The Ringer NFL Show - Week 18 Recap: Josh Allen Chaos, Goff Vs. McVay, Stroud's Rise, and Arthur Smith FIRED

Episode Date: January 8, 2024

The guys recap NFL Week 18, starting with the Bills' wild win in Miami on Sunday night. They also look forward to next week’s wild-card weekend matchups, talk about Arthur Smith's firing, and more! Check out our Fantasy Football Rankings for this week’s positional rankings and more! Email us! [e-mail] The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please check out theringer.com/RG to find out more, or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Hosts: Danny Heifetz, Danny Kelly, and Craig Horlbeck Social: Kiera Givens and Jack Sanders Producer: Carlos Chiriboga Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ringer gambling feat is your one-stop shop for all things betting throughout the NFL season. From week one all the way through Super Bowl 58 in Las Vegas, we have you covered every which way. We got our favorite futures. We got props. We'll discuss the lines. And, of course, we'll throw in a few parlets. That's a given. So whether you're a sharp or square better, we'll be breaking it down in terms.

Hopefully, everybody can understand. We'll try to win some money along the way. and be sure to subscribe to the ring of gambling feed on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. Your fantasy football show, my name is Danny Hyatt. I'm joined by Danny Kelly and Craig Coralbeck. And a distraught producer Carlos. The Miami Dolphins just lost to the Buffalo Bills

with a two-a-pick at the end of the game, which is the completion of not just Week 18, but also completion of the 20-23, 24 or whatever. NFL regular season. There's so much for us to get to. The playoff field is set. we have a lot just a leap year it's a leap year in 2024 it's a leap year for a bunch of players and frankly this was kind of a leap week uh we're saying goodbye to players maybe we're saying goodbye to coaches maybe

we're saying hello to a lot of guys Derek henry bellichick I don't know what the deal is so much to get to one of the best wildcore weekends I think we've ever like a lot going on but first this bills dolphins game we were all there but I actually want to start producer carlos can you give us in a sentence, how are you feeling right now after the dolphins just had a chance to tie the game and then two just threw a pick into double coverage. I accepted this was happening two weeks ago,

so it is what it is. I don't know. It's been at peace with it. Kansas City's the best matchup, better matchup anyway, so I mean, I'll take that. I was going to ask. You were talking last time you were on the show about how much the bills own Miami.

So are you actually not too super duper upset that you have to go play the Chiefs? You only lost by seven last time you played him. Yeah, before the game, I actually ranked the outcomes for this on Twitter. And number one was the tie. I was rooting hard for the tie. I wanted to play.

No offense. That's like peak fan. It's psychosis, by the way. Ranking the tie in the rankings. No one hates the Steelers as much as Craig. You can see what everyone. Yeah. And then number two is Kansas City.

I know like theoretically now we have to go on the road for like every playoff game and that sucks. But Kansas City is a better matchup for the dolphins than Buffalo. So yeah. And if there's any team with worst vibes in the Dolphins, it's the fucking Chiefs right now. So honestly. the bills are like revved up. It's just a great story of like

historic comeback. The chiefs are just like down in the dumps right now. Travis Kelsey couldn't go to the globes. I would love to play Kansas City. Yeah. Honestly, the most upsetting part of this and I know we're going to hit

the Tua side of this at some point, but it's just Kirk Cousins I guess. All right, so Tua, he's entered last year of his contract next year and that means you have to sign an extension. like if I told you the Dolphins basically are going to give him a quarter billion dollars over five years and make him like the highest speed player in the NFL by like a million dollars just to say he is but they commit a quarter billion dollars Carlis is that like what you want I mean that's just the going rate for starting quarterbacks it's just I mean I don't think there's a good alternative like so the problem is like they're in the they're stuck in the middle at this point so I think they will resign him and I'll be fine with it I guess but I just have to pray that all his games are at one o'clock I guess D.K., you're the vibes, King.

How's the vibes when the Carlos, the Dolphins fan, says, yeah, we'll keep two. I'll be fine with it. That's kind of how I feel, though. Like, who's going to get? That's going to be better. I kind of feel like. Kirk Couss is there. But he's going to cost cheaper.

Just as much. Is he? Do you think? I don't know. Maybe. But I think, like, part of me is thinking that Tua is, obviously, people like, shit on on Tua a lot. And obviously, he threw a.

pick to end that game. So that's not like necessarily the best timing to say this. But I do think his style is part of the reason this offense works. Like his ability to get the ball out, his ability to pass the anticipation over the middle of the field. Like a lot of what to it does is part of the reason this offense is so good. I just do think, you know, he's just not going to be, I don't think you'd put him in the elite tier of quarterback's clearly, but he's going to make money like one.

And I think that's just kind of how it goes. Which, speaking of the elite tier, I want to, I have a question for you guys. how good do you think a quarterback? Because, I mean, you were mentioning that, you know, would you pay to a quarter of a billion dollars, you know, him resetting the market? Probably at the position. How good does a quarterback have to be

in the quarterback rankings in the league to reset the market in a new contract? Like, at what point can there just be a quarterback that you want to resign, but you don't have to reset the market? Like, can't, do you think to his team, his camp, can still make the argument that he deserves to set the market right now?

Didn't the Dolphins lead the NFL in scoring? Or they were at least coming into this week. I don't know about now. It will not be difficult for Tua's agents to make any case they want because anything they want to say. One about Tua's durability is this. I mean, he made it through the season. Like, you know, what quarterback?

Like Joe Burrow didn't make it through the season. Justin Herbert didn't make it through the season. They just got paid. So the Tua concussion stuff, I think, and the hip stuff in college, they're going to be like, well, he just made it. And then to his production, it's all tied, as DK said. My only quibble is with DK with,

but Daniels built the system for Tua. so it too works in the system. But I think McDaniels, a Tyree Kill could be an old dining system you want for anybody. Yeah, in theory. I don't disagree with you. They got to get a Brock Purdy.

You know, bring a Brock Purdy. Get the last pick of the draft. This is a better problem. Version of the problem the Giants have with Daniel Jones, which is when you have success with a quarterback.

Way better version of that problem. Strategic aggressive. Yeah, this one scores touchdowns. Well, that's what I'm saying. Like, the strategic aggressive thing. I think DK's case. Actually, there's second.

Are you saying that instead of being, last in scoring, this is like the same thing, but being first to score. Inverse of that, yep. Carlos is like, his cameras off and I can only imagine what his face was like when I said that. Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is like maybe the cold objective removed reality is like, yeah, get a different quarterback. But when you're emotionally tied to this in any way, the idea of like, hey,

you see how much progress you've made, Dolphins fan base that hasn't had a proble quarterback since like 1995 or Dan Marino, whatever? Like, let's just throw it back in the pot. This is like a guy at, A guy's friends just say, yeah, you're not going to find anything better, man. Just get married. Like, you know, you're 30 years old. What are you waiting for?

Just do it. Do you see the quarterback play in the NFL this year? I mean, come on. Speaking of reinforcing narratives to it, that Josh Allen, the chaos agent has returned. The bills are making the playoffs, thank God. So, like, we'll have more Josh Allen. But this was the most Josh Allen. I've seen Josh Allen, Josh Allen, in years, honestly.

Josh Allen had two picks in the end zone. Horrific throws. First, two of the worst throws, I was thinking of the story of the game. Patrick Mahomes does stuff on the football field I've never seen, but he does it on purpose. Josh Allen also does stuff on the football field they've never seen,

but he does it by accident. Yeah, but he has the memory of a goldfish. He doesn't do shit. He just keeps going. You know, he is genuinely a delight. Like,

I think he's the most entertaining quarterback of the league. It's not even close. We still don't appreciate him enough. You know those old movie trailers where it would be like that classic like movie trailer voice guy, whoever that is out there? In a world. And he'd be like, it was like New York Times says, I laughed, I cried, I cheered. That is like what it's like watching Josh Allen. It's like the full spectrum of emotions.

The agony and the ecstasy. Yeah. It's like you're going to the theater. Yeah, they were comparing him to Favre and Elway. And I'm like, there's nobody like Josh Allen right now. Like we really have to appreciate what we have. This dude through two of the worst picks I've ever seen. Launching the ball down the field, he could have easily thrown it away.

Instead, he chucks into double coverage, 50 yards down the end zone. And then, of course, he comes right back, ends up finishing the game 30 for 38, 359 yards and two touchdowns after throwing those two picks. The guy's incredible. He led the team in rushing. He's like a boxer. He's like Rocky. He just keeps going.

The Rocky comp is so good, Craig. When we were watching this game, and it's so funny. going to be my biggest dad moment maybe ever. But the thing that I thought of when I was watching Josh Allen, if you have, if you've seen Banda Brothers, there's a character. And this is a really- I started watching it because it's on Netflix now. There was a real like, this Saturday, D.K.

