The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Week 14 Recap With Chris Long | The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Episode Date: December 9, 2019

Russillo is joined by two-time Super Bowl champion Chris Long to discuss NFL Week 14. They talk 49ers-Saints, Chiefs-Patriots, Rams-Seahawks, Colts-Buccaneers, and Raven-Bills. They also do a little college football, including Virginia-Clemson and LSU-Georgia, followed by top five AFC teams, doing stuff by yourself, and time-travel sporting events. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

maybe the game of the year at least regular season new orleans san francisco chris long ryan rossillo here on the ryan rossillo podcast part of the ringer network a little college football what can you do by yourself time travel sports competition and the rest of all the nfl stuff that you need, including Chris's idea of ranking the top five AFC teams and wait until you hear his rankings. It's not the rankings that you want to hear. It's the rankings you need to hear. State Farm is our presenting sponsor.

Today's episode of the Ryan Rosillo Show is brought to you by State Farm. If you're family with insurance, State Farm agents are here to help because with over 19,000 agents, they're local to you and available to help. Whether you connect in person by phone or through the State Farm mobile app, agents are here to help. So go with the one that has coverage and agents you can count on. State Farm, talk to an agent today. Also, Drinkworks.

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I actually am really looking forward to some of the dumber stuff that we're going to do, which is always actually what people like more than any of the hardcore football stuff. But there's a reason why you're here. Although I got to tell you, weird one, back in town, couldn't sleep last night, got up real early, did a real early LA commute, back roads around 6 AM, went to a Denny's on sunset this morning. And that's just one of those nice little reminders, Chris, that when you're living in LA and you're hanging out on the sunset strip early in the morning, you never know what you're going to see. And as I walked in, a guy, I'm going to guess older than me,

although I'm getting worse at that. I keep thinking everybody's older than me when I'm starting to realize like maybe I'm older than them. Yeah, I do that too. Yeah, but I'm doing it a lot. Like you guys asked me about that pickup league I played in, and I was like, I think I'm in the middle of the pack. And I was like, I'm probably actually on the older side, which I don't like saying.

But a dude was kind of like jean on jean jean jacket jeans like soccer shoes and he had a t-shirt says hustler and he was getting himself a little moons over my hammy this morning and he sized your boy up when i walked in sized me up real good yeah maybe he knows you from the radio. No. No. He was like one of those guys who's constantly looking for trouble. Ah. Yeah, that's a bad combo. And he's going to find it.

Martha's Vineyard is going to find it. He had a hustler t-shirt on. Is that the pornographic magazine or is there some other hustler no no that's that's the mag i mean when you decide to just the middle of monday morning let me pick up some eggs quick with a hustler t-shirt on you're a different breed of citizen yeah you got the merch i mean like for you to get the merch first off to still be procuring magazines like that secondly to to procure the merch i don't know i don't even know what your your demo is no i mean he he was psyched because it wasn't like he was dressed like a shabby street person he was kind of like starting his week you're also out and about in a weird time. I'd imagine in LA where you get the whole night crawler crowd,

like just weird ass people. Yeah. All right. So I just wanted to get that out of the way. Cause I was in, I was, I was sort of on one this morning. It was in a bit of a mood and I'm like,

what, what is this? I'm just in a bad mood. Yeah. I don't know why I was just in a bad mood. Don't say. Yeah. I don't know.

Oh, wait a minute. Was that a joke about me? Kind of. Yeah. Perpetually in a bad mood i think that's a little overblown i really do okay five out of seven days okay how many on days where you have to do a pod i'm uh i'm in a great mood right now i'm in a great mood right now so let's let's get to it uh everybody's calling it the best game of the

regular season maybe the best game of the regular season. Maybe the best game of the regular season since, what, Rams, Chiefs? I don't know. But San Francisco goes into New Orleans. You consistently said at New Orleans, the toughest place to play in the NFL, 48-46. Back and forth. I think the surface thing for me are two different things. I like both teams out of this. Much like when San Francisco lost to Baltimore last week, I go, okay, you know, competitive game, two really good teams,

surprising to see both really good defenses. San Francisco is statistically better than New Orleans. San Francisco lost some bodies in this one, but I think Garoppolo having this kind of game and winning a shootout with Breeze is the big thing. There's a bunch of little things to dig into here, but I leave this going, wow, maybe San Francisco really is the best team in the NFC. Wouldn't argue against it, but I still like New Orleans too. So two great teams, great game. Yeah. It's like, it's like we talked about this on the phone, like neither team really lost. I mean, you kind of, you lost from a standing standpoint and home field is important, but I don't feel like either team, you come away from here and think, ah, this team got exposed or this team can't play, you know, go win two or three games and get in the big one.

I think, you know, what you mentioned is big. You talked about San Francisco winning different ways week to week. That's huge. I mean, I thought that was a great point you made. Baltimore, that game was totally different than this game. A couple things for me, I'm tired of the historic DVOA stuff the first 10 weeks of season. Can we kill that now? Because some of these teams that the Pats defense and the Niners defense have been compared to, and obviously you can make a case for both defenses slipping, I would argue that for the Pats, they have less complimentary football to play, So I'd still give them the edge defensively, but that's a lot of points, man. And yeah, if you like offense, that was very exciting. You had the kiddo play,

which was emblematic of his entire game as a tight end. You had the superhuman stuff, but you also had at the front of the play, you had him playing fundamentally great football, stemming that defender inside, getting outside. And that's going to be a play that's going to be etched in people's memories if they make a great run by the way if you're the saints you had the beast quake and now you got that play uh i think saints defenders and big moments have been dragged like you know about a hundred yards uh in those type of plays home and then the big go ahead no i just was doing my marsh on oh yeah home we can't say that on this program um another big thing for me which might have been the biggest as you talk about

jimmy g is not just the fact that he was good the niners found themselves down 20 to 7 they manufactured a shot to sanders that was a huge play as soon as they made that play i wrote down jimmy g's biggest moment, the Niners' big moment, because to get punched in the mouth in the Superdome, that's not where you want to get punched in the mouth. That's not where you want to play from behind. Then they also had to do it again at 27-14 with a trick play. And they were down 16 to the cards. So you took that 16 to the cards thing with a grain of salt. They just did this in the hardest place to do it. Two double-digit score deficits,

and they punched back right away. So these are huge moments for the Niners, and they answered a lot of questions. Yeah, when you look at Garoppolo's game log, and Albert Breer pointed this out in Sports Illustrated, you know, where it's like, hey, look, the knee was a certain way the first four weeks. He didn't feel comfortable.

He feels more comfortable now. Maybe, I don't know. You know, then it's like, okay, so that means he's never going to have a bad game again? Because I always thought he was a little overrated based on the one loss record for Garoppolo. But they bring in Sanders, who had a big game again, seven for 157 and the touchdown. They run that fake. I think the deep one on Sanders probably is a pass interference, but nobody even wants to challenge these things anymore. I saw a number this morning where nine of 68 pass interference challenges have been overturned. So you might want to just hold that flag for something better. So you could say, you know, in the course of a

game is San Francisco pulling out all the stops, you know, even a fourth and two where Garoppolo threw a deep against Baltimore. I'm like, what is he doing to Debo and Debo backpedals in. And, you know, as you were mentioning, like for San Francisco to show a version where they're close and in a rainstorm game against Baltimore, that they could have won that one. They didn't because Lamar's awesome and closes out the game.

And then they win this shootout down there with a breeze who looked perfect for most of the game. I just think it speaks a lot to them. But I don't know if it's just about the knee and why Garoppolo is better. I mean, he's still somebody who doesn't have a million starts under his belt. He's got both his tackles

back Sanders, as I mentioned, and even most are running back. I'm like, who's this guy? And he had some nice plays against Baltimore as well. So it just collectively, you know, it sucks. Their center went down. Sherman looks banged up again, both some missed some time, but then he had some amazing plays just collapsing everything that New Orleans was trying to do despite the points that were being allowed.

There was just all these different elements going on in this game, but I think if I'm a Niners fan, the thing I feel best about is seeding in the NFC and it's like,

maybe we have something here with Garoppolo who's put together since that Arizona game some nice games here around, you know, the Green Bay game where he didn't, didn't like he was

good he just didn't have to do a ton of stuff that's all yeah i mean like at the end of the day you've got you've got a quarterback here who has been kind of to your point and this is going to sound stupid as shit but he's been overrated and underrated right because the record the right and that you can make that case for a lot of people nowadays because of the plethora of takes out there is everybody's got to take and jimmy's record's been great. He probably wasn't as good as the record. But on a team like this, he looks plenty capable of making a run. And we've said we needed to see more. I thought that was totally fair. What I didn't think was fair was just shitting on him because he had a couple bad games. you know, just shitting on him because he had a couple bad games. This guy has had a really unorthodox path to being a franchise quarterback. You know, just a hiccup of time in New England, passed that test,

looked good last year in an injury-shortened season, you know, kind of passed a few tests along the way, and then comes out off of, you know, the injury-riddled season to have some ups and downs early. And now what we're seeing is continuity. And this team's getting healthy, but you did mention the Sherman thing. That scares me. I'm just looking forward to Hawks-Niners in Seattle, Week 17. That's going to be the game of the year.

And looking at the Seahawks with all these close wins this year, and I know we'll get to their loss in L.A. last night where the Rams are like, wait a minute, are they back now? I just feel like San Francisco, when your team, this is always the great thing about New England over the years, when you're a team that could adapt to the opponent, that's scary because it just

seems like so many teams have one game plan, one style. Do you feel like there have been times where different teams that you were on, no matter who you were personnel-wise, that's only one gear that coaches wouldn't want you deviating too much from whatever their basic philosophy was from august i think really great coaches and shanahan is is cementing himself as possibly the best play caller in the nfl this was a master class thing for him yesterday and on the other end of things i think the saints i'm a little disappointed in

that they're supposed to be so complete. And I guess you could say the same thing for the Niners defense, but I thought the Saints would show up better at home on defense. Yeah, I think a lot of times

coaches get really dogmatic and do their own, just we're going to do what we do and we're not worried about anything else. That's a bad attitude to have, even if you're an expert. And New England has never had that attitude. I think the, you know, I talk about

this often, the Patriot way, you know, there's cultural guidelines that are relatively stringent, but you can morph into whoever you need to be to win. Now, of course, their abilities are limited right now in that respect, and we can get there. uh yeah i mean the niners doing this different ways that's going to bode really well for them in the playoff i mean this is like you said and i think it's a tremendous point they're winning different ways and teams that can can go the distance have to be able to morph into different teams based on circumstances and look they're down they come back and then they're up 42 33 in their building and then they blow that lead and i don't even really call it, like, blown leads. It just is one of those games where I feel like it happens in college a lot,

and the Big 12 takes a ton of heat for it. It's a Big 12 game. Right, but then there's SEC games where it gets wild. You know, I was at Bama LSU, and it looks like Bama's being contained somewhat, and next thing you know, like, and I'm looking at some of the defensive linemen, and I go, I don't think that these guys aren't talented. I think certain games you get so hyped up and they're so out of control that guys are just exhausted and then there's no pass rush whatsoever and then everybody's got all

sorts of times people running around wide open um if you do it every week it means you suck on defense that's not the case here but I think some of these like have you been in games where you just go hey this isn't even about us right now like it's just we're helpless over here oh yeah yeah the Super Bowl in 16 I I mean, there was a time in that game where it felt like the length of my entire adult life that we didn't get a stop. And Tom Brady is just torching us. And I remember Lane Johnson came over to the D-line because they were seven-man protecting and getting the ball out quick. But we're the lead dogs, and we'd been hitting him. We hadn't really gotten to him.

