The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 570 - OVERREACTION MONDAY, NFL Week 17 Recap, Ian Rapoport, Darius Butler, & AJ Hawk

Episode Date: January 3, 2022

On today's show, Pat, AJ Hawk, and the boys overreact to everything that happened in an eventful week 17 of the NFL season including the Bengals getting a massive win over the Chiefs and officially clinching an AFC North title, the Packers locking up the first overall seed and home field advantage in the NFC, and potentially Aaron Rodgers' 2nd consecutive MVP, Antonio Brown officially quitting on the Bucs, and probably the remainder of his career, what's going on with the Colts as they dropped a tough one to the Raiders, and everything else going on around the league as the playoff picture continues to get clearer and clearer. Joining the program to give an update on the Antonio Brown situation, if there were any other significant injuries or covid related issues this past weekend, and what to look for as we approach the season's final week (30:05-45:55). Later, Darius Butler joins Pat and AJ Hawk to chat about who the real contenders in the AFC and NFC are, what the problem with the Colts is, how the Titans have just continued to win, if teams should be worried about playing the Eagles going into the playoffs, if Dallas can make a run or not, whether or not Matthew Stafford is going to be an issue for the Rams moving forward, and what his other big takeaways from an entertaining week 17 were (1:16:02-1:35:58). Make sure you subscribe to youtube.com/thepatmcafeeshow and listen every day on Mad Dog Radio, Sirius XM Channel 82. We appreciate you all for listening, come and laugh with us, cheers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello! It is Overreaction Monday, January 3rd, 2022. Happy New Year. I hope you had a fantastic weekend. There is a lot to talk about and we will do as such. If you enjoy the show, by the end of it, please be a friend. Tell a friend. If not, just act like it never happens. Rapaport's here. Darius Butler's here. AJ's here. The boys are here and on fire. We can't thank you enough for joining us today.

My man, Tony O'Brien's situation is wild, but a lot of other things happen as well, and we chit-chat about it all. Let's get to it. Happy New Year. It's the last week of the NFL season. Tonight, week 17, we'll wrap up with a division rivalry that'll see a reminiscent tale before our eyes. Tonight will be a celebration of Big Ben Roethlisberger's last game in Heinz Field. He has been there for 18 seasons. Long time. This will be his last home game at Heinz Field against the Cleveland Browns

rival division rival. Big Ben's done well on Monday Night Football and he's done great against the Cleveland Browns. It should be an exciting way to wrap up week 17. But now as we look ahead at week 18, there's still a lot on the line. A lot of teams did a lot of great for themselves yesterday.

A lot of teams did a lot of bad for themselves yesterday. One player said, I don't want to play in this fucking league anymore. There's a lot to chit chat about and we can't wait to do that with you here at youtube.com forward slash the Pat McAfee show. We got a lot of chit chat about and we can't wait to do that with you here at youtube.com forward slash the pat mcafee show we got a lot of guests today okay we got ian rapaport joining us in about 30 minutes or so to talk about everything that happened yesterday right a lot probably pretty pivotal focus on one particular event and anything else that could be happening that could lead

into us changing the way we feel about monday football's outcomes with Ian Rappaport. That should be great. Darius Butler will be joining us because Darius joins us every single Monday to break down the ins and outs of the NFL Sunday that was in his fashion as a nine-year NFL vet. A.J. Hawk will be here, Super Bowl champion, and hopefully we'll get a chance to hear from the people as well. Whenever we look around and we do the hashtag PMS, I don't want to overreact, but that trended like number three today, five minutes after doing the bird call for those tweets. I can't wait to hear what people are thinking because a lot has happened since the last time we chatted.

Brock Lesnar is WWE champion. Unbelievable. No, no, That is wild. That is wild. A lot of bowl games happened, but also congratulations to Aaron Rodgers for winning the MVP. Wow. Back to back.

Okay. Since Aaron Rodgers Tuesday's inception, he's only won MVPs. I'm not saying it's because of us, but I'm saying we've gotten a chance to ride alongside two seasons straight. One with no fans, the most crazy season in the history of the NFL. One season that'll be chatted about 20, 30 years from now whenever they talk about no fans in the stands. that'll be chatted about 20, 30 years from now whenever they talk about no fans in the stands. Cardboard cutouts being counted as actual audience members

in the stands for the Super Bowl. There will be 20,000 first responders and humans, and there will be 45,000 cardboard cutout of people that have paid a ridiculous amount of money to have their face on a thing that would not be seen by literally anybody. paid a ridiculous amount of money to have their face on a thing that would not be seen by any literally anybody he won the mvp of that season got a 35 second speech at the end of that now we're getting a chance to ride alongside a performance unlike anything the nfl has ever

seen before he has four interceptions or something like that dudes are throwing picks four of them in one game now at this point mattheword, who the Rams have gotten another win somehow, that's a big-time win against the Ravens. They are finding a way to win. I have no idea how they're doing it. It doesn't make sense that they're doing it. Matthew Stafford, who is going to have to be a pivotal part of their team if they want to go and win the whole damn thing,

had like five picks in his last 51 attempts or something like that. Aaron has four picks on the entire year. Think about on the the entire year. Think about that. On the whole fucking year. And now we find out after a Green Bay Packer ass beating of Sean Mannion, who's a good guy. Good guy. He's like a 90-mile-an-hour fastball.

Hey, guys, big boy. Big boy. He's an athlete, too. He can lumber around. He's been around the NFL a long time, knows a lot of offense, can do his thing. He kind of stunk, but I'm not 100% sure that that Vikings team, even if Kirk Cousins is there, stood a chance against a Packers team that we talked to Aaron last week, said,

we've got to get better at stepping on throats. You asked him. I think you asked him somewhere. Maybe I asked him because the Superboost was getting a little close on Christmas Day. I was like, hey, that game got a bit close there, didn't it? And this seems to happen now on a regular basis. And he said that they actually addressed it. So I thought Sunday Night Football Week 17 MVP on the line,

going against Sean fucking Manion. No offense, Sean. You're probably the man, Manion. Good guy. Probably a good guy. Going against Sean fucking Manion in Lambeau when he was going to have to wear the turtleneck. I think we all kind of thought, oh, this could be a rout.

And it was. One of the only things we expected to happentleneck, I think we all kind of thought, oh, this could be a rout, and it was. One of the only things we expected to happen did happen, I think, in the NFL this entire season. Now the NFC runs through Lambeau, through Green Bay, Wisconsin, through Titletown up there, through a place that is going to put on a show in of itself with the snow and the wind, and then there's this little hippie guy wearing number 12, playing offense, looking as if he's putting on a goddamn show,

throwing balls better than anybody, dropping balls into buckets like he does in those drills in the middle of, what, nine-degree weather or something like that. It's unbelievable what the Packers have been able to do this season, especially with all the drama in the offseason. at Ty Schmidt congratulations on being the one thank you very much I mean what you just expect Rodgers to play like that in those kind of games like we did say that and they started very slow left last night you know there was a drop touchdown early and then I you just thought like well who knows it's. It could be one of those games against the Vikings.

They still didn't play their best game, but they just beat the piss out of them. And like we said, like, the table was set going into that game. Like, the Cardinals beat the Cowboys, so they just needed to win. They'd get the one seed. They can rest guys next week, and you don't have to worry about the, you know, will they, won't they, when are these guys coming back. Now these guys got two more weeks to get ready before, you know, they actually have that first home playoff game and we've said it all along like it just this team

feels a little bit different than last year's team does i still don't think they've played their best on offense like special teams again last night you know i mean they fielded punts fine david moore looks like he's he's gonna be a good feeling you know but two awkward late hits on that guy yeah first game in. But, you know. That's bullshit call. He didn't block him into him either. Yeah.

And maybe they just knew like, hey, listen, the Packers are going to beat the fucking shit out of these guys. We don't need to be expediting the process. But, I mean, it's just everything that's kind of what they need to do, they're doing it currently. And it's very tough for me with the way they're playing right now and the way Rodgers is playing to see someone go into Lambeau and beat them. Well, the NFC now, you have to look around the landscape,

and I guess the Dallas Cowboys for sure could be in the conversation because they have been a team that has won games very well. They've lost games. You go, what? And then yesterday they lose to the Cardinals. Are they back on track? Are they a on track? Are they a little bit back now that they've been able to withstand the loss of DeHop?

Have they? Zach Ertz, it seems like Tyler and Zach have a good relationship. Chase Edmonds, he somehow didn't touch the ground in that tackle with, what, 600 pounds worth of human? His knee never touched. Nope. He was still up. He fumbled. Obviously, if there's more timeouts left in the chamber, four old Dallas Cowboys, they can challenge that.

Much different outcome. Right. Much different outcome if that is the case. But tis the game of football that we play. You have to have timeouts. A lot of people were pointing at, and I think it's because the TV pointed out, whenever Prater came on the field and Kyler was still on the field, and the field goal block team called a timeout because they were like,

whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on. I don't think that is necessarily the most wasted timeout. There was others that happened before then. I think those should maybe be pointed out. But anytime somebody runs the kicker onto the field while Kyler Murray's still on the field, that is an attempt to deceive. They are trying to take advantage of the fact that the field goal block team's on the field, not the normal defenses on the field.

So as soon as old buddy saw Kyler, he was like, oh, shit, hold on. We are not supposed to be here. That's probable touchdown, no matter what. Now, was there other time mismanagements throughout the year that made us think, hey, Mike McCarthy, what the fuck is going on over there? Yes. So when that situation happens right before the two-minute, it does lend for like, oh, you have a timeout here.

You can challenge. You probably win this game. Instead, first down with two minutesminute, it does lend for like, oh, you have a timeout here. You can challenge. You probably win this game. Instead, first down with two minutes left with the other team having no timeouts, that's ballgame. Yeah. Are the Cardinals all the way back? Maybe. How about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?

Because these teams, if they're going to want to go on a run, are going to have to go through Lambeau. Yeah. The Niners still have a chance. They're still hunting. Yeah. Hey, they're still hunting. Charger, that's AFC.

But the Niners still hunting in this entire thing. Eagles hunting. Hey, they're still hunting. Chargers, that's AFC. But the Niners are still hunting in this entire thing. Eagles. Eagles still hunting in this entire thing. I mean, Jalen Hurts is eating stadiums. And he's even getting internet poop, pipe, busting stadium that Washington has over there. You guys need to tighten that shit up. I figured I would.

A lot of exposés about what was going on behind the scenes at the Washington football team for the last 10 years. Now there's a lot of exposés happening about what's going on in front of the scenes. And Jason Wright has had to turn around that entire franchise in that program. And Ron Rivera's been a part of it. And they've been able to do some stuff, I think, while reading through. It's absolutely incredible that they were able to win football games with everything that is potentially going on there for however long,

whatever the case. Two poop pipes bursting. Yep. Right on. One on the down there, like in a lower bowl level. One in a suite dumping, just poop dumping on. And then now the entire thing crashing down on Jalen. Jalen almost getting hit.

Instead, being one of the coolest dudes I've ever seen in my entire life. Hey, everybody okay? All right, how you doing? Let's take some photos. And then look, hey, I got to get the fuck out of here too. There seems to be a – and shout out to the Johns that fell and just kind of keeping it cool. Yeah, actually, let's take – we deserve a photo.

Popped up. I mean, we just fell down from a – we deserve at least a photo. I love the way that whole thing goes. So I guess the Eagles could get going, and that's a team that everybody is saying you don't want to see. But let's talk about the reigning Super Bowl champ, shall we? And this was a good transition into this because, you know, at Boston Conner, the New England Patriots is dog walk a non-playoff squad.

Oh, yeah. I mean, took care of business. Mack Jones and Bill Belichick. Man, winning's fun. Yeah. Shit. On the sidelines, feels like you guys are all the way back. Congrats.

Congrats to the Patriots. We. On the sidelines. Feels like you guys are all the way back. Congrats. Congrats to the Patriots. We're back. Well done. Everybody's staring down a potential Patriots-Bills playoff match. Wow. Wild card weekend. That would be awesome to see. Feels like that is a collision course.

But Tom Brady is now dealing with something, I think, in week 17 of an 18-week season, first ever of its kind, that he has never had to deal with before. I know there has been situations that have happened off the field on teams that Tom Brady has been a part of before. Oh, yeah. Big things. Oh, yeah, big time. Very big things.

A lot of games. A lot of things. And I understand the drama comes with the NFL. It's hard to win in the NFL. But for that Buccaneers team now to have to be answering questions about what they have to be answering questions about going into the playoffs right now, you would hope and think that this type of shit would not be

happening at this time. This is the most important time. Now they've got one of their best football players that cannot be lost. I'm not saying that is getting lost in this thing. It can't be. That has to stop getting lost. The only reason why anything like this could happen

is because of how fucking good at football this guy is. Antonio Brown, he ran a route yesterday. He ended up seven yards open or something, and the guy was right on top of him. Fake to go. Stopped on a dime. Wide open. Completion.

How you doing? Keep it moving. Does that against everybody all the time. He had 11 receptions just a week ago fresh out of a three-week suspension and let alone on top of that and a foot injury or a heel injury two weeks before they hadn't played for like five six weeks or whatever 11 receptions 100 yards how you doing keep it moving i'm telling you about by the way all the way back dropping balls fresh back in. That is why a situation could lead to a situation that happened just yesterday

in front of the entire world's eyes. Even if you're not a football fan, you see a guy take his pads off on the sideline, throw them down. Even if it's a high school football game, you would see something like this. Oh, shit. Let alone the Super Bowl champions in MetLife Stadium in New York, New Jersey, where all eyes are on everything that's happening there. Takes his pads off.

Fuck you. Okay. Then I don't want his shirt. Nope. I don't want this shirt even touching me, was it? Off. Boom. See you later.

Gloves. Ah, fuck these two. See ya. Then where are you headed? Oh, I'm going to need to get to that tunnel. What's the quickest way to get there? I'm going right across the fucking field. The offense that he was a member of was on the field for a third down.

If you listen to that video, the MC or PA is like, we're about to maybe beat the Bucs. This is the Jets. Holy shit. His third down. You hear like, this is a big fucking down. And Antonio Brown, who was a member of that team, a member of that offense that is out there, they are in a huddle.

They are in a huddle. Shirtless, okay? And obviously, your immediate thoughts are, there has to be something up here. There has to be something up. I have never seen anything like that in my entire life. Then runs and actually says, peace. All right.

I'm fucking out of here, dude. I'm out. High fives a Buck fan. Thanks for the nice pause. Goes out. Goes into the tunnel. Fucking hops in Danny Boy Hustle Hard's car. Damn right.

And then goes around the town. Goes straight to the studio. Goes around town, releases a song. I mean, if this was to happen at some, you know, small school, this would garner all attention. The fact that it is the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers with one of the best players on earth, a guy who caught a touchdown is the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers with one of the best players on earth, a guy who caught a touchdown in the Super Bowl,

a man who lived in Tom Brady's house. The fact that he was brought back to the team was a massive conversation, and Bruce Arians didn't really necessarily want it at the beginning. And Tom Brady was the reason, like, hey, come on. This guy lived in my house. I'm a big fan. He's turned his life around. We all saw everything kind of crash down.

That is happening in week 17. It's incredibly sad, obviously, but so fucking insane that there is no way anybody could have ever dreamt up a scenario like this. You put it in a football movie. The people go, that would never happen in the NFL. Too ridiculous. Not at the highest level. This is the biggest league on earth. $110 billion media rights.

Everything is so dialed in. Nutritionists, everything. Let's be the best football team we could possibly be. In the middle of a drive, two-minute type operation, one of your star players just walks it off. See ya. It is absurd to think about. It's insane. And obviously it captivated the world's attention.

I have some sources and reports that might point to why this all potentially happened. Okay? I did some snooping around. You know? Because when you see something that's so absurd, you have to think to yourself, naturally, if you're a, you know, obviously you have a good laugh. Of course. Oh, yeah.

Got us. I mean, yeah. Some of the memes. I mean, the internet is going to do their thing, and you have to, okay, unless he's like close family, close friend. Okay, you have to at least have a moment where you're like, this is hilarious. Are you kidding me?

What a move. And then to look so content, by the way. You know what? Yeah. I made my decision. I made up my mind. This is best for me. Just happy.

Just so pumped about it. It's like, holy shit. That man seems content. And then when I hear him in Danny Boy Hustle Hards Back, he's talking about his Netflix series, I think. If I heard him right, even though I might have said nephew, but it sort of sounds like Netflix series. You have to have a good chuckle.