Great, great series, by the way. It's based on a Stephen Ambrose book. So it's a real story. These are real people that really did this shit in real life. And there was a guy named Lieutenant Ronald Spears. And there's a scene that happened in real life again in this series where Spears, they're, they're attacking a German, a village that's occupied by Germans in France. and they need to get over to the other side

to communicate with like the flanking, like company or whatever. And so this guy, Spears, just literally runs through the middle of the town that they're attacking. And quickest way across right? Straight through it. He literally ran like straight through the middle of this like little village

where all these Germans are like straight through the German lines. And all the Germans were so confused and befuddled and like in shock that they just didn't shoot him. He got to the other side, did a shit. And then he ran back. and he survived both times. Like this really happened in real life. I was like,

this guy is like Lieutenant Ronald Spears. Like he's just the most fucking badass guy because he's just like wild. You can't, you can't like predict. He's happy Gilmore. He's just like, first guy to take my skate off

and try and stab someone. He's like that was way. Hitting a hole in one's way easier than putting. Why don't I just try to do that every time? Like that's just like him launching the ball down the field. I love him. It's so much fun to watch. That's the funniest thing you've ever said of the show.

Josh Allen's like the guy in Phantom Brothers He just runs straight through the line Like straight through the town Everyone's like, what the fuck is this guy doing? It's true because all the defenders Who dropped Josh Allen balls Because they can't believe he threw it right at them Right

But yeah, I mean Josh, two picks in the end zone Threw a ball off James Cook's hands at the end zone Threw a ball at the one yard line His time expired in the first half That was just the first half Like all those things happened So yeah, that was incredible If Josh Allen and Dan Campbell are ever on the same organization,

then they might create a nuclear bomb. That's how we, that's how we're going to power Earth going forward. That energy. Both these teams made the playoffs. We have more. The one thing I'll say, and we'll get to this with,

and again, we're previewing the wild card round. We're preview the playoffs. We're going to keep recapping the playoffs like this. We're going to have the NFL drafts should come due on Wednesdays through the season. So we'll get to these teams again. The one thing I just want to point out, the dolphins in fairness,

we're very banged up. No Raheemoster for this game. No Gillen Waddle for this game. The Dolphins rotation at Edge has been decimated. I didn't more than that, actually, because decimated means one out of ten. It's like all of them. Jalen Phillips is, you know, he's hurt. Bradley Chubb is hurt.

Andrew Van Ginkle got hurt tonight, which has a very like, like, he's kind of like an old-timey name. Let's be real. I can't believe he's not like on the 50s, you know, what he's not in the movie, Willie Wonka. Yeah. Yeah. What's the Wonka movie called now? Just Wonka.

Wonka. Wonka. I don't know. But Van Ginkle's been huge. the Dolphins for years and he got hurt tonight. So like, frankly, like, and sorry to Carlos, but my actual assessment of the dolphins is they're just not healthy enough to compete for Super Bowl. Like, if you just look at the teams that made the Super Bowl for like 10 years,

they're just not healthy enough. They're just not. They're not. So Devon H.N. had a good game. We can talk about him later. I think he's the hardest person to rank in all fantasy next year. I don't know what. We don't have to get in all that.

But I already can see us arguing about like how high is too high for H.N. Because every time you put a number on and I'm like, I think I'd take him higher. I feel like I'm going to have to personally recuse myself from ranking A. Chan next year, just because I am too close to it. I'm too biased. Like, it's, you know, like how a judge is supposed to. You can't rank your children. Yeah. Right, exactly.

Or as Sal would say, you can. It's really easy. I feel like H.N. has the numbers. High efficiency, low touch player. He should be like 33rd. But if you're like, I want to take him higher, you can go up to like six. Then I'd be like, yeah, sure. I don't know.

I mean, if he gets 15 touches a game and he stays half. he's he's the number one running back in football. Every week Moster's out, he's a top three running back. Maybe that's too low. He Moster averaged 15 touches a game this year. He scored 18 touchdowns and he was the RB2. Like give A-chan 15 touches a game, breaking fantasy. We have all off-season to argue about that, but there's still football going on.

So I have to say this, and I know that I'm prone to hyperbole sometimes. I think this is the best wildcard weekend I can ever remember. Let's be real. Sometimes wildcard weekends, there's kind of like some real bad bad chips. Wild card weekend. I will literally never say that. I'll never say that. Not even for this one?

This one's super. Well, this is the only, you're right. This is the only one that's ever been super. That's true. So just the whole bracket now that we got it. This is the superlative wild card round. This is Saturday, January 13th,

we have the Cleveland Browns playing the Houston Texans. I mean, that right there. In my opinion. The Deshawn Watson trade without Deshawn Watson. Flacko. I mean, the Deshawn Watson trade teams without to Sean Watson in the wild card round. That's kind of weird.

CJ Stroud versus Joe Flacko. The 8 p.m. Saturday, we have the Dolphins playing the Chiefs, as we just discussed, Tyree Kill versus the Chiefs, which Tyree Kill, they played in Germany. It was a weird game,

and then Tyree Kill was so disappointed he didn't get to go to Arrowhead. So now we have Tyree Kill and Arrowhead just like also just be too hot, nasty bad ass. Is he going to get booed? Or cheer. I don't know.

It depends what he says when he's asked about, he's going to be asked about the Chiefs and depends what he says. Sunday we have the Steelers are playing the bills, Craig. The spread couldn't be any bigger. Whatever the spread is, it's too low. The spread is right now is 10.

The bills are giving 10. The Steelers are 130 to 1 to win the Super Bowl. And I think that's, I think that's too low. Too low. I think if you ran this simulation 130 times, they don't win. Dude, 100. All right, the first of all, the Steelers are like the, we take advantage of your stupid mistakes team and we make slightly less than you.

the bills are like the ultimate stupid mistakes, Steve. I don't know, man. They're the, Craig, you just brought up the nice guys the other day. It's like, did you just fall off the roof? I don't think I can die. That's the Steelers. I don't think I can die. Who is the name of that lieutenant who ran through the German town?

That's the ultimate. I don't think I could die guy. That's actually the Steelers. They're like, he's a path right there. It's hilarious in the playoffs. So the only team that's not fun to watch that made it, but good for them. What's the meme with the dragons with like the three really serious dragons? And then the fourth ones like,

It's like, that's the Steelers. But so we have that's Sunday. And then we have Packers Cowboys. Mike McCarthy versus Dallas. Like, or sorry, Mike McCarthy versus the Packer. Mike McCart, the entire reason Mike McCarthy got the Cowboys job. Well, not the entire reason. 75% of the reason is that Jerry Jones makes the decision and Jerry Jones was obsessed

that Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rogers beat the Cowboys in the playoffs twice. And now Mike McCarthy's- So much. When you lose to a team, you're like, I want what they have. I actually seriously. think that people forget that the people making decisions for teams is, they're just people. And that the most, um, yes, and the most underrated aspect of team building is divisional politics of like, you know how many fast receivers that the Raiders have drafted? Because the chiefs had Tyree Kill.

And the Raiders were like, that's our thing. We have fast people. Like they drafted like Henry Ruggs, Trey Tucker, uh, who is the guy? Darius Hayward Bay. The Raiders just take fast people because they're like, we look, like, you know what Hey, Darius Hayward Bay had a really long career. all right sure layoff a darius I know we're not saying he was I mean he wasn't as good as his draft

stock suggests obviously not but anyway the Cowboys just hired Mike McCarthy because he beat the Packers and the Packers beat the Cowboys in playoffs and so we're at for content here we're this is win win the Cowboys advancing the playoffs is great and the Cowboys Mike McCarthy losing to the Packers with the Cowboys is also fantastic for us yeah the narratives in this in this super wildcard round are really great there's a lot of great storylines the writers nail it this year. I got to say, even through the strike.

The other one, this is the craziest one of all. Matt Stafford Rams, Sunday football Wildcoard Weekend, playing Jared Goff's Lions with, I mean, they literally, the two quarterbacks are traded for each other. I don't know if that's ever happened. How many times in playoff history of the two

starting quarterbacks been traded for each other? Just, never mind. Never mind the fact that it's like the win-win of like all the Lions Finns love Stafford and kind of rooted for the Rams when he made the Super Bowl. And then Goff kind of like wants revenge on McVe because McVeigh, like abandoned him at the altar. And then never, these teams are like,

like, like, like,able for the Lions Puka is so likable. Like, the all these guys, they're not just good teams, but they're fun to watch. Like, I think this, hyperbole, like, is this one of the, is this the best Wildcourt weekend game ever with the storylines and the talent and the watchability of the two teams?

It's a really good narrative. My two brothers and brothers, brothers in law, my brother, brothers in laws. Brother-in-laws. Like attorneys general? It's two of them. So how do I say two of them? My two brother-in-laws?

Son of a bitches or sons of bitches? I don't know. Brothers-in-law sounds wrong, but that's probably right. Brothers-in-law. My two brothers-in-law. It's only one law. That's right. Brother-in-laws.

No, I'd probably say brother-in-laws. Brothers-in-law. Brother-in-laws? I mean, if you're being technical, it's brother-in-law. Wait, brothers-in-law. Also, because, like, Chinese and Arabic, they have other languages have, like, the word, like the word for the brother is, the word is like my sister's husband

or like my... Right. We just have a word for it. Yeah, or like my... It's weird that the word for my sister's husband is the same as the word for my wife's brother. Like, English, it's the same word, but those are completely different things. We need to come up with one.