And of course, Brandon Graham's big play. All we needed was one stop. You were into that. Lane lane came over and was like, uh, guys, can we just get one stop?

And at that point I'm like, you know what? You're absolutely fucking right. This is, this game has completely become just offenses, keeping up with each other. And anytime either team got a stop it felt like the biggest deal in the world and that was the kind of game this was and of course uh chiefs rams

last year was was much the same hey when when lane says that to you as an offensive lineman like is there a way that he's delivering it where it's okay we're versus another guy who's delivering it we'd be like this isn't going over very well? A few things. It depends on the player making the statement. Had somebody who's not very good at their job come over to us in the biggest situation of our professional lives and told us we need to pick it up,

I probably would have told them to fuck off and go worry about blocking the Patriots. But Lane is as good a tackle as there is in the league and um see I was gonna say right tackle but I really think uh he's that good so um you know when you hear it from somebody who's performing and yeah the way you say it matters but like he's right if you're right it really doesn't matter who says it all right I just yeah look I was I was asking because i was actually curious no no no i'm saying this like like to anybody wondering like how do players take uh

take shit from each other like it's not shit we're trying to win a super bowl so and in big games like this i mean you you see late in the season you see more and more players on the sidelines getting into it with each other and not even getting into it with each other you have to understand a professional workplace tone, and I'm talking about across America, the tone and the contents of a conversation, they can only be so intense. On a football field, what you see on TV on the sidelines, you better believe you're going to hear and see three or four times more intense and worse, depending on what you're looking at it from what perspective you're looking at it behind closed doors and in a locker room. So I think this stuff's all healthy and we got off on a tangent there, but I want to talk about

Kittle even more because this guy, I mean, like at Iowa, his senior year, he had 22 receptions, 314 yards. Is that crazy? Yeah. crazy yeah i mean that could that could be a little iowa too at times depending on uh what their offense looks like i get that and they had a crowded room but like this guy and and props to shanahan who saw it early in in his rookie season and by the way there were some good players in that San Francisco room as well. This guy's emerged. And here's what gives him an opportunity to be the best for a decade, is one, he can block.

So when you look at like Kelsey or Ertz, they're tremendous. They're great players. But you take half the game out with those guys. I mean, like they're great receivers and there's no shade. Most tight ends don't block with authority anymore. And we saw in the Baltimore game, he got ISO'd on that big run. You know, and in Baltimore, for instance, he wasn't having his best statistical game

receiving, but he changed the game the way he blocked. And I thought he blew out his knee a couple of weeks ago too. So I wasn't even sure how healthy he was in the baltimore game and and that's the worry is with him if i had one worry is like if you're saying the next decade where he's gonna where he's gonna land i think he can go down with his ability and this is not being overreactive because you're seeing it over a two-year sample size if he stays healthy and that's the biggest thing because of the recklessness with which he plays that we talked about, and it was embodied perfectly in that long run after the catch, he's got an opportunity to be up there. And I think about complete tight ends I've played against. There's very few over the last decade, 11 years that I've played. Well, how big of a deal is that though? Like when you're sitting there, especially as an edge guy, and you're thinking, I don't, he can seal or he can chip.

You know, he can be giving you all sorts of things that you have to think about where I'm sure the one-dimensional guys, like, you know immediately what they're going to be doing. Well, it changes everything. It certainly changes the way you line up and your thought process before the snap because, you know, a lot of guys, one time they left Jimmy Grahammy graham into block and protection he blocked the shit out of me because i wasn't even expecting him to block me i'm like

you know what i mean this was this was on a pass play and i was like holy shit because you're not you're not prepared and when when you play somebody like kiddo you you have to always be ready that he can stay in and protection he can move you a little bit uh in the run game and sometimes if you're blocking out on a nine, it's not even about widening him. It's about playing an angle and having a strong inside hand and turning him out and just getting that C gap a little bit bigger. I think a lot of times we look at like, oh, that's a great block. You got to move somebody and dump somebody. It's angles. It's manipulating body position. And I think that blocking element, you talk about guys,

I wrote some guys down that I thought in the last, Gronk, obviously, Martellus Bennett, who coincidentally was in New England as well, could block and catch. Rudolph, who not as good a blocker lately, but early in his career, a receiver and a blocker. Delaney Walker could do a lot of stuff. Jason Witten, obviously. Jason Witten was one of the best at getting his hands under. And if you ever watch Jason Witten, obviously. Jason Witten was one of the best at getting his hands under. And if you ever watch Jason Witten, the way he blocks you, it makes it so hard. If you're listening out there, he starts out with his palms down and then the palms end up up under you, right under your breastplate. And it's a really unorthodox, tough position to be held.

And also, he's really good at holding and latching on when you try to get off blocks. So those are some great players that could block. Kittle can, can change the game in the past game as, as much as any of them save for Gronk. I mean,

I need to see it over a longer sample size, but what he's going to have is he's got a young quarterback, relatively young. I know we say that with Jimmy. He's not young, young, but Tony Gonzalez caught balls from like 15 quarterbacks. You know, it would have been scary to see the production he had.

But what Tony couldn't do like Kittle could do is block, in my opinion. And that continuity over the next decade, hopefully, I don't want to get out ahead of ourselves here, but we're looking at a guy who's got an opportunity to do it all. And good call on Garoppolo, too. He's 28. It just feels like he just started because he did really just start playing. Yeah.

No, he's not young, but there's some continuity. Remember how when you were a little kid and you had those action figures that were like connected by rubber bands inside their chest plate? Yeah. And the arms and whatever

and you would leave them in the driveway and your father might be like, hey, look, you know, if you're going to not, you know, respect your toys. You're going to dism, not, you know, respect your toys. You're going to dismember your action figures. That's what I feel like Kittle is.

Like, Kittle's this action figure that I'm expecting that's going to, like, have an arm ripped out at some point, but then it doesn't and it just sort of bounces back and, like, it's this toy

that you're able to use forever. And there was something else. I think it was in the Baltimore game. Like, he was on the sideline. He got all banged up with a couple guys and he wasn't, you know how, like, some guys immediately, immediately like the second the outside of a shoelace is touching the white and you step to them they think that you've like insulted their entire family oh

and it's it's the worst the sideline stuff is out of control every everyone's flagged on the own team sideline I pointed out constantly because everybody freaks out and it's human nature and the ref see a guy in khaki they're screaming because everybody freaks out and it's human nature and the ref see guy and khaki, they're screaming like crazy flag, flag, flag. And he gets the flag all the time. The Watkins thing yesterday.

Well, there was there Watkins and Gilmore. There was the Mahomes one where they were saying it was late and it had to be flagged. And you're like, he's really wasn't, he was in bounds. Like if you're really out there,

you know, as Darren Woodson once told me when I argued with him about something he was like you're on the feet your foot's on the field you live that was it absolutely live and I know the problem is yeah so I was like you know what once I heard that I went I'll never argue that side of it again and Mahomes was inbound on that Kittle got hit and then like kind of was laughing about it and then the other guy said something to him like, no, this,

we're not kidding. And Kittle like looked at him to be like, oh man, why are you like bummed out? Like Kittle. Dude, I just, I love the,

I love the guy's whole persona, bro. Like if there, it turns out to be something about him that is disappointing, I would be maximally disappointed because this cat seems like a guy you'd want to go drink beer with. You want to play football with. You'd probably trust him around your family. Seems dependable. I mean, like he's just, he's, he's, he's a dude, man. And he, and he's out there, he's out there every week playing with reckless abandon. He just seems like a fun guy to play

with. Yeah, we saw him. I think, I think we were were all together i know i talked to him for a little bit we were at the north side there in atlanta for super bowl week yeah man uh north side is one of the the greatest i you know we is it a dive bar is it not a dive bar i don't even want to i don't want to insult or misrepresent i think it's a dive what that bar has to offer yeah but i'd like dive bar is a compliment to me. No, I know it is to me, but this is like this, this bar transcends the classification of dive bar and really any bar. It's one of the best bars I've ever been to. One of the best bars. And every time we were somewhere in Atlanta, Superbowl week, we'd all look at each other and be like, let's just go back to the North side. And the first time this crowded party, you had to wait 10 hours to get in

like these Espy's parties or whatever. Not the Espy's, but these Super Bowl parties that, you know, they're in these giant warehouses. And it's basically like, yeah, wait an hour and then you can like see a celebrity. And then you're like, wait, I'm on TV. Why am I waiting an hour to get in here? Yeah. I look in the mirror. Happens every day.

Look in the fucking mirror. Yeah. Northside, we walked in. The first night, I think the guys were like, yeah, the next 20 minutes we're gonna play a song called dreams heard of it we were like what like did someone know that chris and i were coming here and uh it was it was perfect yeah so kiddo was there he was there and i was talking to him um talking to iowa with him a little waterloo shout out cherry creek shout out waterloo and uh yeah all right so i think that's i think we're good on that we went too long on that that's all

right fine so the other love that game you love that game so we had to i do i look it was it was a lot of fun we were going back and forth all right more with chris wrapping up the week but first want to let you know that today's podcast is sponsored by ADT Commercial for Business. ADT Commercial serves businesses ranging from midsize organizations to large scale enterprises. Think of them as a special team who has one focus, your business security. They provide a comprehensive line of security, fire, life safety and risk management solutions, professional grade systems for commercial grade businesses. With ADT Commercial, every day is game day. Fortune 1000 companies rely on ADT Commercial for highly complex, scalable, integrated solutions that help solve their unique business challenges. And if you're looking for a partner to upgrade or take over the monitoring and service of your current system,

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ADT.com for slash game day. The Pats in Kansas City slightly. I like this game more. Okay, go ahead. Why? Well, I just thought just from everything like it was such a big deal and like working backwards, you could feel it on that last drive. If you watch that last drive, I mean, it had obviously the equipment truck, which they almost had to forfeit the game.

