2020 Week 12 Recap

the Chris Westling wiki but apparently not. Yeah. When I would bring the bris then it was Christophe that Did you retain a lot of French? None? I remember reading The Little Prince in French and that was the highest of my French acumen ever. Got well, eating brie and drinking some nice red line potentially, No, that's Italian. So you revealed last week at this time West that you had lost two iPads to the bathtub um during um long arrests that turned into slumbers while submerged in the water.

Did we lose anymore iPads this week? In the past seven days, we have not lost any. I've I've sort of chilled on the baths for a while really I get the feeling that the listeners would reach out to you with some different ideas, maybe to help you. God did you get I got so many offers. One woodworker probably vowed that he would just let him know what dimensions in my bathroom are and he'll he'll make something

up that will suit all my needs. I have many people offering um bathroom caddies, which Keisha has one, but um for my purposes, I take notes while I'm watching the game, so I need to have my hands free. I need to actually be able to hold the ipan in my hands, so I can't really use a bath caddy. Um. I've just decided to take fewer baths. I thought that the woman that said she just text or anytime you need someone to just hold it for you, that was

going too far. That was going too far, you know, if she was gonna be clothed or not while she was doing that function. It seems like what we we don't need right now are woodworkers. What we need is big tech to step in here. Maybe get you a Tom Cruise Minority report types touch screen that's in front of the bathtub. But also we'll not electrocute you because we don't need another challenge for you West physically electrocution. Keep it out of the mix. No, I think big

Tech should get on board. They should sponsor the show. I don't know if there is such a company called big Tech, but but if they could whip up something from my needs, I appreciate it. Umbrella term, many many companies under that umbrella that would be should be willing to help. And they shouldn't link arms and come together. We should start a company called big Tech and then we just let it. Let me sit there. It has,

it's got the umbrel, it's got the corporate name. If somebody wants to come at us to buy it out because they love the name so much, because it's a name that probably no one thought to actually name their company. But if they would have thought of it, it would have been a billion dollar idea. We all right, I declare that big Tech is the name of our company, so that locks us in from a legality standpoint. Good big tech. All right. Now, onto the business of week twelve.

In the NFL Strange Sunday, We're about to dig into some some epics. Stinky eggs were laid across the league by would be contenders potential pretenders in the league. Also, this feels like the first Sunday Greg where the NFL which is danced through the rain drops on COVID nineteen to this point where it really felt like COVID nineteen impacted the league in a way that it hasn't before. And we are not out of the woods yet because we don't even know if a Week eighteen is gonna

have to come into play. Right now as we tape this, Steelers Ravens still on the books, but we learned today that are yet another positive test uh in the Ravens building. Yeah, and I think if that game is played, it just then there's the next week. I think this is gonna hopefully every week is an as um last minute and crazy as this one is, but I think this is just the world we're living in for the next the

rest of the season. Really, it is not pleasant, but this is the hand that we've been dealt as football fans and as members of society. As Americans, I would say we can put it on us as a country, very american esque, but those of us that work for big tech can tell you that we're working toward a solution. So stay tuned all right. Let's get to the games, beginning with a big intra conference showdown Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes.

Only one quarterback looked like a star checking in forward for the chief Mahomes snap at his belt, works the right boundary, Tyreek Hill over the shoulder touchdown Kansas City and continues Carlton Davis's nightmare day and the wonderful game for Tyreek Hill a twenty yard reception, perfectly throwing football over the shoulder of the cheetah who's putting on a clinic in front of a national audience. Mitch holtens when they called w d A f Yes, Patrick Mahomes and

Tyreek Hill. There is no more terrifying twosome in football. Hill had two hundred and four yards and two touchdowns after one quarter, and he scored for a third time as you just heard in the Chiefs win over the Bucks in Tampa. This was boys another nearly flawless performance by Mahomes, who accounted for almost five hundred yards of offense.

He capped his afternoon by stealing Tony Romo's heart with this with a series of perfectly executed plays to run out the clock after the Bucks pulled within a field goal with about four or so minutes to play, and he fits. He he uced the game in a fitting manner, converting on a first down throw to Tyreek Hill, who finished with a thirteen to sixty nine three slash line fifteen targets an all times single game uh performance Uh one of the great performances against the quality defense West

to boot. Oh yeah, Carlton Davis, poor guy. He was on my old pro watch list with you know a guy Mark Ntilia Denzel Ward who's having an all pro cornerback season in Cleveland, Gyear, Alexander and Green Bay, and his all pro bid went up and smoked today when the Bucks tried to get him to play one on one with no safety help for a quarter and that quarter ended up with two hundred yards. I mean that

was the game was over by then. I guess the Bucks made made it interesting at the end, but it reminded me of I played a flag football for a couple of years in early twenties. Uh. And it was a correct league, So we're not talking about like college um Erica. Can we get some storytime music underneath this for West? Go ahead, Chris as a correct league, so we're not talking about like Division one college type of

prospects here. But I imagine in the finals we went up against a pair of wide receivers who were both in the six two six three range, and I imagine maybe some small college experience in their past. And I have been playing number one cornerback all year until that game, and halfway through, it's just obvious that I could not no matter what I did, I could not stop anything

they wanted to do at all. They did everything they wanted to do on the field, and you know, just like the pirate ship, Lady in Tampa Bay today looks so mirrose because everyone in that building could see that nobody could cover Tarik Hill. Everybody on my team looked morose because I had to be taken out of there and we need to switch things up. I could not athletically peak with with these superior people. And that's how Carlton Davis was with Tyre Hill today. Well, Greg, let

me let me throw to you off that. So Carlton Davis, that's not just on him. Tyring Hills a hard man to cover, and Antoine Winfield Jr. Who has had a really nice year as well, did not give him the help that he needed. But in general, this seems like a scheme issue as well. Your bowls of Sons takes a major hit. I would think, as well, here, well,

I'm looking forward to breaking this down more. But I would say at the end of the day, like every defensive plays, the Chiefs is kind of choosing the way that they want to die, and they rolled with a guy Carlton Davis in that type of carde. That's the way they decided to die early in the end. You know, the Chiefs scored twenty seven points and they're forced to punt three straight times in the second half. That doesn't

happen too often in the year. You know, maybe that's your defense giving you about as good a chance against the Chiefs as you can hope for. Not that you know you want to give up five d and sixty yards, but that you just do something. But it really feels almost like an unstoppable offense. You need them to make mistakes, you need to come up with big plays. That's how both thought they were gonna do. It didn't work. I was watching this and it kind of dawned on me.

Although they could have dawned on me two months ago. It would have been appropriate also that oh yeah, we're going through this incredibly bizarre season with all these um, really unprecedented twists and turns, but it's just gonna end with the Chiefs winning the super Bowl. It's just it's that I'm just utterly convinced, and uh, you can try to hard sell someone else that I know how we do this. We've gotta act like that, we gotta go

through all the motions. But um barring like about the fact that they can't that they always let these teams back in these games. Two point win over the pan, I'm fine with that. A couple of points last week. Three points like that is a different way to be done. Nobody, nobody who watched today's game thought that Chiefs were ever in jeopard right, And I mean I would. I feel

like my feelings about the Bucks have declined. I um, they're balanced and stuff, but can you can you imagine them winning like as a wild card team four straight games to get to get to the super Bowl, to win the Super Bowl, you didn't go on the emotional roller coaster to Tony Romo went on from at the beginning of the game, saying the Bucks they have no chance unless they start running more of Tom Brady's New

England offense too. At the end of the game, coming right back around and saying, by the way they came back, they have a very good chance of meeting on this very field against the Chiefs in a couple of months. Well, the Chiefs. That was a huge win for the Chiefs number one seed chances, which really does matter if you look at the reft of their schedule. Uh, they do have to go to New Orleans, they have to go to Miami to two pretty tricky games. Obviously, the Saints

schemes tough. If they lost this game, I don't think they would have any chance left because you look at the Steelers. It's just hard to see two losses for the Steelers. So the Chiefs have to keep winning these games to get the one seed. Yeah, and I think that would be because I know there are Steelers fans that are yelling at their um podcast playing device when Mark saying that we're undefeated. We're undefeated, we should be taken seriously as well as a heavy Super Bowl favorite

right now. So I I think at the end of the day, though, I I agree that there's no one better than the Chiefs and and it continues to feel reductive saying it. But Patrick Mahomes just you know, and like I said, Rome's romo was completely a flutter um as Mahomes expertly ran out that clock uh keeping plays alive.

