The Ringer NFL Show - He’s Baaaack… We’re Excited For Aaron Rodgers’ Return (Ep. 202)

Episode Date: December 15, 2017

The Ringer’s Robert Mays and Kevin Clark get you set for Week 15, including why the Patriots need to win more than the Steelers do Sunday (05:30), how Aaron Rodgers's return could lead to a Super Bowl appearance for Green Bay (14:00), and how the Rams will lock up the NFC West against the Seahawks this week (22:00). Then, the guys lay out the Chargers' path to a home playoff game (29:15) and explain why Blake Bortles deserves a contract extension in Jacksonville (33:00). Plus, Danny Kelly joins the show to answer your fantasy football questions (40:00) and reveals a Jaguars receiver that could win you your playoff matchup (53:45). Finally, the guys discuss how this is the year a non-QB could win the MVP, and explain why that player should be Antonio Brown (55:45). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Ringer NFL show on the Ringer Podcast Network. Hey, if you haven't already, check out all of the great podcasts we have here at the Ringer. There are so many. Of course, we have the Bill Simmons podcast, which has been one of my favorite podcasts since before he was my boss. We've also got against all odds with Cousin Sal, which is hilarious and a highly entertaining podcast that focuses on gambling, not just sports, but also pop culture. We have the Masked Man show. It's our weekly pro-russling pod hosted by the Maskman himself, David Shoemaker. We have tons of other sports podcasts as well during our ambiation.

focus is on, you guessed it, basketball, a bunch of great people in that rotation. I've been on it. Oh, yeah. See, I have not. So thank you. As the Bulls continue their hot streak, maybe they'll let me out. The Magic were the early season darling. So I had to be on to talk about how good Jonathan Simmons was.

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and Tate Frazier. We also have a soccer podcast called Werner FC that I was on last summer and then just wasn't invited back despite me being a soccer genius. That makes a lot of sense, actually. Or if you're into TV, movies, and music, and everyone is into at least one of those things. We've got The Watch hosted by Andy Greenwald and Chris Ryan. They chatted about The Last Jedi this week, which I will be seeing shortly after we're done here. Speaking of Pop Culture Pods, we recently launched Binge Mode Weekly, coming off their success with

Binge Mode Game of Thrones, Mallory, Rub, and. and the King of Bits Jason Concepcion are back to break down whenever topics are obsessed in them at the moment, from shows and movies to books and sports. If you haven't already, check out all the great stuff we have waiting for you on the Ringer Podcast Network after listening to this show, of course. Okay, welcome to the Ringer NFL show, part of the Ringer Podcast Network. I'm Kevin Clark, joined today as always by Robert Mays.

Robert, it's week 15. There was a game last night. I watch most of it. It says banter about this game. I mean, Brock Osweiler, man, big day. Comes in off the bench, just drags the Broncos all the way to a win. I loved. They did win, right?

It doesn't matter. Patrick Smith, the Broncos public relations guy. Brock Osweiler joins Russell Wilson as the only quarterbacks this year with multiple pass and rush touchdowns of 18 plus yards in the same game. Look at that. I've always considered those two just very kind of spirits. Those throws were actually pretty impressive. Both of his touchdown passes the one to Latimer and then the one to Hireman down the middle. The Hireman throw was impressed by.

I was like, he'd sling that thing in there. Again, like, none of this matters. It's all going to come back to Earth very soon. I got to tell you, I don't find the Chuck Pagano era is not funny to me. No, I totally agree. You know how a lot of times there are like coaches who are equipped. about to get fired and it's just kind of funny. Yeah, like the entire Ben McAdourner.

John Fox is a good example. You have Fisher is a good example. The John Fox thing is funny for other people than it is for me, but I understand what you're coming from. I think it's really funny. I wrote about, I kind of did a weird thing this week where I wrote yearbook messages to all the teams that are out of it. And I was doing the Colts and I had the exact same thought where it's like none of this

is entertaining. I've not happy about anything. I've not had a good time with this. No. This season for the Colts is depressing. And I think the main reason that it's so depressing is that there's this kind of Andrew Luck Specter floating over it all. I mean, if they were just a bad football team, that's fine. But the fact that they're a bad football team in large part because their superstar quarterback is too hurt to play.

It's hard to get much entertainment out of that. I just Google John Fox to see what Foxy was up to. And I found the Chicago Tribune headline, find someone who looks at you the way John Fox looks at chances to make stupid challenges. Oh, that's great. that's the only thing that's funny about that to me. The challenge stuff has definitely become the entertaining part of this. It's very, I mean, like, yeah, the challenge stuff, the stupid comments in which he justifies. Like, he's obviously just not paying attention.

Oh, yeah. And so, and then he just makes up reasons. Barnwell and I wrote the same thing this week, like essentially the exact same thing. Yeah. And we both compared the bears to the Rams job last year. So I'm glad that someone outside of my. little Bears world who looks at them the exact same way because that makes me happy about where this might go.

Yeah, but it also reminds me of, you know, the Padgett Dodger treated this a couple weeks ago and I keep coming back to it, which is like, it's the same phenomenon with Fisher and Fox where they just seem so, so much hired to be fired that the whole era barely seemed real. Yeah, and it barely seems like it matters. Right. That's been the entire season this year is like, who cares? Who cares? It'll be over soon and then we will get to move forward with this.

John There's a road to roll out of life Bears lions on Saturday gets excited everybody there's a road over head live and says John Fox has

accepted his fate this is awesome like he's being walked to the guillotine or something I want it I want a one year extension for John Fox

this rules oh God all right let's move on no I loved it I love that went from Broncos Colts to John Fox

is accepted this fate it's all the same who cares we're getting into Aaron Rogers return in a Plus, we've been gathering your fans football questions on Twitter, and Danny Kelly will join us to tackle those.

But first, let's get to our favorite four. These are our top four matchups of the week. We're going to start with the big one. You know, last week, I don't know if you know this. Last week was a DVOA bowl. The Eagles and the Rams. The Eagles and the Rams, yeah. But this feels, I was shocked to learn this is not even particularly close to a DVA ball.

No, because the Steelers, yeah. The Steelers defense has taken a fall. The Patriots defense has been bad all season. But, I mean, you have two of the best offenses in football. No, I know. I just assumed that they'd ride at the ship enough. Yeah. I mean, they have not.

I mean, no, I know. I know. But still, it's number one and number three in offense, which, you know, I think that that's kind of the story of this game. It's the game of the year, you know, in all caps, trademark. And I wrote about it in a pretty straight down the middle way today, just previewing each side of the ball what I think will happen. Because I think it deserves that type of treatment.