I don't know if that was exaggerated. That was high drama. The officiating was shit and probably cost the Patriots the game. And we can get into that in a second, which is now entertainment. As much as people hate it, they're talking about it. But that last drive, you could feel it, man. It was a team that had lost twice to the Patriots last year, once as the one seed at home. I felt like when I watched that game last year, I said, if there's any time Andy Reid's going to get this done, it's now. And when they failed, I was like, ah, I feel like they're never

going to get it done. I feel bad. They also lost at Gillette last year. So you kind of feel like New England having Kansas City and Andy Reid's number was a thing. And you could feel it on that last drive. You had, you know, Belichick, Brady scrambling for 17 yards, Bill getting more animated than I'd seen him all year, signaling a first down. Then you had the last play and they're showing Andy on the sideline. all year, signaling a first down. Then you had the last play, and they're showing Andy on the sideline. He's clapping.

He's showing emotion. Like, this just felt like a big deal, and it's a big deal because now the Pats are at risk of, you know, the Chiefs have the tiebreaker. So if the Pats continue to slide, you're looking at the Buffalo game, right? They might have to go to Arrowhead and win a game again, which would be really tough to do this year. We can get in that for a second, but I just love the drama, the storylines. And with New England, you feel like we're on the cusp of that Monday where everybody comes in and

says it's over and it's over for real. I'm not saying we're there because I think they can still make a run, but this is a concern. All right, so we'll go over some numbers after the opening touchdown on the fake play, and I started thinking about this too, if your offense is bad, like below average to bad, would you be better off running trick plays every play? No, no. But credit to Josh McDaniels and Bill for signing off on it.

Where they got a lot of their production was trick plays. And they did. And that's why when I look at people bitching about the officiating, bitch away. You know, New England fans, I'm with you on this one. You were cost of the game. You know, you had the Kelsey Force fumble, which I thought we figured this out in the Rams game against the Saints.

They fixed it pretty quickly because in the Saints-Seattle game the next week, they learned from it. Right, to not blow a whistle on the fumble. Let them do whatever. But then they forgot. They got amnesia. And then you can't use your challenge on what could be a touchdown late in the game on the Myers play, I think.

It was the Harry. Harry was in. And that cost them four points. And they played that game totally differently at the end there because that call also there was the PI. Play that game totally differently at the end there because that call also there was the PI. But the reason I say like pump the brakes on, I mean, I get that this game was probably lost because of that. But the reasons for concern are real.

Look at everything that Kansas City had to do poorly for them to get back in the game. So, source fumble, 10 penalties, interception, Mahomes looks average, pump blocked, all trick plays, all that stuff. And they barely got back in the game. So after that opening touchdown, New England had seven possessions for 95 yards total. Just to put in perspective how bad the offense was after that trick play. Three and out, minus one yard, that's a punt. Block field goal, 13 plays, 55 yards. Then interception, then on downs, 42 yards.

Three and out, zero yards. Punt, end of half, three plays, four yards. First possession, three plays, minus five yards at the end of that second quarter. Now, the officiating thing sucks, okay? The fumble thing, as you point out, and then to kill Harry, not being out of bounds where two guys basically were like, hey, fine. And then afterwards, I thought Mike Reese, as a Pats reporter, asked Boger, who was

the head official, like, is there anything to maybe rule on the side of caution to rule at a touchdown so it can be automatically reviewed? Because at that point, New England was out of challenges. And he was like, no. The way he explained it made me think, like, you ever had that situation where it's self checkout and it's not going right? And then somebody from cvs comes over like a red vest you're like hey can i help you and you're like yeah you know i was a little

apprehensive about this self-checkout thing to begin with i got a coupon i got a i got a number i got a plug in here and then the person said well you know let me just help it way easier and like 10 minutes later you've seen all these people that are behind you in line already eating ice cream in the parking lot because they're on to their next move and you're like this would have gone better had you not come over and helped um that's kind of what i kind of felt like he did at the end of that game now having said all that i don't love officiating's never been worse twitter i don't understand people that love football and spend their sundays around it and they just want to tweet out officiating mistakes the whole time new england got hooked up against Dallas on the tripping plays.

I know it sucks. I know we're all selfish. I know no one actually sits there. It was more egregious, but I don't believe in some version of this that's more perfect. And the more the NFL has voted on stuff every offseason to try to make it more right, the more I keep thinking they're screwing stuff up. So I know the calls suck, but the offense also sucks. And Brady now has four straight games of a QBR under 40,

which is the worst stretch since 2006 when they first started tracking the stats. And that means there's probably a stretch that goes back even further if it's ever happened. Maybe it's a rookie year when they didn't let him pass very much, but he's playing his worst football. And it was an 11 and five team last year that had three losses by double digits for the first time in like a decade and a half. And then they still ended up

winning the Superbowl. And I'm just, I'm, I know we're all burned from the chiefs game five years ago where, you know, bell Belichick was asked by one guy and it was one guy, by the way, people revisit this with a very tilted version of history where no one was suggesting Garoppolo was going to replace Brady, but one reporter kind of asked it that way, and Belichick looked at him. It was like, gave him his Jesus Christ under his breath, I think, although Belichick's done it a few times. But, you know, this is trending in the direction where we would write everybody off. We'd write off any other team, any other quarterback. We would write them all off, but we're also burnt because all of us at some point

have probably gotten it wrong about when the end of this run is happening. And, you know, look, the defense was great. They held the Chiefs to 97 yards, three points in the second half. I'm with you, Mahomes. You know, shaky at times. Maybe it's the hand. Maybe the hand. Yeah, afterwards.

But – Go ahead. But that's – I mean, the crazy – and you it's the hand. Maybe the hand. Yeah, afterwards. But... Go ahead. But that's crazy. I mean, the crazy thing, and you just made the point, like, the defense was really still good. Yeah.

Now, where they... Now, where... Where I didn't feel like... Listen, the thing I don't agree with Pat's fans on, and I really agree with them on the officiating,

you have a case, a gripe here. But again, the caveat here is your offense sucked yesterday, so... And it's also not 14 points on bad calls. The possessions are connected. It again, the caveat here is your offense sucked yesterday. And it's also not 14 points on bad calls. The possessions are connected. That's the other thing, too. It's four points for sure.

And who's to say that guy scores after that fumble recovery? I think there's a good chance. I think he does. But the thing I don't understand is you're going to boo these guys? You've been sitting there for 20 years in a lap of luxury watching great football and you're going to boo them. And, and okay, if you want to boo them because you have a high standard, that's great. But then when everybody, anybody else questions the dominance of the Pats or their, or their ceiling this year, then it's, it's off limits. So pick one, you can't boo them and then,

and then vehemently defend them almost like confrontationally if somebody questions that they're playing bad ball right now. They just are offensively. And you look at that Chiefs game last year. Take either Chiefs game, and this is what I'm worried about, if they have to go there. Never mind going to beat Baltimore in Baltimore, which is going to be tough. If you have to go to Arrowhead or any of these places on the road, look at that game in the AFC Championship last year. By the way, it's a different team.

They morphed into a running team. We know that. We know they had 48 carries for 176 yards, four touchdowns. We know they had 36 first downs. We know they had 350 yards passing, 524 yards total, 13 and 19 on third down, 45 minutes of time possession, and they didn't get sacked. 11 blitzes and no sacks. And maybe that's part of the Chiefs' overcorrection, shipping their pass rushers out. But if you took the 2019 highs individually for their best games in all those categories and made a highlight game, it's still not as good as that game. It's still, week one, they had 465 yards passing. That's kind of it. You know, they scored 43 against the Dolphins, 33 against Washington, 33 against

the Jets, and 35 against the Giants. Show me good teams. Their season high in rushing was against the Texans last week, which was kind of weird. They came out the first drive and were trying to pound it. They had 366 yards passing against the Steelers. All their best games individually, if you added them together, they're still not as good as that offensive performance, especially in the time possession

and just asserting your will running the football. They don't have Devlin. They don't have Gronk. It's going to be harder to go on the road and win. And then the last thing here is, Ry, before we move on, because I know we're taking too much time here. Tom's trusting the receivers, man. He's got Myers basically open on the one-yard line on that fourth down, and he goes to Edelman. I don't blame him necessarily,

but you look at the last couple weeks, these guys haven't been in the right places. So even if the guys are open sometimes, Tom's not looking at them because he doesn't trust them necessarily. No, and when he bails on somebody, it over um you know that i've watched it long enough that once he doesn't trust you to make it i mean to kill harry had two two snaps and still one of them should have been a touchdown and he was facing pressure and the edelman throw was still

a good throw and it was a great play by the defensive back and i think myers was short he was short of the goal line. It would have taken a lot. Maybe he'd gotten over there. I don't know. Look, man. Yeah, but it was, it wasn't in goal, was it? It was to the one, I think. Yeah, you're right. You're right. So I look, this team could run the football. They got better running the football last year, this year, your yards per carry for the Patriots. They're only better than the bears, the dolphins and the jets and the jets block. Like they hate their running backs. So, um, than the Bears, the Dolphins, and the Jets. And the Jets block like they hate their running backs.

So, and I'll... And, and, and, and, right. It's not like they haven't gone on the road to beat a one seed. They did in 01, 04, 06, and 19. I'm not saying it can't happen, but, like, put, do the math right now. We'll just, we'll get to this

when we rank the AFC teams. But I think that there are some things I was watching ESPN this morning and people were like, how is this team 10 wins? How is this team 10 wins? You go, okay, this is a very good way to kind of close these two games that we've talked about. San Francisco

was on this epic run. Their schedule was weak, and we weren't sure because you don't give San Francisco the benefit of the doubt the way you give New England the benefit of the doubt. Those are the rules. It's very simple. New England had played a really easy schedule, and let's not forget, they had Josh Gordon. They had Antonio Brown in the mix. They probably felt like they were still okay at tight end. And I think that's why Belichick was

furious about getting rid of Antonio Brown, which honestly, that guy. Are we going to do another weekly update on the Pats not re-signing him? He only makes fun of the owner's sex life every single week on Instagram. So I think Brown's probably, it's safe to go ahead and rule him out for the next three weeks as well. But that's the difference is their defense has always been good. Now you worry about the Pats defense feeling like, do we have enough from this offense here? And, you know, going back and look at some of these games, you're like, New England got

all these wins because before they were playing bad teams, but we didn't worry about it, where we still held San Francisco to a different standard because the equity wasn't built up. And points go down in the playoffs. They always do, like the Super Bowl and 16, or especially in the Super Bowl as you look at them, points generally go down. The Eagles Super Bowl, that was an outlier, so it's not like I forgot that one. But you say, the records, I mean, the Cardinals and the team in Washington have the same amount of wins. Like, I feel like those places are in different, they're at different levels right now if you're a fan.

