The Ringer NFL Show - Lombardi’s Week 16 Awards & Week 17 Watch List | GM Street (Ep. 373)

Episode Date: December 28, 2018

Chaotic coaching situations from the league (02:30) and this weekend’s top five matchups (22:00). Hosts: Michael Lombardi and Tate Frazier Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it's Liz Kelly and welcome to The Ringer Podcast Network. After a three-year hiatus, Bill Simmons is back with his NBA trade value rankings for the 2018 and 2019 season. You can check that out, as well as our year-in-review articles wrapping up everything 2018 on the site. Also, throughout the holidays, we will be sticking to our regular podcast schedule, so make sure to turn into your favorite shows as usual. Happy holidays from The Ringer. Welcome to GMTree, part of the Ringer Podcast Network. It is Friday, December 28th, and we all hope that you have all had a very, very good news. Very, very Merry Christmas and have enjoyed this week off.

We are here to do our Friday forecast the five games that we have for Lombardi. But first, before we get to all this, Lombardi, we need to say hello and we need to get ready and give the awards out for Week 16. So first off, I hope you had a Merry Christmas. Did you have a Merry Christmas? Was Millie happy? Was everyone pleased? I did.

I mean, Millie out did herself. Great cook, great food. A lot of friends, family. We had a big party, so it's fun. And it's been great to be home and experience at all. I think, you know, so many great gifts when you have grandchildren, you have, you know, so much to look forward to and to appreciate. I think that's really the ultimate understanding is to appreciate all that you have. And that's what made it great.

And then I got to say this, Dave Frazier, I really appreciate everybody who bought Gridiron Genius. I've been overwhelmed by the amount of feedback that I've received and the pictures that people send me from Christmas and the sales have been really remarkable. It's really kind of humbling and overwhelming, and I appreciate everybody that listens to this podcast tremendously and that has bought the book, and I appreciate you all. Thank you. And I'll give one note on that, Lombardi. I was in Raleigh, North Carolina last night. I went to the John Wall holiday invitational, a staple in Raleigh, North Carolina at Broughton High School, went to one of my friend's house, who is from Henderson that now lives in Raleigh and one of his, I guess his third or fourth roommate, one of those guys, I walked into his room last night, and guess what he was reading? Gridiron Genius. True story. Love it. Had no idea that I was Tate Frazier from Gene. GM Street had no idea that I was going to be coming by his house. He had a freak out moment about you and your book.

So I wanted to impart and share that with you because I knew that you'd be proud. So thank you for everyone that went out and got Gridiron Genius. We obviously appreciate everyone that listens to GM Street. And we apologize that we weren't here on our usual Tuesday routine. But of course, that was Christmas this week. So we are going to catch you up on all things NFL as we get into the final week of the season. Before we do that, we want to go and give our awards, give your awards out for Week 16. And speaking of awards, I know we've been pretty positive from the start of this podcast,

but we're going to have to get a little bit down here and talk about who's going to go on the lamb after week 16. We have a few options to choose from. So first off on the land, we've got to talk about Denver, John Elway, and just that whole situation that's going on in the Mile High City. I mean, look, I mean, John Elway's going to make a move. I mean, it's a fascinating thing in Denver. I mean, Vance Joseph, when he left the Miami Dolphins, I think they were ranked in the bottom third defensively. And a lot of people were wondering, like, why? And obviously Elway saw he was there in Denver. Elway saw him, liked him, thought, you know, but now they're going to make a change.

And this is going to be a fascinating job for who wants this job. Because at some point, when does John Elway just become the coach? Like at some point, I wrote this column for the athletic. And I wrote about how everybody wants to be like Al. You know, Bruce Allen of the Redskins, he wants to be like Al, hide behind the curtain, you know, and pretend you don't orchestrate everything. but you do everything, right? There's this, oh, fuck, there's this Al syndrome that goes on in the NFL.

And it's really bizarre. And everybody used to bitch about Al, you know, but Al earned it. I mean, Al earned it. Al could coach. Al could be an executive. Like some of these people that are doing it. And look, Elway had a Hall of Fame career and there's a statue in front of the building in front of the stadium.