And this is likely for the number one seat in the AFC. Yep. So I just feel like there'd be a lot of points, man. That's kind of my prediction. Like it's a clubberlang sort of thing, your prediction points. I don't know how either of these defenses, the way they're currently playing, are going to slow down these offenses. And I also think that it's just a terrible matchup.

I mean, the fact that the linebackers are the worst parts of these defenses, and you have the 17 running backs that catch passes for New England and Levy on Bell, that's a problem. Yeah. I don't know what to expect. I also know that it's funny to me that the Jaguars, I was playing on the playoff scenarios yesterday and all week, really, because it's extremely fun to do.

The Patriots are in play to not get the buy. And the Jaguars are in play to get the buy. So I think we're going to see a desperation from the Patriots team. We don't normally see in December around this time. I'm intrigued to see that because, you know, I think it would. wouldn't be the end of the world if the Patriots dropped to the third seed got probably the chiefs in the first round, a team they probably won a face again, and then play the Jaguars

on the road. I'm saying that's not the end of history for them, right? I don't think New England wants to go to Jacksonville. They also don't want to play on Wild Card Week, but I'm just... I would be to go to Jacksonville. My point, it gets shit thrown at you. Well, just a lot of things. It's too hot.

I don't want to go to Jacksonville. I understand it's too hot. I'm from Florida. Having said that, I mean, no, they don't want to do that. They don't want to play in Wild Card Week, and then they don't want to go on the road. So they want to win this game. I'm just saying if they don't win it,

it's not the end of the world. I think going to Pittsburgh in the AFC championship game is obviously the bigger issue. Yeah, because especially how well the Steelers play. Yeah. I mean, that's why I think Pittsburgh is so dangerous right now. Again, I said this, one thing when they beat Tennessee or maybe even before that,

it reminds me of Atlanta. I just think that if they can have that road, the entire way and they don't even need Air Rogers to knock off of Dallas. If they win this game, they kind of have the inside track and I really feel like the offense has kind of found itself. The Bell was not the

efficiency monster he was last year, but he's still going to get his touches in his yards. What Brown is doing is insane. You know, the Steelers, Brown doesn't always, I mean, he's going to have a tough time against New England because they have a good plan. Butler is going to be on him. They're going to bracket him every time. And I believe that

New England's going to dare, or Martavis Bryant and Juju Smith-Schuster to beat them. But that is a much worse proposition than daring Kobe Hamilton and Sammy Coates to beat you last year. I just think the Steelers are in such a better spot. Their defense worries me. I think that Sean Spence and Arthur Motes and Vince Williams against Dionne Lewis and James White and Rex Burkhead is a huge win for New England. And I think that Chris Hogan is going to score 60-yard touchdown on Sensible. Like I just feel like this is a 35-31 game, but I just feel better about where the Steelers are right now.

I think it's interesting. The Steelers are 10 and 2 when favored, but 5 and 7 against the spread. So I think that the, even though obviously the Patriots, we talk about the stewards, the stewards are not, that kind of opponent where, you know, they're not the Colts. But I think it's going to be a close game. And I think it's going to be really interesting to see what happens. I just, I kind of like Belichick here. I mean, I think this is a very Belichick game.

I agree. I just, I mean, yes. It's a matchup game. I mean, the only thing I can think of, you know, the Steelers, if you look at it from the macro sense, are maybe Belichick proof because they have so many weapons. There's so many ways they can go as to you. And that's my thing. Belichick, we know, will just take away what the team does best. And so let's assume that's Antonio Brown. The number one priority 100%.

Right. I mean, we know what they do with this. Right. I mean, they did the entire game last year. The Steelers are so dangerous on that throw where Brown threatens vertically and Lothsberger hits him coming back, just that it's kind of like a back shoulder throw, but somehow Brown turns all the way around because he's a freak. So they're going to take that away. Ball is just going to sit behind him and dare them to beat him over the top. But that becomes more difficult when you probably have to play two safeties because of Smith-Schuster and Bryant.

And then if you play two safeties, then Bell is going to run for 160 yards. So it just feels like there are more ways The Steelers can beat you now And I feel like that's why no matter how you game plan You're gonna allow them to have one of those things You know, it's interesting you talked about His ability to just turn around and catch ball whatever He has a huge cone of

I don't know I don't even know what you would call it a huge catch radius I guess For a small guy, it's unbelievable I've always had the theory And I've asked him about this and he sort of begrudgingly accepts So he's left handed Yeah, I've seen him throw And yeah and I kind of think that He's sort of ambidextrous, and O'Dell Beckham is the same way.

And I think that that's kind of an advantage no one ever talks about. Because if you're left-handed, you inevitably, I am a left-handed athlete, and you inevitably ended up doing a lot of, I just call myself a left-handed athlete, as opposed to a left-handed human being. But I'm a left-hand, excuse me, let me correct that. Don't cut that. Don't cut that. I'm a left-handed human being who's played athletics at a very, very, very low level.

But you end up doing right-handed things just by nature of people thinking you're right-handed and passing it. Also, you watch other people do things. And athletics is mostly about mimicking other people's movements when you learn something. Also, it's just like when someone throws you a football, they're not thinking that you're left-handed. They're just throwing you a football in the same way they'd throw anybody. You're supposed to catch football two hands, buddy. I'm an O'Dell type. Yeah, sounds right.

Anyway, I just think that being left-handed gives him a huge advantage because there's pretty much nowhere you can throw over his head that he's not going to be comfortable with standing. His ability to go get the ball at his height is just, I mean, for any size, it's impressive. But for his height, it's really unbelievable to watch. I just feel like this is the type of game that can be swung by one huge defensive play. And I feel better about the Steelers doing that because I just think they have more talent at front. The Patriots pass rush is non-existent. And when Rathusberger, so he's been pressured the least of any quarterback in the league for the last four games when he's been on his hot streak. He has 110 rating, 10 touchdowns, one interception.

I mean, when they are not people around his feet, he's really good right now. And the Steelers are, or the Patriots are not the team to do that. They're not going to bother him. And on the other side, you have Cam Hayward and Stefan Tewitt playing against maybe Cam Fleming because Marcus Cannon's on IR and Waddle's hurt. So I just feel like the matchups as we go down through all of them, there's one or two more in the Steelers column. And I think that this time at home, I just like them a little bit better.

I'm intrigued to see Brady against against the Steelers pass rush. I think it's obviously the biggest test of the season. I actually, by the way, as a football nerd, want to see Brady against his Jaguar's defense. Yeah, that would be fun. I think at some point if we could get that match, it would be great, but I do think this will be a rematch.

We'll see this game again. In the A.S. The two teams will play in the A. Without a doubt. But we can also see, we also see Jaguars Patriots in the second round. Oh, boy, that sounds fun. Probably will.