You have to. Abysmal. But then as a member of the sports media, one that has been called into question every single time I have spoke words into microphones. Sure. I do a little snooping around because everybody was obviously not only going to expect us to talk about it because it's the NFL

and not only talk about it because it's the Super Bowl champion, but because it's Tampa Bay Buccaneers in which, you know, we have talked about and know some people in the building. So here I am having to come into a microphone and I just, I start snooping around. They give me nothing. They give me nothing. But a source did present me some information because it was in the in their eyes best wishes of the story or something like that best of the whole thing so there was a lot of people that immediately just thought that Antonio Brown was benched because he had incentives for like a

million bucks or something like that that was automatically a spin well that would make a lot of sense by the way so I understand why that would be the spin it would uh money it would involve cash uh it would it makes sense on the internet because it's somebody that is an entity fucking over somebody that is a worker so it's a good it would that would be a very good internet thing and by the way one that i would if it was real also be like hey, hey, fuck this team. That is something that has happened to players in the past. I don't believe it has ever happened. No, I have seen it happen one time to a guy.

It was fascinating how it all ended up happening. He wasn't happy. I think he ended up getting a bonus anyways because of a conversation that happened. But whatever the case, I don't think that type of strategery happens in a lot of places, is what I'm saying. I've heard it happens in other places where they do try to fuck you out of incentives at the end of the year if they could potentially bench you for a half and you don't play 75% of the snaps because if you play 75% of the snaps, you will then get $500,000 bonus and you're not Antonio Brown or you're not Tom

Brady. You're a D lineman or an offensive lineman that is just kind of trying to make your way. That is a massive bonus. $500,000 might be double your fucking salary. And the reason why it would be double your salary is because you played a lot more than they expected you to play. So they bench you for a half or a quarter and it's 74.5% of the snaps. And now it saves the team $500,000.

There are stories of that type of shit happening in the NFL, and I believe it has happened in the NFL. But I don't think with a whole other week in play, with another half or whatever, I don't think this would be the case at all. Also, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are Super Bowl champions, a team that people want to go to,

you wouldn't want to get out that you're trying to fuck people people over especially when they're all designing their contracts incentive-based yeah basically their contracts are you play you win we pay you and they do that so they can keep the salary cap lower so that they can continue to acquire and accrue talent so i don't think that is something the tampa bay buccaneers want to be known for around the player community. Now, until Greenberg and Light come out and say, hey, and B.A. says that is not the case, we will never 100% be sure. But I don't think Week 17, with another week to play football, it is because of $1 million that they would have to pay that could potentially fuck their rep with every player for i don't i don't think that's the case so that was a big time push on the internet so i'm not 100 sure if that's the case at all i think what this all revolves around is the same thing that has kind of happened the entire time ab has existed i think antonio brown if he feels as if you have

wronged him or disrespected him or have not done something for him in a way in which he deems enough, which by the way, I have respect for that type of mindset. I think it's over between you, between AB and that person. And we saw it happen in Pittsburgh. In Pittsburgh, it was good. It was good. It was good. We're actually watching videos of Big Ben Roethlisberger from back in the day with Antonio Brown. And they're actually dapping each other up. We're the best in the world. I love you. No, no, no. And then something happened and boom, it was over.

Week 17, he quit. Boom. Didn't show up to work. Bang. It's over. And then he's out. Then Oakland. Something happened.

Boom. He's out. Then he goes to New England. Something happens. He gets in trouble off the field, whatever. He was in a bad, he was doing some bad shit, by the way, then off the field. So there's still something happens. Boom, he's out.

And then he had this friendship and loyalty with Tom and Tom's always treated him right. And he goes down there and he, and BA said it was a whole new citizen. He was like a whole new person. It seemed as if he had changed. That's why whenever he did the, he got the fake vax suspension, he didn't get suspended. But I think what happened during the entire fake vaccination situation is Antonio Brown, and this was somebody not directly related to the situation, but feels as if they were in a position to speak. So I just have to respect their thing.

respect their thing. Antonio Brown felt as if he did not get as much respect or backing from the Bucs during the suspension era. So that pissed him off. And they said as soon as he came back after that, it was a completely different relationship between the team and AB. And then you also account for the fact that he was injured. The person didn't know how injured or if he was injured or what the injury was. He had 11 for 100 and some last week. So you would think his injury was okay. But even though I didn't know that. But they think that's where it all kind of maybe went sideways.

And then whenever he takes himself out of a game and says he's not going into a game which is by all reports now at this point he it was not that they held him out of the game it was that he did not want to go back in the game and then conversations happen between whoever i don't know who it was the person didn't tell me exactly who it was and then there was a boom a full blow up and then we saw the tail end of it from at MMMM Miller. His viewpoint. Pretty good tickets to the game, by the way, on the Buccaneers sideline. We saw Mike Evans going up to him to try to calm him down, it appears.

By the way, Mike Evans, great fucking teammate, because nobody else was even looking at him, which was interesting to me. That was also interesting to me. Punter, brand new. It's not his job, I guess, to get in there. in there but i mean there was a lot of shit that was happening there and then we saw boom he's out he's gone see you later he's done and he says peace out ba comes out and says he's no longer a buck he i mean it's just he quit on his team in the middle of the game in a public fashion is how i would probably view it if i was a Tampa Bay Buccaneer player.

But if I was a Tampa Bay Buccaneer player, I'd be in there a lot closer to the situation and know if this was maybe something that a lot of people saw brewing, maybe, or if it was something that was like, holy shit, this came out of nowhere. Well, last week after that Panthers game, you referenced it when the reporter asked him, like, hey, wasn't it cool that Bruce Arians kind of of came out and defended you it was on your side in this whole thing and then he kind of shut that down and only wanted to talk about the game yeah the media is all drama you guys spin everything so i it feels like that was kind of a sign like oh ab is either not happy with ba yeah this was a different ab and we even talked about it on the show he was telling people he was gonna fight him

yeah he was doing something that ab had not done in a long time. Since he had gone to the Bucs, since he had become this citizen that was being described by B.A. as a model, it felt like that was the case. We actually were so pumped for him. I was so happy. I was like, man, this dude, because of how good he is at football, was afforded another opportunity after publicly going through some shit.

Publicly. Bad shit. Not good stuff. We're talking court dates. We're talking very serious allegations. We're talking penis gummies being thrown. I mean, there was just a litany of things happening publicly that were like, oh, this guy is a fucking bad person.

And then all of a sudden he gets another opportunity because, by the way, because of how good he is at football, he gets another opportunity. Football has saved a lot of people's lives. It seemed like it was going to be saving ABs yet again, give him purpose, give him team, give him mentors, give him people to surround himself with and maybe want to look out for his best interests as opposed to that. And then something happened where it all fucking went sideways. Not going to the building, reports are saying. He wasn't going to work.

And then it's just all kind of building up on top of each other. Well, and then especially when Brady says, you know, like, I mean, if Brady really saw this happening and they were still, I mean, like the best buds or whatever, like he would have been going over there and probably talking to him. I think at this point, you hate to say it, and everyone wants to speculate and everything. A.B.'s an asshole.

He is. He only cares about himself, and there might be some stuff that he obviously might need some help off the field or whatever. But it feels like we saw him get that help so many times now. Exactly, and I think that's why these guys are like, hey, fuck it. Because you were so good at football, you got four, five, six chances.

This kind of stuff has happened everywhere you've gone, and people have put up with it because you're unbelievable. But at a certain point when everyone's trying to do their best to make sure the best is happening for you and you don't give a shit in return, it's like, all right, well, fuck this guy then. He's a cancer. We need to get him out of here. And it's one of those things where i i feel terrible about it i genuinely do i was a guy

that got in trouble and suspended and probably wouldn't have lasted in the nfl if i would have been able to continue to live the way i was living i mean it was i mean it was great time hey we had great times frank hey frank great times great times, Frank. Hey, Frank. Great times. Great times. Too many of them, some would say. Bad influence. Probably too many great times. Well, that was kind of. You never have too many.

No, you weren't bad influence. They were good times. So, you know. But I was having too many great times. Too many, too many, too many. And then I almost, I mean, so many great times all over the place. A lot of great times. A lot of great times.

I was, I mean, just not giving a damn about anything, basically. And then I get in trouble, and you have to have, like, this deep thought with yourself. It's like, am I going to, like, do this, or am I just going to be another person that just kind of goes in there? And you've got to have, like, a real commitment, I think, to it. And this sounds like preachy, but it's real. Like, I tried to commit as much as I was like, I would like to be a better person. And by better person, I mean, I don't want to have to be hung over every morning. Everybody sees me.

I don't want to have to be, you know, I would like to spend my time doing stuff that's, you know, maybe benefiting other people other than just me in whatever particular club we're in or bar we're in. Like, it's that's just the thing you've got to kind of commit to, I think. So whenever you see something happen of commit to i think so whenever you see something happen like this to somebody who has been given an opportunity that is so unbelievable the nfl provides even if you even if you hate the game which some people do and listen i'm not diving into the hole yeah no i can't who loves the game who hates but even if you

hate the game you have to be very thankful and appreciative for what the money afforded you and allowed you to do. For instance, the NFL allowed me to give a reset basically to my family who was potentially in debt, my friends who were potentially in debt. Even though I no longer wanted to kick when the offense failed, I was still very thankful for what the NFL provided and I was still going to be a fan. Now, even if you're not going to be a fan, you have to at least recognize the opportunity is such a big one. And it was a big one. And for him to potentially squander it here publicly, no, not potentially, definitely squander it here publicly. It's just, you have to feel bad. But at the same time, it's like, man, this is on you. This is fucking on you, dude. Like what, at what point are you going to finally do the change? Yeah. And speaking of bad influences,

I don't see this around the internet enough today. Is there a chance that old friend Lev Bell came up to him on the sideline and whispered in his ear, hey, you know what would be fucking hilarious if you took off all your pads and shirt and fucking just walked off the field? Yeah, maybe. That might have been the case.

It's just, it's sad because other people are going to think that's anywhere near acceptable, like to do to your team. Oh, yeah. You know? And I don't know all the back story, because he might have been feeling as if, and we only have one source that isn't even directly in there that is just kind of reading the ebbs and flows of this entire thing but publicly on a sunday december 17th or 17th week close game playoff push you're the super you can't fucking do that to your team you can't do that to the guys that you're friends with you can't do that to i mean and he even if he hates the coach like you just you're fucking pissing on everybody when you do something like that it's like are you not proud of the work you guys have put together?

Yes, you can still work very hard, but there's others fucking working hard as well alongside. Can you not just have any of that? I guess it got to the point where he didn't think so. Well, and that's the problem, right? Like, yeah, maybe that is how he feels, but, like, it doesn't matter. Like, you've got to grow up. Like, you're in the wrong here. You can't, you're playing in the NFL.

Adult, dude. You're playing in the NFL. You're getting paid to do this. Like, you can't just fucking take. Like, you're in the wrong here. You're playing in the NFL. You're getting paid to do this. Like, you can't just fucking take your pads off and walk through the field. Like, you just – and, I mean, at this point, you know, it is. It's like, hey, you've gotten so many chances. Like, we know who you are. And Brady stuck his neck out for him, and I just – you know, if it's not Brady,

like, I don't think any other team is ever going to bring him in again. Joining us now is a man who is in NFL. No, no teams. Yeah, he's done. He's done. From the pit to the palace, though. I guess he's dropping an album or whatever. Hope he does well.

Antonio Brown has made enough money to succeed, by the way. Antonio Brown will probably be able to succeed in numerous different things going forward if he wants to. But it is a bummer that we will never see him again in the NFL. Joining us now, a man who works for the NFL, senior insider for the NFL and NFL.com. Ladies and gentlemen, Ian Rapoport. Eddie Lachey! Rap sheet, what's going on, man? We're just going through the entire situation.

It's sad because we're seeing somebody who's incredibly talented just kind of squander an entire opportunity for the rest of his life. But also, we understand he'll probably have success. It's just how the fuck does this happen? How does this happen in Week 17 on a Super Bowl champion team? So many different things, and you're right. I heard you guys right before I came on talk about, you know, is he going to get another shot? I mean, I guess anything's possible.

I didn't foresee this shot happening, but it is really, really hard to imagine that he plays again in the NFL. Again, I would never rule anything out because the world is crazy. But it is hard to imagine because every – I was thinking about this today. Every place he's gone has basically ended in some form of this, right? I mean, it was the Steelers ended like this. It was the Raiders. It was the Patriots ended in a little bit of a different way, but it will, them telling him, you know, we're cutting you, go away. And then this one in very, very

public fashion. I mean, this probably was more similar to his Raiders and Steelers exit than it was to his Patriots exit, because I know he wanted to stay there. But this was as dramatic a, you know, screw it, I'm out of here, as I can remember. But there's a lot of different layers to it. I know Bruce Arians just talked to reporters and kind of addressed it and really says, I hope, you know, from Ari arians i hope he gets the help he needs um you know if he does need help in a mental situation i hope he gets it as well but there's so much here yeah and from what i heard from my sources um it's all kind of stemmed from when the suspension happened afterwards very different relationship between

a b in the buccaneers. Is that what your sources are telling you, Ian Rappaport? Yes. I started to hear probably two weeks ago that things were not right, which I mean, the guy suspended and he lied to his team. So like, it's not a total surprise that the relationship is not in a good place. But I started to hear about two weeks ago that something was wrong. And I know there was frustration with how long he was taking to get back, how focused he was in his rehab. Because remember, he was dealing with the whole, am I going to be suspended? He had talked to the NFL.

That took a lot of attention away from the field. And so while he was rehabbing, it took way longer than they anticipated. And so while he was rehabbing, it took way longer than they anticipated. And I know there was some questions about, like, how hard he actually rehabbed and how focused, just focused on football he was, which you watch what happened on the field Sunday. Like, I think that's pretty fair. And then he eventually gets back, but then he has a setback and doesn't practice Thursday and Friday.

And there was, as Arians alluded to, a conversation on the sideline. What was the setback? The setback was from the injury or from the relationship? The setback was from the injury, so he didn't practice Thursday, Friday, and he didn't think his ankle was good enough to play, and then he ends up, you know, looked great on the field pregame, looked like it was good, but he didn't feel like it was good. So they forced him to play?

What's that? So they forced him to play? See, so they forced him to play i see i don't i don't think an nfl team forces anyone to yeah you can't is what i'm trying to lead you to like i can't yeah it's like i can't yeah i don't know how that would happen you know that any any i mean as you know any return to play situation is basically an agreement between the player slash player agent the coach and the medical people. It's all three of them. So nobody forced him to do anything.

But from what I understand, talking to people close to him, he had some doubts during the game that his ankle was good enough to go. Bruce Arians says he didn't say that to anyone. Bruce Arians is an honorable man. I've known him for a long time. I'll take him at his word there, but I know that Antonio Brown did not believe his ankle was good enough, and when he said

I'm not going in, that was that, and that is why Bruce Arians ejected him from the sideline. So then from A.B.'s side, you could see why he would get so furious. Now, you have to do it in a much different fashion. We are adults, but you could see... Yeah, I mean, no excuse to do any of that. No, you have to do it in a much different fashion. We are adults, but you could see... Yeah, I mean,

no excuse to do any of that. No, yeah, yeah. We are... That is not... You can't do that. I mean, you can... You can tell them to go fuck themselves.

You can do that entire thing. But, ah, I mean, if you're in the moment, I could see how you could just lose... You're an adult, though. Hey, you're a fucking adult. You're in the NFL.

Figure it out. But you could see if they were trying to force him back in, which Arian said didn't happen. And, I mean, ah, a fucking adult. You're in the NFL. Figure it out. But you could see if they were trying to force him back in, which Arians said didn't happen. And, I mean, ah, that's interesting. This is all very, very interesting. A situation that I assume we won't talk about ever again, right, after today?

Yeah. It's going to be interesting to see what follows this. If Antonio Brown really does believe that his ankle was so bad that he couldn't play wonder if something is coming perhaps a grievance if he's going to take this to the next level he was going to get people talking about his incentives as if the team was trying to prevent like the team wanted him to play like he was getting his incentives i don't think that was he was getting them it was close well in the tampa bay buccaneers yeah tampa buccaneers don't want to be known as a team that's fucking over their players either, for instance.

And they also weren't. Yeah. Like, they knew he was going to get his incentives, and he was about to. Okay, so let's move on then. Let's talk about yesterday. Any big-time injuries or any updates to the COVID protocols that we need to know because of a Sunday night football game that saw Sean Mannion? Sean Mannion. No offense, Sean Mannion. Hey, good guy football game that saw Sean Mannion. Sean Mannion.