He's such an under underrated scrambler because he has you know, all world uh you know, all time level arm talent in terms of accuracy and arm strength, and his ability to throw from different angles and off his back foot and flat footed. You forget about how how savvy he

is running with the football. He doesn't have I guess, the highest speed levels when you measure them up against the Kyler Murray's of the world, but his ability to know exactly when to go, know exactly when to get down, never make a mistake in terms of running out of bounds and costing a team. He's just the perfect quarterback. There's no other way to look at it. It's quarterback also, I mean, like in the fact that he's paired with Andy Reid. I mean, it matters where you land as

a prospect. But he's the perfect quarterback with the perfect coach. And you can only imagine what kind of like uh notes they send each other over text about football deep in the middle of the night. It's going to be something that you could write a book about someday. He's clearly worked on his scrambling between last year and this year. I think the whole year this year, he has been so decisive, knowing exactly when the defense turns its back that he can go, and he has taken advantage of

that all year. This year it was it was the greatest quarterback of all time and Tom Brady on the same field together. The game he turns on the man that gave him everything in New England. My last thought in the game before we move on, is how close, uh this came from? This came to not being a connection,

the Tyreek Killpatrick Mahomes connection. It was last summer when Tyreek Hill was mired and legal issues uh that were you know, on him obviously with a domestic violent situation, and it seemed very close to being one of those situations where he heads up out of the league and he disappears for a while, maybe pops up again later, but he's on a different team. The way it played out for the Chiefs was they stuck with him. The legal process worked its way out, and now it seems

like it's ancient history. But last year it did not feel like Tyreek Hill was necessarily part of the future for the Chiefs. He is here now, and he is impossible. I think the player you described as Antonio Brown to some degree, who is floating around after years of bizarre stuff. So he was on the field also and not doing much, not doing much all right? And one last thought isn't

that wasn't that a weird game? Though? How that game felt like it should have been forty two to twenty and here are the Bucks one third down stop away from getting the ball back with a chance to tire or win that. I don't know. I was watching the game. I felt like it was in the twilight zone or something. It was like a black mirror. Ever, how how did

that happen? I don't know. Maybe it's just all the weirdness in the world and sitting in my living rooms that's getting dark and I don't have any lights on, and the game's not I mean, it's just weird times, weird times. Let's move up. Here's Henry on the right side of the ten. Henry to the five, Henry to the end zone, touch Dad, Titans. That's three for double two, Derrick Henry Mike Keith having fun w g f X

with the call. Derrick Henry went off for a hundred and forty yards and three touchdowns him the first half alone, and the Titans had cruise control from that point onward, whipping the Colts to six, and they take sole possession of first place in the a f C South Mark. This game felt like the Titans sent it a message

to arrival. I think so. And it it makes me think twice about the Thursday night game that we mentioned on our preview show, where there were just a lot of special teams, gaffs and weirdness and it kind of, um, you know, it took I think that game took the Titans out of their out of their mode a little bit. And this one, I mean, the cults this thing at halftime, it was clearly, so clearly over that I'm not you know,

I'm not too proud to say that. I barely just scanned the second half for any hints of life from Indianapolis.

And I think they were mentally broken by Derrick Henry and what the Tennessee did in the first half that they never climbed back into this and you know, It kind of reminded me of like the other side of the sandwich or cookie or whatever you want to say to the Tyreek Hill game, because Derrick Henry like had essentially the kind of game you'd want, you'd be thrilled at, like over the course of an affair, it would be

an incredible contest. And he did it, and he did it in thirty minutes, and he did it in such a dominating fashion. And it was also A J. Brown and Ryan Tannehill, and we talked about is their concern about a team like this it's basically just built around three or four guys like it's Henry, it's Ryan Tanna HIL's a J. Brown. I have no problem with it when they played this way, they just they seem like a very mentally tough team. To me, this was there

was a Corona factor of this. I think this game would have looked different with DeForrest Buckner on the field and Autry was out as well, And so that's I think that you know, Tennessee found of vulnerability. Um, that doesn't always mean it's gonna work. It worked beautifully, and I mean the Colts it's almost like one of those bury the ball games, Take the game tape, throw it out a window, and move on because it was it

was humiliating, humiliating loss for the Colts. Well, if the Titans win this division and now they're in you know, good shape, just one up that second quarter, that first half, really thirty five points and three fifty yards, that that's gonna be the division right there. And yeah, sometimes with all this Corona stuff, it's gonna be when you play a team, you know, the Saints basically gotta buy today because you know they would have won that. It probably

would have won that game. Anyways, People get a little carried away. But you know, they play a Colts team who their defensive line, to me, other than the special teams, um was we're kind of the key in that first game was their defensive line beating the Titans offensive line. And they lose by far their best player and I would say easily their second best player on the defensive line, and doesn't doesn't excuse it. The Titans have a million

things wrong with them. They've been crushed by injuries and Corona too. So that's just that's just how it is. But that's part of the reason why the matchup plays out. The way it does today, and now the Cults are in some trouble. I don't think we've seen the Titans defense at its best this year, and to me, this has clearly been the best team in the division all

year long. You can say the Colts, but I think the Titans the way they play, they play sort of like we're used to the Ravens plane, where they come in and they out physical you. They dare you to match their toughness, and we saw what happened today. To me, they've been the class of that division all year, I'm

totally with you. And I think if you look at something about like Derrick Henry to do what you're doing as a running back year after years, surged down the stretch like this, like hats off to your conditioning, the way he treats his bot, because I mean he is to me, I think he's he should get m v P m v P votes. I mean, I know we won't probably in the way this the way this league runs, but um, he's he is their m v P and he's the m v P of you know. To me,

he's top five on that in that list. He I mean the way he's built, just his build in addition, obviously how hard he works and obviously does this is just his time of year. We've seen it now. This will be the third straight year where he's just going to roll through defenses that are compromised by injuries and this year COVID and as long as they give him the ball and he stays healthy, he's going to continue to rack up these monster games. I think he'll win

a rushing title going away again. So I thought yes. Obviously, DeForrest Buckner was one of the you know, biggest acquisitions any team made this season, and he solidified that Colts defense in the way they exactly needed. So he take him out of that mix, Uh, there's gonna be big problems. But Henry was beating him every which way, whether it was going up the middle or going around and I just thought that was such a show of might by

their um offense. In the first half, they had three d and forty six yards, a hundred and seventy three yards passing, one and seventy three yards rushing thirty five points at halftime. They just have a higher gear than any of these a f C South teams, including the

Colts um. That's why I thought they had a good chance to win this game, and now I just I don't see them with Henry involved in his ability to close out games, uh and wear out defenses, they just seemed to me like they're gonna get to ten or eleven wins and and take this division. And I think that that you mentioned that one seventy three mirror run pass in the first half their balance to it's not just the run game. I mean there were a couple of big, big plays through the air too, So I'm

with you. I really like them in the a f c um. They played Cleveland next week, and I don't I think we're gonna find out what the benoit of those two teams pretty pretty quickly down eleven in Baltimore in the fourth quarter. That that to me is it was a pivotal moment in this a see playoff race for those two teams. For them to come back on Baltimore last week kind of just changes the trajectory of

those two teams their home against the Browns. If they can beat the Browns and there too eight and three teams, uh, then they get the Jaguars and Lions after that, so they are things are set up at eight and three for them, uh to have a home game in the playoffs. Now, they just got to take care of business and the Colts need to get some guys back on the field.

Let's move up Cousins back to pass fire city ends. Yes, touchdown chat baby, well, John, your first National Football League touchdown has made everybody forget about them off the game at chat babe, wow k f A n Paul Allen. Of course with the call not the Paul Allen that was murder by UM the American psycho actor uh character

Patrick Baton that should be noted as well. Kirk Cousins capped to seven place seventy five yard drive with a touchdown strike to Chad Beebe, who only minutes before seemed to doom Minnesota with a muff punt that gave Carolina the ball deep in Vikings territory with two minutes to play, but BB scored. Was followed by yet another long range miss at the gun by Joey Sly, and it allowed the Vikings to escape win. Their playoff hopes are alive. I saw some UM Analytics predictor saying they have a

chance of making the playoffs. Well, only one back. Yeah, well it would have been very close to zero. I think if they did not find a way to win this game, and they did everything possible, everything possible to blow their season today, their defense got ripped up by the Panthers running game. Without Christian McCaffrey. They had eight annal teams for fifty two yards. Minnesota. They turned the ball over three times, including back to back fumbles that

got returned for scores on consecutive plays from scrimmage. Um, you had no Adam Feeling COVID nineteen out. Dalvin Cook was held held down for most of the day and he was a little banged up to uh missed some time with a lower body injury on that second fumble that went for the score. So I just want to say, Kirk Cousins, good for you man. You're playing you know, I mean, no one's Patrick Mahomes. But if you want to stack up games over the past month or so,

he is stacking up big time performance after big time performance. Uh. And to do it today without Adam Feeling, when Dalvin Cook was not there to to make the big plays, to go seven plays and seventy five yards to save your season with no time outs, Uh, that was just the big time performance by cousins. I don't know if the Kings make the playoffs, but I will say that this is the type of win, uh that makes you believe because they were dead in the water and they

found a way to survive. Had they had they lost this, I think Jeremy Chin, the Panthers rookie defensive back, um would be the story of the game. He is the first player. He took those two fumbles to the house and back to back drives, the first player to do that since Fred Dippy Evans give us something on Dippys never heard of him. It sounds like he had an interesting hair do though. I mean, you can assume certain things if your nickname as an adult is Dippy. I

don't know, like what how much respect you're garnering. I was. I was disappointed though. I mean, you know, team Narrative, Team Teddy, two Gloves, Teddy Bridgewater. You know they had their struggles. If they get a first down late, you know, before they you know, kicked the field goal, they probably

win this game. But he gets the ball back after they've collapsed with forty three seconds left and no time out at the thirteen and gets them in position with three throws for Joey Sly to go kick the game winner, and Joey Slaw yanked it. It's like, you can miss a game winner, but when you show your nerves with your kick, then it's gotta be tough for Joey Sly to be going to the kicker club because he missed it by about thirty five ft and it was indoors.