And he earned it. And he's great. But as an executive, at some point, don't you wonder this? And like, are you going to go work for him when he's going to control? everything in the background, and then how hard is he going to really work to do the things you got to do? I mean, nobody says anything about Denver because nobody wants to be on the bad side of John, but there's a lot of behind the scene stuff that goes on that it's going to be a tough job. And I'm not saying Van Joseph shouldn't have got fired. I'm saying Van Gogh should have

never been hired, period. I mean, that was a unique hire to begin with. But they're going to be on the lamp for sure because, look, and I think it's going to be fascinating to see who gets that job. are our Broncos fan. There is a little silver lining, a little bit of positivity that goes into this because going into Week 17, despite the fact that they have nothing really to play for, Vaughn Miller, their best player comes out and he says, you want to go to the playoffs and all the other stuff, but

I'm building relationships with these guys that will last a lifetime. These are the things that you want to hear from your star player. He said he's very excited about the young core. And obviously we know about Bradley Chubb chasing after that rookie record of 14 and a half sack. He has a chance to do that curse set that in 1999. So there are some bright spots on this

defense. And obviously, Vance Joseph was a defensive a guy that they brought in. But the problems seem to be on the offensive side of the football, trying to find that quarterback. John Elway decided to go with Case Keenum. That experiment hasn't quite worked out, so a lot of people are now pointing fingers. But it does seem like Elway is going to make some changes. And we will be very plugged in to see how that all plays out. The next move that we have to talk about, the next thing that could happen, the next person to be on the Lamb, we've got to point down to Tampa Bay and Dirk Cotter in that situation. So looking down at Tampa Bay and that team and that franchise moving forward, Deshawn

Jackson has come out and said he wants to be out of Tampa. We've heard those news and rumblings that have, you know, rippled around the league. But just a dirt cutter, I mean, how quickly does that decision get made? And if you are Tampa, what's the next move if he does go on the lamb for good? Well, if you're dirt codder, you know this is a fact. You know that two coaches that are on the ring of honor when you stand on the sideline and you look up at Raymond James Stadium and you see the ring of honor, two coaches John Gruden and Tony Dungey both were fired by the Glazer family. So you got to know. that this is not something that is uncommon.

And I think the question is, does Jason Light, the general manager, get fired? I think there's some growing feeling around the NFL that he thinks he's getting fired because of what's happening. It's fascinating to me that these coaches get fired, but the GMs don't. I mean, we think Todd Bowles is going to get fired, but the GM of the Jets, you know, who's been there as long as Bowles had. Hadden, I always believe this. And I think if you hire the coach, you should go in with the coach and out with the coach,

because you're tied at the hip. and if you're not, then something's really wrong. But when you look at Tampa, I think Tampa really needs to find somebody who can build a team and understands team building. And I think the guy that the glazers are always star hunting. They've always wanted to find a big, attractive guy. They traded for John Gruden. You know, they've done things. So I see them going after a top college coach, maybe a Brian Kelly.

I think that certainly would be in play here. But, you know, I think that Dirk Cotter knows he's going to go on the lamb. They go to Atlanta this week. Can they win the game? Yeah. They're talking about playing James Winston. They're not sure. They may not play him.

It's fascinating to see what's going to happen there, but I think they're definitely on the lamb. That's going to happen. So do you believe that the college football playoff is basically all of those four coaches positioning to see who will get the best offer from Tampa Bay? I think this. I think Nick Sabin doesn't want to go anywhere. If you know Nick Saban and you know his wife Terry, who they call Ms.

Terry, Nick, I think is very content in Alabama. It gets well paid. I think that's his last job. I don't, Davo Sweeney. I'm the only person who ever talks about Davosweeney is becoming a pro coach. I don't know why, but I'm the only one who sees him as a greatest culture builder in college football. I think he could come to the pro game. I mean, he could go to Tampa.

And to me, he's exactly what Tampa needs because, A, he can evaluate players. He can motivate an organization. He can create culture. He can do the things that Jimmy Johnson did with the Dallas Cowboys when he went in 1989. And so, but I don't, I'm the only person who has those feelings. And then you look at Lincoln Riley. I just think Lincoln Riley's not ready to do it yet. I mean, somebody has to explain to me how Lincoln Riley's defense is this bad if he's the head coach,

but we ignore that. So that goes on without saying. And I think it comes down to really Brian Kelly, who's always had aspirations to be a pro coach, and we're going to find out if that's what he's going to do. I did. I'm in North Carolina, obviously, so I'm listening to Sports Radio as we drive around. Tommy Bowden, the former coach of Clemson, was on the radio this week, and he was talking about Davosweeney.

He hired him on the staff there and talked about his recruiting record, And he said the main thing that Dabo sets is that football isn't the most important thing in the world. He likes to build relationships. And obviously, you know, through religion, through God and all that sort of stuff. And trying to find his way to connect to these players. And I think, you know, you've mentioned Dabo a million times is about building culture. And you see what he's been able to do at Clemson. And the coach that, you know, he came in as an interim to take his job.

