happy you're practicing with the boys. I wasn't going anywhere anyway, though. I mean, I said from the time I got back from the West Coast, I wasn't going anywhere. But listen, I love

the guys. Dolphins are boning right now too out there in LA. That's a big sacrifice. You could be watching and healing with them. And it's whale season too. The humpbacks are giving birth. You know the needle. They're doing this one too. They're doing this one. Jumping straight out and then just falling

into the water. That's a 10-story building that just jumped out of the water right there because they're so excited about what they're doing under the water. Outside this guy's house, he said, I don't need to see it. I don't need to see any erections. Right? You know what you said? No, I mean, I was going to say the frequency associated with the whale birthing process is actually supposedly very beneficial to various injury recovery stuff. I don't think it can cleanse your body of some of the spike protein, but it's supposed to be pretty good for it.

It does make you immunized, though, I heard. You know what I mean? I heard you'll be immunized through it all. Anyways, enjoy your day. You dropped a couple bombs in there early. It was sweet. Excited to see the reactions to that whole thing. You know what I mean?

Anytime you're saying, ESPN's probably taking us off TV right now. You're in the middle one. You know what I mean? You're in the middle one. We appreciate that. We do. We genuinely enjoy talking to you. Merry Christmas.

Thank you for making time. We'll see you next week. Ladies and gentlemen. Hey, see you next year. Yes. Oh! First one. Ladies and gentlemen, that's why. Aaron Rodgers. Why Celebrity Jeopardy thing just killed him. He saw the opportunity. He prepared for that

opportunity. He knew. See you next year, Aaron. So mass formation psychosis. That's right. He felt so good as that one was. And those people who are puppets to the mass formation psychosis. I had one. I had a follow-up to that one, too.

He was ready to do that. I'm sure you did. I'm sure you did. I'm sure you did. You know, I'm vaccinated. Hey. That's right. We all got it. I still got my card. I found it yesterday. I didn't get to ask him, though. Is there any un-vaxxed? How do you respond to un-vaxxed people that criticize? Yeah, what if they go,

hey, Clay Travis, you know, which, very soon. What are your thoughts on Aaron Rodgers taking the spot of blah, blah, blah, you know? And then Clay Travis goes, I am not vaxxed. I'm not a puppet, corporate machine. We'll never do it. I don't like it. Like, would he be mad?

I don't know. That is an interesting thought. Next year. We'll ask him next year, I guess. We will. I don't know if he just thought that should become a new rule though but he was making reference to how basically a couple years ago everywhere he go he went it was announced this guy this guy yeah there he is you remember you remember he heard it he became the face of it and once again i got vaccinated had to literally

for my uh for my working life at the time. Literally had to do it. So I did it, okay? Listen, here we go. Had 104.5 degree fever. What was it, three weeks after, four weeks after getting vaccinated? Twice, right? Yeah, boom, boom. So I had it.

So whether that's natural immunization, vaccination from having it, or the shot or whatever. So during that entire time that Aaron was having this conversation with the super vax people, boy, I'm sitting there vaccinated with a couple of antibodies in there, and I'm just trying to tell them like, hey, people are allowed to have their own thoughts. You know? Which I think is what he's been

preaching this entire time. But that's not what Aaron is going to say later, what he said. No, no, no. That ain't going to be the case at all. Everybody did have the same thoughts about that Niners-Ravens game, though. You know, even Aaron alluded to it. He was like, hey, the Niners are really the only team we all thought. Everybody thought, hey, they're a little bit of a wagon. That team's a buzzsaw.

You don't want to play them. The Ravens heard that. Five-and-a-half point underdogs. They said that was disrespectful. Now we understand why they were saying that. This team has been consistently dominant. Yeah, they haven't been perfect. Brand new OC have had to figure some things out.

Had some tight games. Had a loss to the Colts, I believe, in there. They got that guy who's a freak show, Zay Flowers. But also, this feels like a much more season-ready Lamar Jackson. Has the big deal. Has the MVP. Has an offense he likes. Has weapons he likes likes has the number one

defense in the nfl it's like why not the ravens after watching last night and how pumped were we all aj that they reminded the world that everybody doubted them because they were the only ones that believed in them i think last night aj that's the best place to be for a coach oh no question watching them play i guess especially going the road and get a big win like this like you saw how excited and pumped they were i mean it's real like the motivation is real when people doubt you when people publicly talk about your team and you take it like and you think that's offensive and how they are speaking about you there's a lot of energy there's a lot of power in that i feel like this team it brings them together like the more people

may dump on them from the outside the more it brings this whole squad together and obviously lamar is just so dynamic does things that nobody else can do and man they are credit to their defense though as well their d-line man they got a lot of even though they didn't get a ton of sacks they get a bunch of pressure i feel like and brock purdy was never comfortable that's always available right there that one you know i mean that play he's always available how tired are you you? How tired is defense when you're chasing this guy? Every single play is

a full-speed sprint in 35 different directions if you're trying to tackle this guy. Go back. Rewind one second. Steve Wilkes mentioned it, too. He was like, Lamar Jackson is one of those two-play quarterbacks. You've got to guard the first play, and they were probably in great position initially with their quarters, coming through whatever it is. Now it's time for the second play, the backyard ball.

Aaron mentioned it with Josh. You do want to see some more on-time, on-rhythm throws. You don't want to have to be great down after down, but when he does pull it down and just tuck it and run, it's special every time it seems. And he avoids taking the big hit, which is huge. He'll even cut, juke, get more yardage, even maybe take a little bit of contact, but avoids the

big hit. That's a trait. That's a skill. You're talking about how tired somebody is. Look at old buddy in the back here. 98 there. He's about to fall over on his face. And I can understand why. It would get exhausting. And remember what Bosa and that D-line said about the Philadelphia Eagles. They said, we hope everybody watches what we did and kind of do what we did against Philadelphia Eagles because home field advantage was still on the line for the NFC. I thought they were going to have a great plan for Lamar. I don't know if those exist.

No. I don't know if those exist, actually, legitimately. Yeah, how could they? Like, you cannot simulate that. There's no way you can put a wide receiver at quarterback. You can't simulate what he can do and I'm never going to say they embarrassed anyone, but when was the last

time we saw Fred Warner flying around and Zay Flowers is making a cut or Lamar's making a cut? I mean, they've got guys like Nelson Aguilar scoring touchdowns. It's not like Lamar is going out there. We're talking about Mahomes and how he's throwing to nobody. Lamar Jackson's got Aguilar, a backup tight end, who's a stud, likely,

a rookie wide receiver, and then Rashad Bateman. It's not as – And Odell Beckham Jr. Of course. And Odell Beckham Jr., of course. But this time of year, a lot of parties. Who knows what he's doing in his free time? Just kidding.

But still, either way, they are the class now, it seems like. And if Zay Flowers and Lamar Jackson continue to have this connection, because he had nine for 75 in the Tud, no one could cover him. And this is a week after what? Mooney last week, right, had that pick six where he was moving a million miles an hour. It's not like they don't have guys that can cover. They do. It's just like these Ravens across the board, offensive line,

because they handled the D-line pretty well, probably better than any other team. And then their receivers and running backs. I mean, shit, J.K. Dobbins is their starting running back. He tore his Achilles. Talk about Harbaugh coach of the year. It's Harbaugh coach of the year. Is that what we're doing here? Because he brings in a new offense.

He brings in a new offense. He has to make a decision. He publicly put the team in a situation where they had to pay Lamar. Love that. We love that. we love that. Absolutely love that. So it's like, should Harbaugh be in a conversation a little bit more for coach of the year? I mean, they should definitely get more respect.

But he's been there so long, having a former MVP like Lamar and then all these studs. They were favorites over the division. Yeah, I can't believe they got Roquan Smith. Like, that was crazy. That is a Raven. Had a baby, see the baby. But you get him there. So he probably won't get that.

And obviously what Shane's doing down here, I know we got coming off an ugly loss, what Shane's doing, D'Amico. The Browns. I mean, even Dan Campbell. The Browns, Dan Campbell. I mean, I think all these guys should be in consideration. A lot of great jobs done around the NFL. Let's talk about the Cleveland Browns a little bit, shall we, with Kevin Stefanski.

AJ, this is not what happens with the Cleveland Browns, okay? What happens with the Cleveland Browns, we bit, shall we, with Kevin Stefanski. AJ, this is not what happens with the Cleveland Browns. What happens with the Cleveland Browns, we've all seen the jersey. There's a thousand names on it, quarterbacks. Deshaun Watson goes, all right. DTR goes, all right. Joe Flacco's name was just supposed to be on the list of names about when they were trying to find another quarterback that could maybe get in and do well.

They have the pieces. Got a great defense. Got a good offensive line. Kevin Stefanski seemingly brainiac whenever it comes to football. Here we go. Can you guys win it? Got a kicker finally that can make kicks. You got a punter that can bomb at 80 yards.

You got the team except for one position. Joe Flacco comes off the catch onto the Browns and just lights it up. I mean, just lights it up. Most pass yards, I think, since the week he came into the league in the entire NFL. And remember, offenses had not looked good around the NFL this year. And Joe Flacco just comes into an offense that he knows very well from his time with Gary Kubiak.

Kevin Sfanski ran the same thing. And just leads to 265 yards receiving for a wide receiver. It's a Browns record. Lighting up the scoreboard, leading the team, having a humility about him where he's just so thankful to be there. And then that one Aaron talked about, he put a little top on it. He has different throws. I mean, this guy was on the bench.

He called the Jets. He called the Jets and said, I can be your quarterback. He called other teams, AJ. Now the Browns, real conversation, real contenders. I see some of Flacco's throws. First off, he does make it look kind of effortless. What a beautiful throw right there by Joku. It's beautiful. I've seen

times when Flacco will be on the opposite hash. He'll throw a 15-yard out to the opposite sideline, and he makes it look easy when it's such a difficult throw. And that's popping through his hands, by the way. Popping through his hands. Go ahead, D-Bud. No, the fourth and eighth throw he had with, like, somebody on his leg.

Threw it to the sideline of Amari Cooper. I don't know what Amari Cooper had for breakfast. He's obviously a dog. But, I mean, he – He's got to love Joe Flacco. That was one of the most unbelievable performances I've seen from a wide – But this throw right here, like, in the grass with, like, three linemen. Unbelievable.

Hey, congrats to the Browns. I mean, what? And now the Texans a couple weeks here. It's going to be tough. But obviously, remember, without your quarterback playing, things might be a little bit different. Dougie Davis-Mills almost made that a game. They had to put Joe Flacco back in the game.

DTR, obviously, he got injured and he's out to IR, I believe. But they had to bring Joe Flacco back in. He just walked right down the field again. It's like these dudes are phenomenal in Cleveland right now. Congrats to all parties over there. Now, ladies and gentlemen, this is the first time we get to do this.

After this show on ESPN, we will continue on YouTube and ESPN+. But after this show on ESPN, we got the Quicklane Bowl. Bowling Green taking on Minnesota. Don Diggs, in about 10 minutes, what game is kicking off on ESPN? Boy, oh boy, do we have a

treat for you today. Oh, yeah. Let's go. Bowl season carries on in the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit, Michigan at Ford Field. Bowling Green against the Minnesota Gophers who are favored by 3.5 points. Should we watch this one? Absolutely.

Why? Because Bowling Green's an absolute wagon. Oh. Seven and five. I believe they were third in the MAAC. I mean, they are an unbelievable team. Minnesota, five and seven. Tone, why is a five and seven team in a bowl game?

Yeah. Okay, because they had the best academics, and there wasn't enough six and six teams to fill the bowl season. Oh, this is smart. This is smart. Yeah Yeah, smart bunch. What? Nerd! We're not here for the school, some people say, but they say our school got us in a bold game.

DJ Fleck's going to have those boys rolling. The quarterback for the Gophers has thrown 14 career passes in his life, Cole Craver there, so that'll be fun. Connor Bazelak, I believe he transferred from Missouri. This is the 102nd offense versus the 122nd offense.

Oh, good matchup! Yeah, there's going to be a lot of fireworks in this one. Fun fact, 2021 Bowling Green beat Minnesota in a bowl game. Minnesota was 31 point favorites in that one. Bowling Green might have their number. Yeah, or is it a little motivation,

a little get-back from Minnesota in this one? It's going to be a fun one here coming here at 2 o'clock after we're done. I believe it's the lowest total in bowl games, 41. I believe it was the total. Okay. 41 and a half. So what were these offenses ranked?