It was in fairness, it was I believe a fifty three yard attempts, so it was it wasn't a check but he missed it by like forty yards and yanked it. Like they keep putting him up for these huge kicks. Every week he's kicking like a fifty eight yarder or sixty yarder. Yeah, he's got to stay in the kicker club because at the end of the day, when it comes down to it, he's the only one can stand with Justin Tucker in a length competition. No, that's true.

It's important to have someone there to push him that way. Um. So yeah, and the Panthers, I mean, that's that's a tough spot. The defense. I mean, Teddy returning to Minnesota just would have been it just would have been nice for them. They finally get a by them in the Bucks are the only teams that have played twelve games. It's crazy, exactly. So, poor Kirk Cousins. Nobody's gonna give him any credit for that game because it happened on

a Sunday afternoon. But at the end of the day, all you did was be the rebuilding Carolina Panthers team on a Sunday afternoon. So that's the way it goes when you're Kirk Cousins. That's true. And Justin Jefferson UH continues to be a menace to opposing defenses. He had two more touchdowns in this game, and they flashed up the Fox telecast a side by side comparison of the rookie seasons of Justin Jefferson and Randy Moss, and they

were very similar. Now, Randy Moss obviously was once in a generation player UH and a superior player most likely to just Justin Jefferson. But it does, it really does give you some perspective because Moss also hit the league like a hurricane when he came in. All right, let's move on, Pepper Snapshnowski has a John Robbie. The forty Diners have beaten the l A Rams again. Twice this year, twice last year. Sweep him up. Baby Craig Poppa and Tim Ryan. They're like Cesla, they don't like the Rams.

K n b R. With the call, the Fortys defense got one final stop on defense, they drove the plus territory, then celebrated when Robbie Golds field goal attempt went through the uprights at Triple zero's final score twenty three to twenty. The Niners, yes, sweep the Rams and mark as hard as it is to believe with all the challenges they've had this season, they are in the playoff hunt. Yeah, they're in the hunt. In it they look like a different team when they get some of these guys back.

And I thought this story of the game for their offense was Deebo Samuel absolutely leveled the Rams defense. He had catches of thirty three yards, twenty six, another twenty six yard or a huge twenty four yard or on their final drive that set helps set up that field goal and another four yarder on that drive. So Deebo Samuel, you know, they're very challenge with Nick Mullins at quarterback, I mean, he is what he is, but Deebo found

a way to get open Um. That was a big part of this game, and it does feel like the Niners understand how to play Jared Goff. It was it was more of the same where every couple of weeks you get the Jared Goff game where he had two bad picks um, he had a fumble. They were all over him, and it was the opposite of what we've seen when they've been hot, where like Cooper Cup and Woods are going off. It was just they couldn't get

Um unspooled. There was a there was a series, there was a section of drives in this game where they went, let me check this out and in a golf interception, a punt, a punt, a punt, a fumble, a pick upon a punt. They could not get anything going until cam Akers ripped off a big run that really you know, they kind of found themselves too late in the game

in the fourth quarter. And I like the Rams are a good team, but we kind of we talked about this could how this could happen, how there was there was a complete table setting for Kyle Shanahan to do this to Sean McVeigh, and McVeigh was a little irritated after the game, and I thought spoke pretty pointedly about Jared Goff saying that our quarterback has to protect the ball better. I mean lost in this wasn't Aaron Donald defensive player of the year argument? Once again he was.

He was absolutely dominant. And you know the Niners are they They squeaked out a win here, but it was it came very close because of what Aaron Donald was able to do. I think the world of the Rams defense this year. I think they're phenomenal, um, but their offense has been smoking years a smoking mirrors all year, and I think it's catching up to them. They Sean McVeigh called great offensive game plans, but a lot of it is misdirection and play action and tricking defenses and

what they're doing before the snap. And how long can you do that every week? I don't think you can. And I think you see forts give them credit for their defense playing awesome. Their whole team is banged up, and you see what happens when they get a guy like Deebo Samuel back. They get Raheem most are back. They're they're every bit of playoff contender if they have a healthy George Kill and if they if they have

their guys healthy. They are every bit of playoffs. It has to be the biggest what if season out there because there's a lot of them, so there's there's competition. But Richard Sherman went made a huge difference. These are guys they've been without for months, you know, and they get ayuke back. But this was totally on Golf. I'm not surprised McVeigh finally came down on him a little bit.

I think it is, other than the Super Bowl, the most disappointing game of Golf's career because it was a hunt. To me, it was like almost a hundred percent on him. The the interceptions and and the fumble are so bad, but he also missed open throws. He was tentative, and you do worry with Golf that you're seeing some of the same problems, which is when he gets knocked down, you know, how does he react. Does he go into a shell? How about your team like Aaron Donald picks

you up, scores a defensive touchdown. How about your running game? Cam Acres bus one open for you, scores a touchdown, puts you in the lead. Then he hadn't done anything. Then they get the ball two more times in the fourth quarter with the lead or in a tie game, and again he can't get it done ms his throws.

When they lost to the forty Niners the first time, the forty Niners kind of took their lunch money, and Golf said after the game he wasn't worried because his problems in that game were accuracy and that shouldn't be a problem for me. Well it was today, like he wasn't accurate, and that's it's I don't we don't need to have a Jared Goff conversation every game. He's had some good moments this year, but this game was totally

on him. And you don't want your quarterback to be the reason you can't beat your rival when they're totally beleaguer Like if they can't beat him, now when can they beat him? And it's really on God. And you also you pump life back into that rival who's basically seeming to be down and out, and now you give them life, you put them back in the picture. You essentially,

of course, you don't wipe it out. But those are two great wins and back to back weeks, uh that they were coming off against rivals and now you're now you have this loss, And yeah, I think with McVeigh, he's obviously a very smart guy, is one of the best young minds in football. He sees what his team is, that this is one of the best defenses in the league.

The offense is not like the offense from a couple of years ago, So they need to play smart and take advantage of opportunities and take advantage of short fields that their defense might give them. But when you're turning the world ball over four times, that's that's how you screw yourself, because then you you negate some of the things that make you great. So Jared Goff is supposed to be the veteran passer who's supposed to keep things in order and be Sean mcveigh's eyes and ears on

the field, and he's not there for him. So I'm not surprised either that McVeigh a little little fire under him with a little public undressing. I'm glad you mentioned Donald too, because that was one of the best games he's played all year, which is saying something to me. It's like stopped looking for reasons not to give him the Defensive Player of the Year if he's the best defensive player to me, he is, um. I wouldn't say it's over. I would say he's you know, it's a race, um,

but it's just different. You know, it's one of the all time great plane plane lights out. So I mean it's it's him and T. J. Watt and Miles Garrett and Frankly, if you're two games to Corona, like you're probably knocked out of that race to some degree. I just feel like Watts won from last year and he's been even better this year, and and he might get it because of that. That does happen that way. Listen to this d p o Y talk. Everyone's pumped up,

let's move forward. Took their lunch money. It's embarrassing behind him. Touchdown, touchdown, Buffalo, whole Basley, the Gabriel Davis. How about that? John Murphy a little squeaky w g R are those cheeky Bills? Cole Beasley took the backwards pass and then hurled the oblong sphere forward for a twenty yard touchdown to Gabby Davis, the highlight real play for the bills seventeen win over the Chargers. Greg Buffalo takes one step closer to the a f CD's title you like what you saw today.

I did. I thought they were as close as they could get to their first like complete game of the year. Coming out of a buy, I was like, can this defense show us something different? Down the stretch? They did one of their best games of the year. Their running game has been a problem all year. They go, you know,

thirty for one, seventy two, very good. Then they have three turnovers and seven players with Josh Allen throwing one of the worst interceptions you've ever seen and also fumbling the ball in the fourth quarter and just begged the Chargers to kind of come back into this. The Bill's defense held up. That gives you just a little bit of pause. Um, that like, Okay, you didn't quite put it all together. Not that I'm worried about Josh Allen

in their offense, but his decision making. We've we've talked about it. It's been a problem at times, Um, and today I think he was one for two on passes thrown for more than ten yards, So you know you're gonna have to expand the offense they usually do. I'm not that worried. I'd be more excited if I'm a Bills fan at the fact that they got eight QB hits,

eight passes, defense, seven tackles for lost three sacks. It looked like the Bills defense from it seems like we talked about, you know, someone needs to get on Justin Herbert early and make life difficult. That appears to what to what happened today. I mean, he seemed uncomfortable. He was. That's two out of the last three weeks. They've done some pretty good jobs against him. And here's the thing with Herbert, like he still made some great plays against pressure.