Anyway, what I'm saying? They're both L.A. born, love the Rams and love golf. And like, fight for golf. Yeah, you're telling me about this. They just, like, adore him, maintain that he's a top 10 guy, that he, like, gets too much hate and he's great. And they are so torn about this matchup. It's like, it's like your real dad versus your stepdad.

It's like, Stafford is, like, the stepdad that came in. And he has, like, a better job, and he's cooler and he has a cool car. He buys you stuff. Yeah, but he's cool. He's taking me to, like, you know, the game. We're sitting behind the plate, you know? throws his side arm. But real god.

He doesn't even look. Real dad is golf. You know, he was there from the beginning. like when times were tough and he like raised you. So it's just they're really, I'm very curious what what Rams fans feel towards Jared Gough. Like if they are like my brothers in law where they're like, they feel warmth towards him still or if they're like good riddance,

we like Stafford. We like the cooler, shiny your object. That's a great, great analogy. I think this is a great matchup because it feels like they're the same team. You know what I mean? But just at different points in the life cycle of NFL team.

So the, The analogy I was going to use before you completely fucking upstage me, Craig, is like, you know, like, back to the future in time travel movies where there's the trope where as the character, you're not supposed to meet you either in the future or in the past because it could upset the time continuum, like the space time continuum and fuck everything up. So I feel like the lions and the Rams are.

The lions are just like a couple of years in the future of the, sorry, the Rams are in the future of where the lions are. So like... It's like interstellar. Matthew McConaughey's behind the bookshelf, like yelling. No! Yeah. Yeah, the giant organ in England or whatever.

By the interstellar. Hi, porg. Crescendo songs. Email us at rangerphysic Football at gmelt.com. Anyway. I like the stepdad thing better. That's fucking good. Scout.

Which team do you think is like, which team do you think the general NFL fan wants to win? What is the better story? The Lions. I think the Lion's. are the most. The bills were the easiest to root for a team, I think a few years ago when they were first good

and everyone was stunned because Josh Allen and then I think they've lingered long enough and then somewhere something, something, Sean McDermott, 9-11 hijackers. I think everyone's like, no one. The tux are a little fucked up now with the bills. They're a little fucked up. Somewhere around there.

It was like, I think the Lions officially are the most likable team with Dan Campbell. And I think they surpassed the bills. So, so everybody, ended together and like is on the lion's side now after the debacle from the the Taylor Decker like or whatever when he's like last week or whatever he was supposed to declare that he was eligible or whatever like I feel like America took the lion's side on that so we're doing the fantasy rewatchables tomorrow instead of our Monday waver show for trivia so like

it really is my favorite show maybe of the whole year Craig produces the fan of the rewatchables here at the ringer and you know Bill Simmons lets us kind of borrow the idea and Craig does his Bill and Pressing, my favorite show, and not to step on it a little bit, but I was thinking about, one of the categories of which age the best, and I'm like, the Lions being the preseason darling,

like, how many times are those teams fall short? Like, they're the hard knocks team. They were in, like, before the draft, like week eight, literally a year ago today, the Lions beat the Packers in week 18 on Sunday football, can't make the playoffs just to knock Rogers

and the Packers out of playoffs and Rogers' career as a Packer. And everyone's like the Lions next year. And how often does that team the next year actually deliver and more? Like never. And they deliver it on all the hype. And I think that's part of it too. It's like they're just very likable.

They've delivered. I don't know. They didn't fall to the expectations, which always happens. And you can keep it going where it's like kind of in every part of the team. They were like underrated and, you know, it's like you have Dan Campbell who was a guy who was kind of mocked when he was hired, his like first interview everybody made fun of. Jared Goff was this guy who didn't work out for his overall pick. overall pick on the Rams and the new quarterback comes in and does great.

And then Goff has this resurgence. Even guys like a Monroast St. Brown who are like these later round picks who didn't have the pedigree that other draft guys had. And now he's one of the best for wide receivers in the league. So it's like all of these guys are real overachievers, which is such a great vibe, especially in Detroit, which is like a really tough sports city right now, considering like hockey, baseball, basketball, like one of the most downtrodden, like sport cities in America, if not the most.

So like the Lions. What is the Pistons record right now? The Pistons have three wins? three in 29 or something? I have no idea. Terrible. America loves a comeback story. Yeah, so this is like,

I really been pulling for the Lions. I think if I could pick any team to win the Super Bowl, it would be the Lions right now. They're like good, but they also feel like the underdog. Yeah, yeah, which is a great place to be in. Nobody believes in us, but they're also good. I can't think of a better ending to a season right now at this point in time,

that Dan Campbell holding the Lombardi Trophy. Like, there's nothing that I could occur to me that would like, outside of your team with, that I would be happier about. You know what I mean? Like it just seems like pure joy. But while that's the one game kind of sucks, they also do a while a few,

a couple years ago, they ended up moving one of the Saturday games to Monday night. So we have a Monday night football wildcard weekend game. It's kind of weird. But that's Eagles bucks. And I have to, the Eagles today, we have to give the,

if you're with children, earmuffs, but the, you know that meme of the, our expectations were low, but holy fuck. My favorite sign of all time. Yeah,

our expectations were low. Holy fuck. That goes to the Philadelphia. of the Eagles. The Eagles lost to my New York Giants today, 27 to 10, which does not even begin to describe. It was 24 to nothing at halftime. It should have been 31 to nothing at half time. The last, D.K., I'm not, D.K., I think you've had maybe your best season ever for calls, preseason and in season. I swear to God, the best, most prescient thing you said all year was before the Eagles Cardinals game. You said the Cardinals had better vibes than the Eagles,

even though they were in line to get the second pick in the draft. You said Arizona's vibes are better They've won like four games this year. That was the most incredible. The last six quarters, the Eagles have been outscored 56 to 10. Two teams that are picking the top six in the draft. Yeah. And then I think what's most incredible is that the Eagles,

Jalen Hertz, the quarterback for the Eagles, and A.J. Brown, both got hurt in this game. A.J. Brown got a knee injury and limped off after a fumble. That looks really bad, by the way. It looked bad. And then he was okay? Apparently? I don't get it.

Jailen Hertz is middle. was bent the wrong way like it was SpongeBob and came in the game. The problem is that not only did they get hurt, but they were getting blown out and embarrassed, both, before, then those guys got hurt. So it's not even like relevant. Then they went back in, didn't look great, and then Marioita came in for the hurts.

But, I mean, we were talking about the bills giving 10. The line on this Eagles game right now is the Eagles are giving two and a half in Tampa Bay. Wow, that's it. Do you like, forget the, like, Do you actually think the Eagles should be favored over the bucks? With the way they've played healthy and now Hertz and A.J. Brown both got hurt and have to play in eight days. This is like one of those situations where it's like, what do you know, Las Vegas? Like, what do you know?

The Giants were 24 to nothing in half of them. This is like, honestly, they're playing like one of the worst teams. They are one of the worst teams over the last like month. I mean, I don't like, I'm just going to defer to my esteemed colleague, Shield Capadia, who is an eagle's expert. he's been following the team forever. Like, I trust him and Ben Solek over pretty much anybody on the Eagles. And She'll tweet it today, not hyperbole.

This might be the worst defensive football I've seen from an Eagles team in my lifetime. That makes me sit up and be like, what the fuck is going on with this team? Because it's basically he's confirming to me, not someone that's followed the Eagles my whole life, that this looks awful. This is the worst he's seen than play defense his entire life. And the offense isn't very good either. He also said the Eagles allowed seven touchdowns on their last 10 defensive positions. That's like what LeBron shoots from the free throw line, seven for ten. That's like literally it's like free throws.

That's what the Eagles defense is. You know who the Eagles are? This is who I compare them to. The Eagles are the superhero. That's like, you know, the trope where the superhero loses their powers and they're trying not to let anybody know it. Like not getting in fights and stuff. Like Mike. It's like they're the Hulk when the Hulk can.

switch like he can't like bring the Hulk out he's just the the meek doctor guy i swear this is never happened yeah yeah yeah i swear this has never happened oh yeah it's like that's who the eagles are they've been trying to hide the fact they can't bring the Hulk out um yeah they've lost five or six games they look absolutely awful the vibes are atrocious why are they favorite i mean honestly like what's the what's an actual legitimate reason that they're favorite i mean this is the i think this is the only team in the NFC they would be favored against right now. I mean, it's like they really got a nice little deal here with the Bucks. I mean, the Bucks just put up, what, would they put up nine points against the Panthers today?

Baker three for like 130 yards. And this is the ultimate stayaway betting game. I don't have any feel for this at all. It's also an incredible bookend to Jalen Hertz's career because Jalen Hertz was the starter in a wild card playoff game against the Bucks. It was only, believe it or not, I want, was. Is that two years ago? Yeah, it was the year that Brady killed them.

They were up like 21-0 immediately. He was embarrassed off the field. Like, I think the Eagles had like to eight points, 11 points. Like, maybe it was more than that, but like not really. Like, it was the garbage time. Like, Jalen Hertz, Todd Bowles. The thing is about the box is, lo-key, like, they have almost the same defense from the Super Bowl.