102nd and 122nd. Out of 200? Spec fireworks. No, out of 130. One. I can't wait for a quick lane bowl. Up there in Detroit. We'll do our show

and then we'll watch it. After our show, we will watch it. Congrats to ESPN crushing bowl season. Did you guys see that Eastern Michigan kid? He was not happy. No, he was. He was not happy. I don't think you should have a 40-yard lead-up to a shot to the back of somebody's head with, you know.

Soft. Whole teams right there. Yeah, just, you said soft. Not a fan of sucker punches. Yeah, you look like a little bitch. You know what I mean? That's what everybody said. Like, Eastern Michigan lost so bad that this is what their players are doing.

You make the whole program look like that. Real bad. You make the whole program look like that. So that wasn't good. But yesterday, the NBA all day, ESPN. Last night, Celtics-Lakers, ESPN. ABC, Ravens-Niners.

Spending money. Hey, appreciate that. Appreciate that. Legit. That's a big deal. Especially with all these streaming rights deals seemingly being up in the air everywhere. It was nice yesterday that ESPN just kicked ass. I didn't watch a single one of those NBA games. But they were on.

They were. I felt a little weird not watching any NBA on Christmas. I kind of did, too. That's kind of when I dabble in. From 12 to 1, you didn't get it? No. I kind of felt weird, too, by the way. Because I'm not an NBA guy, either.

It's just kind of what Christmas is. LeBron has been on Christmas. Kobe has been on Christmas. That's just what Christmas what Christmas is. LeBron has been on Christmas. Kobe has been on Christmas. That's just what Christmas has always been. And Roger Goodell. Hi. Yeah, yeah. He.

He. He. We. It's ours now. Yep. Shout out to us. Assholes everywhere. But that quick lane bowl is going to be on in about seven minutes.

We will continue on on YouTube and ESPN+. From AJ Hawk, the boys, myself, everybody in the back, we hope you have a Merry Christmas week and we will see you tomorrow. Goodbye! Nailed it. Nailed it. Absolutely nailed it.

Didn't start the music till late. I appreciated that. A little less music. We turned the music on for Big Perk. I don't know. I was watching know I was watching I was watching it watching the clock watching you I was like yes I even gave an all right no no no I thought his take was done it wasn't yeah you know that's how he's great by the way he's great by the way I've been watching him on TV more and more he's awesome he's entertaining me like 16 years in the NBA too champion been there oh yeah everything. So it's like his delivery is certainly different, which is why we –

That's why we love him. Which is why we enjoy Big Perk. I wanted to ask AJ a question. I wrote it down. It felt like AJ was in the right. How hard did you hit Aaron? Yeah. How hard did I hit him?

Oh, not that hard. I mean, it's a whole – he was amazing. He was calling his own number when he's not even live. And it was great because McCarthy brought up up in the meeting the next day too. It was awesome. McCarthy brought it up because of the shot you gave to him. Now, you did that. No, no, no.

No, no. Not to me. Aaron pulled a ball. I think there was a play where he wasn't supposed to pull it. He pulls it, goes around the edge, and jumps in and scores a touchdown over a couple of DBs. And the DBs are are like we can't we're not allowed to hit this dude and so i think it was like but then the crowd goes wild you know

it's sold out for a scrimmage that's how green bay is it was awesome yeah no he did he spiked it huge yeah in your face bitch like everyone's like wait what is he live like what are we what are we doing now like no he's still not live oh cool, cool. So then right afterwards, on the sideline, there was a lot of conversation about what are we supposed to do, and then that's when you clotheslined him. AJ said, I'll give him a shot. No, I don't know. I didn't really.

No, I didn't clothesline. I think I just stopped him. He was trying to run through our defense, and I think we just stopped him. And Dominick can sue. Wow. No, no, no, no. Stop. S-T-O-P.

I thought you said, like, after he scored a touchdown, and then he, no. Stop. S-T-O-P. I thought you said like, Patry scored a touchdown. I think we just held him up. I think we just started him up and held him up, and he's trying to keep going. No, this is not what's happening. Hey, listen. Enough with the little shit. Done with it.

Huh? You feel that? You know, every action in practice, you stood up a... Quarterback in the red? ...Henry Luck or Peyton Manning or Aaron Rodgers. Whoa, whoa, whoa. But A.J. get away with that, though.

Well, that's why he did it. He was doing it for the entire team. He was doing it for the entire defense. We're tired. You know those scrimmages. You're on like a 15-play drive, and this dude's keeping the ball. I'm like, come on. What are we doing?

I love how mad you got. Why everybody else was bitching too. And you just, enough. I'm done. I'm doing it. I will be the one. Like August 5th, we're one weekend of camp. It's 700 degrees, even in

Green Bay. Those things, they would legit do 15 play drives against us, no matter how much we stopped them. It's like chasing Lamar around there. Come on, man. You got a red jersey on. I love it. That's good leadership out of you. There's a lot of people on that

defense that were thanking you immediately upon it happened. Now, I'm assuming there's some offensive linemen maybe that came in. Was there a little bit of... People thought we were like, whoa, what's going on with you? I think he threw the ball at me. It was awesome. People thought we really were having issues. People thought we really got into something.

Do we worry about that with the Chiefs? Huh? Ooh. Listen, we've only talked about a few things, and there's a lot more we have to talk about. Schefter's going to be joining us in about 14 minutes. Hopefully, he'll have all the heads up on everything. But how about like the Patriots get a massive win?

How about it? How about Chad Ryland bouncing back after having a rough year, rough game, and then he hits from 56 just to win it? Now, I will say him sitting back opening that gate a little bit, you know, and then he hits from 56 just to win it. Now, I will say, him sitting back opening that gate a little bit, I've seen him kick good. I've seen him kick bad. I think he has the opportunity to be great.

Now, that's because his leg is strong, but also his form right there. When he's real smooth, that's a very smooth swing right there. When he's doing that, he's a guy in the biggest moment on the eve of Jesus Christ's birthday. That's right. Holiday classic. He knocks that thing through with Rich Eisen and Kurt Warner in that red jacket on the call. So nice. That's a big night for the Patriots. Congrats to you guys getting a big win going in Christmas. Thank you.

Christmas miracle right there. That's a big win. Christmas miracle. Yeah, it was awesome. Definitely didn't want to win, but after the win you think about it a little more. I saw a lot of people saying, like, Chad Ryland's still kicking for the Patriots. Shows you more than anything that Bill Belichick doesn't give a damn about this team.

It's like, hey, if you have a rookie kicker and you have missed on kickers in the past, and you have this year where, hey, none of your kicks actually matter, like, why not just let the kid try and figure it out, and then maybe next year he kind of builds on it. And a kick like that, 56- yarder to win in the holiday classic you know he mentioned how important it was to for you know on the eve of jesus's birthday to be able to do that which i can appreciate for sure but more so than jesus christ jesus christ that guy also had a great

video great hat uh but in the end bill belich. So, so massive for the team as a whole. I said it to you earlier this morning. Patriots are in a great spot. Sure, we go from the two pick to the four pick, but now, hey, we can let the draft come to us. We don't have to make that tough decision if you want this quarterback. That quarterback, the Colts did like the Dolphins did, like the Chargers did. It was one of those things.

But I don't know if you heard Bill Belichick yelling on the sideline, the fire has never been burning this bright, and we're 4-11, which you love to see. He was heading to commercial break. I'm sorry, D-Butt, real quick. He was heading to commercial break on the Holiday Classic NFL Network when Bill Belichick was not thrilled with a ref at all. He didn't give us time.

You just spotted the ball. You've got to give us a chance. You've got to give us a chance to stop. I think is what he was saying. Then whenever they came back, they showcased it a little bit. The internet caught that, as we all did, as we were enjoying our family and friends. But it's like, yeah, Bill's still very much invested.

That was a primetime game. Back-to-back primetime games now. We get wins. But they were reporting this weekend that him and Kraft have not sat down and talked about the future. He has expressed allegedly to his coaches that maybe a little bit of doubt on whether or not he's back there. What does that mean?

What did you take away from the game? And what do you think about the future? I mean, he's definitely obviously fully invested. And the reason they suck definitely not been the defense. And I think the star of that game was Christian Bartmore and he's been a stud all year but he completely wrecked that game but I was asking comments so for sure we want

Bill back now. I've always wanted Bill back I don't know. As far as the rest of your assholes go I assume it's pretty split and of course he has doubt he's someone who hey you gotta earn it every year and this is the worst year he's ever had. So I think doubt makes sense.

I assume there are parts of New England that don't want him back, but I think the overarching bottom line is no one has a problem with Bill as a coach. There needs to be someone GM help-wise no matter whether he's back or not. Hey, Bill, relax a little bit. Draft season, just relax. Just kind of relax during the draft. Combine, you don't even want to go. You go to these pro days anyways instead of the combine.

You go to Middle Tennessee State's pro day or work a guy out instead of going to combine. Just coach Paul. You know, let us buy your groceries. Or just pick the obvious guy. Like sometimes, you know, you don't want to take the guy that everyone loves, and so you draft someone else. You can take the obvious guy. Sometimes you don't want to take the guy that everyone loves, so you draft someone else. You can take the obvious guy,

and you can look back at a few of these drafts where the obvious guy goes a couple picks after the guy we take who has not panned out, and I'm not going to specifically name people. No, no, no. Wait, why would you do that? Yeah, I wouldn't do that, but Tyquan Thorne before George Pickens, Nikhil Harry before Dickie Mecca after McLaurin. Well, actually, good

transition there. How about George Pickens? George Pickens, Nikhil Harry, before Dickie MacArthur. Actually, good transition there. How about George Pickens? George Pickens, keep talking. I ain't listening. I heard you. I don't want to hear it. You're talking. I ain't listening. We don't know what it was.

But there was some message of, yep, maybe he's telling you to shut up. Maybe he's telling you to be a mute. Maybe he's muting you. He should have done maybe he's telling you to be a mute. Mute. Maybe he's muting you. He should have done maybe the remote. Yeah, that'd be cool. He should have done maybe the remote. He had a hell of a game.

Yeah. Hell of a game. Mason Rudolph and he obviously connected early and often, especially in a week where there was a lot to draw from, if you're Mike Tomlin. And I think a lot of us potentially thought that this locker room doesn't matter. Like, it won't respond.

So although we believe that Tomlin is a good coach and Tomlin's had a lot of us potentially thought that this locker room doesn't matter. Like, it won't respond. So although we believe that Tomlin is a good coach and Tomlin's had a lot of success, his message isn't landing. So even if there's a bunch of shit to pull from all week, like the Steeler culture's dead. These guys don't have it. Move on from Tomlin. Wholesale changes. They heard it all. Now, they said they weren't listening.

I think they were trapping it in their head to remember it forever, potentially, was his messaging. How do you feel about how the Steelers played? How do you feel about George Pickens answering after a week long of just getting absolutely crucified for saying something very dumb, by the way, but for getting absolutely killed about it all? And that makes one of the greatest catches of the season. Yeah, it was good to see that George took everyone's word

and listened to exactly what people were saying and what we were actually saying was about the blocking and not that he's super talented and can go do this every single game. Oh, so you're taking a victory lap. Huh? So the Steelers fans, the Ingers are like, yeah, we motivated them, and this is what we've been talking about. Told you.

We've been bummed out because you haven't been doing this. Him doing that on the sideline, we weren't talking about, yeah, we know what you can do. Just don't say that you don't want to block every once in a while, too. In Pittsburgh. And then like Jalen Warren coming out and throwing that block that he threw on the touchdown after he did say that, you know, I would have blocked for a pick and it was awesome.

But all the boys came out. They all showed up. I don't know if they were invigorated because they watched Mason at practice and know that he's maybe better than Maserati Mitch, and now it's Maserati Mason's turn, and we'll see how that goes leading forward. Same car, but that's one. Yeah. Maserati Mitch.

Why don't it be Mitsubishi Mitch? Ooh. And Maserati Mason. Yeah. Yeah, that's what it is. Now it's Maserati Mitch or whatever's less than a Mazda. Mazda's a pretty good vehicle. Yeah.