I mean, you didn't watch this game and think like the quarterback in balance was the reason they lost. But they did make him uncomfortable. There was some miscommunications, some drops too, but they showed him a lot and uh and it was I think if you're a Bills fan, that's what you want to see, is the secondary in Trovade, tarn Avius White making a big time inter set just at the moment where you thought maybe the Chargers are

gonna come back and steal this thing. Bills didn't pass a hundred yards passing until deep into the third quarter, but they ran for a hundred and seventy two yards, which was the second highest rushing total of the season. And I think that's notable because if you followed them during their what must have felt like an endless bye week coming off the Hall Murray uh in Glendale feels like four years ago. It does. Some bye weeks feel longer than others, and the Bills felt like it was

about six months long. But you know, they had been talking up, we need to get this running game going. We need to get it going. So putting up a hundred and seventy two, that's a nice start. Uh. We thought this was gonna be an air attack between Josh Allen and Herbert, as you said, and they combined for four and fifty one yards. So again we are in the black mirror week of the NFL. Well they did. They did have about a fifty yard defensive pass interference

penalties set up the first touchdown him. And I like what you said about the running game. I don't feel like the Bills have run in any game impressively before today, and Alan's running was a big, big part of it. Today. He had some big first downs with his run. Singletary reminded me of Brian Westbrook a little bit last year, and not reminded me of Brian Westbrook at all this year. And I thought Moss was slow this year, so it would be nice to see if he looked like he's

got some playmaking ability. And and Anthon and Dan, I know you're kind of on Anthony Lynn watch yes, Greg as you speak with your hands over your face. Well, it was it was a tough one. It was tough. A man, he's got it. He's just so bad with the clock stuff. I mean, he's one of the worst. And it was it was at the end of the at the end of the first half, it was crazy. There's just a lot of confusion at the end of

the game. There was a lot of confusion. Herbert's confused, he's confused, he's in decisive he waits um and so that this is happening a lot. And I don't think they would have won the game or anything, but it's just they got to clean it up. I don't know, like that's it's a consistent problem, speaking of wasting a great effort. Joey Bosa one of the best games any defensive player had all year. He's been a monster the last couple of weeks since he came back from his injury.

He was just all over all, right, if you're looking for a reason Josh Allen didn't have a big day, it was Joey Bosa. What was that? Mr Sessler, It's a tough week for l A football heads PR machine is gonna have to be put into overdrive to you know, get get to get to a nice, shiny another Sunday. Put that on a T shirt. Greg like covering his mouth while he's trying to you know, I find Anthony Lynn. He's like, yeah, he didn't do too well. That's not it.

It's because I find it so obviously. I like anyone who watched Hard Knocks, we like the guy. But it's but you know, nothing paintings me. Then some bad clock management and the Chargers I would put as the worst team in the entire NFL in clock management. And it's just every week at this point. And they're too talented to be three and eight. They got Austin Ekeler back today and he got about a hundred hundred thirty total yards.

That's big. They look like a talented team. I mean, you're not gonna have Derwin James, so you just have to deal with that. But they're too talented to be three and their records should be flipped. You know, like fifteen years ago, I remember there was the sideline coach or assistant whose job was to help the coach with the with the clock. Did they did? They kind of phase that out because it made the head coaches look weak. If not, if they did bring it back, because some

of these guys need it. Bring back the clock assistant. They needed more now than ever. The game is more complex now more than ever, and teams are able to do much more in thirty seconds than they ever could. I will assume there's people in your ear telling you about all that rest on Andy Reid, Like when I kill him, I could totally be bought out of my contract.

The NFL media would not put up a fight. They'd be like, please God, I just honestly, Anthony, I just thought of the first big idea for Big Tech that we clone thirty two Greg Rosenthal's and make put them on every sideline. I feel like that's gonna have horrific uh effects on your life personally. Greg. When there's thirty one, I guess there'd be I guess you would still be here.

But then we didn't make thirty two of you, so there'd be thirty three, but I would think the thirty two would probably gang together to kill you for some I mean the the implications for what it could mean for humanity, the level of like annoyingness that would just go up in the country. It would be a lot to It feels like too many. Greg's not an instigation, um, big tech off to a shaky start. Let's move on.

Cardona will snap it back, Bailey, pretty good, don't snap in place, swinging the right leg, kick drivel to the aplights the kick, here's good, got it again, his sucking game winner of the season, and the Patriots prevail. If the Folks are over Arizona by a twenty to seventeen finals, you have life? Where do you have? Like? Was that the bruised and battered and thoroughly beaten Scott Zolak, I

believe it was. I imagine he was dressed. He was disheveled, with a big, bushy graybeard and a bottle with three xes on it. As you'd like to see you say this to Zola's face. It's not a small man, then, not a small man. Greg continues to do the good pr work. All right, Bob Sochy and Scott silk with the co I'm just saying it's probably been a tough

season for Scott. We haven't heard from him much. Nick Fole kicked the fifty yard field goals, time expired and the Patriots rallied in the second half to beat the Cardinals seventeen. Mark cam Newton's numbers were ugly in this game, and the Pats couldn't even clear a hundred and eighty

yards of offense, and yet they found a way. Yeah, and it was just minutes before the Zane Gonzalez had missed a forty five yard field goal that, um, you know, in minutes before that that Erica was super annoyed at cam Newton for one of his many gaffs today. But that miss feeling that Erica, every time cam Newton makes a mistake, we do not need you to pop up in a text saying how much you hate him. He I didn't say I hate him. But he is not good. He is not good. He does not have the weapons,

he doesn't have this. Yeah, it has nothing to do that. He makes mistake after mistake and and every time you need him to come up with something, he doesn't. And I'm sick of it. Sick of it. A terrible year. All right, you know what, I apologize Erica, it's your Your exact text was, you can't tell me that Cam Newton doesn't suck, and then a follow up text, he sucks so bad. Well, he's more just that like it. I feel like pent of the game text this year

about from America or about Cam. I think that's what you're There's nothing else. It's only Cam. Alright, Mark, go ahead. He's only slightly polarizing. Well, he didn't suck quite as much after that missfield goal because he they got the ball back, you know, very little time. He races for a first down and then Isaiah Simmons belted him out of bounds and that was a fifteen yard flag. That basically a helmet a helmet shot. That's set up the pathway to have the game winning field goal. Um. Other

than that, the offense was pretty hideous today. A little bit of it. Everything from Damien Harris. I love the way he runs, Demir Bird made a catch here and there. But they were putrid and they needed special teams to help. And they really got a big return from Dante Moncreefs set up a touchdown on a punt return or a kick return, and then gunner Olshefski had an eighty two yard punt return touchdown that was wiped out by a I thought a rather questionable illegal crackback um block that

you know they went on. They went on to score a field goal, So I didn't. I heard on NBC Roddy Harrison, who's no stranger to che shots during his playing days, even he said, if you're in that position, all you have to do is stand in the guy's way and you've done your job and he's not gonna tackle your return, or when you lay into the guy, you put yourself in danger of getting the flag there. I don't know. It's like, I'm not an ex changes. That was one of the rule changes two or three

years ago that they can say. It's if it's unnecessary, if they if you kind of deem that you didn't have to do it based some of these things feel like, you know, you're your body is just doing football stuff and you're gonna get flagged. I mean, I look at this that one. It just it wasn't the most egregious penalty I saw today. But did they score a touchdown on that draft? No? No, So that they scored a field goal, so it took four points away, and you know they Kyler Murray. I mean, this has been a

rough patch for the Cardinals. Think about the Seahawks loss and the way they lost today. Kyler Murray did not I know what they said that he was fine, that his shoulders fine. Uh. He heated up on the ground. Uh later on, but at halftime he had negative two yards rushing off of one rush. It just wasn't part of their offense. And you know he had he the Patriots is something interesting defensively, instead of just trying to rush him, there were a bunch of guys jumping trying

to bat his passes and it worked. It led to a killer interception at one point. And so I just think if you take Kyler Murray and you know, second half he started to run a little bit better and their offense got going to some degree, but it was it was a pretty funky day for that for Arizona's attack, and they're just not the same if he can't be set free. It's interesting because the Patriots, it's not unusual for them to come out of a game giving other

teams a blueprint. I'll be interested to see if this jumping thing takes off. I mean, it wasn't like every time, but there were a couple of plays where like they instead of trying to like charge forward and just like surround him in the pocket, there were like guys noticeably jumping up and down and it they got to him. If he threw a couple of beautiful passes like off his back foot made a completion at one one point,

that was just an intriguing uh connection. But he he was uh, he was having fits today and it was a very all check in. Did they write during the telecast, did you see him shaking the arm out Kyler Murray or getting worked down on the sideline seemed to be lacking any zip? What you seeing that? I didn't. I didn't think that he threw the ball terribly or anything.

I just think that he they got in his head, and I think that maybe it took the emphasis off the ground part of it, like him running, which is Gregg Is correctly said as for the one of the most unstoppable you know things out there in the NFL right now, and without that in the Seahawks game, I think that was one of the reasons they lost that game. Clearly, and I charted as a reason today too. Well, they had a good plan against Lamar, and they had a

good plan against Kyler Murray. Especially without a lot of athleticism, They're they're not going to go after you and start rushing. They're going to kind of back up and let you know, get stop you from getting to the outside, make you come to them. He averaged about the same per pass as Cam Newton, So I mean that's a massive when when he when he is backed past. I would think you would like this game, Mark, I mean, this is an old school Patriots games. Special teams, uh, situational football,

look like the inferior team. Um, maybe get a call late, which I mean it was the correct call. The hit, the late hit on Cam Newton and then you sneak out of there with the victory. My my thing on Cam Newton, maybe this isn't the time for I. You know, I'm looking forward to watching this one. He's clearly didn't

throw it. Well, is more that their season, when you kind of diagnose it would make sense if their defense hadn't collapsed or hasn't collapsed before this game, that they have a one million dollar quarterback leading what's been a relatively average efficient offense, but the defense goes from literally first two dead last. Uh in d v o A like the best to the absolute worst, and ultimately like

the way they're constructed, that's their biggest problem. They could get by with this offense if they had like a top ten defense, but they're nowhere close to They haven't. Stephan Gilmore made it was a huge difference on DeAndre Hopkins today, And I get all the d v o A side of it, but there's a little things that Belichick and certain coaches do that cause confusion, and I think that that was a was a difference maker today. I've they've lost how many of these games like this

on the final possession? This is the one they won. They're trending up. I mean, they they're just not that talented. I think they're very well coached and they just don't have a lot of talent. Everything about this season for New England it feels like it's following the path that you would have expected that they're going to be better than their record, will be better than their the talent

level because the coaching is so good. Uh. They still screams to me eight and eight with a ceiling of nine and seven, and they're right in that territory right now, five and six here with five games to go. Let us you're killing that defense so much, Greg, I mean nice performances performance today, I just said, maybe not the total albatross you present that as week after week. I feel like I just said, trending up. They just can't get off the field. You know, it's okay, it's not special.