No offense, Sean Mannion. Hey, good guy. Sean Mannion's a good guy. 90 mile an hour fastball. Threw his first career touchdown last night. Congrats, Sean. I cannot believe they took time in the broadcast to be like, this guy's like an eight-year pro. Congratulations, Sean. You threw your first touchdown.

I was like, oh no, don't bring that up. You think that was a little bit of a dunk on him? I think it was a big deal. A moment I'll never forget. In Lambeau? In Lambeau. I think they meant it.

I think they meant it very nicely. But as soon as they started saying it, I was cringing like I was watching an episode of Succession or something. That was terrible. So is there anything that's going to change? No. Just protocol is going to remain the way they are. If people are reporting their symptoms on Thursday, they're obviously going to miss games on Sunday and Saturday.

That's just how the NFL is kind of feeling about it? I think that's the way it's going to be. I mean, one more week of the regular season, so there's not going to be a ton of it. And, you know, we'll be interested to see, like, if you're on a playoff team, you know, you hope for the safety of everyone. You hope that everybody reports symptoms.

But, you know, it would be interesting to see if that is the case as teams gear up for the playoffs. And then, you know, for players on bad teams, how many symptoms do they report during this week? I mean, so many people seem to have it. It's just interesting to follow. But, yeah, no changes to the protocol, and I think we're probably going to be good for the

rest of the season, but I've thought that before. There's 50... How many did you just say? We have 50,000. Hey! How you doing? How you doing? How you doing? How you doing? Hey, how's your family? Hey, hey, hey, hey! How you doing? Hey!

That's a lot of people, Ian. That's a lot of fucking people. I mean, the NFL Network, where Ian resides, gets 12.6 million people to watch a football game. Holy shit. That is insane. The ratings are absurd. And that's because of you, Ian. Hey.

Hey, I'm on some of the pregame shows, and maybe that helps. Yeah, absolutely. Everybody knows you. You're a needle mover. You can't spell comedian without E. E. Boom.

Why didn't we see you report this? I appreciate the shout-out for the Bohorquez coming back and the punter tweet. There is a man fresh off the COVID list, a man I haven't introduced yet, but I think it does deserve

at least a tweet from you. This man beat COVID, ladies and gentlemen, Boston Call. Yeah! I was waiting to introduce you, but we only have a two shot so everybody saw you i was waiting for the ian because i was going to question why he didn't tweet about you beating cove but then there's kind of messed up there's two of you yeah

no that's off dude yeah can i say and i know know we joke around a lot. What? Congratulations. It is quite, it's an accomplishment. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It's about time.

Go ahead. Yeah, rap sheet. Derek Henry, is he coming back next week? Possibly the week after, but if they also have the bye, he might not be back to the divisional round. What's his status looking like? I mean, the Titans being in position to have a bye was, I would say, not something I was expecting. They have done an unbelievable job. I mean, losing one of the best players in football and still beating down the Dolphins. I mean,

that is, you know, they've done a really nice job. I would expect Eric Henry back for the playoffs. What's going to be interesting is when does he practice? Like, theoretically, what they could do is activate him this week, go out to practice. You know, you have three weeks, so if you activate him this week, you have the next week, then you could just officially do it for the following week and take him off IR and good to go. So, you know, does he practice this week is a question. I think there's a possibility because there's really not a lot of downside. But as you know, like a guy who's coming off an injury has to rehab very hard.

A lot of times those guys are in really good shape. Nowhere in terror from the season. So we may get Derrickry at like his absolute best yeah for maybe the number one team in the afc that's pretty legit yeah remember those absurd workouts he was doing the tannahill rubber band push-up shit he's an absolute stud if he is in the best shape and you're 100 right i've had to do numerous knee surgery rehabs and i feel like it was the best thing for me because i was on such a protocol for both of my legs, basically, during the offseason.

You come back all the way better than ever. Hopefully that happens for Derrick Henry. What do you – I'm going to let Tone ask this question. It's a big night tonight, Ian. Yeah. Go ahead, Tone, please. My question's actually not about that. Oh, well, then let me get to this.

What are you hearing about tonight? This is Big Ben's last ride at Hein Sean, please. My question's actually not about that. Oh, well, then let me get to this. What are you hearing about tonight? This is Big Ben's last ride at Heinz, Ian. Is he going to be all the way? How are the boys feeling? There ain't no way the Pittsburgh Steelers lose tonight with Ben, Brett Michaels, and all the boys back in town, right? Ben's coming out with his bad hip, I love yous, I love youns, I love youns, I love youns.

Dude, there's no way. It's going to be emotional. I mean, did you see the tweet where someone posted a picture of that and there was the sticker in front of the T-H-A-N? Didn't like that one. That was a shitty tweet. It's pretty good. I was about to go on air Sunday morning,

and I was almost uncontrollable laughing. What was it? I appreciate laughing. What was it? I appreciate it. Inside jokes are fun. There was an ad for Ross Park Mall or something like that over the T-H-A-N-N in the Thank You Ben.

It looked like it said Fuck You Ben. Oh no! It's really my kind of humor. This show looks for other styles. It's really my kind of humor. Great. Well, this show goes for other styles. Let's go.

Please, come on. One thing, I will say this. One thing that I have learned in my illustrious time doing this is all of these factors are, like, very real. Yes. Right? Like, home crowd, emotion, you know, are they going to do something on the Jumbotron, a retrospective,

like a thank you, you know, thank you, Ben. Like, everyone is going to be feeling it. I can't pretend that it doesn't affect all of the other people on the team. So, like, I would expect a really good performance. And the Steelers aren't out of it. It's a long shot, but they're not out of it. So, I mean, yeah, I would think tonight is going to be, I think tonight's going to be pretty good for Pittsburgh.

I think so. Brett's in the house. Yeah, Brett Michaels singing the national anthem. Go ahead, Tom. Ian, pretty big game this weekend. Niners, Rams. Is there any chance Jimmy G's back for that one? So, this is an interesting one because I reported pre-game on sunday that he is

expected to need surgery after the season he's got a torn ligament in his thumb it's really not a surprise the ligament ripped a piece of the bone off which i think is called an abulsion but it could be something else um and it's a pretty serious injury and he's having trouble gripping the football either through very very little last week or not at all. So for me, judging by the injury, the same injury that Drew Brees had when he needed surgery and needed six weeks of recovery, at some point he needs surgery. Now, some reporters believe, based on their sources, that he has a chance to be back this week.

The people I've spoken with paint a different picture and believe it is a long shot. I would say, for me, I would trust the people I've spoken with. But Jimmy G wants to play very, very, very badly. And I think he is pissed off that people don't think, that people think he gets injured and think he doesn't play through injury. And he wants to play through this. So if he can somehow go, I think he'll try to go.

But the other part of me is, like, you have a young rookie, look pretty good. If Jimmy G is at 75%, like, is that kind of what you want anyway, you know? I don't know. So it's a source-off in that entire thing. I can't wait to see if you're right. Last question here because we know you've got to go get on TV and probably break some news.

Literally immediately following here. Should I ask about Russell Wilson and the Seahawks? Do you know anything there? No. Do you know anything? Or should I ask about something else that you know stuff about? I know about everything. Oh.

Yeah, I would say. Russell Seattle. Russell Seattle. Russell Seattle. Russell Seattle. How's that going to end? Not good, right? He's gone?

I don't know if he's gone, but it feels like judging the landscape of things, talking to the people. Like last year, it was like, you remember, the Bears came to him. They made a big offer. Yeah, North Dakota. And then at the end, Pete Carroll goes, yeah, no. Like just, he's got final say. Did not want to rebuild.

Russell's my guy. No. No final say. Did not want to rebuild. Russ was my guy. No. It doesn't quite feel like that. Just feel to me this year. It feels like something has to happen. Pete Carroll says, hey, Russ, good to see you. That's it. Yeah, right there.

So this is all because Pete Carroll says he's done with Russ? No. That's what it sounded like. We just did a demonstration. I think Pete Carroll would like to re-up again because he's 71 years old. He doesn't want to rebuild. I just wonder, like, Russell Wilson bringing up himself.

Remember last week he said, well, you know, who knows. We talked about Ben's last home game. This could be my home game. That was the first time I was kind of like, okay. Clearly he's thinking that it actually may be. And then it's like, does Pete leave and retire? I don't think he gets fired, but you never know.

Does Russ say, all right, now it's been my time to look at a trade? I feel like something has to happen there to break it. I just don't know how it's actually going to end. Alright, well we appreciate you Ian. Sirianni and the boys in the playoffs. The Bengals obviously win the AFC North. Congrats

to them. We'll get to that with you hopefully later in the week. We can't thank you enough for joining us. Good luck on NFL Network, sir. Alright, thank you guys. Always just so much fun. I think it's breaking news though. You said Pete Carroll said, Russ, it's different this year. Get the fuck out of there. Alright, thank you ladies always just so much fun I think it's breaking news though you said Pete Carroll said Ross it's different this year get the fuck out of town alright thank you ladies nobody said

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Also, there's fantasy on there, daily fantasy, and free-to-play games where you can win money. Shout out to FanDuel. Shout out to you. Let's get back to the show. The number one seed, the home field advantage to all the playoffs of the NFC Green Bay Packer shareholder at Boston Conner. Die hard, mass hole, COVID survivor, and Patriot fan. Congrats. Thanks, guys.

Thanks. Add to the resume. Hopefully the Colts will take the blueprint of what Bill did to the Jacksonville Jaguars and just do the absolute same thing. Impossible because Bill will never pay a quarterback $27 million when he's throwing picks and losing games. All right. There's no reason for that.

There's no reason. There's no reason for that. Also here, one half of the Hammer. Dad! Cowboys. Pittsburgh Steeler fan who, you know, the allergies were a little wild earlier this morning as all the reminiscing was going on because tonight in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in Hinesfield, Big Ben Roethlisberger takes his last ride as a Pittsburgh Steeler in Pittsburgh.

Tone Diggs, how are the emotions, cuz? How is the composure? Or how have you been able to get through this show without breaking all the way? Don? As the day goes on, I'm starting to get more of that nervous, anxiety, excitement type of feeling. You know what I'm talking about. Yeah. I mean, Hines is going to be fucking electric.

Ben, the Steelers actually have won 19 straight Monday Night Football games. Ben is 25-2-1 in the regular season against the Browns. Whoa. 13-0, I believe, at home against the Browns. So, like, let's cap off this fucking beautiful career at home in Hines against the Browns, who did not make the playoffs, even though they were supposed to win the Super Bowl. I just think that that would be the perfect cap to his career at Hines.

And then, you know what? Icing on the top. Knock the Ravens out of the playoffs next week. Oh, my, my, I did fear for my life from the law. Arm of the law. What is Brett Michaels going to do tonight?

He's not going to be there. Brett Michaels is making an appearance tonight. Are you kidding me? He's definitely in there. Here we go, Big Ben. Here we go. Here we go, Big Ben. Here we go.

Brett Michaels ain't going to let Ben take his final ride alone. Joining us now is a man who joins us every Monday through Friday from Monatic in Ohio, a college football national champion, Super Bowl champion, all-time leading tackler for the Green Bay Packers, Ryder Cup champion, and COVID survivor, ladies and gentlemen, A.J. Hall. Hey! What do you think Brett Michaels is doing tonight, A.J.? Well, I connected about five minutes ago,

so I actually was hoping I could just kind of hang out and watch the show as a fan and see how deep you could go into the Brett Michaels conspiracies for tonight. I'm sorry. I didn't know you had been on this entire time, although Zito probably told me we were so balls deep in the conversation about Big Ben's last ride in Heinz Field. I think this is a real thing. Don't you think, AJ?

I think this is a real thing. I think this is going to be a great Steelers performance tonight. Maybe Ben's a little gun-shy early. Maybe it's a little tight. Maybe it's a little tight. But then once he gets going, there's going to be all the vintage Roethlisberger tonight. We're going to see him scrambling.

We're going to see him moving. We're going to see him doing everything tonight. I'm excited for it. This is going to be like a recap video of a man's career i assume that is actually gonna be the case uh i mean that sounds great like if this was a movie that we're watching that maybe kevin james is playing the head coach of the other team possibly this could happen but not uh i'm not saying it's not going to happen but that's not guarantee. You're acting like this is a 100% guarantee. Ben's going to be making all kind of Ben plays.

Steelers are going to roll. Myles Garrett's not going to play. Is he just going to take a knee? What are we going to do? Do you not know Ben at all? Come on. He's unbelievable. He's amazing.

I hope that happens. Also, Ben's going to get his shots up tonight. What are you even talking about? There's going to be a lot of shots. Are the rest of the boys ready to rally around him though? Yes. Are you kidding me, Tundek? Sources are telling me the boys are fired up and ready to go.

Now, on the other side, now that the Browns are out of the playoffs after yesterday, are they coming out a little lackadaisical or are they also fired up because they don't want Ben's last ride to be all over them? Hey, in your epitaph, you know, you're born here, you die here, then there's that dash in there. For every Cleveland Browns player, I'm sure they don't want it to be in there that they fucking were the losers in Big Ben's last game.

No, they don't give a fuck. That whole Browns team, I think they're just trying to put out good film right now. I assume that's what they're all doing right now. Yeah, they want to go out there and play well and try to win a football game. I don't think they're too worried about, hey, we don't want to be on the team that Ben Roethlisberger beat in not his last regular season game, but his last home game he played with the Pittsburgh Steelers. I agree.

And it's also Cleveland-Pittsburgh. It's always going to get chippy. Let's just assume that. Let alone when Brett Michaels is out there riding around with a bunch of Huskies. You know what I mean? And he's in the back of one of those snow sleds. I mean, look out for Ben Michaels. Ben Roethlisberger handing the ball off

to Brett Michaels in the fourth quarter. Get Brett in. Have you ever seen... I mean, I had no idea that Brett was... Brett's in his 50s, I think. Hey, Ben's last game, it's probably the last opportunity Brett Michaels is going to touch a ball in an NFL game. I think there's a chance Brett mentions that.

You said, like, Brett was going to run out with him at the tunnel. You think Brett taps him right before the run. He's like, hey, Ben, try to get me in the fourth. I still got a few good carries left in me. I got Chris Angel's football pads on underneath. All right, let's talk about yesterday. Let's talk about yesterday. Aaron Rodgers, that Green Bay Packers squad, on underneath. Let's talk about yesterday. Aaron

Rodgers, that Green Bay Packers squad, put on a clinic. Now the entire NFC has to run and go through Lambeau. This feels, and Ty led off with this, and he's 100% right. This team feels different than last year, certainly different than two years ago when they still

made the NFC championship, and they were nowhere near as together of a group on the same page this team legitimately feels done like last night watch it was like oh this is a team that's going to go this feels like a team that's different something's different like they feel different like what being led by Aaron and everyone yeah seems to be on the same page but that's what also worries me a little bit yeah it's set up so perfectly for us oh Aaron can rest his toe we can do all this like they're in a pretty damn good rhythm right now man i don't sometimes i don't like sitting out yeah the last the thing i thought of was the a couple

years ago the year after they won the super bowl they went 15 and one same situation i think sat a lot of guys and then had that uh wild card weekend game off guys didn't play two weeks and they were just you know they had so much momentum and it kind of just got upended because they did get the two weeks off. So that does worry you a little bit. Like, they're playing so well right now, but they also have all the – they have three pro bowlers that they could potentially get back. Like, that certainly doesn't hurt, you know.

And Rodgers hasn't been practicing that much because of his toe, so I'm kind of trying to, like, talk myself out of that being a worry. But it's – I mean, I think that's real. AJ, you just – you're a guy that being a worry, but it's, I mean, I think that's real. AJ, you just, you're a guy that is noted hate by week though, too. You didn't like the getting out of the schedule,

the routine for a week, especially if you're in a rhythm or a flow. Do you think the bi-week coming for the wild card weekend? Do you think that is a detriment to teams in your eyes? This has been a conversation piece for a long time, especially because a lot of teams get hot and they go, and you can potentially get buzzsawed if you're waiting on the other side the team that i was on that went all the way to the super bowl we were off that first week we came back we won we move we get we it worked out accordingly and we rested the last two games of

the season then we were off then we you know and i'm not saying we as because i was there i guess but i'm talking about how everybody else performed, not myself. But it was, it did feel like it wasn't a big deal. But that is at least a conversation that is had every single year, it feels like. I mean, it has to be. If you have been rolling for this long, and then all of a sudden you have, like, this extended period without a game. But the good thing with Green Bay, though, like, it's actually going to help them.