I mean, the Jags and Falcons have the same wins. The Titans have the same amount of wins as a bunch of teams. And I would argue that they're much better than them all. I mean, because you can't look at things like that. The quarterbacks change, everything's changed. And the Chargers and Broncos are five and eight that they're much better than them all. I mean, because you can't look at things like that. The quarterbacks change. Everything's changed. And the Chargers and Broncos are 5-8, and they're awesome.

So there you go. All right, let's go best and worst playing rides. Okay, San Francisco's the best. Easy, I mean, right, game of the year. You always get those charbroiled oysters outside the bus area. I remember that being the only thing that could cheer me up after we lost like 47 to 7 in the regular season last year. Those oysters are terrific.

Maybe you sneak some, what, hurricanes, the New Orleans drinks on the plane and you're going west. So you're going to get home earlier. The only thing that sucks is when you get home in San Francisco and you live in San Jose,

I don't know what you do in San Jose. I don't know San Jose at all. so I'm not your guy for that one yeah I mean San Berdue stadium San Berdue I'm not a guy huh San Berdue no no all right yeah not San Jose can't be so bad Joe Thornton Big Joe Thornton listen I like San Jose but I't be so bad. Joe Thornton, big Joe Thornton. Listen, I like San Jose, but I'm just saying San Francisco is an awesome place. And that would be, if you're a Niners player, I wonder if how much guys go out in San Fran, because that's a, that's tantalizingly close, but with the traffic and the commute, like you get home from a big win like that, you're like the boys want to go out, but it's an hour away. You guys probably figure it out, but maybe get an hour away. You guys probably figure it out. Maybe get an Uber XL for you guys and split it up, Venmo each other the difference.

I'm going to go ahead with the Chiefs. You know, it was an offside snap away from you being in the Super Bowl, and it's the first under-25 quarterback to win at Foxborough against Bill and Brady. That's crazy, right? Yeah. So a little revenge with the way the other games have gone there. And Mahomes, the hand thing is worth it because it was obviously bothering him. You and I were talking off the phone, and I just wanted to make sure that we were on the same.

But Mahomes, this is not walking boot Ben here. This is Mahomes, who clearly something was off there and was part of the game. sure that we were on this but like my homes this is not walking boot ben here this is my homes who clearly something was off there and was part of the game you don't want to yeah i my homes isn't the type of guy that would that would fake something and and you know like listen it it looked like it got better as the game went on they could have shot it up at half yeah a lot of times they'll shoot things up with with nova cane or i't know, like the stuff you get when you go to the dentist. They just fire that shit right in your hand. I'm going to go Colts as the worst plane ride.

The season's over. You got the Tampa Bay punter punting balls at, you know, the most badass guy on your team. Should have gone out and avenged Quentin nelson the season's over by the way are so for those that don't understand quentin nelson was going through some warm-up like just snap stuff and he wasn't even in a shell or anything he was just in long sleeve stuff and a couple punts like zing by his way so like he went down to their end of the tampa side and started yelling at the guys then punted the ball back at him. What's protocol there? Because I've been on the field pregame,

and there's stuff flying all over the place. No doubt. That's also a guy that I'm pretty sure I don't want to punt the ball near during the game. So whatever your pregame, whatever your norms are, maybe adjust them when Quentin Nelson's warming up. By the way, is he one of the only guys that looks bigger outside of pads? Unbelievable.

Wasn't that weird? he's like a refrigerator there there was a refrigerator with legs walking up to a punter in the nfl yesterday with bad intentions bro i couldn't i was going how did he get bigger he doesn't even have his pads on so um it's insane dude there you you go. Some of the heaviest hands of anybody I've played against. He came around on a pull, and when you're a defensive end and the tackle blocks down, my key is to look inside, but I'm not thinking, okay, it's going to be the off ball or it's going to be the offside guard or it's going to be a fullback. I just react.

At the last second, I was like, oh, shit. I remember how quickly in my mind I came to the realization. I was like, okay, there's a puller. Okay, it's Quentin Nelson. Oh, yeah, that's the rookie. He's really good. Holy shit. And I'm like, I'm hopping for two yards,

and I've never felt a man just move me like that. This guy is like, his hands are like bricks. Yeah, he's going to be good for a long time. Worst ride, if it's not the Colts could be the dolphins, but they get to go back to Miami. That's not always, that's not always the ruling on the year. I think Seahawks going into the Rams,

just home away from home, the Coliseum, Pete Carroll. Hey, a lot of great memories. That, and that game wasn't a game. It really wasn't a game.

You want to give me a little on ram seahawks here instead of using it somewhere a little bit later let's do that absolutely absolutely i think you got to take a grain of salt with this win i mean if you remember before the slide la did played really well up in seattle offensively um everett who wasn't there last night the tight end went for some crazy amount of yardage. Higby went for over 100 again. And so, you know, coming off that Cardinals win last week where Higby got the ball every other play, you're like, okay, McVay, he's counter-punching now. There's a few things McVay did, and he's been on the, not the chopping block as far as being an innovator, but one thing we've wondered is, can a guy who's really good at designing schemes

and doing things on the front end in-flight adjust? He's never really had to do that in his career. And he seems to be doing it. I mean, like, I think what has a lot to do with it is the reshuffling of the offensive line. That might be the first domino. And part of that is, and some of that was inadvertent. Some of that is running more inside zone.

Collinsworth mentioned that last night, getting downhill with Todd. And some of that is running more inside zone collinsworth mentioned that last night getting downhill with todd and some of that is getting the ball to tight ends you know tight ends and getting more 12 sets which is one back two tight ends for those of y'all listening like that opens things up for mcveigh a lot and golf is is he's not really a domino because i still think golf's the same guy but golf is hitting open receivers if you watch who he's not really a domino because I still think Goff's the same guy, but Goff is hitting open receivers. If you watch who he's hitting, he's one for three for five into tight windows last night and two for five for 28 the last two weeks. So I don't know if he's changed a bunch, but Seattle is one of the worst teams in the league, garden tight ends.

You know, they gave up 116 to Higby last night. They, you know, 50 to Rudolph in a touchdown the week before and then 91 to Earth. So this is kind of not a shock to me. I wouldn't have seen it gone this way, but grain of salt. The Rams are counter punching and sometimes a bad loss

late in the season is good. Collinsworth mentioned that too. I can't believe I'm pumping him twice in a minute, but he mentioned that as well. Two Collinsworth pumps per segment right there. Yeah, you can't go three pumps.

All right, but Collinsworth makes good points. The girly thing, though, is, and I've made this joke before. I mean, it's going to be 2025. We'll be doing a pod and be like, you know, all right, I think this might be the week. He's not the same. The numbers from last year are actually better than you would think, though, as they kept flashing those up the entire time

because I still don't think, I mean, clearly, like, he fell off, but he had moments last night. He had moments last night that looked better, and if I were going to do any kind of zag here, because you seem to be going, let's just see how this goes. The fact that Goff doesn't look like a disaster, like he did against Pittsburgh, when the team had four turnovers against Mason Rudolph and scored 12 points in their building, you're like, what is the problem with this team? The Baltimore loss at home, I can even give you a pass on that one. It's just this phenomenon that is Lamar and going, what the hell is this? And guys just not being ready until they're out in the field and seeing it. But they beat the Bears.

They've had these two good games back-to-back. The fact that golf doesn't look like a disaster and maybe the O-line is now competitive is just enough to think that there's, I'm not they're back look out super bowl but hope hope that this season isn't going to end up with these guys at like seven and nine you know and here's what and here's what we do as fans prior to previous weeks but as as a podcast guy yeah you are i've learned the hard way that you can't ride the wave with these quarterbacks because there's so many dips and you know if you look across the league offensive production and and quarterback play, it fluctuates. But we do know this, that with McVay, golf ceiling is raised to where it couldn't be without him. And a lot of his

success is predicated on these longer developing routes that you can't get to if the play action's not going. And if the run game's not going, you don't have a play action. And if the offensive line's not stabilized, you don't have time for him to throw. And last night, he wasn't sacked. I mean, so that was a really big deal, and he hasn't been sacked a lot lately at all. So another thing is Donald and Fowler have become as good a one-two punch inside and out as there is in a league. They help each other. If you looked at their plays they made last night, there was an element of assistance from the guy next to the other guy on each play.

So, like, Fowler beating the tackle inside and kind of picking the guard and just disrupting everything so Donald can get upfield and get a sack. And then Donald's disruption creates one for Fowler and vice versa. So, for Seattle, I'm not too concerned. I think they live dangerously. That's the biggest concern. There's no new concern.

The Penny thing, did he come back in the game? Rashad Penny, did you see? No, I don't think he did. So that's a big deal. I mean, this is a big deal because your ace is Carson, who we all agree is really good, but he fits perfectly in Seattle because he puts the ball on the turf a lot and kind of fits that mantra of like, hey, you don't know what you're going to get week to week with us. And in a big moment in the playoffs, you need a penny who had been developing as a good option for them in the last three weeks. I'd keep an eye on that injury. You said Procise came in, he hadn't been on the field in like

seven weeks with them, and they fumbled the exchange on a replay right away. So this stuff is important, and we'll keep an eye on that. We have Baltimore's win at Buffalo, the top five AFC. But before we do that, let's do some college football. I want to talk some college ball because Chris was on location scouting the ACC title game, and I was not. Let me ask you, though, is there anything better than watching football? Okay, wait a minute. That's why I'm listening to this podcast.

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Only at DraftKings. Minimum $5 deposit required. Eligibility restrictions apply. See DraftKings.com for details. Okay, you were at the ACC title game. I was not. Don't remember the game. Really?

What happened there? Where were you? Were you in the fans? No, I was in the stands, but I was on the sidelines before the game. So we played Clemson and listen, we're in the Orange Bowl against Florida. I'm pretty freaking happy. Clemson is like an SEC team in the ACC and probably at some positions more impressive than most, if not all the places in the SEC. This kid, number 11, walked by me, Simmons, the ACC defensive player of the year. And this fucker is big, bro. I was like, okay. At first, because I forgot who he was, I go, oh yeah, he's a defensive lineman in a skill number, but he was way too skilled to look like a D lineman. And I was like, okay, he's probably a DB.

Oh yeah, that's the Simmons kid. But I was blown away by the fact that he does not look like a safety and he doesn't look like a corner. Like he looks like he's just this avatar, bro. And they had a bunch of guys like that. You know, their skills were too much for us. Their skill guys, you know us. Their skill, guys. First of all, Etienne gets no love. I think he's like a first down per touch.