Packers of Panthers. Here we go. He's back. I loved Aaron Rogers being like, I'm not here to save the season, which is exactly what someone who's here to save the season would say. The first step towards saving the season is being the guy

who's saying, I'm not here to save the season. I absolutely loved McCarthy being like, we don't have any false confidence, you know, we don't, Aaron's a good football player, but we're not looking at this. I was like, Mike, stop. Stop this. Your team is terrible and you have the best quarterback alive.

You should have some false confidence right now because it's not false. It's totally reasonable to be excited right now. Stop this. We do not believe you. I was just talking to Megan Tresser about this yesterday. Wouldn't it suck to be Brett Hunley? You just have no idea if you're a good NFL quarterback and then you find out all at once. Yeah.

I mean, that's fair. But I don't really feel bad. I don't really care. I'm so excited to watch and play again. I know, obviously, that's separate from this. I think that I wrote this today on The Ringer.com. So, if Rogers makes the playoffs as a six-seat, I mean, or they could also, by the way, make a five-seat. Sure.

I mean, the NFC is sort of wide open. I know at this point, it's only 6% chances we've talked about. but I mean I kind of see a path Of course there's a path If they were on the table There's absolutely a path No no no no not to them making the playoffs

That that is obvious I'm talking about the Super Bowl man They absolutely could go to the Super Bowl They absolutely could go to the Super Bowl They it's What and they play the They play the Rams in the first round And they have 50,000 Packer fans in Los Angeles

They absolutely could And then all of a sudden Rams are a tough matchup for them just because I think the secondary is so garbage for Brun Bay. Sure. I think that the Rams will be able to throw around a little bit. If the Rams, if they draw the Rams, they can beat the Rams. And then you get into a situation where assuming that there's not a lower seed that wins,

they would play the wenseless Eagles. And then I, I mean, once you get into the, and let's assume, I'm not going to assume anything. The Eagles, the Eagles roster talent is really freaking good. But I would rather face the, one seed being the Eagles is a break for the Packers because I'd rather face the wenseless Eagles than go into the Superdome and face the Saints. If that's what's something that's going to happen.

And then I would also say that, and I don't know, by the way, this is me saying I don't know who's going to get the buy. I also wouldn't want to go into Minnesota. No. And also Minnesota is a bad matchup for them just because Thielan and Diggs are such a problem for Randall and Hawkins, whoever's playing corner for them. So I think that's the issue is that there aren't that many terrifying passing games. in the NFC.

You know, I think that the Wenseless Eagles, you know, Keenham can have a bad day, you know, that's always in play. You know, golf isn't necessarily bulletproof at this point.

You know, Breeze obviously scares you. But I think that a lot of these teams are not built that way. So they're not the worst match for this team. The worst thing for this team is a team that really can sling it around because the run defense is good. Their past defense is not good.

And then a really good defensive front. I just think that if you play the Eagles and you have to have Jason Sprigs or whoever dealing with Graham, you know, Lane Taylor dealing with Fletcher Cox, that's a problem. And I think we could see that this week. I mean, you have peppers working against Spriggs and Kow on Short inside. I think this is another game, even if Mario Addison gets blanked by Bactiari,

that the Panthers front floor can just take over. I honestly don't know the answer to this question. Is Jason Spriggs good? No. That's a tough. It's been a really big problem. That's a tough beat for me because he's one of these Uber athletes. He's a spark guy.

Yes, I know. He's been very poor. It may not be, I'm starting to think, and the Packers are learning on the job with me, that I don't think Spark works for offensive linemen. Yeah, it doesn't. You should do the exact opposite thing with offensive linemen. You should take really solid guys from programs that produce offensive linemen. Case in point, the Panthers left guard went undrafted.

I think that maybe you should do the thing, the Jimmy Johnson thing, where you just take defensive linemen who are too slow. That's a terrible idea. well it's it's it's worked that's a terrible idea it's worked that it went that may have worked like 20 years ago when you could practice 17 hours a day taking guys who don't know how to play offensive line and trying to teach them how to play offensive line is the exact the whole thing you should do now the whole thing you do is you move people who are too slow for the position to down a position I don't care about a safety to linebacker a linebacker that is that is true

that's totally fair but those are all forward moving position that are not learned skills. Taking a guy who's never played offensive line and trying to teach him a position that is 100% about technical aspects is a terrible idea. It's also the thing that's going to get Russell Wilson killed at some point.

Yeah, exactly. And that's the thing. On the other side of the ball, my favorite thing to watch in this game is Mike Daniels against Norwell. And Norwell is a guy who went undrafted, but he went to Ohio State, a program that has pumped out a ton

of really solid offensive linemen in recent years. and now he is going to get paid like a ton this offseason if he wants to so I mean that is a smart thing to do and it works by the way I just very very quickly did you see the John Ross thing where they're going to they try to convert him to cornerback that is also a terrible idea

that's a terrible corner also oh he's not they're concerned about his toughness Jesus how does that solve the problem yeah Deshawn Jackson is built like a linebacker guys this is ridiculous that team is I just can't even imagine like the decision I can't believe John Fox is

coaching that team too. Yeah, good. Andrew Whitworth is playing like real crap this year in L.A. The Bengals, the offensive line is great. Back to Packers' Panthers. Do you, what would you peg the odds at that the Packers have this three-game run? They have at the Panthers. They could do it. They had the Vikings

and then they have the Lions. I think this is a bad match for Carolina a little bit as well just because the Packers' wide receivers are a mismatch for them. And I think that we're going to see them show up more than we have recently. I mean, Jordan Nelson's been a lost man at this point because he really can't operate

with any other quarterback aside from Aaron Rogers right now because he gets no separation. But with Rogers, he doesn't need to get any separation. So I feel like, you know, we're going to see Jordan,

Jordy resurgeant here. Adams is playing ridiculous right now. So I think this passing game is going to, you know, kind of pick up where it left off with Rogers. I mean, that last game they played

was against Dallas and they ruined them. Yep. So, I mean, I think we're going to see a lot of that and it's bad for Carolina. The Minnesota match was tougher. I mean, I think that that's one of those games where they really have to just pitch a shutout on offense. I mean, they have to really play a perfect game against that Vikings team, I think to stick with them because I don't think their defense is going to be able to slow Minnesota down that much.

So it's tough, but again, I think he can do it. It would not shock me whatsoever. Mike McCarthy's job is going to get saved, isn't it? Yes, it is. I mean, again, for the 10 millionth time because Aaron Rogers is his quarterback, that's why this, we have no false. confidence bullshit is insane. It's amazing. Mike, you're not fooling anybody, man.

You don't do this. This is not your team. You barely beat the Browns. It's phenomenal. I just, the NFC is just so, is so weird to me. I have no, I'm, I'm ready for anything. Yeah, I am too. And again, the Packers are the Panthers can win this week. I mean, Carolina is without a doubt. I mean, they're nine and four. They're good. I mean, this is absolutely, that's what I'm getting at. I mean, it's not, this is not, this is not, I mean, all three of these games for the Packers are loseable games.