It's going to help Aaron's toe. It's going to help all the rest of the guys that are banged up maybe some of the guys that are have been out they can get back in the lineup so when you have aaron no it's not as a big of worry but i'm saying if there was something to worry about that's all i'm thinking like hey these guys look really really good right now especially offense defense like how aaron's rolling just looks it looks so natural and fun and easy i hope they come out and they they come out and they hit the ground running whenever they do get back on the field. Now the Vikings stink. Right. And you knew that they weren't going to be able to really score last night probably. Yeah, so sorry, Sean Mannion does not deserve

the amount of burials he's got, but it looked like a performance last night by Aaron. The throws, there was these back shoulder throws that were just absurd. The Lazard catches catches it just felt like they were literally doing whatever they wanted however they wanted obviously it starts slow they get a couple third downs that they don't convert late after long drives but then once they got it was 20 nothing as we're going into half nobody's thinking oh this team is not doing well even though it seems like they're not doing at all. It just feels like they are in quite a rhythm. You would just hope somehow that wouldn't happen,

but they're a bunch of veteran-led guys. I guess that isn't something you should even think about. And I saw a couple people say, like, the biggest, or one of the biggest differences is, like, A.J. Dillon was on the team last year, but he didn't really play in the playoffs. Like, you can see late in games when it's cold like that. Like, he's getting seven yards a carry.

Like, he's never going down on first contact. He's the kind of guy you can put teams away with him. And he's catching on to the backfield too. Hey, it's a little thunder lightning, huh? Hey, A.J. Dillon, Aaron Jones, don't get caught in a storm. You know what I mean? Because one's coming, pow! One's coming, ha-ha!

You know what I mean? And it is. Who would want to tackle A.J. Dillon in Lambeau throughout the rest of the run here? It's only going to get colder in Wisconsin, even though Bia Bia, 82-year-old ladies, been there since every game since 1957 or something like that, says, yeah, you just got to stand.

That's the only thing. You got to get louder or whatever. She lives her best life out there, it looks like. She was just chilling. Oh, yeah. Just fucking chilling. Thank you, B. No caption needed, I said. Let me Thank you, B. No caption needed.

I said, let me just post this thing. No caption needed at all. This is fucking Bia, dude. She handles business at Lambeau. You come watch a game at Lambeau Field. You come thank Bia. She built the fucking place. Thank you, Bia.

Thank you, Bia. Bia, Bia. She's awesome. But ain't nobody going to want to tackle A.J. Dillon, you know? And Aaron Rodgers has such an advantage thrown up there. You would think, unlike what happened with Tampa last year in the NFC Championship, this does lend quite an advantage going forward. Home field at some places.

Yes, I guess it could be. But Lambeau being its own thing without cold and the reaction and it's out in the middle of nowhere. I mean, it's real home field advantage. Although NFL records this year and last year, interesting stats. Last year was the first year since the Super Bowl era or something like that where the home record was under 500. Yeah, since 1968 that home teams had a losing record.

COVID, obviously. Yeah, right. COVID happens. 2021, 113, 110, and 1. Is this right? This was on Sunday Night Football, right? Yeah. I just assume home teams win a lot more than they don't.

Yeah, me too. Apparently not. Stat that. Yeah, what is that? Stat that. This was on Sunday Night Football last night. I know. I'm saying, why is this?

Does anyone have any theories? 2020 is COVID, right? Yeah. Yeah. So this one didn't matter. I guess traveling is something that you have to think about, but COVID was such an inconvenience for everything. Travel just added on there.

2021, only three games ahead. I didn't expect that. I thought that would be much different. Travel just so much better than what it used to be back in the, like. Oh, yeah. AJ, you guys used to get on trains and shit. Yeah, that's right. And then, you know what I mean, have to travel through there.

Yeah, we'd ride bikes sometimes to short games. Yeah. Well, you guys do that to practice still. I know a little throwback over here in Lambeau. But I didn't expect that. But I think in Lambeau, real thing. Yeah. Especially with Aaron there where he's orchestrating the entire place.

Congrats to the Packers. Yeah. We love you. Speaking of traveling, and then this will lead into a big story, did you see that Sean Murphy, Bunting, and I forget who else, one other player, they were battling with COVID all week for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So they had assigned them a private plane to fly up

because they were testing out of the protocol, or they had the five-day protocol to fly up during the game. They get to the FBO, probably the same one that we used to go to. Very nice. They get to the FBO, which is basically the private plane place, airport, to fly out. Pilot has COVID when he gets there. So one of the pilots, when he or she gets there,

one of the pilots had COVID, so they had to replace. It took two hours to get a replacement pilot. So they were flying up to Teterboro from Tampa on a private plane, hoping to land and go right onto the field, basically, with how the time ended up being. Teterboro is right where their landing is, right next to MetLife Stadium. So it was a pretty perfect setup there.

Does anybody know, did they make the game? Because nobody knows anything about that game other than Antonio Brown left. Antonio Brown left. That Jets team almost got one of the biggest wins in the history of the fucking Jets, knocking off Tom Brady, who had dunked on them their entire existence, basically, the last 20 years.

As you're going into the playoff time of year, Super Bowl champions, Bob Sala, Zach Wilson, trying to hang their hat on something going into the offseason. It was going to be yesterday. Hey, we took the Super Bowl champions, and we fucking beat them. Now, they'll say we took them to the deep end. We got to fix some things to get this whole

win. And Tom is able to get a dub and that team, you know, they're a reality TV show at this point. What is up with the Buccaneers? There is no way this should be happening in a team that's going to win a Super Bowl. I just don't see how this much shit can inevitably lead to success in the end in a league that is, success is defined by the thinnest of margins aj yeah that game yesterday was weird what do you think with the um zach wilson him to sneak sneaking on fourth and two what would you have done what's that pal when at the end when zito was telling me sean murphy bunting two tackles fresh off the plane right onto the field sean fucking proud of him what i was saying was uh job, Sean. What I was saying was when Zach Wilson goes for it,

fourth and two, a little over two minutes, no timeouts left for Tampa. When he went for it, didn't get it. I knew Tom. I was like, all right, Tom has no timeouts, but he made it look so easy how they went down and scored. Well, and that's exactly why Zach wanted to go for it, right? That's why Bob and them wanted to go for it,

is because what was inevitably going to happen right there, if you don't. Yeah. Right? But was QB sneak? Is that the right call on fourth and two? Oh, Jesus. Probably not.

Definitely not. Hey, did they get it? Did they get it? They got it. That's one of the things. Hey, if they get it, you're a genius. Hey, we just took them down. Yeah, did they get it?

No. Fucking terrible play call. That's right. Figure it out. Be better. Let's talk about Antonio Brown now. Okay, AJ? I talked to Ian Rappaport earlier

he has sources in Antonio Brown's camp he said that this morning on Good Morning Football he he talked about the injury and his ankle and all this stuff they're reporting inside which is interesting to think about it because he just had 11 and 100 and some and I think the drive before a couple drives before he has this incredible stop route basically where he just leaves somebody in the dust which is what Antonio Brown does which is why we have gotten to this point where he's gotten so many opportunities to change his life and it appears as if this last one was a great success story my sources had told me that ever since the fake Vax card suspension thing, something had gone astray between the Bucs and Antonio Brown.

It was evident. It was obvious. He goes for 11-1-10 last week. Then there's some shit with the media afterwards. And then now we're hearing that he actually did not want to go onto the field. B.A. and them wanted him on the field. He did not want to. Refused to go back into the game.

Then there were some conversations that happened boom all hell breaks loose to the video that we saw from miller at mm illa from the angle he had where mike evans he's trying to stop him and tony brown says no dog takes his pads off fucking hawks him takes his shirt off see you both clubs get out of here john hey how we doing crowd how we doing, crowd? How we doing, crowd? Looked healthy then. That's what a lot of people are judging upon because we don't know if he was hurt or if he wasn't hurt. Pumped the crowd up.

They're going crazy. Not because it's a third down, but because they're watching something that has never happened before in anybody's lives in the NFL. And they're going to get a peace out smile. I'm out of here. See you later. So when that all happens, AJ, just your thoughts on the whole situation. And I don't think any of us will ever know publicly what 100% happened in there. But I do know the outcome is something we will fucking talk about forever.

Well, I think we're pretty confident that this wasn't just something that popped up all of a sudden this game. Like, this was building up for whatever reason. And I know what you said before. I mean, that does, that seems to make sense. Like if he, once he came back from being hurt in the suspension, if he felt like he was being slighted by them, he has an issue with PA and the front office, whoever it may be. Yeah, I can see how this happens.

And when I saw this happen on the TV, it was actually on mute. When it happened, I'm like, oh, AB just run across the field with his shirt off. Oh, okay. Here we go. Oh, they're still in the field. And I was like, oh. I wasn't, like, shocked.

I didn't lose my mind. I'm like, man, that sucks. Like, I felt bad for him and what's going on. I wanted to learn why and how this happened. But, man, trying to explain that to my kids, too, exactly what he was doing. That was a great moment for me trying to be a good parent. Well, I'll tell you what, Axel. It appears as if something went wrong for Antonio Brown here. He is jogging on. They for me trying to be a good parent. Well, I'll tell you what, Axel, it appears as if something went wrong for Antonio

Brown here. He's jogging off. They asked me the good fault. They're like, well, has anything like this happened before? I was like, no, but he's had issues with other teams. We don't know exactly what's going on, so we've got to feel for the guy. Players have punched each other on the same team. Coaches have done that.

Not the Giants. Not this one. No, that's because they don't have a clown show organization. Three for have done that. Not the Giants. Not this one. No. They don't have a con show organization. Three for negative 10 yards. Guys are calling to get back. I saw today and Rex said, this guy is tough to like. Classic. But let's get back to the Antonio Brown situation. Wrap it up here.

You have to laugh immediately upon it happening. You know, unless you're as close family and friends, I don't have a personal relationship with him. I feel like he and I chatted before every game. We got along. I feel like that's the case, but he's not like one of my friends or family. So as it's happening, it's not an immediate, oh no, no, no, no, no. Which there are guys where that would happen, where I would immediately. So I did laugh immediately, like everybody else holy shit what is this but then you immediately have to think about the other side of the coin where it's like man we're watching this guy fuck it all up again you know

he's fucking it all up again even if he is distraught or distressed or pissed off you can do it in a much different fashion than telling everybody to go fuck yourself and not just everybody at tampa he's telling the entire nfl to go fuck themselves. And not just everybody at Tampa. He's telling the entire NFL to go fuck themselves too because nobody can hire him now. He's unhirable. He's unemployable right now. And that is just it's a shame to think about in that fashion. But on the flip side, it's like you're an adult, dude. Fucking figure it

out. You got to figure yourself out. Figure out your situation with your team. If you feel slighted, go talk to him. You know? Hey, fuck off. Man to man. Fuck off. what is this about why is that why don't you have that conversation now we don't know the ins and outs are all of it i'm sure i could ask some people in here if that happened or not we don't know if they tried to settle this behind the scenes before we saw this entire blow up i guess that'll be a report that ian rapaport

will probably put out immediately following an appearance on this show. But, God damn, week 17 in the playoff push. This is January football. This is January football for the reigning Super Bowl team. They still get a win somehow. But, God, wow, that's insane. That can't be happening. And even if A.B. files a grievance with the NFL, like Rabchi kind of alluded to, he just got suspended by the NFL.

They legitimately, i feel like will basically turn the other way like okay ab if you want to file a grievance because you threw your pads and made your team kind of look terrible sure have fun dude we're obviously just going to deny it they're not going to back whatever he is uh alleging that the tampa bay bucks staff might have done either yeah and ba's already coming out out and saying he didn't say anything about his ankle. I legitimately think he doesn't care. He keeps making these comments, and he said them before, and now he's starting to make them again.

I think one was on his Instagram post about being more than a football player and not being defined by football, and that's fine, and we know that about people. We know there's life outside and after football. But, man, you've got these chances, chances. Platform, a hell of a platform to utilize for whatever the super gremlin wants to do was built from star rap football dropped the heater yesterday yeah from pit to the palace dude him and danny or danny boy uh hustle hard yeah how did tomlin do it yeah see and is this the way it's always been is this come after the hit that happened with

vontaze perfect a lot of people pointed to? You know, there's so much that plays into it. One of the greatest football players of all time, though. One of the greatest football players of all time. And a huge loss to the Bucs offense. He is a very productive dude that Tom Brady has a great, like, rapport with on the field. Especially with Godwin gone.

Yeah. He lost Godwin. Godwin being gone is no good. Anyways, let's move along. We talked about that. We talked about the Packerswin being gone is no good. Anyways, let's move along. We talked about that. We talked about the Packers. Let's talk about the Cincinnati Bengals, AJ. Now, I think you bet against them.

You picked the Chiefs. I did pick the Bengals, you know, because that is. Did you really? Yes. What is our records? We're tied, I think, 8-6-1. Dirty puked in his car this morning on his way to work, so he reported his symptoms and went back home.

And, Dirty, hey, we miss you, Dirty. Thank you for self-reporting. Thank you, Dirty. Thank you, Dirty. We hope he's back soon. We don't know if it's COVID, by the way. We have no idea if it's COVID. No, no.

We hope he's okay, Dirty. Like, puking's not a big side effect from COVID, is it? Could be. No, I mean, I don't know. You don't know COVID, do you? Once for a bit. What's that? That's right.

Oh, yeah, but he was also blacked out drunk wouldn't he yeah well yeah yeah yeah yeah so we don't know if it was the covet or the booze but he did definitely have covered and puke at the same time right oh the florona maybe oh Oh, shit. Don't do that. Don't play. It's not an indie. That is not the Flora. I'm just saying.

It's possible. My, my, my, my Flora. It's the flu and the Rona. And they come together to ruin all our lives. But my Flora. It is something that maybe got dirty, sick, and he's puking in his car. And it's going, my, my, my Flora. But Dirty's sick and he's puking in his car. And he's going, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my. Joe and Jamar Chase, okay, unconscious yesterday. It was awesome to watch.

It was like Aaron and Devontae. Now Aaron and Devontae have years and years and years of pent-up chemistry and situations in which they've been before where they'll check plays where nobody else knows it without even signaling it, just kind of looking at each other because they've been there, done that. But watching Joe and Jamar, it is so much fun. And if you're a Bengals fan, you've got to be so pumped. The Bengals are AFC North champs,

even though they don't have an indoor facility or a full scouting department. This is the perfect situation. Like for this, for that win to win AFC North, how they did it against the Ravens, setting records, Jamar Chase, how great he is, Joe Burrow. I got worried for a second about his knee, but yeah, then all of a sudden the dude's in the locker room smoking cigars, dancing. I feel pretty good about our program

if I'm the Cincinnati Bengals. Yeah, the program's running strong over there, and that program seems to have a lot of LSU Tigers down there. Coach O joined the scouting department. Really? That'd be smart. And Coach O up there, a recruit for Bengals? He's got a good eye for talent recruit for Bengals? He's got a good eye for talent.

What's that? He's got a good eye for talent. What's that, AJ? Where is Coach O going to go? Well. Governor of Louisiana.

Yeah, well. For real. I think Coach O's eating bunghole on a beach in Florida right now. Yeah, I don't think he's worried about

his next coaching stop. That's awesome. Eating bunghole. That's awesome. He's living his best life. Let's move along here. We don't know if any of these are true. They could be. All these things could be true.

Maybe. We're not sure. We don't even know what percentage to put on. He deserves some time off. He does. He does. But if you could put a percentage on them, what would you say, man? Does he have the Lamar Odom suite? Oh, God.

He has like a whole suite or a whole wing for himself. Yeah, he spent 500 grand in like an hour or something. He's the only one who has a key to that. True. They won't let anyone in that. Name it Air Force Amy. By the way. Miss you, Air Force Amy.

All right, let's Amy. By the way. Miss you, Air Force Amy. All right. Let's get back to the football. Coach O is football. That place existed. That place existed, was promoted, was very famous. Had a show. Big time. Yeah.

All right. Wait, it still exists, right? Oh, yeah. I think so. The place? The ranch is, right? Yeah. No, the show. The whole thing. The show went down, right? The leader died. right? No, the show and the whole thing.

The show went down, right? The leader died. The show died, but the ranch. Dennis Hoff did die. Dennis Hoff, very dead. Rest in peace, Dennis. The ranch is still going. But I think the ranch is still kicking.

Oh, yeah. That industry is still bumping. All right, let's move along. Doing very well. How did we? I'll check the rates. I wonder who's running it. How?