Every time their receivers get out and get open, I don't think anyone's ever going to be able to tackle them. It's just this group. Now, look, nobody is that. Honestly, they're close, but Alabama's receivers are the greatest group I think I've ever seen on one team at one point. there's just something about clemson's guys i don't know if it's the orange i don't know if it's their size but every time they'll get a little separation i just thought like no way like is anybody ever going to be able to tackle those guys i do want to give your guy just a little bit of love because what bryce Perkins goes through over the course of 60 minutes you could you could argue it wouldn't be fun for anyone and it's you're you said it last week I

can't believe like Buddy Lee dude I can't believe he's held up like he has um but we knew we knew going into that one that was like that's kind of fun in a way because there was no pressure on you except you get no no I don't think I don't think anybody i mean i can't speak for the players but i know everybody saw it as a great opportunity um and i'm only speaking for you know as a fan and i went down with five college teammates and that whole thing was fun it was also fun to sit in the stands and i'll get that in a second but like we didn't i i don't go down there like yeah we're beating clemson. We're going down there to show how much progress we've made as a program. Bronco has done a great job. The win total has increased every year. One of three teams in the NCAA to increase win totals over three years. I forget the other ones, but they're good programs. And Bronco has like, you know, this guy is out in the Mountain West,

like recruiting guys who just came off missions is now doing this in the 757 that's you know tidewater area virginia the south i mean it's just different i'm really impressed man i'm excited about it and orange bowl that looks like it's in my family's future as a new year's destination so your boy gets a nice warm weather trip it was nice and cold i got to sit next sit next to a bunch of clemson fans who had no clue who i was not that i'm anybody but they were kind of talking shit. There was a guy in a Clemson jacket, like a Clemson blazer, that was like he told me to move out of the seats because somebody else was in them and nobody was in them.

He just wanted you to move to prove a point? Well, after we tied it up at 7-7, I don't know if he was concerned or he had gotten tired of hearing us. Our seats were like two rows down. He said this to a group of like five pro football players? He wasn't like mad, but he was just like, hey, I need you to move. There's some people. And I joke with him.

I'm like, I go, well, you're getting nervous now, which obviously is kind of a joke. And he's like, because there had just been a fan cam that came by. And I guess we were in the background he's like at least you got to be on tv man and i was like motherfucker i played in this stadium like like what and there was a guy sitting in front of me with a clemson wedding ring on i don't know if that's a thing they do there but it was like literally an orange i want to do that wedding yeah an orange rubber wedding ring with the paw on there kyle's dying right now is he kyle's losing his mind he can't believe also is there a more ugly and by

the way most clemson fans were really cool um and i had heard otherwise but is there i love my time at clemson so i i don't have a bad word to say about them. Yeah, it was really cool. It was cool to be a fan on the road. I've never gone and supported my favorite team on the road as an adult, and I got to see how that dynamic. After the game, everybody saw the bar. Hey, great win. You guys are awesome.

Great win. Spread the good vibes. I'm not going to be arguing over amateur athletes drunk at a bar. I'm just not doing it. Yeah. When you say it that way, it doesn't sound like a great thing to do to get drunk and argue about teenagers and 21 year old. But, you know, look, you, you have it from a different perspective, man.

You have it from, I mean, a guy who just stopped playing, played in big games. I would immediately though, like if I went to Clemson or didn't go to Clemson, had Clemson gear on and recognized a bunch of UVA players that also played in the NFL, I wouldn't have a lot of great comebacks. I just wouldn't. Like I wouldn't be sitting there up 28-7 going, huh, how's it feel?

Because I honestly, you could be like, do you know how it feels? Because you don't know how it feels. Because you don't know how it feels. Because you have no idea how it feels, but I don't want to go there. No. I'm trying to play by the rules. I got the normal playbook of a fan of a college football team, and I'm not going to pull out any extra shit because I used to play ball. All right.

I was scouting the SEC. You texted me in the morning because you were trying to get a lean on LSU-Georgia. I think the text said, okay, Mr. SEC, what do you got? And I just went all caps. Yeah, what you got, man? I had my pockets. Right.

All caps LSU. And it was weird because I wasn't even remotely, like I just didn't feel like Georgia could hang with LSU. And they couldn't. And we can talk about injuries to receivers. And I'll tell you, like that Georgia game, I don't know that I've ever seen a game where I felt like there was a player from Georgia down like every three snaps but I still don't think that had anything to do with it Burrow and this

offense and how in tune they are I'd be like they're putting up 30 now they could lose to Ohio State they could lose to Clemson but no one's shutting them down and as far as everything I was trying to tell everyone about LSU's defense all year long was that it's not this defense that can't get stops. It's that when they get up big, they give up a ton of yardage. And that's not a great sign either, but it's different from just getting dump trucked against everybody you play. So if you say, well, whatever, shutting down these teams at the end of the year, Arkansas, whatever, A&M, not a great O-line, dominant there, best to pass rush to the LSU from LSU looked all year, and then just completely stifled Georgia. Oh, they don't have injuries. Well, that was the number two defense in the country too. And LSU probably should have had more points than what

they put up. So that part wasn't surprising. I think the combination of the Georgia, Alabama wins, you know, if you went AP wins, LSU would have four against the top 10, Ohio State would have zero. But if you went by the college football rankings, like you can move all this stuff around. If I'm an Ohio State fan, I already know how I'm going to do it. If I'm putting up a Fox graphic and I want Ohio State to be the one seed, which it seems they want it again this year, I know how I would do it. And I could make the same arguments for LSU. I don't know if LSU is better than Ohio State. I don't know if they're better than Clemson, but I think that Bama win at Tuscaloosa, where the last time they lost was when Ole Miss was plus five in turnovers four years ago,

and now because Tua didn't play against Auburn, Bama falls in the rankings, where I actually think if Tua were healthy and they had beaten Auburn, I think there's a chance the committee may have put Alabama in as the fourth team. I just think that the committee, you know, as close as it was, those two wins, I think are better than any one win that Ohio State has. But then again, Ohio State fans are going to say,

hey, the top 25 right now, Ohio State has more wins against them. And I get that too. So I think it was really, really close. But I thought LSU was deserving. And I'm telling you, this defense is not as bad statistically as people were trying to make it out to be

for about six weeks this season. Listen, you know, and I don't know about all that because I'm just a businessman when it comes to college football and you helped me pad the old pockets this weekend. So I appreciate that I was leaning LSU minus seven. In fact, I felt so good about it. I took a nap during the game because, and that sounds terrible to say as a football fan, but if you're in Charlotte with five buddies and we intend to go until 4 or 5 in the morning, I need that nap in the afternoon. Another thing is our Airbnb had this Roku shit, and I have no idea how to work that,

and I just gave up after five minutes, packed a dip, and went to sleep at 5 in the afternoon. So that was a weird wake-up before heading to the stadium. By the way, when you just said when you just said you're gonna go until four or five kyle just bounced up like a kitten why what does he just think like i can't do that anymore no he's like he's so proud of you he just like i was eating pork rinds i was eating pork rinds at 4 45 a.m in charlotte with five college buddies in an Airbnb. We had nothing in the fridge, just a bunch of light beer and a giant handle of Tito's and dudes are playing cards. You know,

we're listening to Sturgill. It was a great night other than the outcome. And I didn't eat a meal. I don't know if you ever do this, but I did not eat a meal. I ate tacos at 3 p.m. I didn't eat a meal until I hit Ace Biscuits and Barbecue in Charlottesville, Virginia, one of the best restaurants on the East Coast. I did it in Wyoming once. Wait, are we doing this? No, no. We'll do it some other time. It's not a big deal. We'll do it some other time. We have too much content today. We'll do it on a later. when you have a bunch of beers and and college buddies not only do you not have enough time but it's a waste of time to go eat at a restaurant no it isn't kids don't listen to him never go out these guys are enormous these guys are all 250 260

do not unless you're over 250 eat before you go out i cannot express this enough i had a state i had a stadium dinner you want to know what that consists of a pretzel oh yeah yeah and and a popcorn and i do not like pretzels but but the i wasn't eating a papa john's wait because your political beliefs are the way the slices no at first at first it was the at first it was like i just had this vision of of homeboy from papa john's looking like his blood pressure was about to burst his tomato looking face just wide open and the fact that he sounded like one of those robots uh you know the robot voices they put over i can't believe that guy's voice sounds like that well when he what was it

40 pizzas and 30 nights? Something like that. Yeah, it was, and they weren't personal pizzas. No, no. That was an amazing stat. Okay, all right. So that's your college football breakdown, and I have my tickets booked for Atlanta,

and, well, I don't want to jinx anything here, so I'll be in the ATL. Let's go back to Northside. That's right. That's right. Actually, my hotel's going to be in Buckhead, so Let's go back to Northside. That's right. That's right. I'm actually, my hotel's going to be in Buckhead. So I think it's right on the way from out of the city to where I'll be staying. I will file the papers with Megan, my wonderful wife, this afternoon.

Let her know. Let her know that. Well, how about we just do this? It's a show. And we say, hey, we're going. Yeah. We say we're going. And if she doesn't say anything, that means she doesn't listen to the pod.

Perfect. And then she should feel bad. It makes sense because Saturday will be the game, and then Sunday is the research day for football. Let's plan on that. And then we do a live pod, and we'll do it from the north side. We'll just sit in the back, and they won't know that we're live. We should do a live pod from the north side, and here's the deal.

This is the beauty of it. I can bring this up the day before. And if Meg, my lovely wife doesn't say anything, that means she doesn't listen to the pod. I love this plan. Don't say I didn't tell you. That's a plan. This is not sanctioned by Northside. They don't know what's happening. So, all right. Okay. So no one knows that this is happening, including my family. So this led us to a different conversation. We'll have a little fun here, but I will argue no one has done more solo of anybody, you know, I mean, sure. People in prison are by themselves a lot. Um, and I, I always make the joke about

not having friends. I actually have a lot of friends. I just don't seem to live near any of them enough. But you were what? How did this, oh, it happened because there were fireworks. No, it happened because somebody saw, so somebody texted me last night. It was like, tell your boy Rosillo, I hope he enjoyed the fireworks in Manhattan Beach. And I'm like, huh,

I wonder who Rosillo went to the fireworks with. And then this morning I was like, did you enjoy those fireworks? And you were like, yeah, I was just kind of dribbling a basketball alone, walking by the fireworks. I went to go play some hoops, and they shut the court during fireworks celebrations. This is how I sound, too, I think. What a sad story.

So I'm just imagining you dribbling a basketball in an A-shirt on a walk street in Manhattan Beach, like all sad and there's fireworks going off. And then you're like, oh, fuck it. I got a beach towel. Honestly, that's exactly what happened. That's exactly what happened. I always try to get out of the house a little bit.