Tommy Bouton's on the radio here in North Carolina talking about what a great guy and what a great coach he is. So if someone's willing to do that, someone that takes your job, that says a lot. lot about who you are as a coach. And I agree. I think Dabo's a guy that if he continues to win and coach the way that he has, he may get a shot from a team or maybe the, you know, the Buccaneers throw it out there and try to give him a big offer to get him down in Tampa Bay. We'll keep an eye on all that stuff as we get into it. Those are probably the two biggest candidates on the Lamb. There's one more that I want to mention to you. And this was a storyline that was on NFL Live that I saw Damien Woody and those types all discussing. But Matt

Patricia, I don't know if you saw this report. It came out, you know, through leaked reports. ports of, you know, anonymous Lions players that came out and said that he was late to meetings. And then he was asked Paul and Blake about being late to meetings. And he kind of just, you know, brush it off and said, sure, you know, of course, you know, whatever it is, I may be late to meetings, but it's for a reason. And we're just talking about going on the lamb. And I saw some of the guys on here that, you know, said that there's a culture problem in

Detroit. Is there a chance that Matt Patricia, after one year, could get canned, you know, with how quickly they have regressed from what they were a year ago where they could have been an actual playoff team. Matt Stafford has come out and given the stump speech about wanting to be the quarterback in Detroit. But when you get these reports and these leaked things, they are purposely leaked out to the public. So is there a world in which Matt Patricia has to go on the lamb a lot sooner than many may have thought when he took that job? You know, Tate Frazier, that's not the modus operandi in Detroit. They're really patient. I mean, they were patient with Rod Marinelli.

They were patient with Matt Millen. They were patient with Steve Mariucci. They were patient with Marty Morning Week. I mean, there's a sense of patience there. And I think Matt, Patricia, is trying to do things exactly like Bill and he doesn't have the skins on the wall that Bill has. I mean, Bill would be late to some team meetings. Bill is also the general manager of the team. He's the head coach of the team. Matt's just coaching the team. And I think sometimes you just try to become somebody that you're really not and it doesn't go. And I think that, you know, when he took over for Jim Calwell, instead of going in there and saying, look, I'm here because we were 9 and 7 and we didn't make the playoffs.

I'm here to help us get the 10th, 11th, and 12th win. Matt's going in there and just basically said nothing's right here. We've got to change everything. And frankly, if Matt starts off next September, even if he comes back, if Matt starts off next September, 0 and 3 or 1 and 4, he's going to get fired. I mean, it's going to be a revolt over there. And if he doesn't have enough core players to support him, it's bad. And he keeps having this attitude like, well, I'm just going to keep doing it my way because

nobody hears any good. Well, you're going to have to get people to buy in. That's not how you create culture. You're going to have to get people to buy into what you're doing. And the only way you do that is through skins on the wall. He's going to make a bunch of changes on the coaching staff. Will that work? We'll see.

But, you know, I think this is a delicate situation. Now, you know, Bob Quinn hired him. Bob Quinn and him used to sit in the back of the meetings in New England. They hung out together. They were buddies. You knew Quinn was going to hire him. It was interesting. Quinn never even interviewed Josh McDaniels.

He interviewed it was all about Patricia. So that's who Quinn wanted. And so he's got Quinn's support. But, you know, this is a slippery slope. And without wins on the wall, it's very difficult. And I think Matt's going to have to really change who he is. And he's going to have to listen. And that's not what he does well.

I think he thinks that, you know, those Super Bowls in New England are just easy to duplicate. But I think he's going to have to listen to people and get the right people around him because he's going to need some support. And that's going to be the challenge. We'll keep an eye on all that sort of stuff that's going on in Detroit. The next award we have to get to for week 16. Wait a minute. We got one more guy to go on the lamb here, Mike, you know, the great equalizer in the NFs and the AFC East. Now, everybody tells me Adam Gase is probably 50-50 safe down in Miami that Stephen Ross, the owner of the Dolphins is probably he's going to fire Mike Tanibom. And he's going to maybe bring, let Chris Greer be the general manager, which is fascinating that Tanimbaum has been able. Tanibom has been the untold secret to the Patriot's success when you really look at it. The guy who was in new, a guy. He was in the AFC for two teams.

He's run two teams, the Jets and the Dolphins. And, you know, the reason they've been so successful is simply because at some point, Tanabom's done, and I give Tanabom credit, he's way better than I am. He's way better than I am in this sense. He's been able to convince an owner to give him complete control. I've never been able to do that in my lifetime. Never. I've never.

I mean, I've written a book. I've yet to be able to convince an owner to let me have complete authority. When I was in Cleveland, I worked for people. I didn't have, I had really no authority in Cleveland. The most place I had probably the most authority was in Cleveland with Belichick and then with New England with Belichick. All the other jobs, your authority was you worked for somebody. And people say, well, you know, you drafted Marcus Russell, please.