Mudbow, Mitch. But the boys showed up. They played with heart. They played with passion. They absolutely dominated from the start to finish. Did you expect that tone? Did you expect that kind of performance, especially from Mason and the rest of the squad? I thought that it might be a little better with Mason in there, but no.

You know, when you show up flat like the last few weeks, I didn't know what was going to change that. But no, they came out and they played awesome, and it was great to see. How about Tomlin making the decision to go to Mason? Mason was almost run out of Pittsburgh. He was not well-received. It was Doc's team. Multiple times. I feel like multiple times he's been gone.

Every time we've heard of him, he was getting run out of town. He actually was. He was a free agent, and nobody signed him, he was getting run out of town. The bonker. He actually was. He was a free agent, and nobody signed him, so he came back. Okay, which Steelers fans brought up. And when they signed him, they were not happy. So he had not played in a while. Tomlin decides to let him go out there.

He has this massive performance. They're still in a playoff conversation. They're chanting his name. I mean, this is like fools. This is not how this was at all with Pittsburgh. He's been calling for Rudolph to go in. That is not how he talked about Rudolph. He can't have a beer with the guy.

Oh, my God. Can't have a beer with the guy. How do you feel about Tomlin making the move to Rudolph in Tomlin's future now with this entire team? Because it was getting loud from everybody, literally everybody. Yeah, I think they finished the season strong. Tomlin's still there going forward. But Mason, I mean, what else could he do at this point?

Obviously, Kenny was still banged up. Maserati Mitch was stinking. You know, he's been seeing Mason practice, so put him in there. What's that? Miata. Miata Mitch. But George Pick is, you know, responding like he did. And, you know, the blocking thing is one thing.

And, you know, it is a big deal. He says something stupid. He used the outside voice. But to quote the greatest coach and GM of all time, said this in front of the team meeting room plenty of times. Bill Belichick, your son? Bill Belichick. As a wide receiver, you got two jobs. Get open,

catch the ball. So when you are a receiver, and you are depending on that quarterback and that offense, it can be frustrating when you run around getting cardio for 14 16 weeks of the season and then you finally get some shots down the field to show what you can do so um i want i want to obviously see this pickings and i think pick is will block you know it was one little bad play getting oh he has we've seen him on tape we've seen him on tape i think it was blown out of proportion but to your point coaches love that they love that outside noise shit when they can use that to hey pickings they're saying this about you you know mason they're saying this about his

defense they're saying this about you guys and that's cincinnati bangles defense too we've we've known them to be you know really good over the past year they're a bottom least adjusting bottom of the league in a lot of categories right now and then jace i mean not uh jake browning you know he's kind of you know it's kind of like a shelf life we're seeing with these backup. It's kind of been a year of the backup quarterback. Why is that? They get about a good three to five weeks. Tapes out.

Tapes out. Guys get after them. You rattle them, get them off the spot, make them do whatever B or C or D is on their list instead of that A game, and then they get rough. You know what's interesting about that is tapes out on Joe Flacco. Yeah. He's different. Not on new Joe. That's footstep. Yeah, that's footstep out on Joe Flacco. You know what I mean? Not on new Joe.

This is best Joe. Joe is away from the game, watching the game, calling people, trying to get back in the game, and maybe like got a whole different perspective about the game. He just lets it rip out, doesn't he? He's just letting it. He's just playing. Joe Flacco's just playing the ball out there.

He's killing it. It's kind of been a little bit of a joke, but is Flacco playing himself playing the ball out there. He's killing it. Well, that's what I like. You know, it's kind of been like a little bit of a joke, but like how many teams, like is Flacco playing himself into like a $25 million deal from a team next year? Two years, $50 million. Bingo. That's like the Baker deal. How many teams would do that right now?

How about the Baker deal down in Tampa that's inevitably coming? Yeah. Worked out. That's like a two-year $50 million, two-year $40 million? Yeah. Isn't that, don't you think? That's what Gino got, right? Right.

Yeah, if he continues the last couple games, yeah. That's like the deal that comes to, like, guy who's proven, had to go a little bit, comes back, leads a team. You're definitely our best option, and you've already made your money, seemingly. So here's the deal. It's like, he's got one of those.

Joe Flacco's got one of those coming right down the pipe. Greg Stigno. I don't know what happened to them. Trevor's getting killed. He's also giving a ball to other teams. I think it's because he is getting killed. And then Mike Evans is just going to do Mike Evans stuff. Football!

Happened in a huge way over the Christmas weekend. We hope you had a fantastic one. That's A.J. Hawke right there. Boy, Hawker. This guy, not accidentally, this guy one time went helmet to helmet with Aaron Rodgers in a scrimmage. In front of their fans during training camp. That's the type of thing he does in the way he attacks life every single day. That's why he's a college football

national champion a super bowl champion a rider cup winner and a father of four wow okay it's less than 10 not 10 not 10 less less than 10 thought you were trying to build a little army or being one of those weirdos who just has like 20 kids correct those people are weird uh i don't know if crush has that many it's a different religion i in the end he did yeah we're talking about the this is different by blood you mean yeah okay yeah you need to get your cults yep straight in order yeah nah two different cults here i'll just the invadians one the duggars another yeahars another. The Duggars are amongst a bunch though that are trying to birth their way into taking over the world. Allegedly is what a documentary

told me. The Davidians same thing but they were just recruiting those who were lost and they would follow. Marriages and old and children rearranged. And then he wrote that Manfest and he burned it down. He did shred in the White House before on the guitar. I forgot about that.

That's the talk of the day by Boss Carter and Attachment. One half of the hammer. Done. Cowboys tone digs. Big time update. Big time update. Just like we fucking said we would. Fireworks in the quick lane bowl.

43-yard touchdown from Connor Bazelak to start the game. We got about a minute in. Boy, oh boy. Minnesota's driving. Wow. What? Just like we fucking said it would. Fireworks in the quick lane bowl. like to start the game. We got about a minute in. Boy, oh boy. Minnesota's driving. Just like we fucking said it would. Fireworks and a quick lane bowl. Detroit City, baby.

I believe I heard a coach there. Coach JB, I believe, popped off there. He's having a good time on the internet. Oh yeah, he crushed it. He's taking victory right now. But you're right. We didn't expect this quick lane bowl to be as electrifying when you learn that one of them is a 102nd offense in the country. Bowling Green, who had a big-time touchdown as soon as they got the ball in this game. And then Minnesota is 122nd in the country in offense.

Here we are, first quarter, potentially 14 points. We like that quick lane bowl. That's up there in Ford Field. Detroit's always awesome. Nine-year NFL vet. Darius J. Butler is here. Hey, you just learned the quick lane bowl. How about it, Darius? I did. I actually played my

first, well, I didn't play. I was red-shirting. First bowl, UConn's first bowl game ever was in that stadium. How'd you guys do? Dan Orlowski's last college game. We won. We beat Toledo. Way to go, Dan. Lance Moore, I think, was their receiver. Joining us now is a man

we've made wait here for a few moments, and we do apologize because I think he was traveling earlier in the day, so we're just wasting away his entire afternoon. We apologize for that. Senior NFL insider for ESPN, friend of the program, ladies and gentlemen, Adam Schefter. Yay! Happy holidays, Pat. First of all, what's with the sleeves?

And it's great to be with AJ here. I don't know that I've been on with AJ this season. Have we on together aj i don't believe so you're usually on the first hour i don't come on till the second hour aj that's adam schefter adam schefter texted your best friend aaron rogers and aaron told him lose my number bro that's where you remember the name from right aj you remember yeah hold on to the number though chef you don't need to delete you can hold on yeah save that thing have you held on to it that's a good questionffy. You don't need to delete it. You can hold on. Yeah, save that thing. Have you held on to it? That's a good question. You have it still saved? No comment. You know, listen, I know.

He doesn't want me to call him. Reach out to him. I'm not doing that. Maybe send him one. Yeah. Maybe just... Like a Merry Christmas. Send him a written note in the mail.

I sent him a shirt. I sent him something. Yeah, I sent him a shirt. Got some buzzwords for him, too, he could use. Oh, yeah. You should introduce yourself in a certain fashion. We learned today. That's right.

All right, Shafty. Michigan, big game, huh? Yeah. Big game. You nervous about it or you got too much NFL stuff going on right now? No, I'm fired up about it. I wish I could go to it, but, boy, I'd have to go out New Year's Eve and there's game Sunday and then coming back Monday.

I don't know. I guess I'm looking for an excuse to stay home and watch it at my house. That's what I'm have to go out New Year's Eve and there's game Sunday and then coming back Monday. I don't know. I guess I'm looking for an excuse to stay home and watch it at my house. That's what I'm going to do. Chef D, I'll tell you what, pal. We have college game day on Saturday. Yeah. There's a college game day on Saturday.

In Pasadena? Mm-hmm. And then there's a college game day on Monday as well for the Rose Bowl. Oh, yeah. And there's the Rose Bowl and there's the Sugar Bowl. That's a huge day. That Monday, huge day. Saturday, college game day on Monday as well for the Rose Bowl. And there's the Rose Bowl and there's the Sugar Bowl. That's a huge day. That Monday, huge day. Saturday, college game day from Pasadena, California.

They're playing another game in Pasadena before the – Nope, the Orange Bowl is on Saturday, so obviously – Not in Pasadena? Orange Bowl, that's Miami, right? I don't know if I'm getting punked or not. I think we got a game day this weekend. So there's not a game day on Monday, too? There is a college game day on Monday for college football. Saturday there's a college game.

I just learned of this two days ago. That doesn't complete. I had no idea this was happening. We're trying to figure out, to your point. All right, Sunday. Well, let me explain something to you, Pat. As we get deeper into the playoffs, all of a sudden, like when the playoffs start, we have pregame shows, Sunday countdown on Saturday countdown, Sunday countdown, Monday countdown.

Like, it never stops. You just keep counting down to all the games being played when it gets to the postseason. That's how it works around ESPN. We're six days to the Rose Bowl, four days to a college game day on Saturday from the Rose Bowl. Okay? We need to remember that. Right.

College game day's back on Saturday, I think. Unless I'm being punked, which could be the case. I think we have one on Saturday. What he's saying makes sense because that's the postseason, but the Orange Bowl is not one of the... No, it's a national championship. Oh, yeah, you're right. So maybe that's why.

But no one's playing for Florida State. Well, hey, listen, that's not on us. Just de facto national championship game. I'm judging the results on the field. Like a full-gaze UCF national championship? I have a parade. Yeah. Just as fake. Let's talk about the NFL. Good Fugue's UCF National Championship? I have a parade. Just as fake.

Let's talk about the NFL. Good luck to your Michigan team against Alabama. We will be calling it on the field once again. Tough one. Tough one. Yeah, Alabama's hot right now, but Michigan too. Michigan's been through it all. Adversity, the mental toughness on that team.

Excited to be at the Rose Bowl. Then Texas-Washington. Come on. Come on, College Bowl. Let's go. That'll be an awesome Monday. Saturday, awesome too. Let's remember that. Of course. Let's talk NFL ball here, shall we? One of the topics of conversation today has been

Joe Flacco. Joe Flacco, it is alleged, has come out and called the Jets. Hey, we'll call you. Hey, if you need anybody, you know, I've been in the building. People know me. I still want to play. And they potentially said no. I assume he did that to other teams as well as these quarterback injuries took place over the first, what, 11 weeks in which he did not have a home. Now he's balling for the Browns.

Amari Cooper's breaking Browns records. They're winning. They're in the conversation to potentially go on a run here with Joe Flacco. He said, I want to be a Brown. He said, I feel like a 10-year-old. His contract's up at the end of the year. Deshaun Watson's getting paid $230 million guaranteed or whatever. So how does that – let's say Joe Flacco goes to divisional round.

Sure. Good game. Keeps tight. Good game. Ends up losing, but we're all like, hey, a lot of injuries to the Browns. Browns fans, probably the same thing. What do you think happens over there in Cleveland? How do you think this gets handled,

and what's the future look like for Joe Flacco now? I still think that Deshaun Watson is their quarterback and their quarterback of the future. It would take something that would be so incredible that Cleveland would love to have to make a decision like that. But to me, they're going forward with Deshaun Watson. It doesn't detract from everything that Joe Flacco has done this season. And if we start

to move ahead and begin to think of the Browns in the playoffs, first of all, I guess they could have a home playoff game, although Baltimore looks like it's going to be the number one seed right now. But do you know who has the most road playoff wins right now in NFL history? Joe Flacco. Joey Flacco.