Coach O. We used Coach O. Oh, yeah. We came back O. I told you, Coach O. Oh, you're right. We came back around. So it wasn't a sport. We don't know if Coach O's running the Bonnie Ranch. No, we don't. Probably helping with the Raiders while he's out there.

Might be that. All right. We won't talk about the Raiders yet either. Let's talk about the Kyler Murray-led Cardinals. They go into Dallas. Kyler Murray now 8-0 in Jerry World. Okay, as a Texas kid, high school state champion, through college playing there and in the NFL, 8-0 as a player.

Whenever he goes back to his home state in the largest stadium in there, he puts on an absolute show. I love whenever Kyler gets rolling, not only running but throwing, just the entire offense. It looks as if he's a confident person. I don't know if it's because of Texas, because of what the Cowboys are doing, because of his relationship with Ertz now seems to be growing in beautiful fashion. You know, a tight end's great for any mobile quarterback

because a lot of tight ends get a lot more freedom within offenses to kind of just look out for the quarterback and be like kind of an exit for him. I have no idea why, but I'm happy the Cardinals seem to have found it. I honestly am very happy for them because losing De-Hop seemed to be a massive shot, a lot bigger than any of us could have expected. They look like a different team against that Cowboys squad, AJ, than they had the past couple weeks. Yeah, they did.

And the week before this where people were crowning the Cowboys champs, saying they're unstoppable basically. So I think the Cardinals, yeah, Cardinals, Cowboys, both, they can be very dangerous. I just don't know. Are we just going to have to wait and see which team shows up when you get to the playoffs? I think so.

You literally – this is a live bet situation. You got one of these? Yep. I don't. You were sending me that one, remember? No, no, no. Oh, yeah, did you – no, he didn't earn it. Tonight you could.

Yeah. I got Steelers tonight. Okay, cool. I got Browns. Are you serious? What's the line? On Big Ben's last fucking break? Whoa.

What's the line? Are you serious, dude? He's an Ohio guy. He had the two. Is it three? What's the line? Are you serious, dude? He's an Ohio guy. Is it three? It's two and a half. You got Steelers minus what? Three and a half? Two. Two and a half. Well, because we're 8-6-1,

you could get yourself one of these. That's right. You know what I mean? It's been a few weeks. It's been living on this side of the house. Swallow. You know that, pal. Alright. Tonight, Ben Roethlisberger probably puts up 500. Yeah, 60 passes. Let's hope for a lot more. Yeah, you keep saying we can build this up like it's a movie.

You don't think Ben Roethlisberger is going to decide to make this a movie? I truly hope it does. For Ben's sake, for the Steelers, for Diggs, I hope that's how it turns out. Thank you, AJ. Nick, too. I think Nick was hoping for success. You can't forget this could potentially be Baker Mayfield's last game in Pittsburgh, too, because he fucking stinks and the Browns might be done.

All right, joining us now. We don't know. He's injured. The guy's beat up. He's got a torn labrum and a broken humerus. And Van Pelt, AVP, formerly of the Packers, says it's like he's handcuffed by that thing. He can't even really move or throw. I threw four picks against the Packers, says it's like he's handcuffed by that thing. He can't even really move or throw. So Baker.

I threw four picks against the Packers. He was able to throw the ball not to his team on that particular day, but, I mean, there's a lot of decisions being made. Whatever the case, bend by a million tonight. Yeah. Okay, especially with Brett Michaels doing what Brett Michaels is going to end up doing. That play's going to be upside down. Joining us now is a guy.

Billy Gardell. Oh, I hope Billy Gardell is there. Tailgating. Oh. Grilling dogs. Running through the cones. Yeah. All the boys are going to be there.

I love that guy. Holy shit. Man, you think, what's that guy's name? Pompliano? Yeah. No. No. Bobby Annie.

No. Joe Pompliano. No, he's that big, the guy that was in that, speaking of stripper movies. Joe Manganiello. There it is. Joe Manganiello. Joe Manganiello. There it is. Joe Manganiello. The big sleaze. He'll be there for sure.

Yeah, Michael Keaton's going to be there. Oh, really? Beat me. Wiz. Wiz will be there. Wiz Khalifa. Oh. Kiesel's going to ride an ox through the fucking tunnel out on the field.

Yeah, Brian's got no shot, pal. So what I'm saying is you've got no chance at this either. Joining us now is a man who makes great picks, big brain, played in the NFL for nine years. He was a corner, safety, and nickel. Knows all things of the back end and defense as a whole. Host of the Man to Man podcast, ladies and gentlemen, Darius Butler. Yo, what's up, fellas? Hey, how are you, man?

I don't want to dive too much into tonight's game because we've given it a lot of coverage and it's Steelers-Brown, and neither team making the playoffs. Those might. Really? Jags just have to beat the Colts, and that could happen. That's it. Maybe. I mean, with this Colts, which we'll dive into here in a little bit.

But Big Ben ain't losing tonight, D-Butt, right? No chance Big Ben goes out with an L. I don't know. I like the Browns. No! Come on, dude. They almost beat the Packers if Baker didn't stink. But Baker was all right.

I think they had the ball off the chub at Johnson 40 times tonight. They get the win. Well, they ain't going to be able to hand the ball off 40 times. They ain't going to have the ball enough because Ben Roethlisberger is going to throw no less than 70 check downs. Yep. He's calling every play. He's running around. He's doing his thing. We're split on it. You were on A.J.'s side there thinking the Browns's going to throw no less than 70 checkdowns. He's calling every play. He's running around. He's doing his thing.

We're split on it. You were on A.J.'s side there thinking the Browns were going to win. Let's go to yesterday. A couple big storylines, obviously. Green Bay Packers have home field advantage through the playoffs. Antonio Brown leaves the field. What do you want to start with? What do you want to end with?

I'm sure you guys, just like everybody else, have been talking a bunch about the A.B. situation. You know, I obviously hope he's good off the field, but, you know, you got to take accountability, get your shit together. Who knows what happened? Always three sides to a story. I'm actually kind of jealous. You know, my friends have retired and some, you know, you retired,

you went on a national comedy tour your last year before you retired andrew luck retired after his third preseason game for the season vante he retired at halftime ab just said you know fuck you i need to go back and retire the right way man you're saying he didn't take is this a formal retirement you think out of him he he knows he's never going to get a job again? You think? Yeah. I mean, we were all probably watching a bunch of the games at the same time. I saw it pan back to the Bucs-Jets game. Obviously, people were paying attention to it because the Jets were about to upset them.

And then you just see A.B. walking off with his shirt off. I thought it was a pregame shot maybe. And then you see what actually happened. But I couldn't, you know, like A.J. said, I wasn't completely shocked, but just like, wow, this is a real picture. Like this dude is doing jumping jacks in the back of the end zone with like the offense and the defense on the field. So, yeah, I think that's a form of retirement right there.

D-Butt, what about – it's overshadowed really with game and what happened. I know Tampa Bay came back. They won. There was an amazing last drive from Tom. Are you worried about the Bucs, especially now they lose A.B.'s presence on the field, but also just what the team is right now? Shit, yeah. I mean, you got to be worried about them.

You know, you got Brady. Obviously, you know, he's the GOAT. But, you know, you still got Mike Evans there. But Guy was out. And now A.B.'s out. You thought he was going to be kind of their saving grace when it comes to pass catchers. But, you know, I don't think, you know, Fournette's still banged up.

I'm worried about him, especially knowing that they'll have to go to Lambeau and get a win up there. They did it last year, but, you know, how the Packers are playing this year, man, I don't see anybody going up to Lambeau beating them. So I think we'll see the Packers out there in L.A. There can't be this much shit happening going into the final week of the season. Too much. Yeah, it just – for whatever – they might win a game.

Who knows? Maybe they'll win a game, but I don't think that is a team that's built to win a Super Bowl. You've got to be a unit going into the Super Bowl. I think what teams have a chance of going to run? You like the Eagles? You like this Eagles squad because they're coming together at the right time? How about the Niners? Niners might go ahead

and sneak in the back door. Patriots, they're going to be in the playoffs. Who knows how this thing ends with a couple of division games to figure out who wins the AFC East. Who's a team you think that could is like primed

to go on a run? I mean, obviously Packers, Chiefs would still be both my favorites. Yeah, but I'm saying like a team that isn't obviously at the top there. I mean, I want to say Bengals, maybe.

You know, the Bengals with Burrow, what they're doing, even the defense, they don't get a bunch of hype, but the defense is making plays. Burrow, that Burrow-Chase connection is ridiculous, and you still got two other dynamic pass catchers outside of them. The Chargers, that's not a team you want to face. But on the AFC side, I'd probably say the bangles the bills still got josh allen's uh that afc still kind of wide open outside of the chiefs and then uh on the nfc side love the packers but um cowboys man you love that defense but it's like the offense can they be

consistent can they run the ball consistently can they be on the same page uh in the past game consistently uh they haven't shown that. The Cardinals, they found a way to get a win yesterday. It was ugly, but they won. I don't know. I don't have a bunch of faith in a lot of guys. Titans, I left the damn one seed out in the AFC. You get Derrick Henry back, obviously they can go on the run

and stay hot and win it. So this will be a fun playoffs, fun, fun playoffs. Coach Vrabel has done an incredible job there in Tennessee. I don't know how they are in the position they are in, but after seeing the video of after their win yesterday in the locker room, it makes a lot of sense. There ain't nobody on that team thinking about quitting. There ain't nobody on that team thinking about getting out of that locker room.

Everybody seems to be all in, which is why a cliche motto of every team is all in because that's what it's going to take to go on a run there's a couple teams i think we can tell are not going to be able to do that go ahead ty debo what about the rams they've quietly won i think like five games in a row but stafford has turned the ball over a bunch over these last couple games do you think they're starting to hit their stride are they ultimately just going to be one of these teams that probably fizzles out the first weekend of the playoffs i mean they got they got everything you want in a team. Obviously, you know, good coach, good play caller.

Five-star players up and down the roster on both sides of the ball. But like you said, Stafford, man, it comes down to if he can take care of the ball or not. You know, they got a nail-biting win yesterday. But he's thrown four pick sixes this year. He had, you know, it was a stretch where 51 pass, he threw five picks. So you got to be able to take care of the ball at this point in the season. That's what worries me, you know, most about them. But like I said, five-star players up in Devon Miller made a huge play yesterday.

That's kind of why you brought him in there. Odell, he's still scoring touchdown. Cooper Cupp is having one of the best years of all time at the wide receiver position. Jalen Ramsey. So you got players up and down that roster and a good coaching staff. So I think they can for sure make a run. But, I mean, a huge question mark with Stafford at this point in the year. Can he continue to take care of the ball?

And it has been looking that way for a few weeks now. I remember B.A. You remember B.A. saying, hey, this is a five-star game. All right, our five stars have to beat their five stars. The rest of you just don't fuck it up. Then he would come in one week and he was like, hey, our five stars kind of counteract their five stars. This is going to be the rest of you guys' fucking game here.

This is what we're going to need here. That is real depending upon how rosters are constructed, depending upon how it is. It feels like the L.A. Rams have gone all in. But if you can't get the pieces together, which is closely tied to the quarterback, I mean, it don't mean jack shit. I hope Stafford figures it out. I don't know why this is happening.

I thought Stafford was going to have an immense amount of success out there in that offense. I thought he was going to ball out. He did. He has. Will he when it really matters? Let's go to the AFC side, a team similar to the Rams. Kansas City Chiefs, I didn't hear you mention them in the AFC. I think you literally listed off everybody else in the AFC except for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Why is that? You're out on the Chiefs. You think they stink? You think Jackson Mahomes has done too much because they lose Descensi and you're out on them completely? No, absolutely not. You know, you told me go away from the guys at the top. I still got them.

I know the Titans are the one seed, but, you know, that's still, I think, the best team going into it on the AFC side with Mahomes. Defense has been playing well. Obviously, they got picked on yesterday. They didn't adjust. You know, you got to adjust. And in the playoffs, I don't see them allowing a guy like Jamar Chase

to continue to get one-on-one matchups up the sideline and then go off a 250-plus on you. But I'm still betting with the Chiefs. That's their first loss in November, December, January in 27 games. So I'm still rocking with the Chiefs. That would be the betting favorite going on the AFC side, going into the playoffs. But a team like the Titans, man,

especially if Henry comes back healthy with fresh legs at this point in the season, man, that's a scary team. And you'll have to go down to Nashville to get to Super Bowl if they beat the Texans next week. If you can run, you can win anywhere. So let's talk about it. How come the Colts can't beat the Raiders at home? Oh, man.

Carl. D-Buck, you and me, close affiliation to the Colts can't beat the Raiders at home? Oh, man. Carl. D-Buck, you and me, close affiliation to the Colts. It's where we met each other. You know, it's where we spent years together. I think still where I live, I think you still have immense respect for the program there. A.B. was on the anvil yesterday. That's why he left the game? Antoine Bethea.

Antoine Bethea. Was he really? Yeah. So, yeah. I mean, it was – Why do we lose? They honestly, from the jump, they look like they wanted him more. You know, and then this was –

Every time I've come on here, we talk about the Colts. And I know you've been on the Colts to the Super Bowl trade. I want to be on it too. But I worry about Wentz, man. Can he make those plays? Can he be dynamic for a month when we need him to? Obviously, JT, he ran for over 100 yesterday. Again, first time we lost when he's done that.

But we didn't have a plan. Once again, just like Jamar Chase killed the Chiefs all day, Hunter Renfroe killed us. We got to have a plan for a guy like that coming into a week 17 ball game. It just didn't look good all around. Offense was behind the sticks all game. Just a terrible performance. Later, Neg. But huge win on Christmas.

Huge! So that now we just have to go and beat the Jags and we still get the playoffs. Yeah, the Colts might have needed that. You know, and the Raiders might make the playoffs too. Hey, don't look now. You don't want to see Marcus Mariota, Derek Carr in the Raiders, especially if Waller gets back in there. But Carson, that throw to T.Y.,

I mean, it's, if that it's a game changer, D-butt. It's a game changer, but hey, that's going to happen. Sometimes people are going to miss throws. That's just going to happen. Then you watch Aaron at night and he's ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. It's like, oh my God, that would have been awesome. Anyways,

it'll get hot. It's tough, man. When you watch Wentz, man, and this is my honest take. When I watch Carl Wentz, and you're watching the TV copy, you see the quarterback drop back, and you don't know what the hell is on the other side of that throw. When he drops back and throws the ball, I can feel the complete opposite of when I watch Aaron Rodgers drop back and throw the ball. I know 12 is stepping into some good shit.

I don't know what's... When that camera pans, I don't know what's... And that's my honest feeling with 2. He's been around. He's made plays. We still got JT. We still got a chance, but... When that zoom out happens...

When the zoom out happens you don't have a clue how about those hey four hands one ball carson knew the both those guys couldn't catch it you know what i mean too many hands not enough balls carson's gonna play the bank off of them right to ty smart football and we talked about this earlier you know carson had only thrown a certain amount of picks in some time and it was a record for him or for something like, hey, least amount of picks in a franchise. I forget what it was. There was a time where he was throwing nine picks a game and they were being dropped.

I mean, there was a time there for like a good three weeks straight where he was pegging dudes right in between the numbers that were not on our team. And those things were bouncing to the ground. It was like, holy shit, we're getting lucky there. Those stats will get you. Hey, but if he – stat that, dude. Stat that.

Can you stat that, though? Can you stat that about the stats, what he's saying about stats getting you? Can you stat that? You can stat that. Stat that. Stat that. Stat that, dude. Stat that.

Go ahead, Todd. D-Butt, you've been on the other side of the ball when a team has three stud wide receivers like A.B. and Juju and Marty Bryant and a good quarterback? How do you defend a similar situation in the Bengals? Man, that's tough because they got a fire running back, too. I mean, you got to take away one. You know, you got to take away one as much as possible.

So Chase will be the one with the Bengals. And then you got to hope and pray your other guys hold up on higgins and boyd but um you know burrow he does a good job of making sure everybody's at play and you got a guy like mixing who can catch it out of the backfield who can run it so you don't want to give them light box counts all game it's tough man that's the the problem they pose to every defense and if if burrow can stop you, taking sacks at a high rate or cut back a little bit on the turnover. I mean, this, this team can obviously beat anybody.

They just beat the top seed yesterday and they can go on to run a young, young coach as well, who I think should be in contention for that coach of the year. You know, award as well, him, Vrabel and probably Sirianni. But it's a tough,

that's a tough trio right there to stop. What about LaFleur? What about LaFleur? What about LaFleur? I mean, LaFleur, I mean, what were our expectations for Green Bay and LaFleur and Aaron Rodgers coming into this season? I mean, I expect them to win 12 games, you know, so they're pretty much, you know, on par. This is what – what's that?