I mean, I wasn't even in the draft room, but Al Davis, nobody, nobody had more authority than that. So, but I give Tanibam credit for that because he's been able to accomplish something that I could never do. And he did it twice. My hat, I tip my hat to him. Now, the fact that he's in the East, he's the greatest thing that it worked for the Patriots. And now that he's going to be out of the East, it's remarkable.

It's truly remarkable. And this is the time of the year or the season that the Patriots are vulnerable. I mean, you can get them. I mean, they're not a great team talent-wise. We know that. The Brady's getting older. The end is closer than it was before. And the moment is at hand.

And losing Tanenbaum, it's going to hurt them. I mean, really, it's like the old Bobby Knight thing. don't foul them out, right? Don't foul them out. Keep them in the game. And this is a blow. I wouldn't be surprised if there were flags at half-mast in New England.

Well, we should say, it is remarkable that a defense led by Bart Scott with the Buddy Ryan system could do so much, carry so much cachet into the future because we remember those Jets teams from 2009, 2010, and Tannenbaum is still living off those days

for the most part, as we can tell. Let's get to the Fred Palermo for this week. the team that had the best game plan as we were going in. And that is the Seattle Seahawks taking down the Kansas City Chiefs, right? Yeah, no doubt. I mean, look, Seattle, I think, I mean, I'm happy that Pete Carroll got a contract extension, well-deserved. I mean, you know, the one thing I think every coach in the league's happy about is Gruden make a $10 million a year.

I mean, because, you know, that just makes everybody else make more money. If Gruden's worth $10 million, then Sean Payton's worth $15. Belichick's worth $20, you know, and Pete Carroll's worth $15. You know, like, there's a state, like, like, that's the problem with the NFL. There's just too much of variance in terms of, well, you know, you know, this coach makes, Vance Joseph makes four million. Well, I would think Belichick's four times better than Vance Joseph, right? So he should make $16 million or four.

If Vance Joseph makes five, he should make $20, right? And Gruden making 10 and, you know, Gruden having been out of football. Gruden is the general manager and in control of everything, a $10 million. I mean, I think Pete Carroll's done a remarkable job. I think they're going to have to find a way to throw the football more effectively to win in the playoffs. But he's remade the Seattle defense. He's created it. He's withstood all the crap that he had to go through with the players being unhappy and how he's just a rah-rah guy.

And he's learned that change is probably a good thing. Earl Thomas, you know, unfortunately he got hurt. But the reality of it is is the change and not having him on as a negative influence helped the team. And then I think what they've been able to do offensively has been pretty remarkable. And so I think you've got to give them that they're due. They beat a good Kansas City team at home and they bounced back from an O and two start.

I think this is Pete Carroll's. I mean, he's got one of my votes for Coach of the other, there's no doubt. Yeah, and he did it on the fly. And we saw it as it was happening as it was playing out there. A lot of people that were turning on the Seahawks asking about when the big change would be, where we're going to be in a rebuilding project with the Seattle team? And Pete Carroll just made the adjustments on the fly,

got young guys in the game, and then relied on the running game to control clock and get time of possession on his side. And that's been the formula for success for Pete Carroll, and they continue to move on. Now they're a dangerous, dangerous team as we get into the playoffs. And as we head into the final week of the season, the next award we have on the board here is the KGB Award.

And that is going to go to John Gruden and the Oakland Raiders, despite the fact that the Raiders fans, all they want to do is lose Lombardi so they can get a good draft pick. I know. And Grudeau just wants to keep winning. I mean, in real fairness, I mean, like, look, wherever they are in the draft, they're going to be able to use it as capital. They got three first round picks.

And so, like, why not try to build something into next season? And I think you've got to give the Raiders credit here because the players are playing hard for them. They're trying to win. I don't think they should tank. I think they should try to win. I think the difference between one player and the next is really insignificant, especially in a draft where it's probably – there's no blue-chip quarterback coming out where you can really trade an asset and get a bunch of picks like what's happened in past draft. So look, I think the Raiders did a great job.

I mean, they came in. They played hard against Denver. How bad was that field? I mean, it favored them. You know, you want to stop a pass rusher, make the field, make the field wet, make it sloppy. There goes Chubb. There goes, there goes, there goes Vaughn Miller. And then you get a win.

So, you know, you got to take your hat off to them. I think they did a great job. Yeah, it's very interesting to see how John Guden has played out at the end of the season. He was very excited about that win. Denver fans and John L. Like we mentioned before, I mean, they just, you know, seemed very frustrated with how things are playing out. But now we're in the world of draft positions and those sorts of things. So I had a lot of Oakland Raiders fans text me. They were not very happy with that win.