He is tied with Tom Brady. Seven. They each have seven history? Joe Flacco. Joey Flacco. He is tied with Tom Brady. Seven. They each have seven. So Joe Flacco, this postseason, could potentially become the all-time NFL postseason road warrior, officially. He could do that. Now, again, if he gets the Browns to the Super Bowl and they win it, that question is going to come up a lot.

But short of that, they've invested so much money and so many picks in Deshaun Watson that I can't see them not sticking with Deshaun, even though Joe Flacco seems to elevate the whole offense. And even when I was watching the Browns this weekend, I'm thinking, it's incredible what they're doing. No Nick Chubb. Imagine that.

No Jack Conklin. They're missing all kinds of players that just keep going out, no Nick Chubb. Imagine that. No Jack Conklin. They're missing all kinds of players that just keep going out, and they keep finding ways to roll on. But Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Barry has been pretty impressive. Yeah, nobody's talking about Stefanski potentially Coach of the Year. You know what I mean? Shane Steichen, Coach of the Year.

D'Amico Ryan's Coach of the Year. How about Harbaugh? I mean, there's a lot of guys that could potentially win, and Andrew Barry, IOP, wins it as well. Is there breaking news coming through on the text message right now? Yeah, my daughter's badgering me right now about what she wants me to do for her for lunch. But all good. What are we going with?

What are we thinking? Sandwich? You know, here's the deal. I was with her yesterday. I was basically, I was her spotter in Kansas City. I flew to Kansas City. I was her spotter for the Nickelodeon-Nichmas game. She was the sideline. And just because I'm her spotter one day doesn't mean that all of a sudden,

you know, I continue to be her servant the next day. Like, those spotting duties, they expire after Christmas. I have a daughter. She's only seven and a half months old. I don't think that ever – I think you are the assistant from what I've been told. Let's talk about that game. I don't know if that's what A.J. was going to ask. I know he has a question, so do the boys.

But let's talk. Hey, Chiefs look different. This looks very different. Now, obviously, congrats to the Raiders. Hey, congrats to the Raiders. That's a huge win. We are big fans of the boys over there and good for Raiders fans that they're still in this thing. And they got a chance to ruin the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas in front of everybody.

Yeah. That's a big-time Raiders win. They're smoking cigars in the Chiefs' visiting locker Christmas in front of everybody. Yeah. In front of the world. That's a big-time Raiders win. They're smoking cigars in the Chiefs' visiting locker room, which isn't that big. That's a big-time move. First time being the Chiefs in a long time. The Chiefs, though, from these types of plays not being executed properly

like they have in the past to the sideline stuff with Travis and Patrick to obviously Taylor and Brittany. Yeah. Bombed out. Bombed out at the end. It feels different. Did you see anything on the sideline? Do the fans feel that way since you were there? What is the vibe over there?

I'll tell you what. We happened to be standing literally right next to the sideline on the Raiders. The Raiders sideline. Right where the pick six happened. Right when the fumble was returned. There was an amazing energy and electricity on the Raiders sideline for starters. There was a determination of belief.

And I will say this, like watching them and standing around talking with some of the Raiders people, the Chiefs seemed like a tired football team. They seemed like a worn down football team. And I think the Raiders saw that on film when they watched them. They felt like that team is not functioning, just like the Eagles when they had that stretch there. And I don't know if they won yesterday, but they had that stretch there where they had to play the Niners when the Niners had 10 days rest and the Cowboys when they had 10 days rest. And then the Eagles had to go out west to play in

Seattle. The margin of difference between these two teams is not all that great that something like that could contribute. And the Chiefs have just looked off all year long. And it almost feels like there's a Super Bowl hangover. It's still there. The length of last season carried into this season. And they're just not functioning at the same level. Yeah, it's a bummer.

I'm bummed out about it. I like watching that team. And I like that the Swifties still got everything in front of them yeah still got everything in front of them obviously it doesn't appear as if they're going to be able to go as far as we all assume the modern kansas city chiefs will be able to go go ahead aj chefty what about uh baker down in tampa he's he's having putting together a nice nice year what kind of deal could he possibly get? And I would imagine it would be with the Tampa Bay Bucs. You know, it's funny because we talked to that team about him, and they're like, they love this guy that way.

They love Brady. And you don't think of him like that, but he really relates to that team. They relate to him. And I think that there's this mutual respect there. And to me, he's doing for Tampa this year a little bit what Gino did in Seattle last year and Gino parlayed that into a nice little extension it was not a top of the market deal and I think to me that becomes something of a model that Baker and the Bucks can base their contract talks off of but think about this right

like if Baker has hit the free agent market, does he have more value to Tampa or anywhere else? It's worked there. He likes it. They like him. Why not continue that right now? Especially when they're not going to be in position to go draft a quarterback. That seems like it's a natural match.

And so if you take the framework of the geno smith deal to me that becomes the framework for a deal like this he baker may thought i love the guy i don't think he's getting 50 million dollars a year i hope he does but i don't think he's going to so you take the geno deal and you look at that but they're going to want him back he's going to want to be there and he should be there it's worked out very well the geno deal was also the tom brady deal which was also the drew brees deal which was also the Drew Brees deal, which was also the Phil Rivers deal, which was like kind of probably the Joe Flacco deal somewhere. That's just kind of the guys that have already made money.

Okay. Now you're in this second life. And speaking of second life, with how the Bucs played at the beginning of the season, then down, and then now where they're at right now, it's like, yeah, I would assume both sides would like to keep this thing together because they've been playing phenomenal football. Now, speaking of phenomenal football, phenomenal football conversation comes up every offseason. Go ahead, D-Bud.

Yeah, absolutely. Jim Harbaugh, obviously Michigan man, still in Michigan. Big game coming up. Saw some reports come out with a potential long-term deal there in Michigan. I know you mentioned seven to ten NFL jobs potentially being open this offseason. Any chance he still makes that leap? Yeah, there's a chance. I think that he's in a situation where he has considered the NFL all along. I think that he has gone to Michigan to do a certain job. And especially, especially if he completes that job and leads Michigan to a national championship.

He then can say, I've done everything that I wanted to do at my alma mater. I've helped restore that school's success in winning ways. And it's time for him to then go pursue what he's wanted to do, which is win a Super Bowl. To me, that's a logical conclusion logical conclusion now we'll see how the playoffs play out how that plays into it but jim in recent years always has been open-minded to anything and has explored everything that's come his way and to me it'll be the same thing this year where he's going to continue to explore um what's out for him, whether that's the NFL or not. The clause is awesome that got announced.

The no NFL clause. It's like, yeah, you just signed a contract. You signed a contract, $124 million. Yeah, you're not allowed to go take another job. That being added as a public thing, like there's a big clause. Yeah, no shit. Yeah, that's not how. Yeah, they just said, no, you're not allowed to go to the NFL.

It's like, yeah, no shit. That's what he signed the contract for. Sometimes those types of things obviously take precedent. How much money? Okay, so $124 million, I think, is what was being reported. Yep. Over 10 years, $12.5 million roughly or so. What are these NFL guys going to get at this 7-10 job openings?

What are NFL head coaches? Well, it depends on who you're talking about. If you're Jim Harbaugh and you're going to the NFL, to me in my mind, that number is going to be $14-15 million a year roughly. And if you're a guy like Ben Johnson in Detroit and the Panthers are desperate for you and you've already said no once and they want to bring you in to work with Bryce Young. Last year, D'Amico Ryan's got, I think, $8 million a year over six years. And he parlayed the fact that Houston had been through

so many coaches into a longer term deal and the coaches' contracts all guaranteed so D'Amico got six years out of Houston guaranteed at a higher rate and to me Ben Johnson if he wants the Carolina job would be in a position to do something similar and the D'Amico deal becomes the starting point but his deal comes in even higher this year so it just depends on who you are, what your experience is, how desperate the team is, what the situation is. There's a lot of variables that go into any negotiation. So everyone's going to be different. But to me, Harbaugh is in the mid-teens and Ben Johnson is a guy that I think will easily best what D'Amico Ryan's got as a first-year head coach from Houston. Yeah. Carolina, obviously known for moving on from coaches as well. If I'm Ben Johnson, I've got a lot of suitors.

I've already said no one time to Carolina. The more you say no, the higher the number gets. That's correct. Success in life is the ability to say no. He said no, he could say no again. So that's where David Tepper comes in and says, okay, are you ready to say no to six years and $10 million a year? I'm making this up off the top of my head.

Six years, $60 million. Like he did to Matt Rule. That is the Tepper play there. You know, good luck to all these coaches. Speaking of coaches, Ty has a question for you. Yeah, Shefty, speaking of the 7 to 10 potential openings next year, is that still in your mind where the number stands? It seems like some of these guys who have kind of been on the hot seat have won a couple games here in their own.

We're not really hearing as much about them moving on. But if you had to just guess right now, are we still at 7-10, and who do you think is kind of at the top of that list of having the hottest seat right now? Yeah, I'm guessing at the lower end of that now. And these things shift all the time because the Bears have been winning. We've seen them come on.

The Falcons are coming off a victory over the weekend. So, I mean, there are certain things that in the end, we'll see how the last two weeks play out, but I still think that homecoming's in seven or eight. That'd be my guess today. We'll see what happens at the end of the year um where was the crowd i lost my it was who's hottest but like as you're talking about oh well well here here's the deal we we got well we got carolina we got vegas we got the chargers

you know washington's no secret they're gonna make big changes there at the end of the season that'll be four right so then the, okay, who else joins the list? Everybody, everybody's waiting to see what happens in New England. Everybody's waiting to see if some of the NFC South teams that don't win that division have any fallout, whether that's Atlanta or New Orleans, or even if Tampa struggles down the stretch, which nobody's expecting, right?

So I think today, I think today, New Orleans and Atlanta are safe. What happens if they go 0-2 down the stretch, which nobody's expecting, right? So I think today, I think today, New Orleans and Atlanta are safe. What happens if they go 0-2 down the stretch? Things change. I think today, Chicago, Matt Iberflues has played himself into a situation where he could be retained. What if they go 0-2 down the stretch, right? So what was the expression I wrote down? Somebody said to me, jobs are won and lost in December.

And that is true when it comes to head coaching jobs. Jobs are won and lost in december and that is true when it comes to head coaching jobs jobs are won and lost some guys have been winning them in the last few weeks and the last couple of weeks some guys may lose them okay so let's go to the one that you talked about being the pivotal move that everybody's kind of watching you know because bill belichick now two out of three past three weeks won primetime games sam right this is what bill Belichick does. Chad Ryland strokes one home from 56 at mile high. The Patriots have a lovely Christmas miracle win, and now they move to number four in the draft order. And there was a clip that was as they were going to commercial break

where Bill Belichick was chewing out a ref. Big time kick there from Chad. Chewing out a ref about not being able to sub whenever the ball was being placed. So it's like that alongside winning alongside like knowing that he's going to be coaching at least for another year couple years oh yeah it's like there was a report that came out allegedly now everything's garbage especially whenever it comes out in new england until proven otherwise that belichick is telling his coaches like i don't know about next year. There's some doubt about next year.

That's what reports are saying. He and Kraft have not talked to each other. Where do we stand on that front? And what do we think, you know, as of this Tuesday, December 26, 2023, what do you think is happening up in New England? And what reports should we hear? Well, it's a Robert Kraft decision.

And I also think Bill has a decision to make if he's not happy with the way that let's just say robert craft hasn't silenced things this year everybody's been wondering all year long it's become this store du jour it could have been very easy at some point in time right for robert craft to say hey i don't know where all this speculation is coming from he's my coach and he's gonna be be my coach. That didn't happen. Now, how does Bill feel about that? I don't know. I'd love to know. So I think there are two guys, two men, Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick, who have to sit down and figure out, okay, is this something we want to salvage? Now, if Robert Kraft has already decided that it's his franchise, he's taking it back, he's moving on, it doesn't matter what says, and there's not a lot to talk about. And maybe Robert Kraft is going to go that direction. We don't know. Or

maybe Bill wants to go that direction. We don't know that. Or maybe they sit down and figure out, okay, we're going to mutually break up. There's a few different solutions to this. We all know that there is uncertainty surrounding whether or not he's back again if you're new england you say well who are we going to get as a head coach that is going to be better than bill belichick nobody but again they've been together so long it might just be that robert kraft wants to go to somebody else we don't know what he's thinking right now were you at that all-white party with robert kraft i think so right are you are you we gotta Rappaport, we knew everybody he was talking to. So whenever he was given his

answers, it's like we know at least the angle in which it's coming. For you, we don't know who all your... We just assume everybody you're plugged in there. But it's like, you're just as open as we are. You're just like, yeah, we have no way. It could be this, could be this, could be that.