I performed expectations. I performed your high expectations. I mean, what do we expect from the Eagles? Yeah. Or, you know, the Titans. Rock, paper, scissors, Vrabel. The Bengals. Yeah.

You know, I think you're 100% right. What Vrabel has done is stupid. And I know it's not just Vrabes. It's his entire staff and his front office and everything. They've had like 57 players. That was three weeks ago. No, that was the Saints. They had like 90 players on their roster the entire season. I think it's 57 starters. That was three weeks ago. Saints. No, that was the Saints. They had like 90 players on their

roster the entire season. I think it's 57 starters. Yeah. Wow. I hate we're giving fucking Titans this much love. Me too. Did you see that video? Did you see that video afterwards in the locker room where he said, hey, I'll see you Wednesday. Then he told somebody to break it up. And then you

see Taylor LeJuan, who got buried by Vrabes on Twitter just two days before that, grab him and say, no, you fucking break us down or whatever. The entire team starts pushing the head coach back into the middle, and he's probably, I assume, I don't know him that well, AJ, he's probably fucking given

a couple of these. That play, they seem, they are tight as shit. So whenever you, here, let's run this video. It's a little long, but it's worth it. It's goal coach Vrabes and the Tennessee Titans after a win. You thought we were all kidding when we said we were just getting started. Donner.

We were just getting started talking about what happened. I don't know what happened. Fill me in on the news. But I do know what happened out there. The most physical team won that. No question. They just say whatever they want around this league about we don't do this and we don't do that the most physical team one that fuck it turn the football over and they just kept giving to us and we could take it

home okay shit out of our dolphins believe in his family. Okay, believe in it, man. Don't be selfish. Okay, put the team first. That's all that matters. Okay, be somebody that does whatever they can do to help the team. Okay, and I appreciate you guys.

I appreciate what you do. Okay, I'm proud to be your coach. I tell you that every week. You ought to be proud to be on this football team. Okay, guys care about each other. Okay, we know how to win. We know how to win. We know how to win. We'll keep winning.

We're just getting started. I'll see you Wednesday. Wednesday. I'll see you Wednesday. You fucking break it up. Look at that locker room. Hey. Look at that locker room, D-Butt.

I mean, AJ, you know Vrabel a lot better than me or D-Butt do, but that locker room, that's what, I mean, that is what you're looking for. You know, that is like a Super Bowl thing. I mean, that's an electric locker room. We obviously been in a bunch of locker rooms after big wins. That looks like a locker room after, you know, a big playoff win or something, man. He's a dude that played all sides of the ball, knows how

to get through the guys. I'm sure guys are knocking at his door every day saying they want to be there next year like Joe Judge. Shout out to Vrabel, man. He's done a tremendous job all year. Obviously, complete buy-in. You watch him play. Doesn't matter who's on the field.

Everybody's running like their hair's on fire, man. You love to see it, honestly. As a real football guy, football fan, you love to see it. It's awesome to see him get physical. You know, when guys get, especially meatheads, get excited and they get pumped, what do you do? They just start jacking each other. And I promise you, Raves is in the middle of that mosh pit just throwing elbows,

like just trying to knock people out probably, like in excitement. So I think that was a beautiful representation of what he's built there. But, D-Bud, I want to go back quick to the Eagles, Sirianni, what they've done. I think it is kind of flying under the radar what they have done, how they've kind of turned their year around. Like are they that good? Like are the Eagles a legit contender? Can they win a playoff game or two?

I think they could definitely win a playoff game. I mean, they're physical. And just like Pat said earlier, if you can run the ball you can win they they've been running the ball down people's throat throats um you know it's been a question mark around hertz at least if you listen to the media you know all year but i think hertz continues to get better i think the team believes in them um sirianni you know he's been catching a lot of shit since his opening press conference. Obviously, you got him in the studio. But they're 7-2 since that old plant growing through the ground presser. But, I mean, they're believing in each other, man.

And they're playing defense, too. Got some playmakers on the defense side of the ball as well. So, I mean, this Eagles team, you know, nobody – I didn't expect them to be worth a shit this season at least. And Sirianni got those boys rolling, man. So I think they could definitely – they're tough out for anybody. They could definitely win a playoff game for sure. Coach Sirianni, why is nobody giving you any respect?

It's a good question. I don't know. Maybe because, like I said, I did make myself kind of look like a doofus early in the season. But, hey, who's laughing now? Who's laughing? I'm the best fucking coach in the league. Everyone knows it. But, hey, who's laughing now?

Who's laughing? I'm the best fucking coach in the league. Everyone knows it. We're going to continue to win the sprouts and the roots are going to continue to grow. And it's about being dogs, dog mentality. We are physical. We are mean. We are feisty.

We're going to continue to win football games. Thanks, Coach. Go ahead, Connor. Yeah, indeed. But Rap Sheet is currently in a source war or a source off, if you will, regarding the status of Jimmy G. Did you get to see any of Trey Lance yesterday? And do you think he has the legs

to take that Niners team deep into the playoffs? Hey, they're still hunting for a playoff spot right now. Niners still in this thing. Still fighting. You know, I think it's a reason we haven't been seeing him all year. He went out there and handled business yesterday, won in coverage. Shout out to Trey.

Went out there and got a win, man. I don't think he's ready to be that guy at this point in the season. It's just, I mean, you come in and you start playing, you get meaningful reps and you're playing against guys, especially going into the playoffs who've been doing it at a high level all year. It's just tough to come out and beat those guys. But he has athletic ability. Obviously, that's why he went three. And Jimmy G being down gave him his opportunity.

I don't think with Trey Lance at the helm, this 49ers team can make a run. I think they get Jimmy G back in there. They definitely can, though. Ian Rapport in the source office said that he doesn't think Jimmy can play. Somebody else says they think Jimmy can play. Jimmy wants to play, so I assume the other people are getting their information from Jimmy's people. Ian's getting his information.

That's a thumb. That's tough. From the nine? Jimmy's getting upset. Yeah, Jimmy probably said, hey, rip the bone off. I can still go into the playoffs here and make another run at this thing. You guys traded the entire future of our franchise to get another quarterback, and I'm still fucking the bison here.

Thank you so much, D-Bot, for joining us. I love our conversations every Monday. For sure. Me too, man. Appreciate y'all. Ladies and gentlemen, download the Man to Man podcast. One of the hosts alongside Antoine Bethea is Darius Butler. Thank you. So, we're very lucky

that to this point That to this point You know to this point We're at right now No NFL player Has died from COVID Right? No Correct

Okay that's awesome We should celebrate that Right? Yeah Let's talk about NFL So Stop that Stop that

Stop that So the reason why So Like this Omicron You know This Omicron one Yeah where are we going with this? Well I'm just wondering Like Sean Mannion So the reason why – so like this Omicron, you know, this Omicron one. Yeah, where are we going with this?

Well, I'm just wondering – like Sean Mannion was playing Sunday Night Football week 17. You know, like Sean Mannion. Now Kirk Cousins self-reported and everything like that, and we hope Kirk Cousins survives. But the more we learn about this Omicron right now, unless – and we don't know what's going on with Dirty. Unless it's the Florona mix there. I guess you have to separate the two. We don't know anything. The playoffs very Dirty unless it's the Florona mix there. I guess you have to separate the two.

We don't know anything. The playoffs very much still open for a lot of teams. There's a lot to play with for as we go into Week 18 here. But there's also a lot we have no idea about. I think Chris Collinsworth said it last night. He said predicting this season, whoever's doing it, is absurd. And the sportsbooks have been winning, by the way. The sportsbooks have been winning because it's incredibly hard

and difficult to predict who's going to play each week. But if that Kirk Cousins situation is going to continue to happen throughout the playoffs, we really have no idea who could go on a run right now. And I think that is why it is so absolutely glorious. Is it crazy to think, I mean, maybe like you obviously wouldn't be 100%, but like guys have been self-reporting. If a quarterback gets it on like a Thursday, I mean. There you obviously wouldn't be 100%, but guys have been self-reporting. If a quarterback gets it on a Thursday, I mean. There's no way.

Now, listen. In the playoffs. Hey, they better. Hey. Damn well better. Hey, they better. I'll tell you what. But, hey, when the playoffs come out, though,

don't you think right now they're already doing this where you're looking to see who has already been infected and who's gone on the list now to see who could come back again so i did the math there uh for a lot of players there's a lot of players that are now enjoying the ride throughout not even getting tested they just gotta hopefully not get symptoms and tell people they got symptoms and to ty's point i mean you're telling me championship weekend somebody wakes up brady oh no people you know the flu game people talk about the flu game for michael jordan it's like stored and celebrated he could have infected all of his teammates true hey they're all look at his finger passing the ball there's no conversation

about everybody on that court could have got sick it was like nah this is what this fucking guy did this is what this dude did in the he got sick he wasn't hung over it wasn't because of some pizza it was none of that. He had the flu. Or not. And he went out there and played. And it was, you don't think a player who, let's take the superstars out, but going into just the rest of the roster, championship weekend,

if they have the Omnicron variant that is only the sniff, you think anybody is reporting that? No way. Yeah, it's much different for them than Cousins, who saw the weather report, saw the five degrees, saw how he's done against Green Bay, knows how he does in prime time. He wanted to report symptoms.

No, you can't say that, Kirk Herbstreit. You fucking, you asshole. What are you talking about, Kirk Cousins? No, yeah, well, you're saying he doesn't love football. You're saying he didn't want to play football on Sunday night. All I'm saying is in the playoffs it might be a little different. I think you're right. By the way, Herbstreet, hilarious situation he got into.

Because what he meant was. Why did he apologize? He put an apology tweet out. So I think he was getting cooked by everybody. But still, I mean, he had an opinion. I don't know. No, but his opinion, I think, where in my eyes, okay, this is not Kirk, this is in my eyes,

whenever you generalize something as this is how you have to act, if this is how you feel, you're talking about other people's feelings as opposed to your own. Like if Herbstreet would have said, doesn't love football in the manner that I do, right? Like in the manner that some of us do. It's not a conversation because he's talking about himself. Anytime you're projecting

other people's feelings out there, I think that's always going to be something. So I appreciate him following up with like, hey, the full conversation is actually this. Because I think a lot of people were not getting that. And I think Herbstreet was like, well, I didn't mean that first,

because they kind of clipped it. There was a follow-up conversation that happened live in it. So I think that is why Kirk potentially put it out there. It was like, hey, come on. Like, this isn't real. So I think that is why Kirk potentially put it out there. It was like, hey, come on. Like, this isn't a real thing. Because I think he does care.

But that's a fascinating conversation, especially after the Corral incident that happens. Because all anybody is going to do is point to that situation where I think what Herbstree was trying to say, which is, by the way, how I feel as well. I don't feel like they don't love football. But that last game, I don't know. It has changed immensely. And I think you can get they don't love football. But that last game, I don't know. It has changed immensely. And I think you can get hurt doing whatever, however.

I am a person that believes you can get hurt doing whatever. If you've already secured your draft stock, it's a bunch of money, your future. I understand how you would sit out and say, okay, I already got this. Even though you can get hurt training and lifting and any of the all-star games. There's a higher chance you'll get hurt in a football game, obviously. Bingo. Bingo, which I 100% understand business-wise. But I don't – it has to be tough for these guys if they do love their teammates

and love the game to sit there and watch. I've never asked that question. Like watching Kenny Pickett watch that game. I assume Kenny Pickett was not exactly thrilled about his smart business decision while that game was happening. Loves ball. Yeah, but that's the meatheads out there can say, well, he actually chose not to play in the biggest game in program

history, basically, in the last 20 years, which was a mass one after the ACC championship. Loves money more than ball. Well, that's the thing. It's such an interesting... It's weird. It's a different time. It's really a different time, and it's really popped up over the last, what, four or five years maybe now where it's just normal for guys to start sitting out?

Well, and that's why I think Herbstreet was trying to say, like, hey, this is much different than whenever I was. He was before me. You were before me. But even when I was there, I don't think there was many people like, no, I'm not going to play in this. Who gives a fuck bowl? Because this is actually one last trip with my. know like you know you need to do what you

should the only way it's not a foolproof uh foolproof plan but what you could do go in there if you're one of these studs hey yeah i'm gonna go in and play not the quarterback position somewhere else preferably defense offense too maybe go in there get make a few plays early in the first quarter hey i'm feeling good feeling good I might get scared I got hit. I might get chopped in the knees. Boom, targeting penalty, ejection. You're out of the game. You still fought for your brothers. You still hopefully won the game. You're out of here

early. Smart. So this is what AJ Hawks did. It happened to Bosa. It happened he didn't do it on purpose to Joey Bosa back in the day when he got booted maybe in the first half of the bowl game. And I i was like oh how how happy is his agent i don't know if it was tom condor or whoever like these guys got to be very excited he made a few plays he's ejected he's healthy i think they went on and won the game

and i think herb street was alluding to that as well he when he put the phones who's like who's the people that are instructing these guys not to play and showing them the stats of this is what you could happen and and granted those people by way, they might not have the best interest personally in the players' heart, but you'd assume they have the best interest in their pockets' heart, right, at all times, business people. So this is why they're laying out their case. And remember, Team 3 of Russell Wilson's camp, they spoke out at different times from different portions of the team

on what would they feel is in the best interest of number three. That's happening with a lot of college guys that are going into the draft. There's a lot of people who think they have the best interests or the right ideas. So it's quite conflicting, especially when you have an injury like corrals, it only compounds that conversation even more. And it's like,

well, there's probably some guys out there in the NFL or scouting who are also like, I liked it. This guy loves his team. Like I liked that this guy wanted to play for his team now i am not in the if you everybody's not a first round pick that's opting out also that's exactly you know and uh we just come from hey we're old dude we're old dude that's what yeah

i remember there's a kid i played with where i think he was like he was a fourth or fifth round pick and he left early he told me i was like was like, oh, wow, you left early? Did you think you were going to get drafted higher? He's like, no, that's about where I thought I was going to go. And I was like, wow, you must really not have liked your college. We saw a guy, you must have hated your time there. Yeah, you must have hated your team. I saw a guy, not at West Virginia, but I think I met him at the Senior Bowl

or whatever, left early, undrafted, never played. Oh, no. How's that even happen because is that those are the same agents and people business people that and not all by the way can't generalize and can't broad brush this thing which is i think what happened with herbie as well because you kind of anytime you broad brush then all of a sudden you're taken away from a lot of people that love the game you know everything like that but i assume a lot of the business people oh you make a team we'll get you in there it doesn't matter when you get drafted together and then when they don't get

drafted and they're done what happens oh that person just moves and reps somebody else you never hear from that person again it's like well there's a whole thing now those are two very different situations we're not talking about that but that whole sitting out of the bowl game because it doesn't matter is fascinating to me because from a business sense it makes sense but inside that law I don't know man i just think that's like the thing about college sports is like the pageant when does when do we see the first guy sit out of a playoff game when their team is in the top four in the college football playoffs it happened this weekend no i saw that that question this well then people are

like well when do they start sitting out regular season games then start sitting out entire season guys did it during kovac but that was during like Jamar Chase did but that was because of COVID like well Des too didn't he Des didn't Des Bryant miss a year or something like that you know what could help this though if they if they move it to eight or twelve teams in the playoff I would say less of those studs will sit out if they're in the playoffs well hopefully that'll be able to help and hopefully you know nobody will get hurt because there's more games obviously because the future is secured but you can get hurt doing anything in foosball but games are definitely much more violent and dangerous it is vastly different than what it used to be but that's because stats and the amount of money that could be made and change entire trajectories of lives communities

and careers there's a lot i mean there's a lot to dive into there. I mean, even the studs for Ohio State who sat out saw that dude Jackson go off for like 325 and three touchdowns or something. They probably are thinking, man, if we were playing out there, could you imagine they might have raised their drafts. Does that not up your draft? Yeah, that's what I'm like. Yeah, if you go out and play well, of course it'll raise it. But if you're kind of set and you know where you're going to go,

then I'm sure they have plenty of people in their ear even their coaches like hey like i want you to make the best decision for you like we would love to have you on this team but i understand like if you're doing this for you and your family and your future i've never been in that position you were a top five pick i wasn't in that position though like well you were actually you actually were and i think we actually heard you earlier say exactly what you would have done if it was 2021 because you have to put on for Ohio. You're A.J. Hawk. Right. You love ball.