Yes, that is 100% true. All right, let's get to Ram Seahawks here. All right, Rams Seahawks, I mean, we had this earlier in the year. I still can't picture the Rams and the Seahawks playing without Jeff Fisher making it a 12 to 9 game. It's tough. Too many points last time. It's a new era. It's a new era.

I'm intrigued for this game because the Rams. Rams obviously lost last week, but put up a lot of points. And I mean, there hasn't been a lot of adversity with Los Angeles this year. They've been pretty consistently good all season. And so this is the game that I'm ready to watch. I feel like if the Seattle guys that are hurt, stay hurt, they're going to have a really hard time slowing the Rams down. If Bobby Wagner and KJ. Right, don't play in this game.

And you can add Cam Chancellor and Richard Sherman into that mix, then I just think that the Rams. too much on offense, especially because their guys are going to be back. I mean, it looks like Whitworth's going to play. It looks like Woods is going to play. I mean, the Rams are extremely healthy at the right time, and their offense is playing extremely well. I mean, I think that it's going to

be a tough road for the Seahawks if they have to play without those guys. It's a lot of smart people who think that the Seahawks are equipped to make a deep playoff front. I don't necessarily. I just worry about that. At the end of the day, at at some point, you've lost Richard Sherman and Cam

Chancellor when that matters. Yeah, I think that Wilson is like a Rogers light in a way. A light? You don't have to sell me on Russell Wilson. Yeah, I think the volatility is just there with him. I mean, the variance when he's your quarterback and the plays that he can make, I think, is a big thing. Again, I kind of like, I have to be honest with you, I kind of like this year in that regard. In the regard of we get to, I think we're finally starting to appreciate Russell Wilson.

Am I wrong about that? I didn't need this year. No, no, no, we didn't need. I said he was the best quarterback in the NFL coming into last year. I thought that his end of his 2015 season, the second half of that season showed everybody who pays attention how good he can be. But I feel like he was viewed as sort of a cog in the machine. He was always viewed as talented, obviously. But that team was so, and this actually extends a bit to what Richard Sherman and I talked about a couple weeks ago.

which was, you know, no one on the Seahawks gets their due credit, on the Seahawks defense gets their due credit because of all the other talent on the Seahawks defense. I almost feel like the same can be said about the offense. People just view the Seahawks as this, you know, efficient machine. And they don't. They don't, right. I totally agree with you.

And they don't really value the individual pieces. Russell Wilson is an incredible individual player. And that's what's exciting. to watch in a lot of ways. And that's why I'm glad that he's an MVP candidate at this point. I think it's people kind of misconstrue who the Seahawks are because the players are all the same. No, that's what I'm talking about. Yeah.

I mean, it's not just that they don't get enough credit because of the guys around them. It's that the credit has shifted very subtly over the years. Right. So, I mean, this is what year six of Russell Wilson. So we've had that iteration of the Seahawks. It was all zone running. Russell Wilson zone or read option plays with Marshall on Lins just really pounding the ball.

They were first or second rushing attempts for Wilson's rookie year. Them in San Francisco really leaned on that kind of stuff. And it was deep shots off of that. And then as we kind of got a little bit later on, you have more passing, but still a similar offensive infrastructure. And then when you had that 2015 season, it was a lot of spread it out,

four receivers, really quick timing routes, so letting what Russell Wilson play point guard a little bit. And then this year, I think it's been Russell, I think last year as well, was Russell Wilson runs for his life and does some cool stuff with Doug Baldwin and then throws the ball to Jimmy Graham in the end zone. So there's been different kind of versions of the Seahawks. And the same thing is true on defense.

You know, we had the Legion of Boom era where it was all just physically manhandling receivers, pushing them out of bounds essentially and letting them go to work in that way. You know, the first season of the Seahawks defense when they were really, really good, Michael Bennett and Cliff Averland start. Yep. You know, this was a Red Bryant, Chris Clemon's situation. They weren't this past rush monster. And then I think for a year or two there, that's kind of what they turned into. It was more about penetration and bothering quarterbacks than it was the secondary stifling them. And then now it's just kind of a weird middle ground where Bobby Wagner is the best player in the defense.

They're blitzing more. So it's weird how it's kind of all shifted in subtle ways over the last five years. And I think that's why the Seahawks are sometimes hard to pin down. Yeah, the comparison I've made on the show is to Dave Grohl with Ryan. Wilson, which was you're playing a different role and you're just immediately awesome and everyone starts to appreciate you as soon as they realize that you played both roles. He is obviously from being a rookie starter on a team with Super Bowl aspirations and then making the Super Bowl in your second year, you're going to have a different role, especially when you have Marshawn Lynch

back there, especially when they tried a couple of things on offense early that was really interesting. You know, they traded for Percy Harvin. They tried to make it that sort of offense. And so it's been really interesting to me to see the evolution of specifically Russell Wilson. I think the world of him. I think he's awesome. I totally agree. But I think those are the best NFL teams, right? I mean, the Patriots have been a different sort of team a hundred different times.

I mean, if you look at what they are now, it's fascinating. You know, I wrote before the season that I thought the smart teams would get big now because of the way the defenses were going. The Patriots used 21 personnel with a fullback 27% of the time. that is like twice as much as any other team in the league. They are different every single year because they are two steps ahead of everybody else. And the Seahawks having been quite that, but they've understood that you have to change

in order to stay one step ahead of other teams. It's just about not to get too money ball on us, but it's just about inefficiencies. You know, one of the things that Belichick has talked about that I've found interesting is that the way they draft and sign just changes based on what they see in the market. And so,

And then that changes their scheme. So they were a 3-4 team. Then they realized outside guys in the 3-4 were really, really expensive. And they said, okay, well, we're just going to be a 4-3 team now. Yeah. Right, exactly. And this was, you know, 10 years ago. There was a, what was it?

There was after the lockout, they, I want to say that they were a 4-3 team in two. I don't want to get this wrong, but I think they switched their scheme because Belichick thought that it would be too hard for them to learn a more complicated offense after the lockout. That's fair, but they were also able to use three, four stuff, though. It didn't matter how many guys there were. It mattered that you could two gap with Vince Wilfork. That was kind of the thing. No, I understand that.

But what I'm saying is who thinks like that. I mean, Belichick, that's why you. Exactly. That's what I'm saying. It gets in the situation where it's like, you think John Fox and Jeff Fisher sitting there saying, we may tweak our defense so that it's easy. easier to learn after the lockout? Probably not. That's why they won't have jobs by the end of this year.