Is it being that tightly guarded, you think? Here's the deal. I don't think Bill knows right now what is going to happen. And Robert hasn't said anything. And I remember speaking to somebody, I'm like, you know, to one of these reports, one of the many reports that's come out throughout the course of the year about their future, asking somebody, and they're like, how can that be when Robert and Jonathan haven't said anything to anybody? Now, again, maybe Robert Kraft said to one of his friends, you know what? I'm sick of Bill.

I'm moving on from him. I personally have a hard time believing that Robert Kraft has shared his feelings on Bill Belichick's future with somebody before he sits down and talks to Bill himself. What? That's my own opinion. I could be wrong about that. Okay? Some people may be reading his body language and signs. We saw that video that one time of there was a handshake where Bill and Robert were in a line.

And there was like the Patriots Friday night dinner where they were putting some people in their ring of fame. And there was a lot of warmth between Robert and some of the other, and then Bill and Robert, not quite as much as the others. Like that's a real thing. Again, I think they have to sit down and have an honest, frank discussion about what each wants. But I don't believe that Robert Kraft is shared with people around the office or in the organization or others. You know what? I'm moving on from Bill or I'm doing this with Bill. And we don't know what he's thinking.

And it's part of the great drama and mystery to this whole situation. Right. Like we're talking about the college football. A couple of my friends said to me, hey, if Michigan were able to win this game, are you going to Houston on January 8th? I'm like, no. Once the regular season ends, we are all officially on Bill Belichick watch to see exactly what happens. I would not want to be in Houston when all of a sudden there's white smoke

rising from the chimneys in Foxborough, Massachusetts, and Bill's back or he's not back or he's moving on or whatever it is, right? And I'm sitting here in a national championship game. Would love to be there, but not going to happen. Oh, yeah, that's fired Monday, huh? Yeah. Oh, yeah. I didn't even think about it.

Black Monday. It is. It's, oh, no. Yeah, bingo. And that's national championship. Right. That should have been moved to Tuesday, it feels like. Yeah, that was ill-timed.

Ill-timed. We've got to speak to the people. I don't know. It's always that way. Who do we have to talk to? That's ill-timed. Probably you. You know, ES got to speak to the people. I don't know. It's always that way. Who do we have to talk to? That's ill-timed. Probably you. You know, ESPN.

You're the one who did it, probably. Yeah, thanks a lot, Shefty. Thanks, Shefty. But it is. That is a positive way to end the day. Yeah. Because all day you just hear about, ah, Leko can't see you. Boom.

Over. Bang, bang, bang. And then all of a sudden, wait a minute. But you know what? But here's the deal. Here's the deal. We've already gotten three. There's not a lot of mystery in the fourth.

Okay, so now the question becomes, now that we're past the four, what is going to get our attention that day? And by the way, like the Patriots thing, it may be that Kraft and Belichick, they may not meet until Tuesday or Wednesday that week. We don't know. Or maybe Monday to watch the national championship. Yeah. Maybe they have a – you don't think that's...

I don't know. I'm going to put in a request that they not do it that time. There's a moratorium on any future discussions about Bill Belichick's future within the Patriots organization starting at 8 o'clock. That's if Michigan wins. If they don't win, they can have those talks

whenever they want. How about Schefter? If Michigan doesn't win and they're not in the natty, just being like, fuck this game. Just sending off a random, I have heard. Breaking, breaking, boom. There it is. That's what having a good alum. That's what a good alum is all about.

There is some places where we're getting real worried, Schefter. Go ahead, Tone. Schefter, there's injuries from quarterbacks this weekend. Purdy got hurt. Trevor got hurt. C.J. Stroud got hurt a few weeks ago. He's in the concussion protocol still. Now, the Niners play the Commanders. The Jags play the

Panthers, and Stroud has the Titans, I believe. For those first two, does them playing the Commanders and Panthers have anything to do with are they going to play this weekend, what is the health status for these guys, and moving forward with all those injuries? Well, again, I'll go one by one. I think Stroud, again, we'll see how he progresses,

but he was back in meetings later in the week last week, and I think that they felt good about his availability for this week. I think they play Tennessee. So again, barring some sort of setback, I think he's tracking to be back out there. Brock Purdy, two stingers in two weeks. I don't think that they're arresting him if they can avoid it. They're not thinking, okay, well, Washington's on the schedule. Sam Darnold's got this. If Brock Purdy can play, and my guess is he will be able to, barring a setback. Kyle Shanahan said after the game that he thought he would be okay, but you just don't know how players respond to Stinger. So I don't know how Brock feels today, but again, based off what Kyle said last night, I would think

that he would be the guy this week. Trevor Lawrence, Trevor's become like the new Ben Roethlisberger, right? He goes down every game, and he bounces back up, and he keeps fighting, and he keeps getting back out there as the tough guy that he is, never missing a game. Dealing with the sprained shoulder. Doug Peterson said today they don't know if he's going to be able to play this week. Too early to tell. Usually, usually his pattern and history have been that he bounces back

and makes it back in time, and that would be my guess, but let's see how he feels later in the week how about michael pitman jr that was we need him at the colts so he got on the plane and then all of a sudden he started getting headaches again what what happened in this entire thing how did he just he wasn't feeling right on saturday flew down there again one day earlier. Shane Steichen said he had clear protocol, so the expectation was he was going to play. Now, he was dealing with that collision. I think it was like whiplash. They also had him on the injury report with a shoulder injury, so it was the concussion. It was the shoulder. It was pretty quick, and there were some comments that he didn't remember the exact incident of the play

from the week before the whole thing was a little bit uh sticky and unsettling but i think they did the right thing and they entered him back into protocol he goes back in you give him another week there's no need to rush that we shouldn't have told anybody he was playing though because that's how you are vastly different team with michael pitman jr what i'm learning is michael pitman jr we are a much different team when he's on the field verse when he's not on the field because we got our asses beat yeah he's a difference maker when he's out there a target monster i mean gardner looks to him every time guy catches everything tough um my guess is he'll make it back this week but but we'll see. He had glasses on, too. I thought maybe that was potentially part of the light,

because of the whole headache thing. AJ, go ahead, pal. Chef, I want to go back to Bill Belichick quickly. Is there a possibility that Robert Kraft has an issue, not with Bill's play calling and coaching, but as a GM, and someone steps in and kind of takes more of a GM role away from Bill, but he's still the head coach of the Patriots? We're taking half your office. You know what? I think that

those are all going to be part of the conversations that occur. And again, I'm not trying to avoid it. I just think all these options are on the table right now. And it may just be that Robert says to him, hey, we want you to bring in somebody here to help out and that's important to us. That could happen. I don't know. It's certainly one of the options, AJ. One of the options.

You were fucked up there. What was that all about? No. No, no, no. Just one other thing that... Oh! Wait a minute! I was wondering when AJ asked the question, I'm like, no, no. Just one other thing. No. Oh, wait a minute. I was wondering when AJ asked the question, I'm like, oh,

Shefty could just toss this back into anything could happen bucket, but then at the end there, almost had a full malfunction. We all right? Everything all right? You almost said something. Listen, Pat, we're a couple of early mornings here, a flight back from Kansas City. I got a little bit of a migraine going right now. We're okay right now.

Hey, thanks for battling through. Thanks for battling through. a flight back from Kansas City. You got a little bit of a migraine going right now. We're okay right now. Hey, thanks for battling through. Thanks for battling through. Last question here from Con Man. Yeah, it's probably tough to talk about, Bill, just because no one fucking knows, like you said, but I love how we still can speculate on my favorite thing that's been going on lately. A lot of actual reports. Yeah, a lot of that.

A lot of actual, a lot of not sure. But how about this? I don't know yet, but who cares? Right now, Shefty, especially for teams like the Patriots, for fan bases, there's a lot of eyes toward the bottom of the league because that is the top of the draft order. Have you heard anything regarding those top five, six picks when it comes to trades? I think a lot of people are assuming the Bears are either going to take Caleb

or trade out, but maybe they don't pass on a generational wide receiver like marvin harrison jr have you heard anything about that and do you expect a lot of those top two top three spots to be kind of flipping and flopping with other teams trading up to try and get a quarterback well that's always the story of the draft it'll be the story of the draft this year and i know know that my good friend and colleague Field Yates feels very strongly about Jaden Daniels as well. And I think he's going to be right in the mix with those other guys. And so when you're talking about the quarterbacks, I think it's going to be more than just the two quarterbacks this year that people are targeting at the top of the draft. I think it's going to be three quarterbacks. I think Jaden Daniels, based off what Field thinks and says, three quarterbacks. I think Jaden Daniels, based off what Field thinks and says,

is going to be brought into that mix by the time the draft rolls around. And so when you've got Caleb Williams, and you've got Drake May, and you've got Jaden Daniels, and you've got that need, if you take a look at the way the draft is going to lay, there are a lot of teams that need quarterbacks in the top 10, and there aren't 10 quarterbacks to go around, which means typically, what was the year where we saw Trevor Lawrence? There it is. Okay, we got Carolina. Chicago had the number one pick, it looks like. Arizona, big quarterback question issue.

New England will be a quarterback. Washington's a quarterback. Tennessee, I think they like Levis. Chargers is be a quarterback. Washington's a quarterback. Tennessee, I think they like Levis. Chargers is not a quarterback. Giants could be a quarterback, but not in that slot. Chicago's up high. Jets always could be a quarterback, although I'd like to see them upgrade the offensive line for Aaron.

And Vegas could be a quarterback. Not to mention Atlanta's a quarterback. And New Orleans could be. There are so many teams there that need quarterbacks, and there aren't enough of them. So inevitably, last year we saw Carolina come up from what was 8-1, and Houston was in there. So these quarterbacks, the three quarterbacks,

there's going to be a rush for them. However it shakes out, there's going to be a rush for them, and they will move up. I mean, we all knew that Caleb Williams and Drake May were going to be arguably the top two picks, if not the top two of the three. But I think Jaden Daniels is going to be right there with them. One more quarterback right up

there, and that obviously means that maybe Marvin Harrison goes four, which would be a gift to somebody. Yeah, it would be a gift to a lot of teams. We're hoping we get him here at the Colts, but then Gardner Minshew just started doing his thing. Yeah. You know, but Jim, I would say Mike O'Dance.

Mike O'Dance. We have no idea. Hey, Shefty, incredible stuff here today. Legit. Hey, Shefty. Nice to be with you all. Happy holidays to everybody. Good to see AJ.

Good to see the sleeves. My wife's going to ask, is that permanent, or are we going back to the tank top? What's the deal? No, you know, I think it started last week. Last week I started wearing t-shirts and longer sleeves.

The mission was accomplished in the tank tops. It's starting to get shitty out here. Yeah, it is. It was 52 on Christmas but then there was just this fog that you couldn't see and then that disappeared. It was a beautiful day. And then now it's back. It's like we're just in terrible weather time.

You know, maybe bundle up a little bit. You know, Chef? Okay. But the tank tops, it's not like, you know, you got rid of them. Like, they're coming back, right? No, yeah. A lot of Christmas gifts of tank tops from people. Nice.

Good. I actually got another, like, 60 tank tops. So, going to have to be used. Going to have to be used at some point. But, yeah, every once in a while, I'll toss on a nice shirt. You know, my wife bought me a bunch of these as well, which is very nice. I like that shirt. It's a nice shirt.

I like your hoodie, Shafty. I really do. Nice and cozy. I'll be wearing it for the national championship as I track the Patriot comings and goings while I try to pay attention to Michigan, right? Who will be the next Pope? Well, we'll see. I was going to say, they've got to win.

By the way, by the way, how do we feel about it? Do we feel like Michigan's going to win on Monday against Alabama, or do we not feel like Michigan's going to win? I have not. That's Connor. Yeah, Bama's going to roll, Shefty. Sorry, you might as well just book that flight home. No need to leave, brother.