Like, a defensive team that wins a Super Bowl, like, never stays together this long. Todd Bowles is still the coordinator. And, like, they still have these players in Todd Bowles, basically was like, hey, Jalen Hertz, this is all the ways that you are not ready for the NFL and just destroyed him and he's gotten better since then. But it's crazy they're meeting again

and now Hertz is actually struggling the most honestly in his career since that game. He's playing his worst. So this is wild, but the... I actually think I might take the... I actually think I might bet the bucks two and a half right now. I kind of want to do it before it goes down. I feel like it's not going to move up to the Eagle.

Like the only thing, like we know that A.G. Brown and Hertz are hurt. The only thing that could get worse is them being... Like, I feel like if they're, rolled in, the line would go closer to the Eagles. They're going to play. I agree with you. I mean, like, I think this line is assuming that they're playing and it's still only two and a half. I think that there's a chance. Yeah, one of them can get ruled out and then it would completely flip.

So I'm literally right now. I'm going to play some. All right, do that. While you do that, should I do a Matt Patricia rent now or should I save it for Friday? Save it for Friday. But guys, speaking of coaches, I don't know if you saw a text from our producer Carlos here, D.K. Oh, I saw it. Arthur Smith has been

fired. Oh! Oh my God! The Falcons fired. Wait, hold on. Is this real Schifter? Oh, my God, D.K. It is real. Thoughts, feelings. Falcons are fired a falcons coach. Arthur Smith. Look, I just want to say this. Usually it's pretty like, I don't know what the word is. Classless to, like, dance on someone. He's going to be fine.

He's very rich person. Okay. He's a billionaire. So I don't feel quite as bad. And money is happening. He is not a billionaire, D.K., he's the son of a billionaire, right? Right. I dare you. True. Okay. But yeah, no, this is great. Like, this is, this is awesome. So, like, D.K., where does Bijon Robinson rank next year now? Top three and fantasy? Oh my God. I feel like I have a whole new lease on life. This is amazing. Imagine if they get like a good coach. Like, this is, uh, this is like finding out you won the lottery or something. This is fucking amazing. D.K., if Ben Johnson,

the OC of Detroit goes to the Falcons. I'm going to overreact dramatically. Yeah. I'm going to overreact way too hard. Number one overall. Think about someone that uses their good players. Like just, oh God.

Just imagine it, guys. And if they get a real quarterback, Justin Fields or whoever, I mean, I don't even know if he's technically a real quarterback or not, but he's... We should better than what the Falcons have to the Super Bowl next year right now. Seriously.

We have to mention that like the saints, so the Saints beat the Falcons that, first of all, Arthur Smith, with his life on the line, put his faith in Desmond Ritter. I got to tell you, for all this stuff Arthur Smith did wrong, not playing Bijon a ton,

Drake London and Kyle Pitts, like whatever the hell happened with him and them, drafting three skill players in the top 10 who were incredible and then like not really using them. The wildest thing that happened with Arthur Smith is like using his season basically as an experiment for, I think Desmond Ritter is like the worst

quarterback that's ever been brought into a year with no competition like Heineken doesn't count of a team that actually expected to win a division. Like the Falcons actually, it wasn't like, we hope we do,

the Falcons thought they would win with Ritter. And I kind of, and then we benched him twice and then with the job on the line, put him in today. And Ritter, of course, like had a Lamar Jackson's first quarter

and then was a pumpkin. But I don't know. To me, this whole thing is just, again, it's like in those movies where the main character can't tell if they're crazy or not. And to me, like, I started to almost feel like I was the crazy one for criticizing Arthur Smith for not using as really highly drafted, highly talented, explosive playmakers more. Like, maybe I'm wrong.

Like, I started to actually have some self-doubt about that. But then I start looking around the rest of the NFL. And who are the good teams? Oh, it's the team. that use their superstar players to do really cool fucking shit. It's like, Jesus. I don't know.

It just drives me. I truly feel like in the end that he was just like pushing back on the narrative. So like he almost like got caught up in the narratives that he was doing such a bad job because of that that he like started to like use them less. Yeah, exactly.

Like he's like I can't admit that I was doing it wrong. So you dig your feet in even deeper. 100%. I actually agree with you. you, like, I'm going to fucking show the used to fuckers. It's like my friend who said impotent. And I was like, no, dude, he's hit the team. And he was like, I'm actually going to die on this hill.

Yeah. The Falcons built the biggest offensive line in the NFL. And then they don't run for, they don't run like on Madden, you call it HB dive. They just don't run that at the one yard line. Like they don't, like they have to run like end arounds to Cordorill Patterson. Like it's not just don't put Bijon and don't give it to Drake London, not give you to Kyle Pitts. It's like they won't run forward at the one yard line. It's like he has to have a cool play.

So it's like he has to always try to outsmart himself. He won't give anyone a thing. And again, I really do think it's like him being the billionaire and the idea he wasn't handed the job. I do think he won't hand things to players and like you have to win a competition and earn it. And I do think that there was an element of having to prove himself in this. It was really weird. The whole thing is bizarre.

I don't know. It's like if you look at the numbers, it's like Bijan this year, 203 carries, L-G-R-180 carries. Bejohn, 254 carries, L-G-R-194 carries. At least Bejohn did have like a huge screen for a touchdown today.

But again, with Arthur Smith, with his season on the line, his job on the line, two tight ends who outscored Kyle Pitts and a lie. Jordan Aikins, Charlie Kohler, Elijah Higgins, or Bryson Hopkins.

Genuine question. I don't know who Bryson Hopkins is. It's spelled H-O-P-Colp. He's on the Rams, right? No idea who that is. Jordan Akins, Charlie Culler, Lodge Hagan's, Jordan Aikins. All of these people outscored Kyle Hittitz.

He was the fourth pick. I'm pretty sure they picked him over Jbar Chase. Am I misremembering that? The third highest scoring tight end on the Rams today. Here's the positives. Is going into next season, Kyle Pitts will somehow be 23 years old. Bejan Robinson will be 22. Drake London will be, I think, 24.

So it can be it can be salvaged. We have all lost for the content. Honestly, Arthur Smith is out of our lives. I don't know what D.K. is going to be mad at now. Yeah, we need a new player haters ball here. Oh, I'll fight someone. So, yeah, Falcons lost. And then the Bucks won the division.

We'll get to the Bucks to the preview. But I will just say shout out to Baker Mayfield in the Bucks for like he granted throw a win and like he didn't play awesome. But I mean, the Bucs win the division. Hopefully people listened to me and took them to win the division in the preseason. That was my bet. Thank you for that update, Carlos. That was incredible.

You got to see us react live to that. Man. I know. Come back to this. We were talking about the Eagles, Bucks got hurt, J. Brown got hurt, and they were kind of playing

to win the division, but like the Cowboys rocked washing, so Eagles would not have moved seating, even if they'd won. And then also, speaking of the Lions,

Sam Laporte are the tight-in for the lions, who just had the best rookie tight-end season ever since freaking Mike Dicka. Sam Lipporter hyper-extended his knee and got a bone bruise. So it's not like disaster, but like, it's not good.

and then the Steelers, T.J. Watt got hurt for the Steelers. This is a little different because, like, he was playing. You know, the Steelers needed to win, but he got sideswip by his own teammate, like nowhere near the action. Honestly, it was like a very stupid injury. And I'm wondering between TJ, and he got a grade to MCL sprain in, like, a couple weeks, rest of recoveries what his brother tweeted out. But like, like, do you guys think that playing players in Week 18 is dumb? Like, watching the lines, like, going all out in a game they didn't totally need, losing their tight end. the Eagles today, like, we're like, going to play their guys, but not really. J.

Lynn Hurts, AJ Brown, both get hurt. Do you think playing guys a week 18 is dumb? Craig, I will start with you because you're Warriors load management guy. You know where I stand on this. Yes, I do. I even think like, if crucial matters are on the line, like, I still don't know. I don't know if it's worth it. Like, if losing a important piece of your offense is worth trying to, you know, secure a seed that you most likely are going to get, I don't believe in like the, like, oh, it helps us with momentum. if everybody plays. It's like, you know what else helps with momentum

if they're on the field the next week? So I'm not a fan of it. I genuinely am not. And I mean, Dan Campbell, this makes sense. Campbell is all in all the time, full throttle, foot on the gas. So you live by the sword, die by the sword. Is that what they say?

So, you know. But I wouldn't do it. Not my style. Well, so they had a chance to get the two seed. Yes. So I guess there was like some motivation to do it. It's the idea of, in theory, if the Niners lost.

The, or no, the Lions basically being able to get a home yet. The Lions getting a home game. To me, it's like, look, man, the two seed, the three seed, like, it's not worth Sam LaPorter or Monra or Gough or whoever getting injured. Like, I truly believe that. Yeah, and it's also just like, it's funny that this is still a thing that we talk about every, like, late season because we also say this every single year. It's like, oh, the healthiest team is usually the one that wins a Super Bowl. So it's like, I don't know. It seems very obvious, but it's also, I think.