I'm going to play. But I'm also going to take this massive head, and I'm going to find somebody else's head, and I'm going to get out of this game. I'm going to save myself. If I was really worried about getting hurt, yeah, that would probably be my way to try to kill somebody else. Yeah, that's right.

I want the game to be in hand, though. I want to make a few tackles. Hopefully we're winning. I know we're going to win. Okay, let's just throw this thing at somebody. Let's secure number five overall. This thing. I'm already number five overall.

I don't want to hurt anybody. I don't want to hurt anyone else, but just enough to get a targeting penalty. See you. It's like hockey. No, not like that. but you're like hockey you're like chara where you actually a slot receiver you go up please allow me this and these days you don't have to do much to get a targeting call so it's not bad exactly yeah they'll send you out if you even put that head close to the shoulder probably happen naturally anyway for most guys well for you definitely with the way you

tackled but it is it's an insane situation down there that's only going to continue, especially as NIL evolves. But we're in an evolving time, a changing time. And I think Kirk Herbstre was taking a lot of heat because he's made money off of college football. And we've gotten to know Kirk. Kirk's a cool dude, though. Oh, yeah.

Very cool. Kirk's a diehard football purist, though. He loves the history, the tradition, everything about college football. No, no, no, but he makes money. He makes money off of covering it. He does make money. I guess if he was pro bono, if he wasn't making any money, would this be okay?

Yeah. Yeah. Because he's – Yeah, those nonprofits don't make money, do they? Well, there seems to be a lot of people employed at a lot of them. But whatever he was talking about, anytime he talks about for love of the game he can immediately get thrown in his face sir sir sir you make millions of dollars and the people you talk about get paid nothing until now i think

actually kirk herbstreet should be pumped about the nil thing because now he can't just get thrown that guy what he he didn't sleep for like three days covering college football. Yeah, he was going on two hours of sleep. Miami, and then he's 6 a.m. in Pasadena. For no reason, by the way. For no reason. Inside the empty stadium. There is no reason for Herb Street to be. He's got a game Saturday, right?

Before the Monday National Championship. Yeah, that's wild. Yeah, but his entire season is late. I think Herb Street, if I was, I'm not going to go on a rant pro Herb Street because he put himself in this when he generalized he knows that he's a professional he's the top of a mountain he's a guy but that guy is committed to college football like that guy loves fucking ball you know so just

because he gets paid to cover it i guess you can throw that in his face but he also gets paid to cover it because of how much he loves it and how good he is at it it's just whenever you say stuff like that especially in the world we're in I guess you're setting yourself up for it. But I honestly believe that he just meant that, you know, this is not anything I would ever do, which the conversation kind of turned to. He's paid to give his opinion, man. Like, he's not a hot take guy, but he's paid to give his opinion and how he views games going on and when he's on game day,

like what he thinks should and would happen, and that's what he's doing. So, hey, it generated some talk, didn't it? Well, they were talking about Herbstreit on the internet. It was not good. ESPN's not mad about that. I let him know that I've experienced those waters before, you know, and it's not great, you know, when you're taking real chop. Just every time you update the thing, oh, there's more about how stupid you are.

And then you're, oh, this guy's the worst human alive. Oh, and then boom, boom, boom. It does become tough. But Kirk Herbstreit's a big boy. He understands. He can handle it. It is a different time, though. Much different time in the game.

It's because there's a lot of money on the line. And we know a lot more than we've ever known before. Let's bounce around the NFL a little bit. Shall we, A.J. Hawk? Yeah, let's see. I mean, there were some fun games to watch yesterday, man. Go on. Big time. All over the place. I mean, first off, the Jets-Bucks

game, I thought, I was like, alright, wow, this is a weird win for the Jets. They're going to use a lot of momentum from this going into the offseason, all this stuff, whatever. But for a second, there were, okay, good. So you picked the Lions there, didn't you? Yeah, I did pick the Lions. Okay. Did you think they were really going to win that game? I thought they i thought they were gonna cover what was it it was like

huh 10 and 5 against the spread right i thought they were gonna cover because russell wilson said i fucking hate this city i hate this team right i mean he came out and said get me the fuck out of here it's my last game here thank god everybody says it's loud yeah my ears ring every single time we get done playing in here teams have to experience it once a year they go oh it's loud. Yeah, my ears ring every single time we get done playing in here. Teams have to experience it once a year. They go, oh, it's going to be bad to go up there to the Pacific Northwest and hear how loud that crowd is. Your ears will hurt for two, three days afterwards. Russell Wilson's like, thank God I don't have to do this every single home game.

That's basically what he said. Then we talked to Rappaport earlier, and we said, hey, what's the deal with Russell and Seattle? And he said it feels different than it did last year. Last year, Chicago made an actual run at Russell. Pete Carroll, who has final say, said, nah, not going to happen. It feels different this year. So Pete's on board.

Russell's saying, get me out of here. I thought there was no chance that the boys would rally, and they did. They beat the fuck out of the Lions. Killed them. I mean, they did. They handled it, which leads me even more. Who cares? Does culture even matter?

What matters? I don't know. I have no idea. All that matters is what team shows up that day to play. It doesn't matter what your week of practice looked like. It doesn't matter if your coach thinks it was good or bad. It's just what happens on game days, and that's how it's always been. But now I just think there's so much inconsistency with it.

Maybe just every team is so evenly matched. I don't know. This is just going to continue to happen. It's not just who shows up. It's like who finishes the game for you, you know, because some star players are just quitting on teams in the middle of games, and they're still winning. Those teams are still winning somehow.

Nothing makes any sense. The quarterback. If you've got a quarterback, that's what matters. He's saying Tim Boyle's not as good as Russell. Tim Boyle was throwing a medicine ball yesterday. I mean, he made some plays. They came out of halftime in his first throw, first play, pick. Game over.

I mean, they did not stand a chance. I like Tim Boyle. But, shit, he is in the Sheen, Mannion, whatever the hell that guy's name is, category as far as ball throwers. What? She what? Sheen Mannion. Talking about last night's quarterback.

Yeah, that guy. You think Tim Boyle's throwing 90, though, off the mound? Tim Boyle's a big body. He is. He was 2-20 in college. Anyways, I'm done with all these quarterbacks. We've never heard of playing quarterback in January football. Hopefully, now Ian Rapport alluded to maybe this thing being around

for next season. What was that all about? What do you mean? COVID? Yeah. Another variant. Nothing would shock me or surprise me, no. There's no way.

Okay. You've said no way for two straight years now. After you've proclaimed that you beat, hey, we beat COVID as a universe. You've said that, what, 15 times maybe over the last nine months? There's been a couple times where it did appear as if we beat that son of a bitch COVID finally. Stores were opening. States were opening. Travel was happening.

People were starting to live. And then, boom, another wave. I typically don't bring them up, but Fatch is coming around. Oh, he's back. Us beating it? Yeah. Well, and also, Dr. Drew came in last week. The New York mayor's awesome, too, if you saw his little comment.

I didn't. I have not seen that. But I do know that Dr. Drew, actual doctor, eight different degrees, last week said, at some point, we've got to have a little bit of courage here. And I thought, okay, as a doctor saying that, that's not just Dr. Drew's idea, right? Doctors are all about seeing and studying and doing their thing. And maybe Dr. Drew's a little bit different because he does get shit on a lot.

He's still getting shit on in my mentions from his conversation with me five days ago. I mean, it can't be easy to be Dr. Drew, but that's why he's got nine degrees. He takes care of everybody's shit. Yep. But whenever he says at some point we got to stand up to this thing, in my head, I immediately think, wait a minute. Maybe we did have some celebrations a little bit early.

Maybe we saw some other things start to happen and think to ourselves, oh, we're back, baby. Maybe we took some chances in screaming at the top of our lungs that we defeated this son of a bitch COVID. But whenever Dr. Drew said, hey, this is the weakest fucking variant. At some point, it's going to take some people to stand up. Fauci is saying, hey, it ain't about people having it.

It's about what's happening to the people that are having it. It's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, Fauci, Fauci, Fauci, Fauci. We hadn't heard that we hadn't heard that in a long time and i haven't kept up enough with the fox when did you say that just recently yeah just last week i believe he said something about if people are in the hospital because of covid with covid or because of yeah yeah that was the first time he's ever said something along those lines it was like whoa okay hold on so you hear dr drew say something then you hear fouch come with it now he's a terrible pitcher guy can't throw a baseball for but that's because

he's just been doing uh you know so much doctoring his entire life him coming and saying that thing it's like whoa whoa whoa did we beat covid are we are we on the other side of this thing aj that's my thoughts and then ian ratport comes and goes, hopefully we don't have to deal with COVID next season. I'm like, next season? This guy. What are we even talking about? That's nine, ten months away? I thought we already beat this thing.

It's the cycle. I mean, I think we'll deal with it for the rest of when it's cold here, and then everyone's going to kind of forget about it come May or whatever. It starts getting warm out. People aren't really getting the sniffles anymore. And if they are, allergies. My allergies are killing me. And then it starts to get cold again and we're back in it.

So hopefully we are right at the end of this thing. Look for potential COVID cases to be high in Pittsburgh. Yep. Because what he said about allergies is happening, I assume, all across Pittsburgh. They're watching all these recap videos of Roethlisberger's career. Everybody's sniffling and crying. Oh, shit. Give me a COVID case.

I think Dawn's got it. They're taking the tests. They're positive. Locking down in quarantine. Anytime there's a chance of a lot of tears and sniffles, you got to wonder if they're going to go take a test and find out that they got the Omicron. I assume Pittsburgh is going to have record numbers

over the next five, six hours. Yeah. I'd be surprised if the whole city didn't have it, if things don't go our way tonight. We're just going to go in our houses for five days, try to forget about what happened, and then maybe never come out again. Oh, mama, I'm in fear from my life because of Omnicron. Because of Omnicron.

I got the sniffles and a fever in my head. And Ben Roethlisberger's damn near dead. Sorry. A hilarious part of last week with Dr. Drew, by the way, was when he was like, thank you for showing my degrees. People never actually talk about me being a doctor. Yeah, I get shit on a lot, is how he started the conversation. I'm like, all right, Doc.

Well, let's go ahead and get through it. Game tonight is obviously something to chat about as we wrap up week 17 of the NFL season in the last week. But today's a great day because it's overreaction day. Today is the day where we send out a bird call on Twitter. We say, hey, listen, I want to hear it from everybody.

There is an excuse for you to lose your mind and be irrational about your NFL team. All you got to use is hashtag PMS. I don't want to overreact. It's time for overreaction Monday here on the show at SUJIOO0. Sujiho. Sujiho? Yeah. What was that?

Sujiho. Bengals fan. Bengals logo on his hoodie. Yeah. Brian Frog. I understand. Hashtag PMS. I don't want to overreact, but the Bengals have the brightest future out of any team

in the NFL. The Lombardi Trophy is going to be in some skyline chili. Shout out to Sujiho. Sujiho. Suyo. Suyo. Suyo. Suyo.

Suyo. Suyo. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su.

Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su.

Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su.

Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su.

Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su.

Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su.

Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. Su. shout out to Bengals fans thinking that that is the case, and there's no reason not to believe that. Very young team that is unbelievable, AJ.

Big time win over the Chiefs, which they're going to have to stare down alongside the Bills and the Jonathan Taylor-led Colts for like the next 10 years. If the Bengals, if this was, these exact same players were somewhere else on a different team, would people take it more serious and think that, hey, this team is set up to be like the next Chiefs? I think so because teams would go watch them practice because they wouldn't have to withstand 10-degree weather to do so. So I think there would be a lot more coverage, a lot more media.

But that type of stuff, you know, when you're training out in the Arctic underneath a highway and you've got no other options, sometimes you've got to burn the bridge behind you so you have nowhere to retreat. Cincinnati has no option to get soft. They can only get harder. They can only get more calloused. And although other teams have plenty of advantages off the field,

this Bengals team don't know what they don't know. They're so young. They were born in the dark of the NFL, which is the Cincinnati Bengals. I think Sue Yeo is 100% right. The future looks bright, and I'm excited about it. But if you're in the AFC North, you've got to be worried. Oh yeah, I'm not thrilled about it. They'll fuck it up somehow.

Why do you say that? Not that they keep drafting like they have for the last couple years. When have they not? I think you're talking about Browns. Well, yeah, the Browns are much worse, but I'm saying like... Well, Browns got a big-time chance to ruin Ben Roethlisberger's last trip around. I think it's been like 36 years since the Bengals have won a playoff game.

All right, this could be it. Good luck out there. Good luck out there. Let's go to the next overreaction, shall we? This is from Big Tist. TylerEverson76, offensive lineman by trade. A little bit older now. Big Tist, don't fuck around, but he's got the kids.

That's right. Big Tist says, hashtag PMS, I don't want to overreact but tampa might be dead ab said peace godwin and fournette are out and the jets had them dead in the water for 58 minutes of that game brady is still brady but i think it's going to take a miracle for tampa to repeat we agree big test we agree and isn't that kind of sad aj with all that talent we're talking perfect season before the season now it feels like they're just kind of falling apart right here before the biggest time of the year. I mean, it does feel like that, but still, no one's truly counting them out.

When you have Tom Brady, you have Gronk, you have a defense that can be super disruptive. They can still make a run. Rob Gronkowski asked on the field after the game about the Antonio Brown situation. He said he didn't get to see that. I was too busy running my head into 300 pounders and trying to make plays for this team.

You could tell that even Rob, who's just super positive, I like the football guy, it sounded like in his answer, he was like, fuck that whole situation, basically. We're out here trying to win ball games. There are still pieces that are enough to go on a run, but with that much distraction, I don't know how you win the biggest trophy in all of sports. I have no clue how you're able to do that

when the entire thing is to limit distractions. It seems like Tampa only has distractions. They need him, though. Not only distractions, but they need A.B. He was a pivotal part of their offense, I feel like, when he's in the lineup. So that part hurts a lot, too, aside from the whole distraction situation. But when you got Tom Brady, you got a chance.

Yeah, exactly. But when you look at the top of that you know nfc with the packers and even the rams like the bucks if they do have to play one of those teams jalen rams he's probably going to do a pretty good job on mike evans like his gronk and then other backup wide receivers going to get it done against those top top teams it's hard to see that happen and i guess that is how we have to look at it is who's at the top and who's going to be able to get them. And this Tampa Bay Buccaneers team would have been a team that we would say nobody would be able to get.

Like this team with all their pieces. Now, key injuries have happened. Who knows who's going to be back, who's not going to be back, because maybe you get Fournette back, I guess, for the playoffs and rehab. I don't know if that's been – has that still a conversation? I'm not 100% sure. He said he was done for the regular season, but he should be back by the playoffs with his hamstring. But now it's like there's no

way that reality TV show down there in Tampa is able to beat the Packers who are out in the middle of nowhere, who everybody seems to love. There's nobody on the Packers thinking about leaving that team. Nobody. And although Antonio Brown is the only one that did that, there had to be somebody in there that he talked with that maybe either agreed or was pissed.

I assume that isn't the only... I don't know. I think it's definitely possible. Obviously, there's plenty of guys with issues on the team, like minor issues, but I don't know if there's anyone on the same level as A.B. It's like, yeah, man, he's justified for doing that. Okay, well, let's hope that's the case, right?

I mean, there wasn't a lot of people coming to talk to him while he was getting up to leave. That was even... There was no stopping him at that point. Mike Evans, at one point, Mike Evans was like, alright, I did all I could do. The fucking video from Miller is going to show that I came over here and I tried to talk to nobody else.

And Guerrero was over there. I saw Guerrero in one of the videos, had his back, did not turn around. I didn't see any coaches over there trying to pull him back. It was a lot of like, it looked like that was a consultant area almost. They were standing over there. Nobody even looked at him. They didn't even turn around. It was like something's happening here.

But they're all like, they're down out here though. And then B.A. said, I want to talk about the players that are on the goddamn field. Well, and it's just like you look at Tampa Bay last year. Like they were peaking at this time kind of like just – Loving ball. Yeah, exactly. And they were much healthier. Like they are – they're much more banged up this year than they were peaking at this time, kind of like just – Loving ball. Yeah, exactly. And they were much healthier. Like they are – they're much more banged up this year than they were last year.

And then like AJ said, like it's not just like the whole – like they need AB. Like we were talking about, hey, they're kind of just treading water, you know, offensively until AB gets back because he makes them that much more dynamic and that much better. And, you know, now you don't have that anymore. 11 for 110 or something last week. Onilmore and then this week yeah and then this week he ran one route that he got and it was just like wide open and tom finds him you lose that player your team is automatically going to be worse i think but they're probably thinking at least we got a chance to get

that out of the air we have no if it built up we don't know the story least we got a chance to get that out of the air. We have no – if it built up. We don't know the story, but there's a chance that they're all very thankful, to your point, to maybe get that type of thing out of the locker room. And there's a chance if the Niners lose to the Rams and the Saints beat the Falcons that the Bucs have to play the Saints in the first round, which is not someone they want to play because we saw how that defense does against Tom. Oh, mama. That's unbelievable.