Like after the second slate of games on Sunday, I get a little antsy and I just kind of want to get out of the house or just do something a little sweat. I'd already worked out in the morning, obviously. And so I'm like, let me run down to the park. I'll run down Oak live. We're live Oak. It's called live Oak. I don't know why I did Oak live and I'll get some shots up.

I'll get a little sweat. I hit pause on the Ram Seahawks channel. So I was like, we'll be ready to go and I can get all caught up. It's like a quicker way. I mean, I'm just trying to be more efficient and the fireworks are going off. It's this huge Christmas celebration. And the thing is I love, I love, love Christmas. Okay. I loved it as a kid. Um, and now like, you know, cause everybody's separated and everything, you know, nothing's really locked in. I just kind of know, like I'm going to the East coast for a little

while. Then I'll probably just back watching basketball. And I probably have a couple of work projects I'm going to do around it. I'm not asking for sympathy from anybody. But on the fireworks side of it, I'm like, alright, I don't want to go to the fireworks by myself. Like, I'm not going to walk around Manhattan Beach in the Strand and, like, post up and watch fireworks. So let me go play some hoops.

Solo. Not being a public figure. Right. And, you know, look, favorite thing to do in the world, listen to rap, get shots up. Alright? Favorite thing ever. So that's my plan. I've got a little ghost face going Daytona 500. I'm all fired up. I'm dribbling. I'm dribbling through the streets even. And then I get there and it's all closed. through town to grab a thing, like a bucket of chicken and rice. And then I walked back through town with my basketball, sad face, chicken and rice, and then watch the rest of the Ram Seahawks. But I'm by myself quite a bit. Sad face, chicken and rice, fresh off of-

I was pissed. I was actually- Really auspicious. I was in a bad mood. Yeah. Yeah, it was an auspicious. I feel like you had to feel like that day was gonna go really well and it went south shout out to ghostface by the way probably my favorite out of that camp

some would say you god but that's so i'll allow it okay thank you um think you know but we we were talking about like i'm a big alone guy too now this isn a flex. I'm not being fucked up here. I have a family of three, so I don't have to do things alone, but I enjoy doing things alone. I have always legitimately been a very social loner in a way. Like I can be antisocial depending on where I am, not want to talk to anybody. I can really like talk to people, but mostly I just like to go and be by myself. I, I enjoy going to the movies alone. I enjoy going to eat dinner alone. When you go and eat dinner alone though, hot tip, don't get a table. Cause you look like you're fucking weird. Sit at the bar. Yeah. I like, I like sitting at the bar, talking to the bartender, eating a nice meal, because everybody's

in a rush to go be on the main floor and look like a hot shot. Go to a steakhouse and eat at the bar. It's the best feeling in the world. I like going to concerts alone. I started thinking about it. I was doing a list of things I'd rather do alone, and I started to wonder if I like doing anything with other people. Would you have enjoyed Willie Nelson more if I wasn't there?

After that friend of yours said that he was overrated. Yeah. I kind of wanted to suspend you for the entire weekend. That was him the day after. Oh, no, no, no, no. That was Sunday. Cause that was a Sunday show. Cause that's why.

Yeah. That was before the, that was at your your shark's cove right because that's when we ended at the north end and you and i both did an irish like hey let's watch game of thrones because i it's tomorrow's monday we can't drink anymore yeah our weekend is over our weekend is over and let's just pretend we're not and we were at north end and we were like all right see you later um a lot of i looked up a list though rye of things and of this is from a list of stuff that you like to do why did you did you have this written down somewhere ahead of time no this is things to do by yourself um this is from a publication called women's day i googled search things you can do alone and i don't

think it's disqualifying this is a magazine that's aimed at women readers um it said go to a concert check go to a museum i love this i love museums bro and it's funny my mom who my mom who would come to like all my games and like away games and stuff she's so low maintenance so like she just get to the city and go on like a museum tour even if it was like a city with no museums. She could find a museum in like... I mean, I'm sure there's museums in Minneapolis, but she could find a museum in Detroit. I'm talking about some cultured shit.

She could find something to do. And I got that from her. I could go anywhere. I'd like to hit the La Brea Tar Pits solo. That sounds good to me. It's right down the street. It actually doesn't look that great. I drove by it the other day. I'm a big

fan of that salad place called Mixed. You think the La Brea tar pits are awesome? Because I'm going to tell you right now, I don't think they are. I eat lunch over there. You're stuck in the mud on this one, buddy. Hey, by the way, the Michigan Science Center, Motown Museum, the Henry

Ford Museum. Okay. Dawson Great Lakes Museum, Ford, lakes museum ford pickett i'm taking it back they got the okay green bay the museum's in appleton and green bay kyle can you get on the museum stuff because i i have i have the most solo like look if i didn't eat by myself i wouldn't eat like people that can't eat by themselves and i'm with you on the bar thing like actually you know what's kind of great is if you are with somebody and it's busy and then the person you're with is so cool you're like do you mind just doing the bar steak and then we get a move on and if that person's down with that it's like the best thing ever but um i'll get a table you don't

want to you don't want to be at a club alone rye club alone is bad yeah club alone is really bad but again when all your friends are married. No, it's too late. No, I've already made that mistake. You start looking like you're either selling cocaine or you're there to be very clandestine in some other way that I don't want to mention. No. Another thing on this list is gazing at the stars,

which teach yourself an instrument. Go kayaking. Who teaches themselves an instrument with a wife? I have no idea. That would be the worst worst that would be the worst um kayaking but now they're just saying stuff the good news is here laying on the beach is one and technically that's what you did last night to watch the fireworks i didn't i walked through town sad with a bucket of chicken um my favorite ryan dad basketball toting bucket of chicken toting muscle bound a shirt wearing after 6 p.m because he was just shooting hoops gazing at fireworks it's like can we get somebody commission a painting if it weren't for the muscles you

would have thought i was 15 years old um except for that well i had a hat on too so you weren't for the muscles, you would have thought I was 15 years old, except for the... Well, I had a hat on too, so you wouldn't be able to tell. I have the worst solo one ever, though. I've been to Disney World six times solo. Five times were for the NBA draft pre-camp thing, which actually makes sense. And then another time I went to host a thing with Joe Namath, which we've been over before. But when you're by yourself in your late 30s, I think I was late 30s at that point, But when you're by yourself in your late 30s, I think I was late 30s at that point, and you're at the pool, the family vacation pool, and you're by yourself reading like liar's poker, like parents are like, what is this? Yeah, it's like being at the club late at night. You're like, you should be on a government watch list for going to Disney World alone multiple times.

I actually agree with you. I can't say that that's inaccurate. I mean, there are explanations for every visit, specifically, hey, last minute, Princess Tower, Yacht Club. And it's funny too, because I went out a little bit because I was like,

I got to see what this is like. And those corporate retreat things, they go so hard. They go so hard that I was like, I got to get out of here. You don't want to be around the people going hard on those corporate retreat things because most of them are there to live a different life for a weekend. And that's scary. I sat off to the side.

When somebody looks at a weekend like this is my opportunity to live a different life, it's dangerous. Like my Disney World comp is dangerous i'm not like my disney world comp is i'm not gonna say which county fair because i could incriminate myself and maybe i'm doing that but there's got to be like a statute of limitations like i used to go like to spark one up in the parking lot after hours when the rides are still illuminated um and of course i'm talking about the devil's lettuce with the backdrop of like Ferris wheels and all the lights and stuff.

But I make sure there's no kids there anymore. It's like after closing, right? But that is like, that's like maximum red flag. Like somebody sees you in a parking lot sparking a J at a county fair, even if it's after hours, you look like you should be on all types of lists. And I can certainly identify with feeling awkward about that one that's a big risk reward there the reward is huge okay the risk yeah i

bracelets well so you're like place between the pines you were like rico and like some some guy who's gonna get just jumped for looking like a sex offender when i'm just trying to like sit there and i don't know what it is i don't know what it is when a fair comes to town but it like it changes the whole demographic of a town off big time like there was carnies yeah there was a fair that was pretty you know regular it was kind of like a big deal one of these smaller hick towns that I lived in for a little stretch. And it was like, you know. Easy, easy.

Well, look, whatever. I can say that because I lived there. I was a taxpayer, you know. I was here in one of these like make-believe liberal states now. Yeah, but I may be paying taxes in multiple states right now. So everybody can back off. Okay. yeah but i may be paying taxes in multiple states right now so everybody can back off okay so yeah solo solo carnival slash fair jay lighting right right at closing times

six times solo disney world champion ryan rossillo hey what what's what's how sketchy is a carny's night out after after shutting down the the uh the the ferris wheel the turn the lights off where do you go how sketchy does that night get trailers those guys all have trailers man they don't go to do you have you seen place beneath place between the pines what's sketchier like one of those north dakota work camps or carny's trailers after a long night see I think the work camp isn't as sketchy because that's kind of your home base and it's connected to your your revenue

where these carnies just roll in to a town and then they know we might not be back here in a year I could I look I don't think that that storyline wasn't that far off from Gosling he shows back up to town with his dirt bike he's got a kid have you seen Wind River? I have seen Wind River. Yeah.

Well, now you just made it serious. Yeah, that camp, like, is really bad. But by the way, the dude in there that was in, I forget his name, he's a terrific actor, the guy who I hated. Yeah, the Punisher? He was Shane in The Walking Dead. Yeah, John Berthein?

Yeah, yeah. He kept referencing a place in California in that movie in Wind River. He was going to take the girl to... Where was it? Somewhere outside of San Bernardino where they had these orange groves, right? San Berdue?

I have no idea. But for people listening, if you remember, he mentions a place in California. I had a buddy who was at an orange grove in that place in real life and ran into the cat. He only mentioned it because he actually like lives there or spends a lot of time there. Yeah.

John Bernthal. Sorry. Yeah. I had that one wrong. I ran into him at a spot. I didn't say anything. Well, I wouldn't talk to Shane. I'm so scarred from how fucked up he was to Rick in that show. So he could be the nicest guy in the world. He could be a humanitarian. I've been on fire on these things. I think I've gotten every one of them right except for one, so I'm going to try to make it even more difficult,

and I'm picking Arizona to get the win at home against a Cleveland Browns team that I still thought in these last two weeks would show us something. They haven't really shown us anything despite getting the win against a Cincinnati team that we know is terrible. Arizona.

So let's take a look at the resume. They are losing a lot of games. They have three wins against Cincinnati, Atlanta, and the Giants, and since that nice little stretch in the middle of October, they've lost six straight. New Orleans, San Francisco, Tampa Bay, San Francisco, blown out by the Rams, and actually a close game against Pittsburgh.