It is more complicated because there are, you know, I think real life football reasons for keeping guys going. But I don't think they out. I personally don't think they outweigh the health thing. Basically, no one makes it to the NFL being afraid to play football. And I agree with Craig that this is who the lines are. I think the Eagles is tougher because the Eagles absolutely would make the choice to keep people healthy. and I think they started in case the Cowboys were losing and basically if they pulled the plug earlier

it would have been one thing but it's the Eagles are literally pulled Gillian hearts from a game two years go to tank like the Eagles are the opposite alliance so tougher for them also with speaking T.J. Watt also got hurt but speaking to that Steelers Ravens game the game itself whatever

we talked we have to shout out to week eight we talked about Craig brought up the biggest question this season which is why is it so hard to see rain and that Steelers Ravens game. We heard from dozens of people. I'm asking the tough questions on this show.

That Steelers Ravens game. You're like cancel. I was always just more concerned about what bark was made out of, you know? Steelers Ravens, there was so much, you could see the rain the whole time. The camera was the wettest I've ever seen a camera. Yeah, I also, I believe that if the rain is falling

at a sharper angle, like a diagonal angle, I believe you can see it more. If it's falling perfectly vertically, I believe it's harder to see than if it's falling at an angle. I could be wrong about that. think so? That's my theory. Is that science? Just a reminder, we got an email from a guy who, believe it or not, his name is lore.

Lore. Lorre. Lore. Thank you, Lorre. Laura said, I have been filming local sport, high school sports for 15 years. You can't see rain because of how open the iris of the camera is to let in light while you're shooting downward at a playing surface that's darker, which causes the rain to fit in the background. To show you the rain on TV, they point the camera at a light pole. The light behind the rain is brighter than what the camera is shooting at. So how on earth do we see so much rain if it, I don't get it. Well, I think there were certain angles that you could see the rain. But, like, my big question was, why was the main camera that, like, the majority of the broadcast was showing completely covered in water?

Like, I don't think I've ever seen that. And people were like, well, it's rainy and windy. I'm like, yeah, this is the first game that's ever had rain and wind. Like, I think it wasn't. I think that the actual product on the field was so ugly. They didn't even want you to see it. They were like, let's just blurry in Atlanta. this goes all the way to the top

let's turn the lights down it was an artistic choice by the director of the game it's a metaphor what was the movie Craig that was like everyone got really mad because it was too dark all the time oh it was a game of Thrones

the biggest episode of Thrones and then the yeah the dragon fight the Battle of Winterfell or whatever the end of the most important part of the whole fucking battle and the people who made the show were like well you're just set it

It was realistic. They didn't have LED lights in in fucking, what's it not middle earth? Jesus Christ. Westrose. The snobbiest thing I've ever heard someone in Hollywood make was all the people who worked on Thrones anonymously trashing people's home TV setups.

It's a good test. Sorry, your TV sucks, peasant. Get a Q LED or whatever they say. It's like the unintentional sopranos fade to black. Anyway, I don't think we got a real answer as to why that camera in particular was soopping wet. Laura, email's back. What happened?

You need to figure it to the bottom of this. All right. Speaking of the Saturday games, C.G. Stradd, the Texas. Texans win the division. Texans beat the Colts on Saturday night. And then that combined with the Jaguars, losing to the Titans on Sunday.

The Texans go from worst in the division last year. And then again, almost, if not for Lovie Smith, Texans would have the worst record in the league last year. And then go from worst to first, win the AFC South this year. Seagestrout, 264, yards, two touchdowns. It was way better than the stat line. He had three of the best throws he had all year.

He had the first play of the Texans first play of the game. Bomb touchdown, Nico Collins, first play. He had in the same drive, he had the insane falling backward, third down, cross-body, flick, yeah, for a first. And then stood in the pocket and ripped a seam almost for a touchdown and just took a shot. And it was like, I got it. I know Joe Bird didn't play this year, but I swear to God, D. You're the Com King.

C. T. T. Stroud reminds me of Joe Burrow with the vibes, but he is faster, he's stronger, and he has a better arm. But he plays so similarly to Joe Burrow to me. Yeah. Everything is, like, very smooth and fluid and no panic and just, I don't know, he, like, floats around. It's like the scene from, sorry, this is, I'm such a fucking nerd. It's like the scene from Lord of the Rings where Legolas is, like, walking on top of

the snow and everyone else is trudging through the snow. It's like, he's just, do, do-do-do-do-do-do. Wait, is that one two buildings? The return of the guy. I think it's in the fellowship of the band, the wedding band. Yeah. Fellowship of the jewelry. I know that one.

The jewelry friends. No, it's the brotherhood of the traveling. Yeah. You guys are killing it right now with these bits. Come on, Craig. Crazy's not used to being made fun. Like, he's always like in the bit. But anyways.

I knew it wasn't the two buildings. All right. I just didn't remember. It was tower. I knew it wasn't buildings. For what it's worth. I just needed to say something. No one thought, no one thinks that you thought it was two buildings.

One of the rigs, the two buildings. It was just the best, like, most poetic use of language. Do you think that movie wins best picture if it was called the two buildings? Two buildings. I don't know if it does. Did they even call stuff buildings back in the day? Like, when did the word buildings get started? Well, they built it.

Yeah, I don't know. When was the first building by name? game. When was the first building? We're like, we're going to call this a building. Have you guys ever noticed that the more basic, the word, the fewer syllables it is? Like, so many of the words that are like primal are like one syllable. And I always wonder if they're just super old.

Well, did the, I'm not saying the verb came first, right? Like build something. We were building something. And then they just got lazy. We're like, well, what were you building? And they were like, well, a building, I guess. I don't know. We decided we couldn't make the.

Another word. Yeah. But what I wanted to say was, real quick, I think C.J. Stroud is one of the most aesthetically pleasing quarterbacks in terms of just like... Smooth. He's so smooth. Like, smooth is smooth as butter. Everything is so smooth.

Everything looks so effortless. It's just really, really fun to watch. I think he's fallen into a great scheme that allows him to do this because they do, like, a lot of, you know, deep drop play action shots and things like that where he can really just cut it loose. I think Jordan Love, by the way, is like a very similar aesthetically. Just like everything looks. cool, like the way that they play.

The, blatantly stealing this, Kevin Clark tweeted this. I don't know which one of you wants to jump on this first, but how many quarterbacks would you take before C.J. Stroud, if you could just have them for your team, like, and you're including the future.

Contract? What's the contract? Yeah, sure. Current contracts, like, included, right? Forget the contracts. Just straight up. But age matters. Forget the contract for a second.

Oh. I got to tell you, Mahomes, Lamar, I swear to God, I think that's it. Josh Allen. I would take out Joshie. Dude, I. You would take Stroud over Burrow? Dude, I think he plays just like Burrow, but he doesn't have the injury history. And that's the thing.

He's 22 years old. And like Joe Burrow, I love Burrough. I don't know. I feel like we're kind of putting the cart before the horse a little bit. Like, we could be really excited about CJ Stroud and still say, I'd rather take Mahomes, Alan, Lamar, Burrow, probably. Herbert. I hear you, but Burroughs 28 years old next year.

Why? He's just like 10 years left. Burrow is 28 years old. At the end he's December birthday, so he just turned 27. But like he's 28. 27 years. It's this age 27 season. So it's whatever. So yeah, it's 22. I don't know. I think your point,

Hibitz is a good one. Like he, at worst, he's like fifth. Or six. Yeah. That's, yeah. If you think I'm crazy for saying that, yeah. It's like Mahomes, Lamar, Josh Allen, Burrow. her yeah like Herbert like that's it like he's up there where does love come in by the way because I think love is really ascended very quickly in like half a season to the playoffs I know but he looks amazing so I think you know again this is great it's good for the NFL that we have these

discussions because we really need guys like step up and like start you know like leading their teams and being good because this has just been a terrible year for quarterbacking well and speaking of guys stepping up and leading their teams, the guy who he'll be facing on Saturday, Joe Flacco, baby. This is Flacco versus Stroud. This is amazing. It's like all-time good vibes, but kind of for completely different reasons. It's like this old grisly vet stepping in versus this like young star on the rise. It's like Paul Giamatti being nominated in the same category is like with Timothy Chalameh, the Golden Globes tonight. It's like just two completely different types of people, but both great characters and great vibes. It's like a Guy Ritchie movie. It's just going to be like,

like these like smash cuts like where they just like freeze and like his name goes on it flacco you know what I'm talking about yeah yeah with like music in the background Flacco and Stroud meeting for the showdown whatever also the jokes the jokes the jokes the jokes were flying on twitter about it was January 6th strouds made the playoffs a lot of stroud boys show up on January 6 jokes PFT commenter was the one that thought of that right yes so fucking funny fucking so funny. Strap boys are there.

Stand back, stand by. Oh, and they always show up on January 6th. The Texan storm the playoffs. By the way, storming is a hilarious verb.

My friend and I were laughing about it this weekend. He was like storming something. So it's just. My high school mascot was storm, Craig. What? You guys were the storm? Yeah. Wow.