All right. Enough of that. Let's move on. Chargers at Chiefs. I mean, I love the Chargers in this one again. I think I'm not, this should be surprised to anyone. They're so hot right now. I was watching that game against Washington again, and God, Rivers is just in a zone. I mean, that passing game has been so impressive right now, just in the last couple weeks. Henry seems to have found his kind of little niche.

Keenan Allen is roasting everyone. I just think that they're going to be able to sling it all around the field on tomorrow, which is funny. Yes. This is going to determine so much in my mind about the AFC playoffs. Are the Chiefs even an entity that anybody should be worried about? I'm intrigued to find out on Sunday. Are the Chargers going to be so hot that a team like, you know,

anybody in the AFC, I mean, there's a chance that the, it's not a huge chance. There's a chance that Jaguars have to go on the road and play the Chargers at Steubhubh. No one wants to play the Chargers. especially in that weird stadium. I mean, just period. No one wants to play the Chargers. I mean, that is just, it's not going to be a fun matchup.

Rivers is playing so well. And the line is playing much better than I thought they would this year. I mean, the fact that they've kept him so clean, he's been sacked less than any quarterback in the league. I mean, that was their biggest issue over the last couple seasons. I just feel like they've really found their groove right now. And Kansas City is a bad matchup. The Kansas State defense is just kind of outmanned here.

Because the one thing the charges don't do very well is run the ball. Anyone can run the ball on the Chiefs at this point. They have the second worst run defense in the league by DVOA. And then on the other side of the ball, the one thing I'll say that the Chiefs can probably do, especially after how well they ran it last week. The Chargers run defense is lacking a little bit. It's the thing they do the worst of anything. So I feel like if the Chiefs kind of can line up and Cream Hunt get something going,

they'll have a chance. But I still just feel like the way the Chargers are playing right now, they're going to be a really big problem. I can't. I have no idea what to expect out of the chiefs. None. Because at some point, at some point they,

they can't be this bad, right? Their defense is this bad, I think. God. I think their offense still has enough. Again, I think that if they start running the ball a little bit,

you know, that offense will open up. And they have stuff. Kelsey's so good. But I just think the top to bottom. The church is really tough right now, man. I mean, they have so few weaknesses.

And again, I think that you can run the ball on them a little bit. But outside of that, I just, just think that they're going to be a really big problem for a lot of teams. The Raiders, by the way, are not. I'm just looking at the chief schedule. The Raiders are not eliminated from playoff contention.

That would be the funniest possible outcome. Good Lord. The Raiders sneaking in. The Chargers are seventh and a weighted defensive DVO. Yeah. I mean, they're getting better every single week. They have really settled in. And it's kind of funny because with the Rams, you know, it was this instantaneous thing.

New coaches come in, guys really get their roles quickly, understand what they're supposed to be doing, hit the ground running. and that doesn't always happen. You know, the Chargers had the same kind of turnover. The Rams also spent a lot of money on veteran free agents. Yeah, that's fair. But the Chargers spent some money as well. I mean, Russell Okun doesn't come cheap.

They had a lot of guys. Andrew Woodhouse is better. Andrew Woodhouse is better than Russell. 100%. But pass protection was not the Chargers problem early in the C-Sid. No, I understand. I mean, the defense was really the issue. They were not playing well.

And those guys have really settled in. So I just feel like, you know, obviously they're getting hot at the right time in terms of wins and losses. But if you look at the numbers beyond all of that, I mean, this team really has taken some leaps over the last month. I love this team. I love this Chargers team. Me too. I love to go ahead in season. I want a home playoff game so badly.

Yeah. Hey, I'm with you. And I think they're going to win this weekend. And I think we're going to get one step closer. All right. Hotest take, I actually kind of believe it was a couple stories out this week. that Blake Bordel should just remain the Jaguars quarterback next year. No one thinks it's going to happen.

I think maybe it should happen. Just for one more year. Just for one more year. inertia is such an incredible thing. I mean, it's unbelievable how... I think it's funny. I think whatever is happening right now is working for me. Do you know how much money Blake Bortles is set to make next year?

19 million, right? Yeah. Do you know how much money the Jaguars would save if they cut Blake Bortles? What's the answer? All of it. Yeah. No, it's a fifth year option. Yes, so none of his money is guaranteed.

If they cut him before the season, they get $19 million in cap space. Guess who needs $19 million in cap space? The Jacksonville Jaguars who are paying their defense, the GDP of a small nation. I'm all right with it. Bring them back. Oh, God. That's such a terrible idea. It's the best idea I've ever had.

Bring them back. It's irresponsible in like 17 different levels. Bring them back. I want Blake Bortals another Super Bowl run for Blake Bortals. Tom Coughlin will be ejected from the good old boys club if he does this. That's actually, I don't actually know if that's true. Because I feel like the good old boys argument here is he made the playoffs. He's a winning quarterback wins is a very good old boys statistic.

True, because Tom does come from the Eli Manning School of quarterback. Yeah, you win a Super Bowl and you get it. You're just in. You're in for life. Yeah. This is great. This is the best story I've ever read. I know.

It's a ESPN story outlining why they should bring them back. Yeah, I can't do that. I love it. I'm in. I can't play that game? I will say. Can I say something? All I care, I don't care.

I don't care about the Jaguars. I don't care about the Chargers. I don't care about the Seahawks. All I want is an entertaining NFL league. And the only thing I can think of that would make the Jaguars more entertaining next year is if Blake Bortals comes back. Blake Bortals is Blake Bordell's

on that team with almost a perfectly constructed defense creates incredibly entertaining games. Yeah, it does. And they really, you have to give them so much credit because their plan and just kind of their trajectory was we're going to have the best defense in football

with the money we've spent in the players we've chosen and we just need an offense that is average. They have the best defense in football and their offense is ranked 16th in DVOA. It is the exact recipe for a playoff team. One of the reasons that ESPN says that

they shouldn't bring him back as a pro and con is he hasn't proved he can consistently win games late. When is he exactly... I can't do this anymore. When exactly has he proved he can consistently win games at any point in the game? Exactly.

I don't, he said like four random games this year. We're getting into clutch with Blake Bortles. I love it. Blake Bortles isn't Kobe. I love it. I love it. Bring him back. Bring him back.

Run it back. God. All right, Mays. So let's get to what are we missing? I'm going to go with the Eagles offense with Nick, with Nick Foles under center. I think that this is not an intriguing game because the giants are terrible. But I think that we want,

I want to see what Philly looks like with Foles. And I think there are a couple different things that are interesting to me here. One, do we see as many run-pass options? Do we see as much play action? I think that Foles was at his best when there was a lot of that in the offense. You know, that's what Chip Kelly did. The Eagles run a ton of play action. But are they going to make him process as much stuff post-snap as they did with Wents?