I mean they're they're in the wrong conference. In the NFC, they'd only be one out in the a f C. They're two out and like four teams out. Is not happening. Don't don't put that out there. We don't need the Patriots into playoffs. They're a bad, unwatchable football team. Good are you? They are awful to watch. Let us move up from your lips to godsism. We had this one off to Lottavias Murray, the great cut and he's off and running twenty ten five touchdown. Littavius Murray. What a run,

my lord, What a run by Latavius Murray. They get the Broncos. Uh. This is the type of game that would keep King Kong in his cave. Come on. The Saints defense went up against the Broncos team starting a practice squad wide receiver who had zero reps at quarterback and practice this week, and it went pretty much exactly how you'd expect, and a thirty one to three win for the Saints. That is their eight straight VIC three.

New Orleans allowed a hundred twelve yards in total offense and twelve passy yards a single completion by Bell Hinton. That's your trivia question. That's your trivia name. Remember Kendall Hinton Hinton, Kendall Kendall Hinton Hinton. Well, Greg, that was something. It was um. It was one of four teams to only have one completion in the last forty years. Uh, the first team since Ryan Leaf to have more interceptions uh than completions, right, I mean Ryan Leaf was a

number two pick in the draft. Poor Kendall Hinton. He hasn't practiced quarterback. He's coming off the practice squad. You know what, what do you expect? If anything? I was shocked how much they threw the ball on the first drive of the game, that was sunning it well. And on third and three he throws it. It seems it seemed crazy. Right before the half, they like have him

throwing trying to get points. I think the combination of Kendall Hinton and Pat Shermer like was not he was not the one who was gonna come up if the D'Angelo Williams playing wild car wildcat for you know, the whole game, Uh, to get a victory. They're playing the best team in the league in terms of total complete um, offense, defense, special teams and oh, by the way, a historically good run defense so far this year, this Saints run defense.

So it's like it was gonna be tough sledding. It was the wrong matchup for it, and uh, you know, just move on. I don't need to hear from these Broncos fans. It's like you would have lost anyways with Drew Lock and then you'd even feel worse about your quarterback after he threw three or four interceptions. So pipe that way, are Broncos fans still honking they it's on it. It really bothers me. I can tell you they're not

my mentions anymore. No, they're honking about today that the game should have been canceled, that they're mad at the NFL, and a bunch of the reporters are too, which seems insane to me because Vic Fangio, who's a grown up, immediately after the game rightly said I'm I'm gonna have this with my quarterbacks, let's listen to I was disappointed, um on a couple of levels in that that our quarterbacks put us in this position, that put our quarterbacks

put the league in that position. You know, there's there. We count on them to be the leaders of the team and you know, leaders of the offense, and those guys made a mistake and that that is disappointing and

we should make it clear what exactly happened. It was Jeff Driscoll, I believe, who tested positive for COVID nineteen, and then everyone else in the Broccos quarterback room admitted that there was a time when they were together in a close room with Driscoll that they didn't have their masks on, which puts them into that protocol even if they had not tested positive themselves. So it eliminated their entire quarterback room for week twelve. Right, they've they've got

cameras on this stuff. There's also wrist bands, and that might have been part of it too, in terms of like knowing where they are it's like, what do you need to take it seriously? What do you like, what what's it gonna take for the player, the country, like anyone to take it seriously. It's it's crazy to me that people were upset with anyone but there this wasn't

an outbreak. It was one guy. It was one guy getting sick and the others, you know, not really caring about like what the rules are, which are like very established, which are very like pretty easy to follow, and it's like very clear. So I guess I'm like confused. Way to my friend, this is it's this. Our country is struggled so much with this and hopefully there's a light

at the end of the tunnel with this vaccine. And it turns out West that we're gonna need the vaccine to save our asses because we cannot seem to wrap our heads around how to properly protect ourselves. We've been divided and common sense is going out the window. It's been politics instead of common sense. And I don't know how politics entered this football discussion, but but Greg's totally right. Broncos fans are crazy for trying to defend their team here,

and Fansio is right. The quarterbacks put their team into position. Any other thoughts on the game. A Taysom Hill said after the game, don't look at my terrible passing numbers, because we once we realized the dire situation of the Denver offense with their quarterback, we completely shifted our game plan. I listen, as you know, we talked about this last week, and that's an ungenerous paraphrase of what I am. Not

a Taysom Hill believer. But I also cannot kill him too much here because it was a weird, stupid game in a weird stupid year. But I will just say that the two teams combined, I believe for about seventy one passing yards. Well, I will defend you from some criticism you took last week over Taysom Hill. I thought it was actually in contrast to most of the criticism of Taysom Hill, which is just to find him laughable and a punchline. I thought yours had a very specific

point to it. Okay, good, and well you did. It was can this guy actually play a quarterback? Kenny goes through his progressions? Can he played quarterback the way quarterbacks play the game? And I didn't see today's game. But from the tweet saw Sol mentioned that had to beginning question today. Oh no, he struggled, he was, he was. I don't care what they say about changing the game plan. I get it. It It was more run heavy. On his first twenty six dropbacks or sixteen dropbacks, they had twenty

five yards. He took two sacks. He held the ball forever, their guys right in front of him open and he and he didn't deliver it. Uh, he fumbled the ball again. That's that's six on the year. Uh. He helped, you know in the running game, and he's great on the goal line. And eventually he put together a couple of passes later. Um, but it was about as discouraging uh pure passing performances as he possibly could have had. The I mean, they were averaging under two yards per play

for most of the game. Uh, the run game was good, and it didn't in the end. It didn't matter. And they did string a couple of plays together late in the game, which I think Sean Payton wanted to do. Think of it this way, though, and this benefits potentially all four of us and others. If he plays himself clearly plays himself out out of a starting role or a future starting role. Then it's one outrageously tedious offseason

storyline we just don't deal with. That's that's true. I one thought, just one not so out of the box lot. But just if Taysom Hill is indeed this limited, I want to say also that Alvin Kamara has not really been a big part of this offense now since Taysom Hill took over. He didn't have a catch today. He had one catch I believe for negative two yards last week. Um, and now you have Taysom Hill the goal line. It just seems to it's messed with the flow. What was

a special year for Kamara. Isn't this team potentially better with a more qualified quarterback in Jamis Winston behind center, Alvin Kamara in a role with a standard quarterback more or less, and then Taysom Hill being mixed in the way he was before. Isn't that potentially a much better offense than what we're going to be. Uh, what's going to be unfurled upon us for the rest of the year potentially just thrown out out there. That's a lot to take from one game, right, I would say that,

says an says Alvin Kamara's fantasy owner. You know that's I feel like, I hear you. But they've won two games in convincing blowouts, so I we'll see if he's a long term answer. But Breeze is going to be back in a couple of weeks, and at this point, they're gonna move, They're gonna move it forward. I don't take too much negative out of one game either, and I think last week was almost it was almost all positive, and you move forward. That's what I say too. I'm

not I'm not killing Taysom Hill in this game. It was a weird, stupid game. But just let's keep an eye on it. Let's see what happens. Who do they get next week? He's killing Cabarra's fantasy season. I hear you. I don't know it's coming back. I know if that's honestly,

that's not what's behind it. It's it's just I thought that this team was cooking with Kamara as the motor is going to be cooking if if it's going to be in this direction, who they've They've outscored their two opponents fifty five to twelve, So I I do, I do think it's a team game in This team is looking to be the number one seed in the NFC, and I think they could do that with Taysom hill or or Breeze. All Right, I asked twice, didn't get any help. Let me look this up. I told you

Atlanta Falcons. Atlanta falconsa screaming at the same time. The Atlanta Falcons. All right, that's a that's a plus matchup. Let's see what happens. Let's move on control fires. He's got a receiver touchdown and Shaneen his third touchdown of the ear. Ryan Fitzpatrick threw two touchdown passes in place of an injury to a tongue of by Law, and the Dolphins became the latest defense to flamm x of Sam Donald led Jets attack twenty three. The Dolphins win

at the meadow Lands. Miami's defense played very well in this game. Two interceptions. They're up to seventeen straight games with at least one takeaway. That's the best in the NFL. Ryan Fitzpatrick delivered Ryan Fitzpatrick type game. He didn't he didn't kill the team with turnovers, so uh and he threw two touchdowns. Uh. So, I just think he's been since he's gotten there. He's been everything that Dolphins could have hoped for and more. He was great or he

was rock solid before he got benched for Tuah. Uh, he's come back in now and he nearly brought them back uh with a comeback last week and now um he beats the Jets soundly, and um, so the Dolphins get back in the right direction. Two is gonna be an interesting thing to watch here because the thumb injury. Saw a report this morning that the thumb injury that kept two out this week is uh something that could stick with and Brian Flores was asked after the game

of two, is still the starter? Yeah, if he's healthy, he's that guy. I don't know how many different ways we have to continue to say that. You keep asking, I'll keep answering the same way. So we'll see how too looks in practice this week. But Fitzpatrick fills in, does the job, and the Jets are one step closer to Trevor Lawrence or own six teen or both and their schedule that this might have been their last chance to win week Week seventeen, who they were up ten on,