So you literally were like, I am the storm? Yep. That's cool. That's the whole story. Incredible. Like, you don't use the word storm ever. It's like storm the capital and you storm the field.

That's like the only way. Incas is what you say storm. Yeah. There's a lot of like sports specific words that you don't use anywhere fucking else. No, dude, my friend and I have been, we literally have a list of all the words. Like, you know what's smithereens? You blow to smithereens. And you're like,

imagine using smithereids in any other context. We have a list. We have 90 words that have one meaning, that have one phrase that they use them. Yeah, especially in sports. Like, I've never said boat raced in any context

outside of sports. You know what I mean? Dude, Rex Ryan said on ESPN before the Cowboys would boat race Washington. I'm like, are boat races so uncompetitive that like, they're just tough to flowouts? There's never close.

Like the Usain boat races? Actually, I feel like I watched them in the Olympics once. I'm like, these are actually kind of close. Dude, the other one, you know what? Loki is never used. Spangled. The fuck does that mean?

Star Spangled? What is that Star Spangled banner? What does that mean? Spangled. Splangled? What a wild word. What are the like conjoint? Is that a verb?

Or is it an adjective? They are spangled. It's an adjective? Can you spangled something? How does that work? If I spankle... Yeah, it's a... adjective, I think.

If I spangled, you, that sounds wrong. I looked it up. It's covered with spangles or other small sparkling object or lights. What is a spangle? Let me look it up. The definition of spangled was covered with spangles? That's really funny. You know us at Rigger Fantasy Football at jubel.com.

If you have more words. We have a huge list. Sometimes definition. Like a glittery dress, Craig, is covered in spangles. I always like when there's two words that are synonyms. And if you look up the definition of one word, the definition is just the synonym. And then you click the synonym and the definition of that is just the word you were just looking at. And it's just the same.

This is my, here's my take on words. People are like, funner is not a word. I'm like, well, you knew what it meant. Like, that's made up. I'm like, they're all made up. The funner, you know what I meant. That's a word. Oh, you see that spangle right there?

That's a word. But if no one knows what it means, is it actually a word? you preach in the choir dude I'm just saying anyway we were talking about the Texans I don't know if you guys want at the end of this I have a whole list of other words Spangled

Craw Matriculate Stick in my crows Well that's a whole different category of words That only football people use We should get Brian Curtis on the show And just do a full episode Just on words that you only hear in sports

You know what's insane is when football coaches Are like the past was defensed It's like the only's Only, yeah, for some reason, the entirety of football has decided that passes don't get defended, they get defensed. That's awful. Which is definitely one person saying it wrong one time. I think I saw Denny Carter tweet this. He's like, I'm thinking about becoming one of those people that says red area instead of red zone.

I think it was him. Sorry. It's like, yeah, God, the guy who says red area is coming to the bar tonight. Anyway, speaking, I think Danny Carter also tweeted this. If not, someone did. I'm sorry. someone, the Jaguars collapsed versus the Titans today.

And honestly, they just, DK, one of your other amazing calls was like a month into the season being like, I can't watch the Jaguars. I cannot do it anymore. The Lucille Bluth, I don't care for Joe. Like, you were like, I can't watch Trevor Lawrence. I love all my teams equally.

I don't care for the Jaguars. And someone tweeted, I'm sorry, I can't fight. But someone tweeted, Trevor Lawrence is just Zoomer Sam Bradford. Oh, God. Which is not true. but I have not been able to stop thinking about it. Like, I can't get out of my head.

That's not true. And actually, Lawrence never missed his time and Sam Bradford missed a lot of time. But holy shit, I keep thinking about it. I mean, Sam Bradford was very, very highly thought of when he was coming in to the NFL. You know what I mean? Like, he was a very high level prospect. And I think people thought he was really good for a really long time, even though he just kept getting hurt. Lawrence's healthy Sam Bradford is like the worst thing I've heard in forever.

I just so, to me, it's, they're just like one of the most frustrating, undisciplined teams to watch. just feels like every time that they're getting anything close to, like in a rhythm or whatever, they just do something stupid and annoying. Like they have no cohesion. They have a lot of talent, but no cohesion. I saw this. They had 36 offensive pre-snap penalties this year, which is the second most in the NFL, like pre-snap penalties.

Like, what are they doing? It just, like, felt like every time, and Nate Tice talks about this, like, it feels like a lot of the receivers are just, like, running into the same spot that everyone's, like, running the wrong routes. It's just so undisciplined, so frustrating to watch. They're opposite of, you know, some of these teams that we talk about, like the Texans and whoever, the 49ers where everything is really precision. Everyone's in the right spot. Everyone's doing their job. The Jags just go out there and just like they're vibing. They're free-lain. They're like the really good cheese receiving core, but they're much better, but it's the same thing like. Watch is a cheefs 100%.

They're never all doing the same stuff at the right stuff at the same time. Evan Ingram's like dropping something or Calvin Ridley's like running out of bounds by accident. They're not getting a foot in bounds or whatever. Yeah, or they're motioning wrong. Or someone's always doing something wrong half the time. And Lawrence himself is pretty sloppy at times. They're a weird team because if you came into the season and somebody's like, hey, Travis Eton is going to be the number three running back in fantasy.

Calvin Ridley is going to have over 1,000 yards, eight touchdowns. Evan Ingram is going to finish second in NFL history among a tight end position and catches. Cets. 114. Evan Ingram has the second most catches in a single season in the history of football for tight ends. We haven't talked about him one time this year. Not one time.

We should do the all Glansburg team at some point. 114 catches. Travis Hattin. RB3, the team doesn't make the playoffs. At no point were they fun to watch. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Duval, because I love the energy. I just, it's watching that team.

It's very hard for me. On that note, the Derek Henry fitting. So he, we knew that Derek Henry would probably not be in the Titans next year. Derek Henry did something that like, like, it just doesn't happen, which is he took the microphone at the end of the game and thanked all the Titans fans

and was like, I didn't see this. It was very emotional. He just stood in the middle of the field and just spoke to the fans. I would say like at least 10,000 people seem to be there still. And he spoke and he was like, thank you.

Like I try to do my best. Like I hope like I inspired the kids along the way and like thank you for having me and I gave you my all and like gave like a heartfelt and like it might just be him leaving Tennessee and he knows it. But dude, it kind of sounds. like a retirement speech.

And it got me wondering, like, if Derek Henry never played football again, is he a Hall of Famer? Absolutely. Is that crazy? I think so. I don't, honestly, like, I don't really partake in the Hall of Fame debates.

Yeah, it's, it's, it is dumb. Fine. Not really. Have you ever seen Hall Fame on its own? Not for me. Yeah. All right, fair. I just like, it's, you know,

I'm not, I just am not one of those people that, like, knows the criteria to be totally honest. Derek Henry has been one of the best, two to three running back statistically in the league over the last like what six seasons? Yeah. My favorite stat maybe like the entire time I've worked at the ringer like a top two stat I've ever discovered is like the last five or six years

I think there were like 10 games of running backs had 200 yards and four of those games were Derek Henry versus the Texans like consecutively. Right, right. Four times in a row versus the Texans he had 200 yards. And it's only happened six of the rest of the league, including him has done it six other times. You know, this is how I want, like, Hall of Fame inductions to go.

I want there to be a committee of, like, 10 guys who just, like, are, like, who watch football religiously. And all you do is you go, Derek Henry, should it be in the Hall of Fame? They get, like, 60 seconds. I feel like it's all vibes. Like, when you just said,

is Derek Henry a Hall of Fame? I was just like, yeah, I kind of think that's all we need. I don't need to get into the nitty-gritty of the stats. Who does what? I just want vibes. When you think back, you go, is Derek Henry a Hall of Fameer?

Yes or no. Is he one of the most defining players of his era? The answer is yes, he is. I don't care. Don't show me any stats. He's a Hall of Famer. Craig, this is the best take you've had since cannibalism. Like the, which if people don't know,

altruistic cannibalism. No, yeah. You always have to. Correct. It's a big difference. Strong distinction. Oh, my God. Someone else could use my kidneys, but no one's going to eat them.

Like we're supposed to know what altruistic cannibalism means. Well, you can infer. This is a good take. Like it's like a common expression though. Altruistic cannibalism. Come on, you know I'm talking about altruistic cannibalism. It's like, you can be an organ donor. You should be a meat, body meat donor.

It makes sense, dude. What is it from, eat me? You're the best to say it should be the Pop-Tart from the bowl game. Yeah. That's altruistic cannilism. This is the best take you've had because it's like instant replay for me. it's the simplest thing ever. Yeah.

What's the definition of clear and obvious? It's like, did you have to watch it more than three times? That's not fucking clear or obvious. It's like, did you need more than a minute? The Hall of Fame is the baseball. You get 20 years. The Hall of Fame, it should be like pornography. You can't describe it, but you know it when you see it.

It's like, Hall of Fame. Is Derek Henry Hall of? And you only need a couple minutes. Why is the video 40 minutes? It's like, who needs that? Why do you need the plot? Why is there so long? Do you guys want me to read off his touchdowns over the last

one, two, three, five, like seven years? Here we go. 12, 16, 17, 10, 13, 11. Like, he is just a fricking machine. Double-digit touchdowns. Yeah, six years straight. He's a 2,000-yard rusher, isn't he, for what season? Yeah, yeah, 2000-27 yards in 2020.