Because that's a huge mental ask of your quarterback. And it's just a malleability thing. I don't know if Foles has that. We saw a lot of play action late in the game last week. But again, that's the Carson-Wenz game plan. You're not going to change midstream. So I feel like when they're both. building it around foals, I'll be curious to see what kind of splits we have there.

Two, does the offensive line and their deficiencies at certain positions show up with foals in there in the way that didn't with Wentz? So we have, you know, the giant defense is terrible, but Olivia Vernon is a good player. So what does Olivia Vernon look like against Vitai when you don't have Wentz in there to kind of shrug off defenders, extend plays with his legs, all that kind of stuff? So do we start to see some of the seams in this offense even against, a bad Giants defense with foals in there. I feel like the end product, even against a garbage team,

is worth paying attention to. Sure. I think it's going to be tough to gauge anything this particular week. I agree. It's more just about approach to me. Yeah, no, of course. Of course. I just, I think that there's going to be better opportunities. I mean, the Giants. Did you see the

Lanning Collins, Eli, Apple thing this week? It's unbelievable. Every single member of the Giants secondary has been embroiled in some controversy this year. Every single one. Here's one of the issues for the Eagles at this point. They have the Giants this week. The next week they have the Raiders, and I have no idea what's going on with them.

And then they have the Cowboys who may or may not care in week 17, right? So they don't really get a true test of what Nick Foles is until... They go 14 and 2. No, I understand that, but what I'm saying is that they may not have a real grasp on what they can do with Nick Foles because they're not going to play a truly good defense. Yeah, you're right. No, I think that's totally fair.

I'm at something to keep an eye on. And that's something that also could benefit them because I don't know if the team they play in the divisional round will have a grasp on it either. You never know. There's a better than average. I mean, pretty much every team that can make the playoffs in the NFC, Carolina and New Orleans, except Atlanta,

the only team that isn't is Atlanta has a top 10 defense. Carolina, New Orleans, the Rams, and Minnesota. I mean, they're really good defenses. They're not going to be able to be able to walk over anybody unless Green Bay or Atlanta steals that wildcard spot. Yep. All right. Coming up, Danny Kelly is here to answer your fantasy football playoff questions. Plus, we're going to put on our visionary hats and tell you what next week's biggest headlines will be. That's coming up on the Ringer NFL show, part of the Ringer

podcast network. Robert, the holidays are very close at this point? We have our Ringer holiday party tonight. Actually, are you flying in for it? I wish I could, man. So a little too much coin for me at this point in the year. You should see what the Uber costs. Perhaps if you were the type to bet on sports, you'd have some extra cash to fire up a flight out here for the festivities. That's true. And if I were the type to bet on sports, I would use MyBooky.

They have every imaginable betting option and super fast payouts when you win. Yeah, MyBooky is the only site we recommend. They have odds on every matchup. And that mobile site, Robert, it's really something else. Best in the business. And check it out. You can get a 50% match on any deposit you make if you use our promo code, Ringer NFL. Get with it.

Check out my bookie.ag today. You play, you win, you get paid. All right, time to welcome in Danny, Dan or Kelly, our fantasy football god. Danny, how are you, bud? Hey, I'm doing great. How are you guys? Doing well, buddy. Excited to talk fantasy.

All right. This was fun. We got people asking questions on Twitter. I like that. Yeah. Thanks for the participation, guys. The hype around D.K.'s Dark Night right now. And Danny's fantasy persona in general, it's just reached a fever pitch.

excited about this. All right. I'm serious. All right, we get a lot of tweets about your fantasy segment, Danny. So today we thought we'd have some fans, sending some questions, as we said. We're going to rattle off a six pack of those. You fired up? Yeah, let's do this. I'm excited. First off, Ginger Nick, he tweeted, what is the most likely performance we see out of Kareem Hunt in week 15 and why? Well, I think he's actually due to have a pretty big game. I mean, that's kind of been the story with him all year. It's like, oh, when's he going to finally break back out? He had over 100 yards last week and kind of finally looked like the guy we saw

in the beginning of the year. He's never really, to me, he's never really changed that much. I think his blocking got a little bit worse. They stopped using him quite as much and they just never were really getting into the red zone. So his fantasy numbers definitely dropped a lot. But against the Chargers, that's really good pass defense. I think if they're smart, the chiefs will kind of lean on hunt, you know, in the ground

game, the Chargers run defense is probably their vulnerability. And actually, they've been not great against running backs in the passing game as well. So if they're smart, I think that they'll lean on hunt. He could have a big game. I mean, he's been my guy all year. I've never really gone away from him. He's a high floor guy. I think he's only had two games this whole year with less than 10 points in PBR.

So I mean, obviously, that's not what you want out of one of your starters, just, you know, like a 10 point game. but at worst, he's a low floor, a high floor guy. Yeah, the Chargers defense is really good, but that's the area where they're weakest. I think that if you look at the entire Chargers roster, their worst spot is linebacker. I mean, their offense has some holes as well, but there's injuries there.

I mean, impairment, even at his best, is it more of a thumper than he is somebody to stick with a Kareem hunting space. So, I mean, this is a game where he's going to get a ton of touches. Absolutely. I mean, the one factor is I saw Casey Hayward is maybe, you know, he's up and he's potentially not going to play. I don't know what the status is right now. He's been nagging all year.

He'll play. Okay, good. So, yeah, I still think, yeah, that's the way you attack this team. I mean, are you going to go after Hayward? Are you going to go after their biggest vulnerability? I mean, I think it just logically speaking. And Desmond King has been amazing for them. Their secondary is stocked with guys.

Yeah, absolutely. So that's my thinking. I mean, if I've had them all year, I'm rolling with him too. So that's my thinking. All right, number two here, Danny. Kenny Doyle asked, should I bench DeAndre Hopkins against the Jaguar's secondary? So the question essentially here,

is New Hopkins matchup proof at this point? I think he is. I mean, if you look at, okay, first of all, he's seen 34. 34.7% of Houston's targets.

That's the highest market share in the league for a receiver. And, I mean, if you watch him every week, he just makes the most incredible catches. It's crazy. He's matchup proof. And he also seems to be almost,

quarterback like indifferent like it just doesn't really matter um i actually think t jates could you know offer maybe even a little bit higher upside than tom savage we'll see um this is obviously a tough match up against the jaguar's secondary that's been extremely good all year but you can see that you can see the texans falling behind you could see the jags um you know you making it so they have to pass basically they're going to have to pass to catch up and i think that it just the volume is always going to be there for hopkins and so So it's something you can rely on. Now, I saw Kenny on Twitter.

He was talking about how he had a couple of other really good options to go with. So that's another story. But for most teams, I think, you know, if you've leaned on Hopkins all year, and we'll talk about this later. But if you've leaned on them all year, it's not a time to go away from him at this point. I totally agree. You shouldn't get cute.