But despite that, it was a good win. And John Gruden's happy. So, you know, he'll enjoy that $10 million salary for the season. The next thing we have, if you don't know, now you know, for Week 16, Lombardi, what do we know? I think you should know that the Bears, and I think the Bears did a great job. I think Trubisky played well last week. I think they really found, I mean, I wanted them to prove it to me last week that they could go out there into San Francisco. Not that San Francisco is a great team, but I thought Trubisky managed the game really well. He threw the ball effectively.

They did exactly what they had to do. They won in a style that they're going to have to win in the playoffs. And I think that was impressive. And this week, they have to go to Minnesota. And if I were them, I would forego thinking about getting the two seed. I would really focus on making sure Minnesota beat me so I could play them again at home, than have the Eagles get into the Super Bowl, have the Eagles get into the playoffs.

Because I think if the Eagles get in and they're the sixth seed and they come into Chicago, that's going to be a problem for you. That's going to be a real problem because you don't want the champ. You want to knock the champ out. The Eagles, this team has too much competitiveness, too much belief in who they are because of the skins that they put up on the wall. And they're finally playing well now. Nick Foles has been unbelievable.

Four touchdown passes, one interception in the last two weeks. He's had seven plays over 25 yards the last two weeks. The first two weeks of the season, he only had one. I mean, they're throwing the ball up the field. They're playing like the Eagles of last year. And I think if I'm the Bears, I don't want anything to do with playing this team. I don't think I want anything to do with playing this team. They've been so good.

They're 13 for 29 the last two weeks on third down. This is who the Eagles were last year. They finally found their mojo late, but they found it. And if I'm the Bears, I'll let Minnesota win the game. I'm not going to scoreboard watch and see how the Rams are doing against the 49ers who don't have very many players. And I'm going to let them win. And I'm going to play Minnesota again, come back. We know what we can beat them.

We've beat them before in Chicago. We'll beat them again. All right, Lombardi, before we move on, we're going to take a quick break to get a word from our sponsors. What do you wish for most this holiday? If you're like me, you want all Ws from your favorite NFL team. Unfortunately, even Santa could not make that happen. But the Yahoo Sports mobile app can make it happen so you can watch those games. and more right on your phone.

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Go to Fandul.com. And now back to GM Street. And let's move into week 17. You talk about that Eagles team. We're going to move into the five games that we want to watch this week. And the first game that we have on the docket here is with that Eagles team. The Eagles traveling to Washington, Eagles 8 and 7, Washington 7 and 8 on the year. Point spread in this game, six and a half for the Eagles.

As you mentioned, Nick Foles, scoring 30 plus points in each of the past two games. They've only hit that mark the previous 13 games before that. I think the big thing that a lot of people haven't brought up is the return of Tim Jernigan, and a guy that we both have pointed to on this podcast plenty of times for a reason to create a resurgence among that defensive line. Nick Foles takes some chances down the field. He gives Alshan Jeffrey some chances down the field

and they've been able to make plays. And you talked about the belief. I mean, that team, you know, it does feel a lot like last year around this time where people have started to buy into who Nick Foles is and, you know, he's setting franchise records and passing yards and just doing all the things that he did last year, which is, you know, honestly, it's hard to really fathom and believe

if you told us that, you know, six weeks ago even. But at this point, looking at this game, we've got Eagles traveling down to Washington. Do you expect the Eagles to get another win here and then put it in the hands of the Vikings to have to get a win to take their 6C to take that spot in the playoffs? I think the Eagles are going to romp them.

I think the Eagles will play really well. I think the Redskins offensive lines are disaster. They even have more players hurt. And Jay Gruden said this week that they're not going to put anybody on IR. They're going to go with what they have and assuming that they don't get an injury that's, you know, they don't have enough guys. I mean, their offensive line is a disaster.

Josh Jackson, it was a nice story last week in Tennessee, but I think they'll turn the ball over. I think the Redskins season is over with. There's so much dysfunction there. They're unorganized to begin with. I just think to me this is an Eagle team that's on purpose. They know they have to win. I mean, the last thing they want to do is go down to Washington and stub their toe.

I think they put the Redskins away early, and I think they win big. And is there a chance after this game? You talked about, you know, we obviously will do on the lamb for week 17, but there's a chance that do you think the Washington fans were voting? and finally start pointing the finger at Bruce Allen and say we need changes at the top to make this team more organized and more put together and more of an actual culture that has a chance to win this division

because at one point they had control of this division. I mean, they had everything rolling the right way and then as injuries hurt this team and as they lost Alex Smith and as they lost other guys, I mean, it just seemed like it all fell by the wayside. I mean, the Redskine fans are pointing the finger right at Bruce except nobody's listening. I mean, that's the reality.