I think Harbaugh's a good coach. Yeah. You know what I mean? I think Harbaugh's a very good coach. I think you start looking at positions, you start thinking to yourselfabama seems to have a lot of advantages in a lot of them but then in like what michigan does they are signed oh yeah you know i mean like michigan knows exactly who they are as well i think which is a whole i don't know i i have no idea on this one i'm i'm very lucky i'm doing a couple breakdowns on this game and i've gotten a chance

to watch them Michigan stuff. I watched them live against Iowa, and it was ugly. It was not. You know what I mean? It was not. It was Iowa football. But as you go back and watch the tape, it's like, this Michigan team, with everything they were dealing with, too,

with how committed everybody on the team was, it was... That's a good team up there, and they run the shit out of the run. It's a good team. And they are some really great young men. I've had the good fortune of meeting a bunch of them. And I'll also tell you this, that I remember talking to the football program at the beginning of the year.

And they were telling me how, I think Alabama, was it last year or the year before? Georgia last year had 15 players drafted in the draft and they said to me that they thought that there might be 18 players from Michigan drafted this year. Now, there's not a lot of top-heavy talent, but across the board

they are loaded with some really good players and we'll be watching and pulling for them and hopefully they can bring it home. And a veteran group, it sounds like. A lot of OGs around there have been there, done that. Hopefully they're able to pull it off out there in the Rose Bowl, but that Alabama team. Hey, they are one of the standards in college football.

They are creme de la creme, and so it's going to be a monumental undertaking, but we'll stand behind our team and be pulling for them and root for them, and we send our best to the blue. Hail to the victors. Val, you have a real time. Hail to the victors. What's your NK doing? Come on, NK, get in there.

NK, get in there. La, la, la. Da, la, da, la, da, da, da. Da, la, da, da, da, da, da. I'll be your NK. Come on, NK. Come on. I didn't know Shefty. So you broke the team down after practice or something? Or you talked to him in team meeting? How did that go? Well, I went with O's this year.

We went O's the mentalist, brought him to Michigan. That was kind of fun. But I have spoken to that team before. Hell yeah. O's is mind-blowing, right? Yeah, it's fucked up. Like, the things he attempts to do, too. Like, he can get exposed.

It's crazy. No, no, no. Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. Exposed. Here's the great part. No, what I'm saying is he can get exposed. It's crazy. Like, on game day. No, no, no. Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. Exposed. Here's the great part. No, what I'm saying is he can get it wrong. This is what I'm...

Because I was there on game day. What he fucking did to me. I was like, that was an aggressive take. Oh, yeah. He was like, didn't you have another one, though? Like, he even called me out on, like, you were fucking with me, which I 100% was. I'm like, what? You know what I mean?

I'm like, what? And then he's like, no, you had another one, too, right? And I was like, what? You know what I mean? I'm like, what? And then he's like, no, you had another one too, right? And I was like, Ace of Spades. He even caught me trying to fuck with him on live TV in front of a bunch of people. I'm like, God, that's – He's got to be good. He's got to be good. He sets you up to make you think that he's going to get it wrong when he's not like – Again, I've been with him the last couple of summers when we've gone around to the NFL teams.

And I will not forget forget we were with our producer Harry Hawkins, we were in Green Bay and he's three acts in and he is blowing their minds and all of a sudden Aaron Jones gets pissed off and he stands up and he goes, man we're getting played here and he goes, what are you talking about? He goes, we're getting played

he goes, tell me my childhood nickname and O's walks up to him and he goes, does anybody in this room know your childhood nickname? He goes, tell me my childhood nickname. And O's walks up to him and he goes, does anybody in this room know your childhood nickname? He goes, nobody. O's walks to the front of the room, gets a piece of paper, writes down something on the paper. He goes, he says, what's your childhood nickname, Aaron? And he goes, Boobie. And he flips open the paper and says, Boobie.

Now, how the hell did he do that? I thought this could have been taken back. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Yeah, he the hell would he do that? I just could have been thinking about it. Yeah. Yeah, he could have just been like, all right, I'm going to go out. I'm going to write my favorite thing on here. Listen, we're not moral. There's something to this. But as somebody who's watched it and paid attention,

I cannot figure it out. I'm too stupid to figure it out. He was live on game day with us. Yeah. Live. And I'm like, this is aggressive. As I'm sitting there, I'm too stupid to figure it out. He was live on game day with us. Yeah. Live. And I'm like, this is aggressive. Like, as I'm sitting there, I'm getting anxiety. You said he thinks he makes people think he's going to get it wrong.

I was starting to get, like, anxiety. I'm like, oh, no, how am I going to play this off? They're going to ruin this guy. Wait, this guy. You know what I mean? That's, like, what I'm thinking. And then he just bang, bang, pow. Hey, let me tell you something else about him.

He's crazy. Like, he's crazy. Last summer, he and I were going to Seattle together. He was performing for the Seahawks. And so the day before, two days before, he ran. Do you know about his running abilities? He ran from

the Hamptons to New York City. It was like some 100-mile jog that he went on the day before. And then he just gets on the plane the next day. Like, I would have been on a wheelchair. They would have carried me in the wheelchair, and I would not have been able to walk.

And this guy ran 100-plus miles from the Hamptons to Manhattan, and he gets on the plane the next day to go perform. The Hamptons are 100 miles from New York? I thought that's where, like, all you New Yorkers go. Yeah. You just go to the Hamptons. That's why. 95 to where?

He ran right there. That dot, South Hampton. What does it say? 95.1 miles. Yeah. Yeah, ridiculous. I've never been to the Hamptons, no. Surprise. Never been to the Hamptons. Yeah, surprise.

You and the crew, you guys got to come out to my house and play golf out here. You guys can go out to the Hamptons. Yeah, surprising. Beautiful this time of year. You and the crew, you guys got to come out to my house and play golf out here. I think you guys can go out to the Hamptons for the day. You go out for a couple hours, a couple hours away. It's something. Shafty, you go to the house at the Hamptons? You've got a house out there? No. No, I don't have a house in the Hamptons.

Although, I've got a fun story. It's too long. Oh, boy. We've got enough of a time, Shafty. You almost broke earlier trying to give us, almost giving us peace. Okay, okay. I'm going to tell you, this is a great story. Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa. We're going to have to put time, Chef. You almost broke earlier trying to give us almost giving us. OK, OK, OK. I'm going to say this is a great story. Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Hate that. I hate that you said this is a great story. Just want to let you know as a natural like, OK, now you're being judged against. Great story. Could have been average story. But now it's like, OK, buckle up. Great story. Pretty good story.

Pretty good story. OK, so already when i moved from denver and married my wife she owned her house and i took the money that i had on my house in colorado and i bought a house out in sag harbor which is out in the hamptons pat okay so my wife and i were getting married hold on we're getting married we go away for three nights. And on the last night of our honeymoon, we watch a movie that Nora Ephron wrote called Heartburn. And that's a movie about her then husband, Carl Bernstein of Watergate fame, maybe one of the most famous reporters of all time, how he cheated on her with another woman while she was pregnant. And they wound up, their marriage broke up. And it was a movie that she put together called Harper.

My wife loved the movie. We watched it the last night of our honeymoon, the only night, the only movie we saw. We go out the next day to spend our first morning. It's about Carl Bernstein and Sharon's wife. We go out to the house in Sag Harbor. My wife arranges for a bunch of furniture deliveries and guard like it's just typical cast that's going on in my house always but it was in our new house in sag harbor the first morning we're there the night after our honeymoon we watch the story about carl bernstein

i hear a knock on the door i open the door guy goes uh do you live here i said yes where we just moved in this morning what's your name carl bernstein i said the carl bernstein he said i guess what he was not happy with the noise in the neighborhood with all the deliveries and wanted us to cut it out so literally went for watching a movie about the guy that i'm knocking at our front door the next morning. Okay. So why'd you sell it? Because he was out boinking everybody and your wife was like, that's this... Honestly, my wife was not pleased living next door to him and the

ruckus that he created. So we wound up selling the house after about a year. Not only is that guy slinging dick everywhere, he's a madman in the neighborhood. He don't come into Bernstein's neighborhood and not say hello. I think that's his biggest problem. That is a good story. That's a small world.

Did you tell him about the night before, did you tell him how crazy it was that he was at your door? We just watched a story about you cheating on your wife while she was pregnant. That's a classy thing to do, right? We'll keep it down, though. Thanks. We'll keep it going. Shafty, what a life, dude.

What a life. And you still journal every day, right? Every day. How much time does that take you, and how in-depth are you? Are you going to be one-on-one with Mac for a stupid show? I wrote about my trip to Kansas City on the flight home. It's therapeutic. I can't imagine not doing it.

I have every single day documented since 1990. Every single day. Wow. And what are the filing cabinets? What do we... How do we... In the cloud? Yeah.

What is... You handwrite every one of them? It's in my computer. Oh, so we're typing. Okay. Save it up in the cloud. So we never lose it. Somebody's going to hack in there and find out about 1992. Yeah, careful. Oh, that was... What a year that was. Oh, so we're typing. Okay, save it up in the cloud. So we'll never lose it. Somebody's going to hack in there and find out about 1992.

Yeah, careful. Oh, what a year that was. Oh, I bet. I believe it happened then. I bet. All right, I appreciate the hell out of you, ladies and gentlemen. Adam Schefter. Yeah, it's good.

Happy holidays. Happy holidays. Merry Christmas. That would freak me out a little bit. Bernstein? Why are you watching that movie on Honeymoon? That feels like a bad one. That's wild.

We can't be we can't be having heartbreak films no last night too yeah like you know what on our way out of here let's watch about this fucking asshole anytime i'm watching something and the husband does something terrible it is like uh come on man come on you gotta be some shit right now the hell you know anytime i'm watching something and like the the wife fucks up i'm like hell yeah i'm not gonna say i'm not gonna say but i'm very thankful that that's happening right now oh is that right you know one of those maybe as we're heading to the bathroom used to do that a lot with dateline oh yeah you know because dateline is like basically husband kill wife wife kill husband third lover kill both of them them. That's pretty much the game.

And you can find out quickly. Boy, when you start watching one of those episodes, it's the wife. Thank God. Ding, ding, ding. Husband's a hero. This guy works hard. Yeah, this is good. This is going to be a good two hours.

This is going to be a good two hours. Gone Girl is kind of the one movie that has both, where both people are terrible people. Oh, yeah. I think Gone Girl, I've heard about it. She sets him up, right? Yeah, and he's also the cheater. So he's a scumbag cheater, but she, psychopath, frame, ruin your life,

go to jail forever. Interesting. I've never seen it. I do wonder how, maybe me and the wife should sit down and watch it just to see how I feel while watching it with her. You know what I mean? Only watch once.

It's an entire reason I'll never get married. You know, I also don't love that some of my wife's friends gift her books where the wife just kills the husband in the book. What the hell is that? Like, what kind of book is that? I don't love it. You're going to love this one. You're going to love how she kills her husband in this one.

That's what I'm saying. Like, it'll get delivered. And then, like, I'll, like, look at the book. I'm like, obviously, I've never heard of that. like search what's the storyline dead husband okay who gifted that to you just so I just so I know who who was see one of those books show up with big smile from the friend you're gonna love this one whoa are you gonna love this one or what are we they're good tales they're good tales okay well how come the husband's always dead? What the fuck is going on? Who are these writers?

What is the deal? There's this one writer who's really... There's a couple of real good murder mystery books, I think is what they're called. That was a whole genre there for a while. Oh, yeah. Hardy Boys? Jeff and Matt? Yes.

Essentially, yeah. Except they're detectives, and there's three of them. I don't think I know what you're talking about. That was the detective as a kid for me. You're talking about the Outsiders? Growing up. No, the Outsiders is the Socs and the Ponyboy, Dallas, all those guys. Greasers.

Greasers. Stay golden, Ponyboy. There it is. The Hardy Boys was like three brothers, detectives, kind of go do like a Scooby-Doo type thing. Go somewhere. Scooby-Doo had a fucking hell of a run. Still getting quoted. Oh, yeah.

Scooby-Doo. I don't know how much money. They had to make so much money. Yeah, well, people go back through those shows and they talk a lot about how Fred and Daphne, you know, they partner up a lot. Yes, they do. And they sneak off and they don't get much done except for crushing cheeks together and really it's Scooby and Shaggy and Velma doing all the dirty work.