But until then, it's pretty rough. Belichick's not losing to the Jets and we got the Browns too. I got that one in the bag already, that one like that one. Um, I mean, you know, I'd be interested to know what you'd be rooting for to happen in that game. You know we've got We've got a few weeks. I think Adam Gaze should I don't know. Well that too, he he said, he said Sam Donald was he thought Sam

Donald was pressing. Sam Donald said he wasn't pressing. Adam Gaze caught caught in a lie that yes, I have that too, calling the plays. All right, So let me set this up. So last week there was a lot of speculation because Adam Gates had given away play calling to Darryl Loggin's the offensive coordinator. Uh, and then he took it back. I believe last week was that what

the conversation was. And then and then this week, Uh, the reporters are asking who was calling the plays because it didn't look like the OC was doing it, and Gates would not budge with the reporters. Here's here's how the interplay went. I didn't take over. We did this. We've done the same thing in the last four games. We were watching Dallas for the whole game. He wasn't doing anything. I mean he was just standing there. Yeah, he tells me, which is not hard. This is not hard.

We go through it the drive before. Hey, these are the three plays. I do the third downs. So what happens after the three players when you have a series? Because we were watching one where Dala was talking to Frank Pollock. He wasn't calling the play as you were. What part of the game was it? I want to busted. Yeah, when we got and I was trying to do some of the two minutes stuff, you know, Matt Patricia got fired Greg and we're gonna talk about that in a

little bit. Uh. And that's now three head coaches that have been sent off. I don't know how much it really helps a team to get a quote unquote head start in this game. But if this is on any level impeding the Jets or having to Jets fall behind these other teams, which I'm not saying it is, they could be doing a ton of work behind the scenes right now. But the guy is a total laughing stock and there's no reason to have him in the building. Why and why why is he lying? Right? I mean,

firing him would be a showing him mercy. If you want to punish Adam Gaze, let let him continue to coach and get caught in lies, Like sometimes you're just lying about something that means so little. What does it matter? Just just tell the truth. Like like I think he's like lost track of why he's even lying. He's well, he tells me the first three plays. Wait, so he's

saying that they're calling the plays by one. Guy says the first three plays and then and then Adam Gates calls what the guy wants to call it that there was a perfect question, what about the next three? They've scored three points against Brian Flores's Dolphins this year in two games and in it in the year, with every offensive advantage possible, they've scored three points against the Dolphins. I think there is an advantage to to just clearing

out this cancer. And you know, the Panthers zeroed in on matt rule before early because of getting because of deciding they wanted to go in a different direction other teams. I think that's the wave of the future. And if you're the Jets, if you're Joe Douglas, Joe Douglass, I hope doesn't in his mind have any reason to be loyal to Gae or keep him at all. I know what he said a couple of times. I don't take any of it at face value at all. I would

remove Gaze immediately based on track record. He might not be. It's probably not Joe douglass decision to make based on the Jets ownership's track Well, then that should annoy Joe Douglas because it should be someone that Joe Douglas wants to work with into the future that in their critical offseason doesn't necessarily happen in a vacuum either. I would think Douglas is part of the conversation with ownership, but his ownership that ultimately makes this. This is all moodpoint though.

There's no way Adam Gates comes out of this alive. It's just a question of whether he gets fired in December, tomorrow, December or January four. Yes, considering how they've played under Gaze and how the Browns played when Greg Williams took over his interim coach, doesn't allowing Gays to stay give them the best chance of keeping or getting Trevor Lawrence Bingo West. There are a lot of Jets fans that are saying that, don't fire him because that helps the

team keep losing. You don't want to get any shot in the arm, and isn't that the most important thing to get Lawrence? Now? I think that's that potentially could be it, and I guess that's the only way that it would make sense keeping around, because he just makes the organization looks so bad week after weeks. Some of his play calling was just an abomination in this game, giving the ball to Frank Gore over and over and over again. They had a The Dolphins didn't play extremely

well on offense in this game. In fact, they turned it over twice in the second half and giving the Jet great field position and Donald in the offense can't do anything. Frank Gore runs into a wall on fourth and one at the nineteen late in the third quarter, and that was about it. And my last thought on this is Sam Donald. I wish him the best of

luck wherever he ends up. But it's getting to the point where the Jets, even if they look into a few wins and don't have the number one pick, they might be looking to replace Donald anyway, because Joe Flacco is outplayed him this year, like he had all of his wide receivers on the field. I think he's just been Adam Gates is just I think messed with his mind so much that he's just not out there playing free and easy. And you see it and how tidy

is and the mistakes he makes so ugly stuff. Ugly stuff. Let's check in with the other New York team. Alan back to throw. He's gonna get sacked. The ball is loose and don't recovered by the Giants at the thirty eight yard line. Jo Paul Sheer got the second, Leonard Williams covered it up. Bob Papa w f a n with the call. The first place New York Giants, the first place. Jim Er Big Blue got to Joe Burrow, Phill and Brandon ll and forced the fumble and recovered.

It was the decisive play in a nineteen to seventeen win. Al threw for just a hundred and thirty six yards and Cincinnati Mustard just a hundred fifty five total yards of offense. Gregg. The Giants lost Daniel Jones to a hamstring injury in this one. What's the early word there, dey'ill evaluate him. It's such a tricky injury. He was standing on the sideline walking around, so it didn't look like the most serious thing, but they didn't want to

risk it getting worse. Colt McCoy entered a game essentially with a thirteen to ten lead. He entered at ten ten, almost threw an interception on his first pass, and then Mark's sons Namesake Um settled down and stayed out of the way and handed the ball off. It's amazing. The Bengals had the ball at the fifty yard line with enough time, only down too, with a chance to win this game. The Giants dominated almost in every way possible, almost you know, tripled their total yardage at one point,

it was like three seventy two hundred um. But a special teams play, fumbles everything, uh, you know that they could do to keep the Bengals in it. They did it, and they almost let it slip away. But their defense, which we've talked about a lot this year, saved him. Lenny Williams is having a great year and Jabal shared was a nice pick up off the street. As they say, we shared on the street man. He he always makes

some plays. It's a good question. Week thirteen. This division is up for grabs and it's in the hands of Alex Smith, Andy Dalton, quote McCoy and Jalen Hurts about to get the most snaps he's ever gotten as a quarterback in Philadelphia, McCoy missed like a wide open short pass to a wide receiver on third down. I thought, yikes, Um, it is tremendous that he's back on the field. I celebrated in my else. Um, but I I don't know, like how if they lose Daniel Jones for a while.

I means also cost games for them to half the times. But I until the best coach team in this division, right, they mean he came in. He he threw ten e threw ten passes for thirty one yards and and probably should have been intercepted. They had many I mean that sounds like what would They had many moments where they should have put the game away and just different ways kept let him in there. Um, if Jones can play next week, I thought this was his His best two

games of the entire season were the last two. He played great in this game. It doesn't quite show up in the box score, but he he really made good decisions, had a lot of third and longs, Darius Slayton dropped an eight yard bomb that that would have changed, uh the score. You know Ingram fumbled one in the red zone. But he made a lot of really good decisions, made a lot of good throws. He played well today. We should fire this one up on game pass, that's what

you're saying. I wouldn't go that far. The Bengals had like six first downs in the first fifty seven minutes of the game. That is not an exaggeration. Just take a look at the take a look at the Giants. Giants to win this division feels very childhood esque. Have quietly now won four of six and three in a row. Uh, they have at Seattle home, Arizona home Browns, at Ravens home Cowboys. Okay, it still seems like everyone's gonna go six and ten. That's a tough one. The the Washington

the other teams. I think I'll have two division games left. They only have one, which does not help the Giants chances. You gotta play four straight winning teams. But I think that if Daniel Jones is healthy, they can beat some winning teams. If McCoy is there, they're not. This is not good. Developing news from Jordan's Ronn and Nan Reigning of ESPN. A source told ESPN the initial belief is

that it's a quote pretty bad hamstring injury. More tests are scheduled Monday to determine the full extent of the injury. So if it's you know, if it's the type of hamstring injury that's that you know, bad, that's multi week injury. Potentially, that is not good, especially a guy that, uh, you know uses his legs. We talked about that since se Kwon Barkley went down the way, he's been able to

make plays with his legs. If if that's going to be compromised, that is bad news for the Giantswood good news for Colt McCoy and Culled Sessler ultimately, Mark, Yeah, I think cult Sessler totally apathetic to the development. But Colt McCoy, he's a survivor. He's hung around this league and it'll be interesting to see what happens here. All right, Wes, we've reached the time of the show where we trade out one bald man for another. But we always enjoy

your your time with us. Yeah, thanks for having me it, Uh, it really does liven up my day. My weekend. So pleasure to be here, Pleasure to hear from the listeners on on Mondays all throughout the year when I've been able to be on Awesome, make sure you hit up Wes check in with him. Shouldn't share your takes. Listen if you said, if we said something that you didn't agree with on on today's show, I'm sure he'd be open to hearing from you on that too. Rights, Yeah, yeah,

let's hear it, chooks. When I think Wes um, I think like lots of patients with people coming after him on Twitter, That's like what I think. First, that's the stamp alright, special man, And there is Nick Shook. What's up, Schookie? Hey? How you do? Look at you? Do you have a little extra skip in your step here? Because not only um, are you gonna do games with us today, You're gonna be doing Cleveland Browns football. Yeah, yeah, your old employer.