Nobody's listening. He's pretending he's Al Davis hiding behind the curtain. I mean, nobody's listening. And I think the only chance, the Redskins fans have is if Dan Snyder realizes, hey, if I don't get rid of Bruce and I don't bring in a big name coach, say I go out and hire a marquee coach and give him complete control of the organization, that's the only chance I have to get a stadium. I think that's going to be the only thing that gets Bruce out of there because right now, for some reason, Snyder's bought into them. The team's completely disorganized. I mean, anybody tells me the Redskins are a well-coached team. In spite of all the injuries, I just laugh at them. I really do. And the Redskin fans are smart. They're savvy. They've seen good teams. This ain't one of them. I mean, I've never seen an owner destroy a fan base like he's destroyed this incredible Redskin fan base, which I was one growing up here in Ocean City. I love the Redskins. But what Bruce Allen and Dan Snyder have done to this team and what Snyder has done over the last 20 years is really, I mean, Warren Sharp posted it on Twitter about how many games they've not, you know, I mean, the one playoff win in his whole 10 year. I mean, seriously, it's really bad. But again, no culture, no wins. And let's be honest, I mean,

it really has hurt that rivalry because that was one of the, I mean, I just, you know, growing up, I would hear the stories about those games about those games were such huge games

that everyone kind of tuned into. And now at times it can feel a little lost in the shuffle and that Eagles Cowboys game can sometimes take, you know, precedent over it or the Giants and the Cowboys or the Giants and the Eagles

and somehow Washington seems to be left by the wayside, unfortunately. So that is something to keep an eye on as we watch the offseason play out with that team, of course. And Adrian Peterson did come out

and said that he wants to return to Washington. He still has the legs to do it. So we'll see how all that stuff sort of plays out as we enter the offseason. So we'll keep an eye on that stuff. The next game that we have to get to is the Detroit Lions traveling to Green Bay. Green Bay favored by seven and a half in this game. Aaron Rogers obviously going to play in this game.

And if you look at the Lions offense that has just been stagnant to say the least, they have not scored more than 20 points since basically the start of November. So it's been quite some time. So if you're Aaron Rogers and the Packers, all you have to do is score over 20 points and you have a chance to win this game. Do you foresee the Packers getting an easy win here against the divisional rival? You know, the way Aaron Rogers played last week, he was determined. I mean, this was a guy that wanted to prove the point. I think they want to finish strong in Green Bay.

I think this is a game that Green Bay roams. Detroit can't wait for the season to get over. I mean, if Detroit could have their exit physicals in Green Bay and leave from there, their players, they would do it. I mean, I think they've had enough of the season. I think they've had enough of Patricia. I think this is one of those where the Packers are trying to win. even though Philbin's not going to be the coach, but I think Aaron Rogers, when they played last week with the determination,

they're down 35 to 25 to 21 to the Jets and came back. I mean, if their season was over with, it would have happened last week, I think the Packers play well and win. Yeah, it's something to keep an eye on. And obviously, you know, we talk about Philbin interviewing for that job live on the fly as the interim head coach. And Aaron Rogers trying to find that guy to be his head coach as he moves forward.

He's trying to make a statement that Green Bay will be a team to reckon with as we enter the next season. So all that, we will watch both. teams eliminated from the playoffs. So obviously not too much to stake other than pride and an ability for Aaron Rogers, I guess, to send a message to the rest of the league that he will be back and ready to go as we enter the next season. Next game we have, we have the Miami Dolphins, a team that we talked about at nauseam with the Tanemobom situation, the Gaye situation. Gase came out this week and said eight and eight's a lot better than seven and nine, so maybe he's playing for some job security here. They're traveling up to Buffalo. Josh Allen had a great,

you know, time against this Dolphins defense the last time these two teams met. So that's something to keep an eye on. And the Dolphins, as we know, both as a team has struggled so much on the road, one of the worst road teams in the NFL this season. Looking at this game, Buffalo favored by four and a half at home. Do you see the dolphins having a chance to travel up and maybe save Adam Gase's job? I don't think so. I think Kiki Alonzo being out, Xavier Howard being out, I think Buffalo is going to play this.