I mean, volume is such a huge thing for wide receivers. He's 148 targets. Only Antonio Brown is more. The interesting thing to me is that against these types of teams, we see this with, last show, Julio was like this against Seattle. They put him in a slot. The Hopkins just doesn't do that. Only 15.5% of his snaps have come in the slot.

He only has 15 slot targets on the year of 148. He never goes in there. So if you're thinking maybe they'll try to get him on Aaron Colvin a little bit more. That's just not something the Texans typically do. It just, yeah, and it just hasn't really matter because he's so physical. I mean, he's like the master of the sideline catch. Like he just always knows where the sideline is. He doesn't need to be open.

That's the biggest thing. What's that? He doesn't need to be open. You just throw him the ball. Exactly. Yeah. So, I don't know. He's got to you this far.

I would lean on him for the rest of the way out. I mean, he's just so damn good. It's a shame that the team isn't better because, I mean, he's just one of the most exciting players in the NFL, and he's one of the best players. So, yeah, go with him. Speaking of the Jaguars, Danny, don't you agree that for entertainment purposes,

they should bring Blake Bortals back? Long term, yeah. They should give them a mega contract. Like one of those like $200 million deals. All right. I assume you agree with me. Yes. Yeah, of course.

My silence was... Next up, Aza Adam asked, and this is a pretty open and shut thing. Is it ethical to pick up guys with zero intention of starting, but to block others from using them? Of course it is. What do you think, Danny? I think, okay, well, there's several... There's two different, like, scenarios that all the lay out here. For one, I actually...

think it's fine and this is like sort of of those all's fair and love and war type of thing it's fine if your opponent like needs a receiver or he has like three injuries that receiver say and you pick up like you know the top guy on the waiver wire even if you don't plan to play him just because you want to take away from your opponent I think

that's fine I don't know what the general theory ethics wise is on that but I would 100% agree with you now if you're like just a butt hurt guy who's like in the in the playoffs and you're just trying to hurt everybody who's in the playoffs and then you go and pick up of the best guys on the waivers, like that is, that's stupid.

Are you saying if it's a non-playoff team? What's that? If it's a non-playoff participant? Right. Yeah, like if you're just trying to troll. That's just dumb. That's just like, that's just mean-spirited. Yeah, exactly.

I'm talking about if you're actually playing the game still. Yeah. The one thing. I mean, that's what Bell, I mean, that's what those, the NFL is based on guys signing guys to block them from other teams. That's the entire, the entire four or five. guys in the bottom of the roster. That's all that is.

The one thing I think is unacceptable is if your, like if your guy has a kicker on a buy, which this isn't a problem now, obviously. But if you, the guys in Miley used to pick up and drop every single kicker so they weren't available till next week's waivers. So guys, if they happen to have a kicker on a buy,

couldn't pick them up. That is not okay. And we've disallowed that from happening now. Robert, who are your friends? They're asking. We keep talking about Robert's friends on this show. They're worried about them. They're not good guys.

I will say, I think, before we stop for that question, I do think part of this is like, well, part of the reason I like it is because for a lot of leagues, it's like you're playing the waiver wire, the waiver wire order, you know, whatever, and then the free agent auction budget come into play there. So there is strategy with all that. Like, if you have a lot of auction budget left at this late in the year, like you might as well utilize it.

That's kind of what I'm getting at. But again, if you're just doing it to troll the people who are in the playoffs, like, that's dumb, you should get kicked out early for that. Yeah, I agree. All right. Sergio B. Jordan wants to know, why are most people assuming Aaron Rock Rogers is going to come back and still be Aaron Rogers. I don't get it.

I do get it, Danny. I'm going to throw this back to you, Robert, so maybe you can give me a giff of a fire breathing dragon waking up or something like that? I mean, I already did that this week. To me, it's like, I mean, there's obviously the fear that he'll be a little bit of rusty or whatever. But this is Aaron Rogers, we're talking about. He's been practicing for a couple weeks, I think. He's probably been throwing, you know, he's locked in mentally. He's been there the whole time.

just to me, odds are much higher that he'll be the same guy, like the fire-breathing dragon that haunts maize in his dreams. So I actually also think that Rogers is as smart and thoughtful a guy as

there is in the NFL. I'm not saying he wouldn't play, he's a very competitive guy and wants to come back, but he's also going to be very smart with his injury. Yes. And I think that if he can come back and is coming back, it's because he's ready to be Aaron Rogers again. Right. Yeah.

He's Aaron Rogers. The other thing that's interesting about this Rogers thing is it makes Jordy Nelson fantasy relevant again. I don't know if you guys talked about this already, but Roger had a funny comment. They were talking about Jordy Nelson's like, I know there's a lot of juice left in 87. I'd like to fill that up this week. Yeah, he's going to be fine. We were talking about this earlier.

He's the, Roger's the only quarterback that he can play with now because he runs a 5-3-40. But it does work with Rogers. It's going to be fine. Yeah, just put it in the back corner of the end zone. He can get it. Exactly. To touchdowns.

Richard Sherman wrote another article for the Players Tribune. Yeah. He's the most prolific football writer on the planet right now. I wrote three times this week. He wrote more. All right.

He's a blogger now. Richard, we're really going to need your look at the Packers' playoff hopes. Okay. Number five. At Jason Renner. tweeted, now that Josh McCown is knocked

out for the year, which is really kind of a bummer from football perspective. Yeah, he just played really well. Do Jermaine Curse and Robbie Anderson lose their fantasy football value, Danny? I mean, I think like on the surface it feels it's pretty scary. I mean, Bryce Petty went, what, like two for nine last week

when he came in? He is not good. That's bad, but at the same time, if you look at the history, and I saw this, Fantasy Labs, Adam Levitton pointed this out, and I've seen it from a couple of people, like, Petty and Anderson, Bryce Petty and Anderson, Robbie Anderson, that is.

They have a ton of chemistry on field in terms of some of their history. When Robbie Anderson was breaking out in the preseason last year, it was with Petty at quarterback. And then in a couple games late in the year last season, Anderson had some big games with Petty under center. So those two have a pretty good connection. So I think you can still consider Anderson, like a flex option if you need him. Against the Saints, obviously it's a really tough matchup.

They got a really good secondary, and obviously, Marshawn Ladamore is probably going to be back in full speed and all that. So that's bad. But, I mean, just, again, it's a volume game, and the Jets are probably going to be behind. They're probably going to be passing a bunch. And Anderson's their best target. Now, I don't feel as confident about Curse. Curse has been like a boom-buss guy all year. So to me, if you have another option, I'd probably go with somebody else just because, you know, we just don't really know.

what kind of connection curse and petty have, if anything, you know? And I think curse was like that guy that McCown leaned on because he's a veteran. You know, he knows he's going to be where he needs to be and all that. But this is just a huge unknown. So it's a big risk. All right, Danny. Our sixth and final question, Gavin Smith tweeted, are you a believer in riding with the guys who got you to the playoffs?