Let's get into it. What caused the end of that arrangement? We'll never know. Let's let's listen in to the Clevelands Mayfield takes you play action Pike to hunt, he Crows end zone open, Hooper touchdown, Oh Stuard Hooper. Well, Baker lighting right in the bright pass. Good there, Doc Jim Donovan with a called w K r K Baker Mayfield through two touchdown passes, including that strike the tight end Austin Hooper and Nick Chubb sealed the game with the first down late in the brown over the Jags at

the Big Chlorine Tank. Shook your beloved Brownies around the doorstep of a playoff return because they continue to beat the teams they should. Yeah, I think that's all you can ask of a team like this. I mean, I don't think the Browns or anything to necessarily consider when you when you talk about, you know, the the a

f C contenders per se. But I think they make the playoffs if they win games like this and yeah, right, and the way that their schedule lays out for them, unless they a clunker against the Jets and the Giants, they have a fairly good shot at this point in eight three to make it. But it wasn't easy. You know, Greg, you'll I think you'll point this, you pointed this out last week, and I'm sure you'll you'll back this up a little bit too, is the Jaguars have played better

defense the last few weeks. They played a really tight game against the Packers. They're not as bad as you think on that side of the ball. And Mike Glennon is a step up from Jake Lewton. As you know you saw today. He he wasent, Mike Glennon, just letting it rip. He's got, you know, living like there's no tomorrow. And he had a nice little he had a dime of a touchdown pass really another one to Tyler Eifer in the end zone. It made me wonder what year it was to check the calendar and make sure it

was twenty. But uh, you know, he he kept them, he gave him a chance, and he made them competitive. But the Browns did what they had to do. And and the big thing for me was if you're Doug Moron and and you're in a two point game and you just scored. You didn't get the two point conversion,

but you got all the momentum on your side. And you can debate the legitimacy of momentum at another time, but right now, you've got all the momentum on your side, and you decide to kick off to one of the better teams in the NFL closing games because of their rushing attack and then that's exactly what you get. I mean, it just makes you think, like, did you not consider your opponent in that in that position, because the Browns

were they were really at that point. But lucky for them and credit to them, they can close the game and they won this one today. I don't know if there's a better fourth quarter rushing team right now that maybe that's their strength, and it's it's overt and you know to your point, if you're Doug Marone, you know it's coming your way. And their defense did play well, and this seemed like a game Cleveland tried to lose

um in multiple uh different way. I mean, they the refs seemed at some point to be interested in the point spread. That was my other take, but um uh it was I come aways thinking it was a positive game for Baker Mayfield to some degree. But there is this s Baker Mayfield thing. Every I feel like every start, there are two or three passes that just leave you like shaking your head, missing guys open in the end zone.

There was a very clear chance to hit Kareem Hunt on what would have been a pretty game ceiling type completion just to short out and he he threw him weird a little bit wide, and cream Hunt had a look on his on his face kind of like dude, whatever, you know. But the Browns like this was a classic game. They would have lost, and they use their strength at the end, and they've done that game after game when

they've won. The two hundred yards rushing thing is becoming a norm for them, which is just such a shocking sight to Browns fans um that have been watching this team fizzle up for twenty five plus years. Chook, are you saying I should maybe come after? It's too bad West isn't here, But you know I could text them or whatever and start reigniting our Mike Glennon debates often like I still have a chance to win this one.

Glennon fevers coming back. No, no, you can leave here anything your long neck debates at home, that's not happening. But never back to the worst quarter. He he is my zach Mettenberger. I am to Mike Glennan, what Mark is the Zach metten Mistakes are made, Mistakes are made. There were is a momentum after they pulled within two on the Ifford touchdown where he scrambles on the two point conversion and he has a pathway to the end

zone to tie the game. And then, to his credit, he understands that he's Mike Lennon and he's limited in almost every way. Uh, and he he realizes he needs to peel back and throw a prayer to the back of the end zone, a prayer that was unanswered. But it did, it did, Uh, it was. I mean, it's notable that the Brown struggle to close out the Jaguars, but in the Jaguars credit, this is not a team that is has given up hope and they have played tightly and I'm you know again, and we talked about

the number one overall pick. The Jackson lost tenor row. Today they fired Dave caldwell Um, their general manager, who had been there since January two thirteen. Changes are obviously coming there, but this is not a team that is completely uh, throwing in the towel and getting blown out week after week and that and that is a credit to Doug Marone. But you know what, going back to your point, uh, Mike Glennon, if he's going acent all out, living like there's no tomorrow, Mike Lennon, you go for

the goal line there. Look, you're part of bald games. You have no fears. You've embraced the straight razor to your head. You have no fears. I don't care if Karl Joseph is bearing down on you. You dive for that pylon because you might never get another chance, at least in Jacksonville, or maybe it's next week. Who knows to do that again? And yet he dropped back and throw choke as a as And what did you go fully shaved when I was twenty three? So you went young.

You made a decision. You so where things were headed, I'm guessing, and you made that choice and it works for you. Did you find it to be liberating and freeing in a way that made you feel more bold or confident? Yeah? I would say it added to it, because, um, you know, looking back, I think the photos that the evidence was all there. I think I waited way too long.

And what was really the turning point for me was somebody shot a video of me from behind and I saw the bald spot coming in the back of my head and that night I went and grabbed the clippers shades it off. Haven't had any hair since. And you know what people say then, and I'm sure, you get this a lot about your hair and about my lack of hair. I look better without here there. I mean, some people do it, and I think it's unfair and

cheap to take shots at Glennon's physical appearance. So I will say nothing on how Glennon looks without hair, but um, some people pull it off better than others. And you and West both I believe, improve yourselves a great dude and ended up with hot babes as a result. You gotta find out you don't have like you What if you learn you have like little bumps and stuff all over your head, Like I was worried about that, and I hope they didn't have an egg shade ted, but

luckily it was. It's pretty round, so you know that's how it works. You know. Jaguar's fans, I do want to just say quickly on called like they should be happy, you know. I think they have to be encouraged that they're changing it up from David Colly. It's a pretty big issues and because they're Jacksonville, this it's slipped pretty under the radar. But he's been there since they are thirty seven and eighty seven. Over those years, like imagine like if a New York GM had gone thirty seven

and eighty seven, they had. They've had one season with more than six wins in all those years, so there's nothing personal, but it's like they I'm glad. I think they went into this year kind of knowing that they were gonna fire Maron and Cadwell at the end of it, barring anything crazy, and nothing crazy has happened and they needed a restart those seven years. How many years or how many Pro Bowlers do you expect the GM to draft?

I don't know, not your standard one a year one, you know, per because he drafted almost all the play to win the game they want. They want more than six games once every rule trying to help you, how many GMS survived drafting Blake Bortles? Usually that would be you'd be gone, you know. And that's the damn evidence right there. Greg. Did you make the the Cardinals senterer of omitting a coach or court or players playoff numbers when you gave his life time record, because that should

count more that that's fair. Let's they won the two playoff games, should have beaten the Patriots. The hand of God came in on the Miles Jack fumble recovery and it's been all down here. How about how about your number one overall defense, best defense ever, doesn't cough up a ten point lead? Choked it? Come on, that was That was a bad call. That was six points the other way, and you know it, that's the game right there in that spot that it was. It was a

call you see like every week. It wasn't that crazy. There's no sense litigating at that's the past. Dave Caldwell is the past, and I would imagine Doug Brown will

join him, just not yet. And since we're on the topic of dismissals, we should hit something that happened on Saturday, uh forty eight hours after the Lines were embarrassed at home against the Texans, their second straight blowout loss, when they seemed to be in the playoff mix and were uh well, that was the final straw for Lions management. Matt Patricia fired as head coach, Bob Quinn fired general manager. It ends um a nearly three season run for Patricia

where they just never got things going. Uh. He was hired to get them the next step, take them the next step after back to back nine and seven seasons, and they never got there, Patricia is sent on his way. Mark a guy that listen, he'll get a job again as a d C, I imagine. But this is one of those head coaching UH situations where you probably don't

get another shot when it goes this poorly. Yeah, we just we're talking about general managers and coaches developing Pro Bowl players and I I think my thing with the Lions, Bob Quinn Matt Patricia, I thought, you know, you come in, you're gonna want to change the persona of the Lions that we've kind of ripped on and um suffered through for so long and nothing changed, and there seemed to be no real vision. And you know, yes, you came from the New England Patriots, but there was no resemblance

to New England Patriots. UM. Unlike a lot of new coaches, you had an established quarterback in Matt Stafford, and those years were lost and wasted. So I would hope that you know, A this is a signal that this new version of ownership is not going to just sort of float through seasons with coaches and gms that aren't successful. But this is as a critical a moment for the Lions as there's been because you're dealing. We've seen these

terrible losing teams. If fifteen year old in Detroit has no reason to spend time watching the Lions, you're gonna lose generations of fans because anyone under I mean, when was the last competitive No, I mean, but I'd say someone that you know, maybe grew up with it during Wayne Fonts and some of those years. It got you know, it started there at this point, like you gotta tell your city and your fan base we care. We're gonna make an important higher that's going to change this and

it starts with an exciting higher. Frankly Well, Jim Caldwell's raising his hand because they were competitive, at least with him. They were nine and seven, like I said, those last two years. But they That's why the hiring and now the post mortem it looks so bad for the lines because this is a team that was for most of the nineties and into the two thousand's the bad team of the NFL, the laughing stock. And then you finally got the organization to a place where they were right

on the precipice of being a contender. But you say, no, we're stopping this train. We're hopping on this other train and bringing the Patriot Way into town and then it just blows up in their face and nearly every way imaginable. Uh So, you know, I guess good on new ownership. There's there's a change at the top of the food chain of Detroit. For I'm not giving them any good. I'm not giving them. I'm giving them bad actually because they're keeping the same executive. You know, we talked about