Kyler Murray, the number one overall pick, had a nice stretch in the middle of this losing streak where he played really well. And in the last two weeks, he has not played well, including three picks against the Steelers. But streak where he played really well, and in the last two weeks he has not played well, including three picks against the Steelers. But I thought he showed great resolve, a little tenacity in the second half, and something that I think you at least want to see with somebody who's picked this high and is still so young.

So Cleveland comes in with their average defense, actually not a slight at them, but an average defense, more drama with what's going on with Odell. I know that's a huge shocker. I can't wait to see which rapper he decides to sit down with and says Baker isn't as good at quarterback like he did with Eli, but it was uncool or okay boomer to point out that maybe you just shouldn't dump on your quarterback in the middle of a nationwide interview. However, saying all those things, you add it all up.

I think Arizona in this spot, if they're going to get a win here, they're going to get it against a Cleveland team that really has shown us nothing all season long or shown us less than what we expected. And maybe we should have expected less because if you look at their wins at the end of the season, they beat all non-playoff teams. And we got way too excited about the Browns collectively,

even though I didn't pick them to go to the playoffs. If you're fumbling with insurance, State Farm agents are here to help because with over 19,000 agents, they're local to you and available to help. Whether you connect in person by phone or through the State Farm mobile app, agents are here to help. So go with the one that has coverage and agents you can count on. State Farm, talk to an agent today. So instead of just making this about Baltimore and Buffalo, because again, Baltimore pulls it out. That defense has gone. Like if you looked at them as a stock tracking from where it was week four, week five to where

it is right now, it's a top five defense. That's a remarkable improvement. There's some of these weighted metrics that you can go out there and look at, and they have figured this thing out and Lamar doesn't have to be perfect, which is I think the scariest thing is like, okay, is he just running all over everybody? No. Buffalo did a good job defensively. Lamar hits on a couple plays, gets you a couple more runs. Their defense holds at the end. Maybe a little overreaction to Josh Allen here.

But let's wrap this whole thing into how you see Baltimore and then maybe the top five teams in the AFC, because you brought it up as an idea for the pod, and it's way harder or maybe perhaps more controversial than people would think yeah it is controversial you're going to step on a lot of people's feelings here you know all anybody does is rank like the top five like power rankings it's really hard to rank the top five teams in the AFC and what made me think of it was Tennessee who I'm now a fan boy of Tennessee I used to hate Tennessee like

I just hated everything about him I hate their uniforms they made me hate Ring of Fire um no they they couldn't make me hate Folsom Prison because they play that every time they would score at that stadium I used to hate Ryan Tannehill like really just not like him I love the guy why didn't you not what What was it, personal? He bumped into me on the sideline once, like gave me a shoulder after a play. I ran him out of bounds. I'm like, what the fuck are you doing?

Did you say that to him? Like, you're a quarterback. Yeah, I was like, you're a quarterback. Like, I... What did he say? I forget. He just looked at me and like kind of like smiled. But anyways, I love the Titans now. first off shout out to darren bates

special teams ace one of my favorite players former teammate makes a bunch of great plays on special teams but they've taken on the personality of their coach and what what what prompted this thought for me was like remember back in the day when i was dumb enough to think early in the season that the chargers might be the third best team in the AFC. Well, I found my third best team in the AFC. And in a month, I could be overreacting, but they're going to have an opportunity to prove it out with Houston twice and New Orleans sandwiched in the middle. The way they play lately, they're averaging north of 30 points a game. Henry is a guy nobody wants to tackle in December. When things get cold and guys in the second level don't really want to tackle, and then they see that giant dude, they call him the predator.

Like, you know, he's fucking scary. And he gets a head of steam. Nobody wants to tackle this guy. If you look at him with New England right now, and this is what we're doing. We're just talking about right now. So people don't get offended. I'm not saying I trust them more than New England or whatever, but if you're ranking the teams that are playing the best right now,

sprinkled in their future outcomes forecasted, I would say it's Baltimore. I'd say it's Kansas City because they're playing very well and they have the head-to-head with the Patriots right now. They're getting healthy at the right time. And then I like the Titans, baby. Give me the Titans. Who's your top three? And then we'll do the fringe. Okay. All right. I'm with you on Baltimore. It's the number one offense right now. Number two passing offense on DVOA, which I think would blow some people's minds. And we know how good they are running the football. And their offensive numbers right now,

that's actually by a pretty wide margin if you look at some of that stuff. And defensively, they're fourth in the NFL. Kansas City, their defense is better than you think. And I'm not saying that just off the New England thing, but that's three straight opponents they've held to under 20. I know the Titans got them on that weird field goal game about four weeks ago. But I just,

I feel like they're getting their guys back after having a really brutal stretch of injuries, you know, in the middle of the season. Matt Moore going up against Green Bay, but they were missing like

five or six other important players. And with Kansas City going into New England, as bad as New England's offense has been, that's just not easy to do. And they were really kind of dominant. Really, you know, you talk about game control

and that kind of stuff, so I'd have them there. And that's where I stop, because I can't put New England behind Tennessee. I can't put... Who's playing better right now? Tennessee is playing better. Okay, so who's the better team right now? Tennessee is playing better. Okay, so who's the better team right now? If Tennessee goes into New England in a playoff game,

who are you picking? I'm probably picking New England. Okay, so that's kind of how I look at it because the Tennessee stretch here, it's that Kansas City field goal game, but then it's the Jags, it's the Colts. The Colts who look like they're a mess now, who you loved in the beginning of the year.

And I think you were right kind of long-term about Brissette being a guy. But they're kind of falling apart. I don't know if it's the secondary. I don't know exactly what's going on there. Is it just health? And then, you know, they beat the Raiders. Yeah, I think they've had a lot of injuries. Where the Raiders were like this fun story being like,

and now ever since every, basically once the country got on the same page about giving the Raiders were like this fun story being like, and now ever since every, basically once the country got on the same page about giving the Raiders some credit, then they've gone down their leg for about three straight weeks here. You've also overcorrected because we gave the Raiders so much shit. That's true.

Yeah, that's true. And what we do is when they prove us wrong, everybody's like, well, they got to be a playoff team now. I think the Raiders probably know that this is a year that they have a distinct ceiling, and they've been outscored by like 80 points the last three weeks.

So they're coming back down to earth. That's a longer build. But I would say if Tennessee slides in the playoffs, that'll mean they have beaten the Texans twice late in the year, or maybe once, depending on how it comes down. I'm not positive. I think they'll play the Saints tough.

They got to go to New England. I mean, what are you putting the line at? I know you're not a gambler, but... There would be so much action still on the Patriots that it would probably... You know, unless New England still looks really rough,

but still has enough wins to host a playoff game. You know, I don't know if Vegas would do one of those stinky lines where they're begging you to take New England still looks really rough, but still has enough wins to host a playoff game. I don't know if Vegas would do one of those stinky lines where they're begging you to take New England, but I would think they'd have so much action in New England, they'd have to put it close to a touchdown still anyway. I think six would be relatively realistic

right now. I'm saying because if the Tennessee Titans are in the playoffs, and you asked me about this, if they go to Foxborough, of course I trust Bill and Tom over Tannehill and Vrabel. But I'm also saying that if the Titans get in,

and this is a separate discussion, if they get in and have to play the Patriots, that means they're surging. And they'll be one of the hottest teams to go into the playoffs in the last 5-10 years. And one of the scariest teams. The reason I don't trust Houston is because they have these bad, bad blowout losses. I know the Ravens are the Ravens, but I'd feel a lot better if that was a 31, 17 game, you know,

obviously drew lock you, by the way, Elway might've finally got one, right. But also I think that had as much to do with Houston, not doing the right things. Umke looked good. Denver, who took the Vikings to task not to get off topic and then blew the lead, had the same situation. And Houston, I just think Houston's too streaky. And the Bills, who I've been down on, they're still a team that's going to be in every game because of that defense. So whatever you think on the fringes,

but right now, and this is what this is, this is a power ranking because if the Pats started 0-4 in a season, you're not going to put them higher than they deserve to be because it's right now, even with the legacy effect. No, I have before. I've left them in my top 5, 1 and 2 to start a season,

I think. Okay. Well, yeah, I mean, it's pretty early, but I would say this, like Tennessee is playing better in New England right now. Right, but I don't think Tennessee's defense is that good and it's really important to like look at Buffalo and go defensively that feels like that's going to travel anywhere that they go and there's there's a weird like as much as each week is its own thing and this league is week to week there are certain things that I'll look at like pattern wise going okay so let me get this straight.

New England goes into Houston and Houston's actually bad defensively. And I know they've gotten some guys back in their secondary, so that was part of the storyline that having them back meant something

and the final score made it look close. No, New England couldn't do anything against actually what's statistically a pretty bad defense. And then, as you mentioned, Houston has that performance

and then against Drew Locke, like it was out of control. 260 yards at the half. And you go, what is it about Houston? So I don't have a problem if your argument is that, is Houston out of your top five right now then so do you have it would be right they would be right now you can't get beat by 50 points and then get beat you know get drubbed by the by the broncos this late in the season in a in a cluster of games i listen hey they're they're gonna titans are gonna get a chance to prove this out over the next three weeks all i'm saying is this is a team that's kind of they're built with that edge what they were always missing was you know like they had that physical edge they had they but the quarterback wasn't the quarterback wasn't great i i hate to i'm not dumping on marcus mariotta because i love him as he was average at best and you know i i hope he's getting a second shot somewhere i don't know if that's going to happen but But Tannehill, for whatever reason,

has given them life in an area that they hadn't had life in a while. And even Marcus's big comeback win against the Chiefs. And by the way, if you're talking about the Chiefs at two, you want to talk about volatility. Yesterday I tweeted during the game. I was like, I was holding this tweet because I didn't want to jinx the Chiefs. No offense. I had them minus or jinx the Chiefs. No offense. I had them I had them

plus three and a half. I wasn't trying to jinx them, but the only way they lose that game is fumbles and ball security. Right as I'm going to tweet it, Kelsey fumbles. Shady's holding the ball out. McCoy, like it's a loaf of bread. You got another dude.

They got a punt blocked. Somebody else is like, oh, by the way, it's not just that. It's the Andy Reid play calling inoy, like it's a loaf of bread. You got another dude. They got a punt blocked. And somebody else is like, oh, by the way, it's not just that. It's the Andy Reid play calling in the second half, which is a great point. Andy Reid, he's scary with a lead. And that's why I worry about them in the playoffs, that penchant for implosion. So let me get this straight then. Your top five are Baltimore, KC, Tennessee, New England. If I was an AFC, yeah, New England. And then Buffalo.