I mean, that Buffalo, New England game, it was a little closer than the score might have indicated. Buffalo turned the ball over. I think Buffalo will play hard for Sean McDermin. And I'm not sure that Miami, when they get up there, are going to want to deal with the cold and deal with the weather. It never even happens when they were a playoff team. So I like Buffalo strong here. So we'll keep an eye on that and we'll see what happens with both of those situations, really,

because Buffalo is an interesting team with some of the dynamics, obviously going from a playoff year with Tyrod Taylor. And now, you know, kind of taking a step back this year with Josh Allen. We'll see what kind of unfolds in that game. LaShaul McCoy wants to be out of Buffalo. So there's some storylines to go on there. So all that stuff we'll watch out for. The next game we have the Chicago Bears, 11 and 4 traveling,

to Minnesota 8, 6 and 1. We got Minnesota favored by four and a half at home. And the interesting part about this game is Bears, obviously, have already locked up a playoff spot. So sometimes you see teams rest. Matt Nagy, knowing this is a divisional game, knowing this is a, in a sense, sort of a rivalry between these two defenses that both think that they are the top defense.

He said that they intend to pull out all the stops to beat Minnesota, despite having a secured playoff spot. So they're trying to stymie Kirk Cousins, this team, see what's going to happen here. As you look at this game, do you see the Minnesota Vikings won in this game and locking up the fact that they will be in the playoffs, even though you do believe that the Bears should throw this game just to be smart. Well, yeah, and Nagy's quoted as saying,

look, we'll have a plan in terms of being smart, meaning that if he looks up at the scoreboard, he sees the Rams are up by 10 points in the second quarter, he's probably just going to go ahead and do it. And, you know, and I think that that's really what will happen. I think that, you know, this game will, he'll watch the scoreboard, who'll have somebody in the box, say, hey, the Rams are going to win,

and then I think he'll pull the guys that he needs to, to stay healthy. I think that's what's going to happen. Look, Minnesota's a desperate team. There's more of a sense of purpose for Minnesota than there is for Chicago. Chicago is going to be the third seat. 11 and 5 is a good record. You go on. Now you get Chicago the next week. I think this is why I like Minnesota here. I think the line should be a little bit higher, but I think Minnesota wins. Okay. So that's something to keep an eye on. We'll see if Minnesota can lock up that final playoff spot. The fifth and final game we have this week is the Rookie QB Bowl. We have the Cleveland Browns traveling down to Boston.

more to take on Lamar Jackson, the Ravens. Ravens favored by six in this game at home. As I mentioned, we got Baker Mayfield, number one pick, got Lamar Jackson, the last pick of the first round. Both these guys now coming in and becoming the faces of their franchises. Both guys labeled it as playmakers, both guys, you know, drawing and stirring a lot of energy out of their fan bases for what it's worth over the past five or six weeks. As you look at this game, do you think the Browns will keep rolling, keep it hot and have the first winning record in quite some time? Despite all Huey did to start the season, the Browns have a chance to have a winning record. I mean, look, I think the Browns have played really well. This MVP talk for Baker Mayfield, I mean, like, really seriously, the last six weeks, I mean, like, it's unbelievable.

They're 27 for 84 on the road on third down. I mean, they're 12 and 30 on the road since Freddie Kitchen took over. I mean, you know, this is not, the Browns have been able to beat a bad, they lost, they got turned them all over in Houston. They got, they beat a bad Denver team by a point, and they beat Cincinnati. So they've won two of the last three road games. but look, I don't think Baltimore's going to be four for 16 on third down like they were in the first game. I think Baltimore will be much better. Cleveland in the first game was six for 19 on third down.

I mean, it's a 12 to 9 game. I think Baltimore's defense will get after Baker Mayfield. I think they'll put some pressure. I think they'll play some man coverage on them, and I think it'll create some problems. I know everybody's playing Cleveland in this game. They think it'll be, I think Baltimore last year remembers what happened to them when they blew the game at home. I think Baltimore will do some things, and I think Lamar Jackson's a problematic guy for the for the brown so i like baltimore here i know it goes completely against the green but

you know why not sometimes you got to go against the green uh in this life lombardi so i i agree with you a hundred percent there probably the biggest game as far as implications that'll be played this week and week 17 uh as far as eyeballs and people will be watching to see how it you know plays out with the playoffs looking at the a fc at the bottom of the a fc trying to fight for that 60 we got the the indianapolis colts with frank rikin that started out one and five that has been basically playing playoff games every single week for quite some time taking on the tennessee titans and both teams, the path is the same. You know, if they win, if you get a win in week 17 over the other,

so if the Colts beat the Titans, that clinches the playoff spot, obviously, is the six-seed. And then they have a chance if they win to take on the AFC South Championship if the Texans are to lose. So both teams are in that same situation, get the Colts and the Titans. As you look at that game, Lombardi, most people are pointing to the Colts. They think that they've been the better team as we've rounded out this season. Do you see the Colts winning this game in Week 17 and locking in that 16? and possibly making a run for the AFC South of the Texans end up losing their game as well. I like the Colts here.