Oh, really? I didn't know that there was potential. Tons. Oh, yeah. There was actually a meme this weekend that was going. Like, Jesus, Fred was in his bag here. And he had this elaborate plan to get himself along with Daphne. I saw a deputy getting sworn in.

There was a meme this weekend as well. The internet really was doing its thing. A lot of homers. This weekend. Speaking of the internet, we had just everything. You just got to see it. You just got to be on the internet. You just got to be on the internet.

There was some breaking news on the internet while we were live here. Zach Wilson, he is officially ruled out, I do believe, for another week. So Trevor Simeon is going to be the quarterback again after a big-time win for him. Got a chance to hang with him. He's a good boy. He's a good time. Yeah, he likes to have a good time.

Simeon was a good time. We enjoyed the hell out of him. But game against the Browns now. Simeon will start, and Zach Wilson's out. So who's the other quarterback? Is Travolski coming back? No, they got rid of that other guy. Boyle. Boyle's out. So who's the other quarterback? Is Travolta coming back? No, they got rid of that other guy. Boyle.

Boyle's gone. Yep. Is Aaron Rodgers the backup quarterback Thursday? Emergency quarterback? He's still active, right? And how's that work? Active, they'll have him be a healthy scratch. He must have another quarterback on the roster.

Must. Maybe they don't. And they just know, hey, Flacco's going to beat you. Brett Rippin's on the roster. Brett Rippin. All right, Brett Rippin's going to be the backup. Randall can throw. Randall did in college.

Oh, yeah. He's a lefty, right? Yeah, Randall could be the emergency backup. So you got Brett Rippin, Randall Cobb, and Simeon taking on Cleveland Browns on Thursday night. In Cleveland. Oh, the dog pound's going to be barking. Before we get out of here, can we get an

update on the Quicklane Bowl? Tone Diggs that is playing right now on ESPN, which we are going to go watch. It is currently 9-7 Minnesota. Seven minutes remaining in the second quarter, so the scoring has slowed down quite a bit, but they're still balling. Yeah, they are. It seems like somebody jumped off

the side. You can't do that. Come on, guys. You can't do that. Watch them taking a shot here, right, D-Butt? Oh, yeah, maybe. Especially coming off. Second and 15 now, probably a screen draw. It might be part of the plan, though. Not in the quick lane, Bull.

Yeah, quick lane, screen draw, get back on track. Especially offense stinks. Bowling green being brown and orange always confused me. Classic Ohio. It says green right there, isn't it? Minnesota helmets are sweet, though. Well, PJ Flex is going to have the boys. And of course, they're rowing.

They're not thinking about school. Second and 15 here in the second quarter. Down two. What will Bowling Green do with it? Drop back from... Oh! Welcome to third and 30, says Joyner. Look how cool he looks.

Sting didn't get a nice ass pat on the way. Bowling green, same exact look from the last play. Quarterback Baszler is up. Atta baby. Here we go. Let it bounce back. That's what they say about Baszler. Bounce back, Baszler, is what they say.

Isn't it, AJ? That is what I have heard, definitely. I want to know, who did they beat out, though? They're 5-7 Minnesota, but Tone said they had the best grades, so they're playing the bowl game. Was there a competition with other schools? Yes, I believe Rice was the team last year that got in on the 5-7

for the bowl games for the academic situation. Is it like overall GPA or what is it? Do we know? The exact terminology is... Hold on. I mean, it doesn't matter that much, but... Highest academic progress rate. I don't know what that means. They used to be dumb,

but they're real smart this year. Yep, put it together. We kept a few guys. You know, I think most programs keep a few guys in there to keep that... What does that mean? What do you mean? You have to.

You got to. Just guys that'll never see the field, but they're good boys. Yeah, they are. They are good boys, especially in have to. You got to. Just guys that'll never see the field. But they're good boys. Yeah, they are. They are good boys, especially in the classroom. Hey, man, you're in my class in a minute? I'm not going to be there, but I'm going to need you to, you know, let me know when tests are and stuff like that so I don't miss it.

Well, why don't I not do that? Well, I don't know. Are you starting kicker and punter or no? You tell me. Thank you. See you later. Yeah. Academic All-American. Academic All-American. We tell me. Thank you. See you later. Yeah. Academic All-American.

Academic All-American. We appreciate that. You know what I mean? We appreciate that. I do apologize, man. You just have to tell me when they're checking classes, too. Please. That would be great.

If you could give me a heads up, that would be very, very cool. This ain't fair. This ain't fair at all. I agree. I don't like it, but I ain't going to be sitting in here. That just isn't how this is going to go. All right. This is Overreaction Aaron Rodgers Tuesday.

So we have to test the waters of what's going on around the Internet. Sent out the bird call this morning at about 1030. That's on me. It's on my normal Tuesday routine. I should have sent that out a little bit earlier. Still went. Still people participated. Ty, how was it this week?

Yeah, still got a lot of good ones because, again, there are teams that have been playing pretty shitty and that are now starting to perform a little bit better. Everyone's basically still in the playoff race. So a lot of people invested. Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for... Hashtag, I don't want to overreact, but... Remember, as we're reading these overreactions,

24 teams still in the mix. Let's go to the first one here. This is from Mark at Shark1990. This guy is 33 years old. Hashtag, I don't want to overreact, but Joe Flacco should have been in a Browns uniform years ago. Obviously, hindsight is 20-20, but he's proven week after week to be an absolute dog. I haven't been this optimistic about a playoff push ever in my life. Even with half the squad on IR, hashtag Browns, feels like Mark isn't overreacting, AJ

Hawk. No, but don't you feel like, hey, I feel like this is the perfect time and place for Joe Flacco. If this was a couple years ago and Joe was on the team, we don't know. Maybe it wouldn't have the same magic to it. So I think Joe's exactly where he should be, and it's right at the perfect time. Indeed, but Joe Flacco's enjoying the hell. He said

he feels like a 10-year-old with these boys. Yeah, he's been a great athlete still. And he's 38, so he's not that old. We see quarterbacks playing into their 40s now. So 38 has some time off. And like AJ said, perfect situation. His arm is as live as ever, right? Yeah.

Sorry to cut you off. His arm feels like it's way – it's unbelievable. Like I said earlier in the show, like that dude is putting the ball on a rope. I'm sure rest, that rest, you know, not getting all them reps, not throwing, just chilling, now getting thrown in the middle of the season. He's in perfect shape right now. What has Aaron told us about throwing the ball? Yeah, I'll always be able to throw a ball. Joe Flacco, like,

always, right? Super strong arm. You know, some guys, when they throw, it looks like they gotta, like, torque their whole body. Joe just, he's Joe Cool. He's in a java mood all the time. Yeah, he is Joe Cool. I don't think I'm being sarcastic at all because long rivalry with the Steelers. Watched a lot of Joe Flacco in my life. This is by far the best he's ever been.

Yeah. In the regular season. Even the Super Bowl run. I don't know about that. Do you see some of those balls though, Mari? Yeah. Not that he didn't do that in the past, but it's like right now, it's like everything he's doing is good.

He would always give you one too, which I guess he did a couple weeks ago. No, he had two this last... I think he has like six or seven picks. Yeah, he's thrown seven picks. He will give you some. If you live in the paint, you're going to get dunked on eventually. But yeah, I agree with what you're saying. And maybe it's because we're victims of the moment every

time, all the time. It's overreaction Tuesday now instead of overreaction Monday. And then we'll overreact tomorrow as well to something but it's like yeah joe flacco looks better than he's ever looked yep that's all i genuinely feel why not the bronze why not let's go to another overreaction here here's from mario a esquivel or squeevel esquivel i like a squeevel squeevel that's cool at small town bro or small twin bro. So don't know if he has a larger twin or if he is from Jason Aldean's small town. Hashtag I don't want to overreact, but the Chiefs receivers aren't just the problem.

They're part of the problem. The Mahomes problem. Minus Juju, this is the same offense as last year. He's regressing. It's time to admit it. Instead of blanketing him with excuses. Wow. Holy shit.

Heard a few excuses. Who? Coming from about five feet to my left. No, it was 75. He ate my wings. He had the flu. Tommy one week. Now it's the wind the other week.

He had to shoot a commercial, too. Whose fault's that? Huh? Whose fault's that? Oh, so you don't want a guy succeeding. I want him to make as much money as possible, but if there's... I'm not saying he ever had to shoot a commercial, but there's enough excuses going around, okay, for Patrick Holmes and what he's proven us to be.

Travis, take a helmet to the neck. I did see that. I think you pinched him. I think you pinched him. No, he's getting his pulse sucked on, if you will. His what? His pulse. His pulse.

Pulse. Where his pulse is, he's getting his pulse sucked on. What's wrong with that? If you will. No one thought you said pulse. Well, I did. I said pulse. He's getting his pulse sucked on.

That's a hell of a way to say it, though. Is that how they... He's getting his karate sucked on. That's a hell of a way to say it, though. Yeah. Is that how they... He's got his karate sucked on. That's how they say it in my small hometown. Or should I say our? It did look like he had a hickey right there on his neck. It did. And that made me think, damn it, Taylor, just having fun.

Yeah. They're adults. Yeah, at least. Sucking necks. How about what's going on? Having fun. What's going on in Taylor's head as she is forced to put her arm around Brittany Mahomes and pretend like that matters?

Hate to break this to you. This does not matter. We still got a lot of football left, Brittany. We got cool hats. We do. We're in a sweet suite. You know what I mean? We got a lot going on.

It's Christmas. Already got a couple rings. Taylor Swift's like, I could buy this team probably if I wanted to. You know what the next step is? We own a team. What are we going to do? Two more World Tours.

All right. Deal. That's it. Or just release another copy of your World Tour you just did of a movie. I saw an email that got sent to the company today. As soon as you talk about Taylor, I'm fucking leaving. Okay? I started laughing as I was reading it.

I was like, people got real upset about her there for a while. She became the story, though. Which I think a lot of football fans thought it was. Not anymore. It's just like, she's part of the football community. She's the face of the NFL. See, that's why people get... What's your problem?

Ty, you're part of the problem. I don't know what you're talking about. She's the face of the NFL. She's certainly the most popular human that is associated with the NFL. Yes. And I would like to follow up saying, I think she's really falling in love with football. Me too. She's like genuinely getting mad and upset and screaming and stuff.

I like watching it. Welcome to football, Taylor. Welcome. Welcome to football. Welcome. Now, people are saying with your addition, they haven't played as good. But I would like you to all look at Travis' stats from the first few weeks. He was his best games of the year for all.

One man getting a pass here that hasn't been talked about. Matt, Matt, Matt. Brett Veach. Oh. Didn't pay Chris Jones, let him sit out week one. Didn't pay Orlando Brown, their O- out week one. Didn't pay Orlando Brown. Their O-line stinks. Thought he could have Sky Moore as wide receiver, too.

Like, thought he beat the game. Had too much success too early. Thought he had it all figured out. We can let Tyreek go. We just want another Super Bowl. Yeah. We can let Orlando go. We just let Tyreek go.

We want a Super Bowl. You think that's potentially happening, Gumpch? That's what it looks like to me. They're just not thereek go. We're in a Super Bowl. You think that's potentially happening, Gumpch? That's what it looks like to me. They're just not the same team. They got no weapons. They got nothing. Mahomes hasn't been the same, but if you got no weapons, what are you going to do?

You know what? Mahomes got to be better, all right? It starts with the offensive line. Ravens D-butt. It starts with the offensive line. You got better weapons than Lamar. The offensive line is terrible, but we all watch the game. He never throws Mahomes missed that we never see him miss. 70-mile-an-hour.

That's his home stadium. We know his record in December and January. That's not an excuse. We don't give Josh Adnet an excuse. He plays outside. Lamar plays outside. He's got to play better. I'm sure he'll say it.

The offensive line got to play better. Patrick Mahomes wishes somebody other than Aiden O'Connell was on the other side. Aiden O'Connell threw for what, 14 yards? 14 yards. Didn't have a completion afterwards. It looked like the Buffalo New England Patriots game from a few years back where Bill Belichick

wore the Navy mask to basically say, we're running triple option tonight. That's how windy it was. That's how windy it was. That's how windy it was. A couple balls skipping on that wind. What can they do, though? What can they do to get back on track? It's just weird.