And Buffalo. If I was an AFC team right now, and this is what this – because I know the ringer is going to put this on a social media thing with the trumpets in the background. Yeah, yeah. And I'm going to be so fucking excited because I'm going to have a bunch of people in my mentions talking shit like i fucking care um i like to respond but do i care no um if you wanted to play a team right now who are you more afraid of right now tennessee or new england the way

those two teams are playing we're not not talking about the playoffs we're ranking the five best teams right now. I can't tell you that New England's playing better than Tennessee, but I can also tell you that New England went through their final, like, they finally went through their tougher stretch. So even though Houston is high and low all over the place, their high is a very capable

thing, and they're playing a primetime game at their place. That's after, you know, finally playing baltimore that's after you know having to host kansas city so that's even with dallas who i guess i don't know does dallas suck now i guess dallas kind of sucks but it's still dallas on like the late game slot in bad condition so we knew new england's schedule was easy i'm just not ready i'm not ready to put them like fifth in the AFC. No, I'm not. I just can't do it. And by no means am I saying New England can't win a Super Bowl. Like this is the coolest thing about this year. It is wide open as I can remember it ever being. Absolutely. So that's what's cool. And if Tennessee slides in to address your argument that, you know, hey, in Foxborough, Tennessee, And by the way, Tennessee beat them last year handily at the end of the year.

Crushed them. I think it was in Tennessee. Yeah. But if they get there and play New England up in Foxborough, that means they'll play really well the next three weeks, which we can revisit this. If you were to go through how many teams could win the Super Bowl this year, Baltimore, yes.

New England, I think of New England at the end of this. They were 11-5 last year with those bad losses, and you're like, oh, they won the Super Bowl again. The Chiefs, yes. Feels a little different this year, I, yes. New England, I think of New England at the end of this. They were 11-5 last year with those bad losses and you're like, oh, they won the Super Bowl again. The Chiefs, yes. Feels a little different this year, I'm just saying. Yeah, no, it does. It does feel different, but I'm just saying there wouldn't be anybody on Monday going, I could never see this happening. I just don't know who the hell they're passing to

the next few weeks and then into the playoffs. San Francisco, Green Bay is still the second seed in the NFC. Which feels so freaky and weird, dude. I know. Because we love the Saints still. Seattle. Okay, finally lose a game.

They've won a ton of one-possession games. Your Minnesota Vikings. And the Rams are out. And then the in-the-hunt Bears. The eighth seed right there. Okay, final thing. Final thing. Before we say goodbye today.

Here's today's... This isn't a history lesson because it was a bad reading week. If you played in the NFL in the 1950s, would there be a statue of you outside of a stadium in a city because of your dominance? Yeah, well, the whole conversation here is, you know, if a pretty good player, really good player, pretty good player, I don't give a fuck what you think. Like, whatever you think of me the last 10, 11 years, pretty good player. Played in the 50s. And this isn't saying, like, Julius Peppers is going back to the 50s,

which the elephant in the room is that half the people in the country wouldn't be able to play. Half of football fans wouldn't be able to play. So let's just get that right out there. But I do believe that there would be a statue of me or any of my buddies who had an equal or better career than me, which there are many. And so I do think there would be a statue.

I just think in the 50s and 60s, and even into the 70s a little bit, like the game was just different. It just was. I'd be out there, like, you're out there head-slapping people. Like, the head-slap. Like, linemen were chicken-winging.

You got Conrad Dobler out there at, like, 240, who, by the way, when I was with the Rams, I met him, and he was the guy that would, like, do your flu shots. Because he played for the St. Louis Cardinals, right? Yeah. No, I get it.

So he still lived in St. Louis. And one day I show up to get my flu shot, and it's Conrad Doppler giving me the flu shot. I'm like, is he going to stab me in the neck? Is Deacon Jones out there slapping people around? The game is different. And I'm not saying those guys back then, the outliers athletic, because it is bigger, faster, stronger. I think the the biggest difference is do I get to go back with the

knowledge I have of how to play the game because anybody who knows how to rush now it'd be like a cheat code like how to use your hands how to rush couple that with the fact that it is bigger faster stronger those guys were tougher there's no way but also toughness is a conditioning thing. So maybe we go back and start and it's almost like a cheat code. If I have the knowledge I have now and I could be conditioned to be as badass as those dudes and wear leather, no, it wasn't the leather helmet era, but where these, these helmets, you remember you used to go to get the helmets in a box of cereal. Yeah. I used to have them all, man.

They just, they just make a bigger one. And that's what they threw on your head out there with like a single bar so don't get it twisted these guys are tough as fuck but I'm just saying there will be a statue Dick Nitrine Lane playing from

52 until 65 yeah that cat was good. He went to West Nebraska CC Scotts Bluff. These guys had other jobs, bro. No, I know. Tommy Heinsohn made most of his money, I think, selling insurance.

He got into the insurance game really early and he just had all these different... He was making more money. I mean, other guys are selling shoes. And Heinsohn's just an impressive guy all the way around. That's interesting because in sports, you go backwards and it seems like it'd be easier in a lot of ways.

Not easier from a standpoint of like, hey, they were tougher. I'm going to say this a hundred times. But in like, in music, it's almost the other way. It's gone the other way. But see, the problem is, is that music now, it's so hard to stand out. Like think about the way you consume music

where your favorite guy could come out with an album and you're on to the next one because we're just yeah there's more competition for sure overwhelmed where when i was younger i mean sometimes cds would make it in the rotation for like a year plus before i was like on to something else now it's like a week or if like kanye comes out with something and everybody hates him now. And look, if he's putting out good music, I don't care that he looked like a gum rapper the other day. But he had a fire blanket on. I had tweeted this last night. Like, if you told 2004 me that in 2019 and 15 years, Kanye was going to have a fire blanket on doing an opera on a fucking boat, I would have been like, y'all have some fire, fire weed in 2019. I can't even imagine what the 2004 me would have said.

Right. I mean, like to, to, to your point, even in the nineties or two thousands, if you had a CD, that was going to stay in, in rotation for a while, but also in sports. Now there's more competition, more kids have access. Right. You Right. Again, there's this entire population that happens to be better than us at a lot. Okay. In football. That have an opportunity to play now. You are a good to really good football player at your peak. You're not, you're never sitting here claiming to be Aaron Donald or JJ Watt or any of those

guys. At my peak, let's be clear though. I was really good at my peak. Yeah, right. You asked your dad this, too. What did your dad say? About what? About this question.

You, time machine, 1950s. You take a really good player in the NFL now, they got a statue in the 50s and 60s. Let's crank up the stakes a bit. What if I get in a time machine and join a 1920s pro basketball league uh um i don't know i don't think it's a sure thing it's not a sure thing no it shouldn't google i did google a lot of these guys um that were dominant in the 20s the c Cagers? Huh? The Cagers?

Man. This I think it's less obvious than in football but yeah it looks way different. These guys were wearing like the shoes were unbelievable. I can't believe guys are wearing Jordan 1s now because all the retro ones like Montrez had a pair of

the Halloween ones on in the first half and then he changed out of them in a Clippers game I was watching the other day. I just would say that, like, okay, forget me, but if you were like a decent college basketball player and you started going between your legs and dribbling as strong with your left hand as you do your right hand and started doing some post moves or started doing some stuff where, like, in transition,

you would get out and run and not wait for anybody else to catch up from you, if you could shoot from three now like i've always made this joke but if eddie house played in the 1950s the logo would be eddie house not jerry house would have been a great logo are you kidding me i remember remember i know you're not gonna remember this but it's always one of my favorite things there was something about like an insider thing and they found this scouting report on eddie house and it said won't shoot it unless he has the ball did he have a nickname rye eddie house did have a nickname are you house money is what i'll call him you really all right because our favorite one with van pelt was flip gets mine murray um and we don't we don't think he we called him that he he don't i don't even know if he had it all right eddie house all right so i googled i googled 1920s basketball teams many of them had high socks like if you go in the image searches

these guys had like new england patriot style socks they had shoes that aren't discernible from from you know like football shoes back then i think that like to get the leather to make these shoes back in the day they had to like leo and leo on the revenant like trappers had to go get the leather and like really bring it to these guys huh you had to be in the pelt trade you had to be in the pelt trade there's guys in in knee in knee pads were you falling on your knees oh it was really it was really violent like if you go back and look at some of the stuff the ball possession on an out of bounds was determined over who grabbed it first so like every time the ball went outside of the lines it was like a live ball and a fumble in a football game. So guys are killing each other,

and then people who'd go to the games would get mauled, and it was infamous for fights between players and people in the crowd. So it was malice at the palace. All the time. All the time. Pre-Jake LaMotta, with a bunch of dudes that looked like Jake LaMotta just drilling each other. That's

it. That's it. And, you know, I think that's just the way, like like olden days were back then. Just olden days. It didn't matter. I mean, baseball fields, like the outfield was kind of where the crowd was

until they started putting walls up. I think the Harlem Globetrotters beat an NBA team in 48. Yeah, that makes sense, though, because the NBA thing didn't really take off until... Well, because they weren't

allowing some of the best athletes on the planet. Oh, yeah. I mean, that goes without saying. I'm just saying. I'm looking at some of these 1920s basketball. We could do an entire pod on this. We could and we should.

The basketballs look like footballs. Oh, yeah. I mean, it was really bad. It was really bad. They look like medicine balls at la fitness think how stupid it is at the beginning because i was looking it up again um with naysmith and they wanted to call it naysmith game and he was like how about we just call it basketball instead which would have been really weird we're like welcome to the nba naysmith game finals right

that'd be so weird like what's your silhouette to is like the nfl no he's more of a naysmith guy naysmith game guy that'd be so weird so weird but i think how weird it is that it took him a couple years to be like why don't we cut the bottoms of these baskets out like that took that took years at first they they had a guy go up on a ladder and grab the ball it was a soccer ball yeah and then they put a hole in the bottom and the funny is no they put a hole in so they put a stick and push the ball out through the peach basket but that makes sense right but to think about like at no point did someone go hey why don't we just cut the whole bottom of the thing out so the ball falls through no we're gonna do the stick and whole thing definitely created more jobs because you had a guy for the stick you had a guy you he's just i mean just it's a foreign concept to me i had no idea i'm not a basketball historian it's pretty i love naysmith game it's one of my favorites that'll

do it for us you can follow me at joel91 make sure you check out all of the work on chalk media uh what do you guys get going on this week got to check with my people hey cowboy reed who's uh who we do an interview with this week posting oh michael strahan he's a good one oh stray questions had a long sit down with strahan over the summer and we're going to post it this week also green light is going to be on on on uh wednesday morning and and Saturday morning as usual. Stanford Steve's been killer on the picks. By the way, I felt really good about this. He's definitely better than me.

I went 6-0 two weeks ago. He went 0-6. I felt really good. Nice. We'll end it on that high note. He's way better. We will be back next Monday, and then I will get some stuff going on, traveling. But I'll have pods out Wednesday and Friday.

We'll talk to you next week. Thank you.