I didn't like them enough to put them in my top five picks. I just think to me, first of all, I think Blaine Gabbard was he going to play quarterback? I mean, this was a game that was played on November of the 18th, and it was 38 to 10, and it was 24 to 3 at half. I mean, they couldn't really do anything. Indianapolis really dominated the game. They stopped their run game. They controlled the football.

I don't like Tennessee's team. I mean, look, that was ugly to watch them just barely beat the Redskins at home with Jackson, with Josh Johnson at quarterback. So I favor the Colts here, although the Titans team always surprises me. You know, they shut out. They go into Dallas and win. They beat New England at home. You know, they do some things that always kind of is unpredictable. But Blaine Gabbitt's a quarterback.

I don't know how you, if Marriota plays, I have a feeling he'll get hurt. I mean, they'll hit him and he'll still, you know, one hit and he's going to get hurt. So I'm not in favor of that. That's why I like the Colts. And before we get out of here, I do want to bring up one thing with the Pittsburgh Steelers and obviously that Saints game and the Juju Smith-Schuster play that everyone's pointing to.

As you look at the AFC North and you sort of look at landscapes and how things are shifting back and forth, it does seem like the Browns and the Ravens. If you ended a season today, those fan bases and those teams feel a lot better about where they are as franchises moving forward than if you look at Pittsburgh and you look at Cincinnati,

obviously. So both those teams is a nice little flip. on the division because a lot of people going in the season would say the Browns and the Ravens were the two teams on two teams on the bottom. The other two teams were the teams kind of bet on and believe in. So I do find that interesting to keep an eye on. Just talking about the Steelers at large, is there a chance that we see a groundbreaking shift of what they want to do philosophy-wise moving forward? Or they kind of just say, you know, things just didn't bounce our way this season. We've got to run it back and see what happens next year. Well, if anybody loses their job as it relates to the Steelers, it should be that back judge. They call that stupid penalty on on, on on Joe Hayden. I mean, like, how is that guy going to be working this week? Like, seriously, how is he going to be working this week? Like, he has no business to be working. Like, seriously. I mean, the guy that was a horrendous call, nobody could defend it. Anyway, I think Pittsburgh realizes the ebb and flow of what's going on and they get it. But, you know, I mean, that's a tough way to lose. And they got to pray that something good happens for them. I think that's going to be

a tough one. And you even saw it after the game. I mean, Drew Brees and Joe Hayden had a word right after they took the final snap, Joe Hayden would write to Drew Brees, and I'm sure Drew Brees was saying the exact same thing that you were saying right there about that back judge. So, you know, as it is in football, things don't always work and end up the way that it should based on the rules. And there are always miscues and things that occur that lead to different outcomes. But here on GM Street, the outcome is always the same. We enjoy picking the five games for you to watch this weekend. And Lombardi and I will both be back next Wednesday. New Year's Day is on Tuesday. We'll be back on next Wednesday to give you the week 17.

wrap up in the Week 17 reactions and awards with Lombardi. Lombardi, any more notes as we move into the final week of the season? No, TAYFrasier, happy new year. Hope you enjoy it. I'm excited for the college football playoffs on Saturday. I think Alabama's a really good. I think Alabama against Oklahoma. I think Alabama will run the ball and control the clock.

This Clemson, Notre Dame game, I've gone back and forth. I like Clemson originally. I'm starting to get a feel for Notre Dame now. But I'm excited for the weekend. I'm excited to watch these games. and I'm excited for 2019 with my man Tate Fraser. Absolutely. We will be back and we will talk to you in the new year in 2019.

I'm excited to see what happens in all these college football games as well. Notre Dame is a team that I bet on and start the season to win it all. Brian Kelly is a guy that I'm betting on. And who knows, Lombardi, maybe Brian Kelly, you know, shocks the world, gets a championship coming in. And then he becomes a coach of the Buccaneers, and we have a new character to add to the list. There you go. Happy New Year, Tate Frazier. Happy New Year, Lombardi.

I appreciate everyone. I appreciate everyone. listen to GM Street in the year 2018, and we are excited to see you in 2019. Thanks again to Fandul. If you're not a fantasy expert, Fandul is the place to play. At Fandul, you get the excitement of researching and building your team each week, regardless of the outcome. Come play with us at Fandual.com slash the ringer and get a $5 bonus when you make your first deposit. That is Fandul.com slash the ringer.

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