It's just weird watching them play. What's your problem? They're done. I do fear they're done. Last night scared me, bro. It did. I'm a Chiefs apologist. Very afraid to say it, though.

Very afraid. Oh, yeah, for sure, because they can. It's still a passingland and Andy Reid. They can turn it around. Last night, we thought there was a chance. With how dominant the Raiders were and how terrible the Chiefs were, it was like hold the phone. They just scored a touchdown. All we need is one more.

Chiefs in the past, so they went 20-14, 2-47 left. Like, in the past, they get a stop and Patrick immediately goes down and scores. And then there's a fool. Yeah. And I think they toss a stop and Pat immediately goes down and scores. And then there's a fool. Yeah. And I think they toss a microphone at Taylor. She starts singing. He's dead.

All right, let's go to another overreaction. Was Mark Davis there? I assume he was lighting up Stoke in the Chiefs locker room. That had to feel so good. That's why they lost. Steven Stu at Grampus GG. Okay, hashtag I don't want to overreact, but Nick Sirianni has lost his swagger during this skit. He's angry and frustrated, but he's not showing the same suck it emotion he showed in the tunnel after the win in Kansas City.

If the Eagles want any chance of winning a playoff game, he needs his mojo back. I agree, Ty. Yeah, so do I. I mean, you know, we were seeing, was it, I can't remember if it was the Chiefs game where he looked right at the camera and basically said, like, suck my dick, you know, like after they won. Like, don't hear you anymore, Chiefs kingdom, Chiefs queendom. You know, Coach JB, but he's not the same guy. He's not the same guy right now. And he needs to kind of look inward and kind of realize, like, hey, we're best when I'm talking shit, when I'm looking at the camera and doing,

you know. Or does he win because he talks shit or does he talk shit because he wins? You know, and they win yesterday. They get a big win. They didn't all look to Tom's point. Everybody's watching that game going, yeah, they won, but. Yeah, they won, but a lot of that with the Eagles. No, but Sirianni at the end of the game, there was a lot of like,

he wasn't yelling at another player, but, yeah, there was a lot of like, not a very confident vibe coming from him. I think we all realize what's going on right now. Oh, yeah. Big Dom? Yeah. Bingo. Part of it.

It's definitely part of it. Looking over your shoulder every other play, how's he supposed to focus on the game and have that swagger without Big Dom? And how is Big Dom allowed to walk the boys to the locker room, but he's not allowed to walk the boys from the locker room? That was a bad decision on Raj's part. It was. There's no reason for it. What's Raj doing this year locker room, but he's not allowed to walk the boys from the locker room. That was a bad decision on Rodgers' part. It was. There's no reason for it.

What's Rodgers doing this year? That's who he should have always taken Christmas. That's why he doesn't come on this show. Because we're going to say, why'd you do that, Big Dom? Too many Italians. He doesn't like Italians. Discrimination. Whoa, just got to piece that together here.

Yeah. That could be the case. He's from, well, he went to college in Western PA. Maybe a couple Italians roughed him up. Is Ray Rice Italian? On his mother's side, maybe? Could be. Could be alike. I don't think so. No?

I don't think so. If he was, what does that mean? Let's get to another overreaction. We don't need to go back in time. You know, spaceships don't come equipped with rearview mirrors. Amen. They dip. Miguel Lopez at MightyMegs1391. Hashtag, I don't want to overreact, but the Niners are overrated.

Purdy is a jag. There's another guy. Niners can only win when things go their way. Where's the bad win? The win where everything goes wrong, but they manage to pull it off. Oh yeah, it ain't there. They were losing the first round of the playoffs. Great storytelling, Miguel. Appreciate you doing that.

Really, genuinely appreciate that. We saw that stat, or heard that stat from Lombo. What is Kyle Shanahan? 38 or something? It's real bad. When they don't have the lead in the fourth quarter, going into the fourth quarter, that's a bad stat. That's a bad bad stat. What is that?

It was pretty apparent, though, when Trent Williams exited the lineup with his groin reveries going on. Their team was a little bit different, I feel, like how they could protect. I mean, Baltimore turned him over, what, five times? Five picks. That does not happen very often. Four by Brock Purdy, that was nuts. Well, so, and also two of those, though.

It's damn near three. I mean, that's it. But it's like Kyle Hamilton's play when Hamilton got smashed into the ground and then got up and got a pick. Like, that's a play like I show my kids. Watch this dude. Look, dude. Submarined on top of him.

Jammed his face mask into the ground. But he gets up and has a hustle play. Like, you run to the ball, good things happen. I feel like that's what we're watching offensively and defensively when you see the Ravens play. Kyle Hamilton went from potential CTE to INT. One play. That's what we're talking about out here.

I think they kind of hurt themselves, too. They stopped running the ball as much. They had some success. But if you get a one-dimensional game with any good defense, especially that defense, and obviously Trent goes down, that doesn't help. I think his backup went down as well, but you can't just be dropping back with those guys having their ears pipped back.

I mean, it was third quarter, like 13 minutes left, and they were just drop back passing. Like they were down, I think, 18 points, but you still got to have some type of balance in your offense. You can't be a drop back team against that defense at least. Let's go to another overreaction, shall we? Here's from Mike Strickland. Hashtag, I don't overreact, but the Baltimore

Ravens showed complete dominance last night. Mike Florio can suck it. Best defense in the league, best quarterback in the league. Crown him, says Mike Strickland. A lot of this from Ravens fans? Yeah, yeah. A lot of Mike Flores, Flores, etc., etc. And then the other big Ravens ones were basically like, hey, although we are unbelievable, please, a lot of Mike Flores, Flores, et cetera, et cetera. And then the other big Ravens ones were basically like,

hey, although we are unbelievable, please we cannot play the Browns in the playoffs because we all know what's going to happen. Joe Flacco is going to beat us if we play them in the playoffs. Joe Flacco versus the Ravens in the playoffs. Matthew Stafford versus the Lions potentially in the playoffs. So many storylines. Let's go to another reaction.

This is from Kyle Shatraw at Fluffy Shats. Kid's a little overweight, but fun. That time of year again, the Cowboys make their fans hate themselves for being loyal Cowboys fans. Just when we think it'll be different this year, they're like that ex that keeps coming back claiming they've changed and our dumb asses believe them again. Hashtag, I don't want to overreact.

But, Kyle, I think Dolphins is a good team. I think that's what you need to know. Good teams are going to happen. I didn't think the Cowboys played bad. I didn't walk away from that game thinking the Cowboys don't have a chance at the Super Bowl or anything like that. Actually, I thought it was huge for Tua and Dak because they both had drives late. I think what Dak

had like a 16 play drive that was huge. That was, I think, is huge for them going forward and then Tua answered. I didn't walk away. It was a good football game. It was a good That was, I think, is huge for them going forward. And then Tua answered. I didn't walk. It was a good football game. Yeah. It was a good football game. Let's go to another overreaction, shall we? This is from Shambrow at Shambrow.

Hashtag, I don't want to overreact, but the Dolphins aren't losing again in the regular season. Long dong Jason Sanders and Tua leading us to the promised land of a first-round bye. Hell yeah, Grumps. Hell yeah, Grumps. You all feel that way about Shambrow, about the Dolphins? It's going to be tough to go into Baltimore and win right now, but 2-0 against the Ravens.

We get a chance to see. Yeah. Just like we did with the Niners, now we get a chance to see again with the Ravens. It's been a fun run for the Ravens. They're playing a lot of good teams. Oh, yeah. And they've been winning against a lot of good teams when football matters. Well, the

Dolphins continue to do the same. We'll watch on Hard Knocks, too. That's right. Let's get another overreaction, shall we? This is from Red Lasso at Lasso underscore Red. Hashtag, I don't want to overreact, but Rudolph the Red Nose QB is what Pittsburgh's

been waiting for. And it was under Knows the whole time he was there with Big Ben. He's the only guy on the offense who knows what it means to be a Steeler? If we can avoid Miles Garrett, we have a real shot. Agreed, Red. Yeah, good bar. Yeah, I agree, too. I have a rejuvenated belief in this team, and it's all because of Mason. Come on.

What's this guy's problem? Tone, just watching Tone speak of the Steelers It's unbelievable Your attitude Towards the Steelers The rollercoaster of life that you were on Does winning not cure all? Oh

I love and respect Tone's attitude And everything about the Steelers But it's gotta be I feel like Tone's gonna have a heart attack Four to five times a and everything about the Steelers, but it's got to be – I feel like Tone's going to have a heart attack four to five times a day thinking about the Steelers. Yeah, he's committed, but right now they're riding high, so that's good. Thank you to all the people that participated in the overreactions. Way to look through those, Ty.

We have some breaking news out of Minnesota. It's not good. Uh-oh. TJ Hawkinson out, torn ACL and MCL. Yeah. Diamond Telford's able to be ready for the start of 2024. A brittle injury. Hate that. So sorry about that.

Breaking news out of Ian Rappaport's Twitter account. Hell of a year, TJ. Why'd the Lions do that to him? They trade him and then they take his knees out? I like TJ Hawkinson. That's classic. That's classic Dan Kommel. He can't be that who?

Dan Kommel. All right. That's not what you said. I thought you said caramel. He did bite a knee, though, didn't he? Yep. Got both sides. We took a trip back in time earlier to January 21, 2021, AJ.

I don't know if you got a chance to see that. I did. 1-21-21 was when it all changed up there in Detroit. They were a laughingstock. And now what? NFC North champions. That's right. Champs.

Sometimes you got to slay a few dragons like that opening press conference NFC North champions. That's right. Champs. Sometimes you've got to slay a few dragons like that opening press conference before you get to the princess. And you guys are at the princess right now with that crown being handed right over from Green Bay right to Detroit. Yep. Lifetime contract. Sign it, MCDC. How much are you guys paying them?

$15 million. I heard is what Jim Harbaugh is getting. $20 million. Make it $20 million. Why not? I like that. Congratulations. Lifetime is getting. 20. Make it 20. Why not? I like that. Congratulations. Lifetime at 20 million.

That's probably going to get up to 500 million at some point. Yeah. How young he is. Super jock still. Yeah. Super jock. In shape. AJ, they're the new kings of the north.

They are. Hey. Until somebody takes that crown, you're right. They are. On that note, let's get the hell out of here. We'll be back tomorrow with a good one. Huge. I think we got Barry Sanders on tomorrow. Let's go. Hell yeah. It's awesome.

Speaking of the Detroit Lions, cannot wait to chat with him. Yes, sir. Wichita legend. Yes, he is. There it is. Wichita legend. How hard is that? It's tough. Every time. Every time. I think Wichita, too. It's Wichita. Absolita legend. Oh, boy, D-Butt. How hard is that? It's tough. Every time. Every time.

I think Wachita, too, first. Every time. It's Wichita. Absolute legend. He'll join us. We got others as well. What's up? I'm just thinking now.

I don't know why I didn't put this together. When D-Butt lived in Massachusetts when he was playing for the Patriots, you must have just had no clue what these town names were. No. What's the? Gloucester. We got a lot of Native American town names down in Florida. Oh, okay. Helps.

Sure. Helps. There is a lot down here in Florida. Seminoles, right? Seminoles are the I did a tour of like the Seminole Hall of Fame or museum or something. I forget what it was. Near the casino? Fucking dogs, dude. Oh, yeah. Weapons. Business wise. Oh, yeah. Smart.

They are like the story of what and how and where and how it all got set up, it's like, damn, these folks are smarter than everybody. They know what they're doing. Which is why they were able to get their own sportsbook down there in Florida. Bingo. Yeah, just got it back running too. Yeah, and I don't even know if they want it to run, but they're like, that money ain't enough for us not to run it.

And until then, you guys are going to have to figure it out. We'll do it. The Seminoles, we need them potentially negotiating deals for like our country. We need to think about that going forward. All right, we'll be back tomorrow. We can't thank you enough for spending this day after Christmas with us. We're going to go watch Quicklane Bowl. Yeah.

We're going to go watch Quicklane Bowl. Bowling Green. Bowling Green, Minnesota, battling it out in Detroit. We'll be back tomorrow with a big one. Be a friend, tell a friend something nice that might change their life. Happy holidays. Remember, we're on time of reflection. Life is good.

We're alive. Goodbye.