Ooh. Or playing your bench shoes with good matchups. This is a great question. I'm curious what you think, Danny. This is, yeah, this is like the philosophical. This is getting philosophical here. Not to be like a fence sitter or whatever, but it depends, obviously, who you got on your bench.

Generally speaking, I'm a huge proponent of, like, writing the guys that got you there. Like, I mean, especially in non-DFS leagues where you, you know, you have a, you draft a team, and then you kind of go with them the rest of the year. You pick up guys on waivers and all that. But, I mean, you got to go with the guys that got you there, like the big volume guys and, you know,

the guys that score points, generally speaking every week. Now, if you do have a good matchup, one of your guys in their flex position, maybe you want to stream a quarterback because he has a better matchup or one of your tight ends just because the tight end spot

is generally a wasteland this year. I get that, but for me, just go with the guys that got you there. Go with the guys that are going to get volume and hope for the best because if you get too cute with matchups and all that,

it can really be a depressing way to lose. Yeah, exactly. And also, like, fantasy football is supposed to be fun. Like, you've watched these guys all, year do this for you. If you're at this point in the season, you know, I'm sure you've had a pretty stable roster for most of this season. It's more fun to win with the guys you've won with all year. I mean, it's, you have, you find a rooting interest and you create just like an interest in these players and rooting for a different guy in week 15 just is a bummer. Yeah, one of the questions

we had actually that we didn't get to, but it, it applies to this is one guy asked, how do I have a team with nine guys in the top 10 of their position and lose in the first round? I'm like, That is... That's just fantasy football there. That's what you do. Like, sometimes fantasy football is crazy. Sometimes it doesn't work out. But, I mean, yeah, I mean, it was not like I would advise him to, like, switch up his lineup.

You got guys in the top 10 for a reason, like, roll with them. So that's kind of, that's my philosophy with that. The best team is not always winning in fantasy football. I mean, it's very clear. I mean, it's really a crap shoot at the end. Yeah, definitely. Danny, let's cue the music. All right.

Who was your dark night? of week 15. D.D. Westbrook for the Jaguars. Yes. A ton of work. Oh, yeah. Going up against Houston. That looks like a good matchup for them.

And believe it or not, Blake Bortles is in the zone. I mean, you guys talked about it. Like, he actually looks really good. He's hitting open receivers. He's making tight window throws. He's playing confident. I just think, if you look at the target distribution,

I saw this staff from Mike Clay on Twitter, Westbrook has seen 27% of the target share for the Jags offense since he came in. He's got 33 targets in the last four games. Like he's just, he's kind of emerged as almost like their number one guy at this point. I mean, obviously Marquis Lee is still a big factor, and he's going to see tons of targets too. But I think Westbrook has just shown, you know,

that he can be that outside threat for them and a deep threat. Blake Bortles, two straight weeks above 115 quarterback rating. they're making it hard on it what if he does like a flacco thing and it just dominates in the playoffs? I thought about that. That would be the funniest thing and they had to they like begrudgingly

had to give him like a three year deal worth $60 million. I would love that. Oh my God. That's actually what I'm rooting for. I have no I all the time mentioned that I don't have a rooting interest in football. I do have rooting interest

and it's Blake Bordell's making fun. tons of money. Very specific rooting interest. It became a reading interest 30 seconds ago. I'm into it, man. Danny, anything else on Diti? You good? No, that's it.

That's my guy. Thanks, buddy. Thanks, bud. All right, Robert, it's time to predict next week's biggest headlines. Go ahead. I think it's going to be kind of the messiness in the MVP race.

You know, with when's going down... Bill Simmons thinks it might be Antonio Brown. So that's where I'm going with us. So if, you know, goes down. If the Steelers beat New England this week, and Brown has a big game, I mean, you're looking at possibly 2,000 yards if he, you know, hits a couple more, you know, 200 last week against a Ravens defense, it's very good. So I just feel like if Brown kind of, in order to have, if you want to win the MVP as a position player,

you need a historic season. It's the only time it ever happens. If you think about Adrian Peterson in 2012, you really need to hit a statistical benchmark. You need a quarterback that's not having a transcendent season. And if the Patriots lose and somehow Joe ended up getting the buy, you know, Brady kind of steps outside of that. So I feel like that's the road. If you need a statistically transcendent year and you need a season where the quarterbacks are not necessarily great. We saw that in 2012, which is the last time this has happened. And I feel like the door is open. If the Steelers have the best record in football, if they cruise to the buy, then I think that what Antonio Brown is doing right now definitely puts him within striking.

distance of getting that award, which is crazy but warranted. Because I know that according to the letter of the law, the most valuable player is always a quarterback. But I think that because there aren't enough awards, I'm okay giving it to the most outstanding player in the league because I do feel like that's what it is. And in my mind, I think that a couple more games like the ones we've seen in the last month from Antonio Brown, he would be the most outstanding player in the NFL this year. I agree. I mean, I think this is the year we open it up a little bit. Yeah, I agree. I'm totally totally fine letting position players in when there's not a transcending year

from a quarterback. Matt Ryan had 9.3 yards for a time last year. He was the MVP with the way we give out the MVP. This year, I don't know if time been necessarily is. And now it's not. Yeah, I agree. And it's Bortles. Okay. I mean, what? Bortles is coming on hot. Yeah, yeah.

He's a later run. It's the, I think next week's biggest headline is just going to be whatever happens to Aaron Rogers. Whatever happens. If he comes back in Lays and Egg, that's a story. I think that's less likely than him coming back and looking like Aaron. I don't think he's going to throw 400 yards and five touchdowns, but I think it's going to be more towards Aaron Rogers than not. And I think they're going to win.

And then we start the talk. And I think it's going to be a really exciting week if the Packers win. I mean, me opening my Dragon Gifts folder on my computer on Tuesday night was a very fun moment. I thought it was done for the year. How big is your Dragon Gifts folder? I've got like 20 or 25 in there. Do you... Is it like people who buy Christmas cards year-round?

Like if you're in March and you see like a good... Oh, I just pick one off. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, no. I'm always adding to it because you got to be ready. And I'm ready, man. Okay, I just wanted to see... I wanted uncomfortable silence to see how you'd follow that one up.

Okay, I'm ready. All right, that's it for today. We'll be back on Tuesday to recap week 15. As always, thanks for listening to the Ring NFL show on the Ring. her podcast network. Thanks, guys. Oh, God.

That's such a terrible idea. It's the best idea I've ever had. Bring them back. Bring them back. Run it back. God.