He was all-pro. He's been all-pro, let's see, one, two, three, four times. I don't care about any of that. I just like he is. I just know he is. I watch football the last 10 years. I just think, I think personally it's like, I think you're right.

The way that you said it is actually perfect, but the way that I think about it usually is just like, is he one of the defining players of his generation? You know what I mean? Like one of the players you think of when you think of that era. Speaking of Retirement Corner, we probably should have gotten this before like an hour to the show, but oh well.

Bill Belichick and the Patriots trounced by the Jets, snow game. And Jets go out. Honestly, the Jets beating Belichick this way. I mean, considering the whole Belichick thing started with Bill Belichick taking the job head coach and then before his first press conference, like leaving a note, like a post-it

basically and being like, I'm residing. And then I feel like it's like the, and the Jets traded into the Patriots. I feel like today was the Jets. Like they opened a box like a, like a horror movie. And like all this Pandora's box, all this stuff came out and it took them 20 years to the Jets to close the box today.

But the like Belichick, like we'll see what happens. Honestly, there might already be news on this by the time you listen to the show. But I'm curious, if the two options, let's forget that Belichick resigns. If your two options are you're Robert Kraft, Patriots is the third pick in the draft.

And like, let's say Caleb Williams goes first and Drake Bay goes second in the draft. Would you let, D.K., would you let Belichick make the pick at three and stay? And you're like,

you have the best quarter, or would you, like, trade him for like a future first run pick? I feel like I'm on, weirdly, like, on the island that he's still a good coach. You know what I mean?

Like, I do think he's still obviously knows, how to get edges in the NFL. But I also am sort of a believer and starting to believe more strongly that like at some point like he's been there too long. There's like not enough new ideas.

There's not enough adaptation. There's not enough like fresh eyes on the problems. You know what I mean? Like at some point like he's just been there for too long. I don't think he's a bad coach. Maybe it's just best for both sides to move on kind of deal. Does that make any sense to you? You know what I'm talking about?

Like I just feel like, it's like stale or something. I don't know. But it's like I also want to be like clear. Like I still think he's a good coach, you know? I think there are certain coaches where when you've been winning for so long, I think some coaches are really good at coaching good teams. And obviously Belichick, the Patriots weren't the Patriots when he came in,

but they've been so good for so long. I think when you're at his age and he's been doing this for like 20 plus years in the past, I think it's really hard to be great for 20 years, stink and start over again. To have the energy to, like, build from the ground up again at his age, I just think it's too hard. I feel the same way, like, in every sport. Like, I think the Warriors are experiencing that with Steve Kerr. It's like, at a certain point, like, when you've kind of been at the mountaintop for so long, to fall back down and have to climb back up again, when you've kind of already been sustained

at that level for so long, I just think it doesn't really work in it. You need a new fresh, young, hungry coach to get in here. I'm like, all right, we're going to build. I'm going to put in the work. So if I can get a first round pick from it. I think you should do it. I agree with both of you. I actually think that it's,

forget the, I actually think for Belichick, like it's different because he's older. It's also weird because he's the oldest coach in the, he needs to go to a good team, to be honest. Like, Belichick's a better coach

when the team is good, which I know it sounds obvious and stupid. Well, I think what's weird to, so many thoughts. I think that the first thing I'd say is like, it reminds you of Andy Reid with the Eagles,

which is crazy because it's like half the time and Andy Reid didn't make a Super Bowl and he's younger, but like, it's the only comparable where it's like, Andy Reid went to the Chiefs, He took a year off, I believe, and he went to the Chiefs.

And Andy, the Chiefs, I don't think they've missed the playoffs since. Andy Reid took over the worst team. Worst vibes of the 21st century, no fucking doubt, were the Chiefs team that Andy Reid took over without getting into it. Like, that was the worst team of the century to take over. And Andy Reid, they haven't, I don't think they missed the playoffs. And that was, I mean, his entire career, well, honestly, he'll be remembered for the Chiefs more than the Eagles.

Belichick's too old for that, obviously, too accomplished. but I do think it's probably, I didn't even, I think it's probably in the best interest for everyone to move on. But I would like to do like a larger thing on Belichick later if it happens because I actually think Belichick somehow is underrated.

Belichick is the most impressive coach. I have so much to say about Belichick. We should, well, we'll let's just what happens. But like the, I have been very disgusted by the Tom Brady did everything thing that's kind of emerged last few years. All I'll say is,

Bill Belichick made 10 Super Bowls, Vince LaBardi coached for nine seasons. Bill Belichick made 13 AFC championship games. Bill Walsh didn't even coach for 13 seasons. Like, he is the greatest NFL coach, at least since Paul Brown, who invented coaching in the end in football. So he's, it's unbelievable. Craig, Craig, you're, uh, your analogy of like trying to rebuild it, I think is, is that resonates with me. It's like, there's a Brian Regan joke where he's talking about how, uh, he used to kickover ant pills.

and then they immediately just like start rebuilding it. And he thought that was wild. And he's like, I just was waiting for one aunt to be like, I'm not doing that again. Like, I'm not fucking starting that again. Have you ever had it when you're like, you're in college or something? You're writing like a paper.

You've been up all night. It accidentally deletes. And you're just like, fuck, man. I'm not doing this again. Like, I'm just, I don't have the energy. Yeah. There's got to be something to that for sure. Because they were on top for so long.

They were on top for like literally two decades. It's like getting divorced when you're 70. It's like, am I really going to get back out there? I don't know. You know? Switching gears here to fantasy. We have to talk about some, all the players who balled out this week that were awful to us all year. And what I would, Craig, you pointed out that we have to call out their fraudulent stat lines as basically alternative facts.

Well, because they're going to, they're going to, week 18 is so bizarre because it's like this weird purgatory where it like doesn't matter for fantasy. that doesn't matter for playoffs. So it's like, but they're still included in the season long numbers. Like when we look back on 2023, the week 18 numbers are going to be included in their stat lines. So if somebody had 200 yards today, Bijjan Robinson, like meaningless, lifeless games played in half empty stadiums and everyone's pretty much okay with it.

Yeah, it's like you're looking back like through rose-colored lenses to look at these stat lines that perhaps didn't actually reflect how a player performed that year. So like-gaslight stats. Gas-lite stats. The best one is Derek Carr, who's hilarious. Derek Carr threw for four touchdowns today. And I swear to God.

People are going to forget to take off week 18 when they're talking about his like totals and his averages and shit. Of course they will. Derek Carr now has finished the year 10th and touchdown passes. He threw 25, which is two less than Patrick Mahomes, and one more than Lamar Jackson,

the MVP and Matt Stafford. Derek Carr, who was horrible all year? At no point was he useful. He was terrible all year. Michael Thomas deleted his Twitter because he tweeted so many mean things about Derek Carr during a game. That was like three months ago.

It was a lifeless offense for the majority of the season. And yet, like my son, 25 years from now is going to look back and be like, Dad, why was everybody hating on Derek Carr? Like, look at the numbers. And I'm going to be like, no, son, you don't understand. Week 18 is the reason why you think that. And there's a bunch of guys that have been a Joe Mixon today. Joe Mixon had 100 plus yards, two touchdowns, and a completely meaningless game.

Joe Mixon finished the years, the RB5. That's fake. Top five running back on the season, Joe Mixen. That's not true. It's the second best fantasy season of his career. There's no way that's correct. And we never talked about Joe Mixon once this entire year, and he was a top five running back for the season.

All Glensburg. Yeah, so I feel like there's just a couple guys we have to shout out. Calvin Ridley, we mentioned him. He's another one. Calvin Ridley is the wide receiver 17 in the year, top 17 wide receiver. And Ian Harditz, who works at Fantasy Life,

tweeted Calvin Ridley had the grossest 1,000-yard, eight touchdown season ever. And I completely agree. Like at no point other than in the first two weeks of the season and we thought Calvin Ridley was completely back, basically since week two, he has been so hit or miss. And yet looking back,

we're going to be like, wow, because today he had 106 yards touchdown. Did not feel like the wide receiver 17. Joe McSend didn't have 15 points even in PPR until like week eight. And the problem was also he had actually two of his best performances were against the Niners and Ravens, which the two of the best.

defenses, which if you were ever going to sit them, might have been those two games. RB5 is astonishing. Nobody will mention that next year, nor should they. So that's good. But just shocking. It's a great call. It's like Mike Evans when he had 200 yards in the week 18 last year to get to a thousand. We didn't have anybody like that this week.

Like that, we just went absolutely completely nuclear. But I was looking at like Deonti Johnson and Jerry Judy Bull scoring touchdowns this week. And I'm like, I got to remember. touchdowns. Deonté Johnson Longest touching of his career today. I'm going to remember this because these, these don't count. These don't count for anything. I've never, I've never drafted you guys again. You know, he's another one, James Connor at 30 points today.