I thought that was going to... What, he just extended for another year or two, Tom? You know, Tom's not going to take this lightly, I assume, in the offseason, right? Tom's not continuing to play for this type of shit to happen, right? There's no way. And if you watch Man in the Arena,

the team is like his thing. The relationships. Yeah, you'd have to wonder. What happens if the Bucs... If they're one and man in the arena, like the team is like his thing. The relationships. Yeah, you'd have to wonder, like what happens if the Bucs, if they're one and done in the playoffs, which they have so much talent. I think Gronkowski can beat anybody. Them going one and done would be quite a surprise. But there's a lot of shit happening down there right now.

If they don't win at all, what's the conversation like for Tom? Oh, I got to come back and get another one, you know? You have to think about that for a quarterback that's not coming back no matter what i think obviously he's 95 years old but you have to think about all that type of shit especially with man in the arena and the conversation about his family and stuff it's crazy well and because they've been kicking the can down the road with the salary cap even if it goes up like do they have that much you know money to spend in free agency this year no i i'm not sure but I assume they don't have too much. They'll figure it out.

It's Tom Brady, right? It's Tom Brady. They'll figure it out. I don't know. That was the thought with New England. He always makes everyone better, too, though. Who was the guy who caught the game-winning touchdown yesterday? Cyril Griffin? Yeah, Cyril. I don't think anyone expected Cyril Griffin to come out and make a play like

that, but then, look, for years, he did it with Chris Hogan in New England when he first burst on the team. Hey, he's still a free agent. He was not drafted to La Crosse. That's right, yeah. We were like, who's this guy? He ain't beating us. He ain't beating the Steelers.

And then he shreds them. And then when Edelman came on the scene, we were like, oh, who's this guy? He's too little. He ain't beating us. And then he shredded everybody. He's still available. A couple free agents you mentioned there as we lose out on Antonio Brown. It's Julian Edelman who said, I ain't never played football because my knees are so bad.

Staring at a future, you know, me, Gronk, Tom, the boys, maybe another Super Bowl run. I only got to go for about five, six weeks here. He's in phenomenal shape. He looks good in every picture I see on post. Maybe. I mean, the Foxborough for everything would definitely be ruined if he did that. But even if it is Edelman, like, are any of these guys were mentioned on AB's level? Like, AB is absurd.

No, what are you talking about? And Godwin's in his last. There's no free agents currently. Exactly. And Godwin's, they franchise tagged him. So are they going to bring him back? What about Larry Fitzgerald? Larry Fitz, maybe.

They do a podcast together, allegedly. Steer the ship. Kind of brace the waters as they're, you know, getting really bad right now. Bring in Larry. Fitz will do that. Yeah. Can AB be signed by somebody for a playoff run? He's no longer a Buccaneer.

I think your word is your bond. The Packers went after him. Could you imagine if the Green Bay Packers were like, all right, Aaron, come on into our very good culture. All right, we think you can run a couple great routes for us in between us throwing to Devontae and Lazard. And Aaron Jones makes fantastic. AJ Dillon.

We think you can make three to four catches for us a game. Just please try not to burn down the entire place. Is that what they would have to do? No, they don't need him right now. He is so good at football. He is. I know. People that talk about him never,

I don't think they lead off with that enough because that sets the stage for everything else. Hey, all this other shit, you be who you can afford to be is a life thing but it's also a football thing and you should you should take that to life by the way be who you can afford to be it's not fair hate it hate that that's a reality but that is real life in the NFL it is when Antonio Brown went back to Tampa all the Antonio Brown haters said fuck this guy he. He's going to ruin it. They win a Super Bowl. He seems to be a model citizen. And then here are those people

who predicted that years ago and have hated him. I told you. We all told you. We're the smartest people of all time. I just hope that he changed. And it seems as if that did not happen.

Nope. Golly. Maybe he did change. He's going to tell a story somewhere. It'll probably be on his own IG stories or something. maybe it'll be in his next album yeah hopefully yeah i mean who was did he know the driver the guy with him in the video you're talking about danny boy hustle hard yeah come on that's his boy right yeah oh danny's connected yeah first thing i thought does he go in and shower there in the in the locker room and just get his gear on and go

and then who cleans his locker out back in Tampa? His car's probably at the airport. All this stuff. Yeah, who's getting all his stuff? Is he just leaving it all? He's in our house down there in Tampa. Yeah. Like, is he moving out?

Is he just staying in New York forever? Yeah, just maybe never going back. He just lives in New York now. He lives in a studio. Yeah. Get him in a booth. Mm-hmm. Whatever the case.

This ain't going to end here. I assume there's going to be more that unfolds in the booth. Mm-hmm. Whatever the case. This ain't going to end here. I assume there's going to be more that unfolds from the event. Let's go to another overreaction, shall we? Matt Pritzel, Bucks in six. That's got to love his Milwaukee. Congratulations, Pritzel. Hey, Giannis out there bowling Greek freak. I'm putting people in pretzels.

Matt Pritzel. Hashtag PMS. I don't want to overreact. But Aaron and Devontae is the most unfair duo we've seen since Peyton and Marvin. This is a good question for you, AJ Hawk. Is there anything a defense can do whenever Aaron and Devontae can do whatever they want at any point? That back shoulder is 7-11, dude.

It's always open. Whenever he wants to throw it, it's available. And they were talking early, and I think they did a couple examples that weren't necessarily the best examples of Devontae being late with his hands, which is what a lot of veteran wide receivers do because corners read your eyes. They try to read your hand. That's how they're trying to figure it out.

So as you get older, you learn these tricks, and Devontae is not only faster and quicker and knows where the ball is going, he also has all these OG tricks with Aaron Rodgers. That thing's on any time. Is there anything anybody can do against that to stop that and just hope, I guess? No, when they're playing, when they're on and they have that connection, no, there's not a whole lot you can do.

They started to talk about it last night in the game when Devontae's at number two out there, and they throw this little quick little out to him that's an RPO-type deal where, hey, your linebacker walks out there and covers him up. I'm going to hand the ball off because you have a light box. Your linebacker tries to come back in. Boom, we know I'm hitting it. I'm getting at least five yards most likely.

Could also break this thing for a touchdown. Second and medium, third and medium, what do you do? I don't really know. I was watching that last night. I'm like, okay, what would I do to try to combat them? These guys are just so good. I think they had eight in the shell at one point. We were watching.

He did a check down to A.J. or Aaron, I think. And that's like six, seven yards if the first person makes a good tackle because they're letting you do that. It's almost – There's no cover zone. A lot of zones have a no cover zone. Like from the line of scrimmage, it's five yards out. Like there's a five-yard no cover zone where you don't ever jump across

or if you're sitting in the zone because then they're going to hit you behind you. So a lot of times you're giving up that pass that little five yard area and you're hoping you can rally and make the tackle before the first down yeah because we'll take that hey we'll take that as opposed to whatever's over the head and on the defensive side of the ball they talked about them uh playing basically like a basketball zone defense and that's why it took them a little bit to get better because they started learning the nuances, I think, of that. Is that how every defense is, every zone-style defense is, where they basically have a zone, they have their own area,

they can cover it however the hell you want? And I think that's why Razul has had so much success because he has his area and he knows exactly how he wants to bait or he wants to cover it. And then as soon as he passes people off, they're in sync with each other. I would assume synergy is a big deal. Is that why early it stunk and then now soon as he passes people off they're like in sync with each other i would assume synergy is a big deal is that why early it stunk and then now it's kind of catching on is that just one play call basically it's not one play call but it's like zone match they'll call it

like yeah i have a zone like hook curl whatever curl flat whatever but then once a receiver comes into your zone you match them like it's man but then they can mess with you they can say you jump them and he runs from the curl flat over or he runs from the hook curl to the curl flat you need to drop him and sink behind because you know routes coming behind you and then yeah just passing the crossers off and no and not getting stuck on a dude like all of that it only comes from reps you can do it in practice all day whatever you know it you need to see it in the game you need to get beat in the game a few times to know how each guy around you plays and how each guy like communicates and i think we're seeing right now like these guys are starting to put it together for sure and that because and it's so cliche but it feels real they're all like on a string it feels like you're pre-snap you're

pre-snap talking like when your defense is good like that and you're playing a zone like you're pre-snap talk with everybody it's like a thing of beauty to think about when it happens because you see the formation, you see the final formation they're getting to, and you all start instantly calling out the route combinations and what's coming, and then, hey, good things happen. And then the quarterback on the other side, Manion, hears you doing that.

Absolutely. It's got to be tough, too, when a defense is humming like that and they got a beat on you. Yeah, it can't be easy. Hey, he's coming right at you. He's coming right at you. Hey, he's got the two coming out there hey we we lock we check if i think the man you're just sitting there like god

ah shit damn uh and then you call the kill kill kill and then all of a sudden you start watching all right he's gone out there he's gone oh fuck it's it was beautiful to watch that packers defense now granted no offense to manion once, but that defense the last few weeks has been dominant. They've been like dominant, dominant. And you just got to hope, obviously, there's no key pieces. You have to bring in anybody else that maybe isn't on the exact same page. But that's the thing about whenever you find it and you think to yourself, what defense could win a championship?

It's a defense that's all on the same exact page. You just got to hope that special teams. Man. You just got to hope that special teams. Man. He's going to hope that special teams. Yeah, I know. Well, but it was, you know, Crosby made all his field goals last night. I mean, the operation early, they got lucky. New snapper, by the way.

Yeah, which, what the fuck are we? Why did you get a new snapper? Who knows? Was it COVID? Was it COVID? I don't think so. They cut a guy just mid-season. Then Steven Wardle, welcome to the big club.

No, this is. I know, it's a new one again. So it's the third snap of the year? Maybe he did have COVID, I don't know. By the way, if he didn't have COVID, I'm surprised he got past his first couple weeks. For them to cut him now would be very interesting. So I assume he had to get COVID or get hurt or something like that.

First snap, though, Bojo punches that thing down, traps it, brings it up. Mason Crosby and Collinsworth kind of talked about it a little bit. He talked about how Mason is able to slow down or whatever. Very true, valid. My biggest thing is that Mason, throughout the entire season, a very poor operations and even into a couple years ago, Mason had absolute faith that Bojo was going to get that ball down. He didn't stop.

He didn't do anything. He continued all the way through. He was only seeing that ball up and down, because if you think about how quick he is, for a half a second, and he makes the kick, that's incredible faith in each other. That is Mason Crosby saying, I trust you with getting this thing done,

as opposed to pulling up, fire, fire, fire, which could happen. That is a big deal. If I was a Packers fan i'd be like okay at least they're at the point where they are very much trusting each other but with that snapper thing you gotta figure that the fuck out i mean what are we doing throw the fucking seed dude is it really third snapper if they're in their third snapper i think that's i mean that tells you a lot about the operation yeah it's tough whenever they said that new snapper i was like oh shit here we

go here we go. Here we go. This is going to happen again because it seems like it has been happening to Macy Crosby. He doesn't deserve it at all. And it seems like they have in terms of just like field position. The last couple weeks kind of got that corrected. It doesn't feel like, you know, the offense is starting on the six-yard line every single time.

That can lose you a game. For sure. And really that's all they need from the special teams is like you need a guy back there who can call for a fair catch and field the punt. And it seems like they got a guy who's done that for a couple years in the league now. Really, at this point, as long as they don't turn the ball over on special teams or have some egregious mistakes, the offense and the defense with the way they're playing should be able to pick them up.

Bojo had a miss. Yeah. It was very loud in the entire. COVID foot Well entire COVID COVID Yeah

We'll keep an eye on that I guess there's COVID fingies now too Really Whoa COVID fingies Oh no AJ Who

They don't look like that They turn blue They become big I guess Oh no Yeah That sounds terrible Yeah I've never heard of that

Finger 19 dude Damn It was on local news I seen it T's and P's I mean local p's and tried to scare the fuck out of you at all what it looked like did somebody show you show you yeah it looked like diabetes fingers just like a big purple sure okay sausages yeah thick ones did they cut it off it said you heard of tovid but have you heard of covid fingies and the picture was just these what appear to be Halloween fingers, basically.

I'll send you the article. Thank you. Appreciate it. I'll send you the article. I don't even know how we got to that. Dojo. Yeah, he had a miss. And everybody's like, oh, this guy stinks. Just don't lose it. Special teams, just don't lose it. That's all you got to do. Your offensive defense is good enough.

Special teams, just don't lose the game. Yeah, unless you're stuck not going to win that thing. You know what I mean? You can also win. Packers don't need the special teams to win them a game. Agreed. Agreed completely. Which is a good thing. They're a good team. They don't need anything crazy to happen for them to win.

How about last week when I said nobody even asked if I wanted to come punt? That's weird. Should I feel to come punt? That's weird. Should I feel offended by that? I stand up. Oh. I should not. I thought about Bojo kicking it in five-degree weather or whatever.

I mean, brutal. Last night wouldn't have been a bad night to go. We don't have to play, though. Why? They only punted what? Only punted once, I think. What, maybe again later? But, you know, shit, you kind of just. Is it just like kicking a cinder block? the thing is and that's a great question nick thank

you for the journalism um you know so this thing has a uh an air thing inside of it obviously bladder there it is and whenever your your needle is going into the bladder then there's the outside and the outside is tied together through these laces part here. So when it's really cold, the outside becomes rock hard. The inside, you know, still pumped up as much as it is, but harder to indent. When you're kicking or putting something, you're trying to indent the ball and then explode it off of your, off of your foot. Leg speed, power, there's so many different ways to try to indent the football more you indent it the further it's going to go that's all you're trying to do is make that bladder small and then explosion off of your foot so whenever the ball is freezing it's almost like a ice cream cone

that has a uh a chocolate uh outside that is like rock hard and then the ice cream soft on the inside so you got to like knock through the the chocolate and then there's like soft ice cream so whenever you kick a football the outside is so fucking hard that whenever you do finally get through it it's almost like at a different time than normal in your swing so whenever you would normally be hitting it it'd be wrapping and then going when it's really cold it takes a little bit so it's a little bit it's just uh it's harder to get it to travel as far because of the indentation of the ball to make it explode i believe personally that's just it's harder to get it to travel as far because of the indentation of the ball to make it explode. I believe personally, that's just from personal experience of, oh, this hurts my foot a lot fucking more and it's not going as far. This is how I feel. Science might not add up with that, but that's what it feels like as you're kicking the ball.

I mean, it definitely makes sense, I guess, when you explain it like that. I mean, it definitely makes sense, I guess, when you explain it like that. I mean, in those conditions, too, though, if I'm a special teams coach, yes, I want you to have a successful punt. I want you to bomb that thing. But most important, I want you just to catch it and get it off. When it's freezing cold like that and it's usually windy, too, just have a clean operation.

Just get the ball back to them. Yeah. With that being said, don't give them a low ball that they can return to the house. There's a lot that goes into it. Bojo's doing his best. Right out of bounds. Just kick that sucker right out of bounds. That's easy. And then get 39 yards.

And then all of a sudden, your field position can't change at all. Can't change. If you're in bad field position, though, 39-yard punters are going to change field position. Then after the game, oh, why do we have such bad? Well, because you told me to kick the ball out of bounds 40 fucking yards. If you would have let me go ahead and maybe do this. There's a lot. Okay?

There's a lot that goes into it, AJ. Jeez Louise. There is. There is a lot that goes in. I still, okay, then to bomb a 60-yarder out of bounds. Oh, okay. That's easy. That's the goal every single time.

Just like what everybody says, it's what you do. You pay to make field goals. You pay to kick it, right? You have one job, dude. You have one job. You should never miss. In a 15-year career, you should never miss a kick. Hey, Jason Hansen never did, did he?

Nope. Not one. Uh-oh. Can't thank you enough for allowing us to be a part of your day-to-day. The fact you allow us to penetrate your ear holes, I'll be eternally grateful for. Hashtag end of pod squad. Let's carry that into 2022.

Let's continue to give away some merch and tie. Please play some independent music and propel these people into a beautiful big ben last ride at heinz monday night before an aaron rogers tuesday minyana be your friend tell a friend cheers Thank you. សូវាប់បានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបា Thank you. សូវាប់បានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបា Thank you.