Not that we don't like James Connor. He's been pretty good all year, yeah. I know, but it's just something you have to take into consideration. The, um, speaking of Glansbergs, we didn't talk enough, we don't have to linger here, but do you know the charge, the charges in the around, coach is named Giff Smith, which I feel like we said, but we didn't really talk about it enough. Giff or GIF?

I don't know, but he's going to get fired, so we'll never find out. G-I-F-F. I think it's up to interpretation. I don't think he ever corrected anyone. Giff Smith. But I just can't, I can't believe this. We didn't, we didn't really enjoy that enough. I feel like after, after Herbert got hurt, the Chargers ceased to exist because Eckler wasn't

doing fuck all. I just like stopped paying attention. When Burrow got hurt, it felt like the Bengals still did exist. But when Herbert got hurt, the Chargers just kind of vanished off the earth. It's like, some of it falls in a forest and there's no one there in a year. The Raiders heard of them off the edge of the earth. I'm telling you, this Losers bracket, the second Herbert got hurt, they're like, all right, Chargers, you're in the losers bracket. That's a good idea.

Speaking of weird names, the Giff Smith, people tweeted. this at us. Andre Yoshivas, who's the Bengals, wide receiver, who sounds like a 18th century composer.

Andrea Yoshivas is the CBS tweeted this. Andreosovus for the Bengals, the first Princeton football player with two touchdowns in a game

since Dutch Hendrian in 1924. Dutch. Dutch. He was called Dutch because he was Dutch. He's called that. Red Dead Redemption

2 loaded the main characters named Dutch and like the main character calls like, Dutch. What did you find out about Dutch Hedrian? Hendrian? I meant to look about it.

Wait, was he an actor? Oh, of course he was a fucking actor. He became an actor. Born in 1896. His two most notable movies were son of Kong and the most dangerous game. Wait, he played college football at Pittsburgh. Why is Princeton claiming him? Oh, he transferred to Princeton.

He played, he played, his running back, he played for the Akron pros. Where does Dutch come from? The name was the pros. Akron Professionals. Why do we think he, his name is Oscar George Hendrian. Why do you think Dutch? Do you think he was Dutch?

Or like, how do you... Quite possibly. D.K. just said it. Yeah, he's just Dutch. He was simple as that. Well, he was born in the United... He was born in Detroit. So he was not Dutch.

Well, he was not born. Okay, but like 100 years ago, Band of Brothers, they just call him red and like, I don't know, they just... All the coolest names from like the mid-1900s are now just names of dogs. It's not wrong.

Who's the first of us who's going to name our pet cloice? I'm naming my dog, Skeet. Skeets. People might not get that, Craig. Wait, that was the other one. Wait, so here's a guy named Skeet who played. Devon A.

Chan is averaging. Devon A. Chan's yards per carry this season is so high that the list is people who averaged over 8 yards of carry. Beattie feathers. We've talked about. We've talked about. We've talked about.

Then it's Devon A. Chan. And then it's Skeets Quindlin. Yeah. Skeets Quidlin for the 1953 Rams. Yeah, we talked about skeets. I thought it was skeets. It was skeets? Like plural?

Lil John. I thought it was skeet. Maybe Skeets is not a dog name. But, you know, like Dutch, red. Those are dog names. if you have a child with you, earmuffs, pause. Can I tell you guys something that I'm just realizing? Let me double check something just to make sure my memory's not wrong.

When did that little John come out, song come out? All that skeet, skeet, skeet, skeet, skeet, skeet, skeet, skeet, double check my memory here. Yep, 2004. That song is how I learned about the concept of ejaculation. You can't just, you can't drop that at minutes. I was nine. I was listening to a Chris Rock joke.

Oh my God. Ah, skeet, skeet, skeet, skeet. And Chris Rock explaining the song is how I was like, I put all the pieces together. Did you say that was a seminal moment in your life? Did you? That's how I put all the pieces together. I was like, oh.

Did you take that to your parents, to your friends? Like, how did you like confirm that information? I took that shit to the grave. You've never mentioned that before. Right now. I buried that from right now. Ah, skeet, skeet, skeet. You learn a lot from music, you know?

Yeah, it really do. We don't talk about that. I do email us if you have stories about like how you how you discovered something but it was through pop culture music movies TV like basically like an important fact or something you know explicit that you learned and that you ingested through media that you did not learn through like a friend a parent or a textbook email us ringer fantasy football at gmo.com I told you guys that when austin power's gold member the joke that Dr. Evil has three balls I thought I was supposed to have three balls. Hell yeah. Don't you guys that he's like one two three. I was like one two like oh shit. I'm missing one.

I kept searching. I was like, oh my God. I was like, hey. I was like, this is a huge problem. Oh, my God. Anyway. I love the idea of little hyphids learning about sex through like rap music and stuff. He was specifically Chris Rock explaining this song.

Did you guys ever hear the song, put it in your mouth? Put it in your mouth. No. All the old millennials know what I'm talking about. Old heads will know. All the geriatric millennials. Also, I'm realizing it's kind of meta that like someone somewhere is going to be with their children and I'm going to continue the cycle and tell their children.

Someone's going to learn about that for me. They'll just email saying my kid found out that right now. They're going to find out some point. Have you ever heard of the internet? Can we go back in time, Carlos? And I'm just going to say this right now. If you have a child with you, earmuffs, pause. And you can cut that, put it there earlier.

It's easy. Full interstellar come back around and be like Matthew McConaughey and be like, boom, prevent that from happening to your children. But like the word skeet is such an ambiguous word. Like if you're a parent, you can easily lie. Like can't you just say like that means anything else? Yeah, but I said the concept of ejaculation. But even that, no one knows what that probably means either. A seven-year-old doesn't know that word.

I would think. I don't know. I'm trying to figure out if it was put it in your mouth or put it in my mouth. I think it was put it in my mouth. The song is called Put It in Your Mouth. But I'm pretty sure she says put it in my mouth. Could be, yeah. I'm going to have to listen to this after the show.

Smith, Rien, Spangled. Spangled. I literally Googled it, which was probably not a great idea. Like, let's try to use spangled in another sentence. Like, would you say you spangle your Christmas tree with decorations? You could probably use it in connection with skeeting. Oh, Jesus God. God.

Poor parents driving their cars right now. How do you think the flag got like that, Craig? What was Betsy up to? Oh, my God. You guys know the, you know, there was like a meme on TikTok and Twitter or on Instagram for like a hot minute where it was like people were at women were asking their husband to name a woman. And the first one person that they could think of. I think I saw someone that said Betsy Ross. And they're like, what the fuck?

Haven't you seen that? There's a Billy on the street. You know that Billy Eichner? Or he just runs up to people and yells things out of them. There was one where he just yelled at a guy to name a woman. The guy couldn't do it. He's like, name a woman. Any woman, name a woman.

The guy was just like, ah, he was like a minute. He was like, name a woman. Any woman. Any woman. All right. We should probably go. Yeah. You've done enough.

Email us at Ringerfancy Football at gmail.com. If you want the crescendo, let us know. Email us for your fantasy football at Gmail. For what are we doing here? Oh, things you learned from pop culture that you were, are we doing like you were too young? But like naughty things. Yeah, like things you weren't supposed to know yet

that you learned from like music movies. Okay. But like naughty things. From the rap music. I'm not alone with the little John. thing. Oh, no, for sure. I think it's great. There are dozens of us. Emails, whatever

the other thing we said earlier in emails, I don't remember. Oh, Smith. I have the list. Smith of Regan. Do you guys want the long episode already? You should want me to keep going? No. I think we've overstated. We've accomplished all we could accomplish. Thank you, D.K., thank you, Craig.

Thank you, Carlos, for producing this episode. Carlos, I'm sorry about the thought. Well, you're actually still in the playoffs, so you're fine. Thank you, Lorne. Lord. Thank you, little John. genuinely, thank you. From the bottom of my heart. You are a gentleman and a scholar, thank you. From the window.

Is it, it's to the window? To the wall. To the windows to the wall. I do have very vivid memories of like being at house parties in college and that was playing. Some very good memories. That was a real banger. What year did you say it was 2004? Yeah, it was in college.

Yeah, that checks out. DK, good luck tomorrow. National Championship, man, Washington. yeah, it's gonna be sick. I just wrote an article about Michael Panic, so check that out on the ringer.com. We'll plug, you know. I don't know what to the window to the wall actually means. Dude, nine-year-old Danny had no idea either.

Is there like, is that a euphemism for something? It's like the whole room. To the window to the wall? Yeah, I think it's, I think it's the, everyone in the room is how I interpret. I think this is the whitest genre of anything is white guys trying to interpret rap lyrics. is like the pants is like the whitest thing that exists. I just think it rhymed.

Dude, that's just like the backstreet boys. I think they need something to write. What do you think? Tell the sweat dropped down my balls means, Craig. Well, see, I think they were like, that's the line, right? They're like, that's the banger line. We need something to rhyme with that.

Yeah. And they were like, how about to the window to the wall? Fuck it. That makes enough sense, I guess. Goodbye, everyone. Must be 21 plus and present in select states. Fandul is offering online sports wagering in Kansas under an agreement with Kansas Star Casino, LLC.

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