Easter be a lot. They're keeping the same executive who's been there the whole time. His name is Rodwood. Again, it's nothing personal, but it's the same family that's owned the team, and it's the same executive that's been here through a lot of this and he's the one ultimately running this search. And I'm talking about back in you know before called well like it. It goes back years

and years. There's no there's no particular reason to think anything would be changing, you know, like like, well, you can hire the right general manager. I'm not saying he will, You're saying that this guy is not capable of doing it. I The only three end giving is they are trying to move forward and realizing this was a mistake. They got the GM and the head coach out of there, and maybe the people and it won't be just him making the decision. I understand that Sheilla ford hamp is

going to be involved with this as well. Maybe she knows what she's doing and it's a good judge of certain things, Tumble, I would look out for her. But yeah, I mean it's they're they're hitting the reboot button again, and you just hope if you're a Lions fan, you

get the right people working in the building. I would imagine if your friend comes up to you and says, hey, man, I finally broke up with this girl that had been this toxic relationship with three years, and you've told him until you're blue in the face, hey bring up with this girl. She's not good for you. And he ignored you over and over and over and over again. Not exactly gonna be like all right, pal, you're gonna be like good, what took you so long? Now prove to

me that you're not gonna go back to her. I worry that they make us higher in the opposite direction. I think that's probably getting too far out of ourselves. But like Greg said, until you prove otherwise, Yeah, I'm not in there's years and decades of proof that the organization doesn't usually make the right decision. We'll see what happens come January. All right, let's move up. Booker stays in the ball game. Here's car looking to throw again.

Pressure coming come and skin it's intercepted Dion Jones with a flag down and Jones is going to the end zone. And we'll see if it's in Atlanta touchdown sixties seven yard interception return for a touchdown by Dion Jones, West Durham w z g C. Good call with the call, and it did stand. Deon Jones picked off Derek Carr took it to the house. A moment of domination and a game of domination by the Falcons, who dropped a

bomb on the Raiders shook. You know, we being the collective, Uh, I guess the football cognescente didn't think this Raiders team happen d NA to nose dive the way they did a year ago. Well, now you have to maybe rethink that what happened today. It had all the makings of a typical hangover game after they get so up for a game, losing a heartbreaker and then forget to bring that same type of energy to the field. It was

beyond that. Though. My girlfriend, who you guys have chatted before many times and not committing to she's committed to the Raiders, and she came home today and saw that score late in the fourth quarter forty two six. I looked at her and said, you know what, this is the worst Raiders game I've watched in five years. And I'm not exaggerating. It was the worst game they've played as a team in half a decade before the Jack del Real Raiders. I'm serious. We're going that far back.

And the problem is is for every thing that they were good at the last month and a half, and we were all starting to maybe get behind Derek Carr for a little bit. Maybe he's good enough to get them somewhere. Maybe he's as good as he was, you know, three or four years ago. Taking that next step, they can go to tote awful today. His stat line actually doesn't do justice how bad he was now. All of it's not on him. They were he was pressured relentlessly. Uh he had ah he was stripped on a sack,

but his interceptions were bad. That one specifically, the audio track that we played was very bad and it just snowballed five turnovers in the game. They were only three for twelve on third down. Everything that he was good at, getting them first downs with his with his legs on third down, converting in key moments, they couldn't do any of it. They even got a break Josh Jacobs fubbled in the red zone early, it was overturned. They only got three points out of it. They only ended up

with six points of the entire game. They had a sad field goal in this game, a complete disaster, a train wreck in Atlanta. That's a that's eleven fumbles for car this year. So for whatever reason, people don't care about fumbos when like evaluating who's having a great year or not. But he you know, that's in the top two in the league. He's led the league before in fumbles, and so that that's a huge problem because they do play in a way that, look, no one's gonna win

when you turn the ball over five times. But they especially play in a way that they can't like survive mistakes and turnovers, like they want to play close to the vest. So that's wild. Though Rahee Morris has had some blowout wins who would think it. They are. They are like, it's not gonna happen, but they are not out of the playoff picture if they kept playing this way,

Um the Falcons. But it's it's concerning you. John Cruden comes out of the game having to apologize to Raiders fans, and Derek Carr said that he was he was concerned because the team was really flat in practice and then the game started in Yep, they were even more flat. So I think you're right there is a bit of a hangover aspect to the Chiefs game to some degree. I mean, look what Derek Carr was incredible against the Chiefs.

He very nearly took them to the win of the year and then Patrick Mahomes ripped their heart out, and I guess you could say there's a hangover now. You also could do the old teams that travel east for an early start. That that's another trope that perhaps is in play here. But for a car to fall on his fat, there's so much fall in his face, there's so much. There was so much at stake for the Raiders. It's you know, they needed to win this game. They

put themselves in a really tough spot. Now in the A f C playoffs and the Browns, who, like we've said, had the tiebreaker, they have the tiebreaker on Cleveland, but now Cleveland's two games clear of them, so that's that's gonna be a very difficult situation for them to catch. The Browns. Um there was no excuse to be this flat when they needed the win. So I yeah, I

have been very high in the Raiders all season. I didn't think this was gonna be a season where we saw a performance like this and who knows, maybe they'll play great next week and we'll forget about this, but that that has to leave you very nervous about the rest of the season if you're a Raiders fan. Yeah. The worst part about this too is like I as we got through the first two corters or so, I was like, Wow, the Raiders are a lot of them just making a lot of mistakes that can get out

of their own way. This is gonna be, you know, a tough game for them to come back in, and then it really just blew up completely in their faces. I mean, they gave them multiple opportunities in this specific game. It's mistakes that like you look at it on tape and you're like this might be indicative of an issue that extends beyond these four quarters. You know, getting a roughing the kicker penalty that gives a Lanta new set

of downs. Then you get them down to fourth and three on the goal line and you give up a touchdown when you almost get to Matt Ryan. It's almost finishing. It's getting a roughing the pass or penalty that extends another drive. It's undisciplined football, and then it's obviously sloppy football with all the turnovers for everybody, myself included. You know, despite the fact that they lost the Chiefs last week, I was like, you know this this team that could

be in the playoffs. We talked about it can make for maybe a fun wild card weekend matchup or whatever, or a divisional round matchup. They got that far. I know it's only one game, but it's it's concerned. There's nothing worse in the NFL than a moral victory loss. I swear this happens every It's like, oh wow, they really try hard, and then the next week like this, I feel like, I don't know why I can always happens. So I do not buy. I do not buy into

letdown games. When you lost the previous this game, I don't care how well you played. Weird, funky little stat before we move on to Sunday Night football. The Falcons finished with three d and four total yards. They're the only team in the last The only team in the last five seasons with forty three plus points and fewer total yards is the Chiefs, who way back in Week seven. First the Broncos had forty three points on two hundred

and eighty six yards. So it wasn't like the Falcons are lightening up the Raiders, but the Raiders were so inept in all other ways it didn't matter all right to Sunday Night Football. Sunday Night Rogers flip hips, flips it downfield. What touchdown? Beautiful beautiful connection from Aaron Rodgers the Robert Town in the one of four touchdowns for the Great Aaron Rodgers in a forty five win over the Chicago Bears at lambeau Field. The latest one sided

affair between these two old rivals. Nick Shook. You know, we were just talking about it before we came on. The league heaps these primetime affairs upon us between these two teams. But can you remember the last time we saw a good game between the Packers and UM around the time I graduated college. UM probably the J Cutler, like the last stand of the good J. Cutler Bears against the Packers is probably last time I had a

classic showdown. Especially late in this season, it's been very one sided, primarily because the Bears haven't answered the quarterback situation. And tonight you see more of the same. I mean, you turned back to Mitchell Tropiski and what do you get. You get three turnovers, you get a terrible pick thrown

into triple coverage. I mean, we shouldn't be surprised. So as long as the Packers of Aaron Rodgers and are on the pace that they're at, I think this is going to continue to be the case, no matter how good Chicago's defense is. At this point, Packers games are just kind of tracking Dan's sandwich prop that he had. Aaron Rodgers is an all pro and uh, it's looking solid, much better than the Jets are going to contend in two weeks seventeen, prop, I think you're gonna get it.

He is my choice for the m v P right now. You know you need to add that second part. That's, by the way, why we'll We'll never create thirty two more of you because sometimes one is too much. I mean, you know, we're all all you try to do is go one for three when it comes to those props. I don't know that's why, that's why it was unnecessary, but yes, I feel very good about Aaron Rodgers being

named All Pro. It was a bit of a shot in the dark, uh in August, But it looks like it's gonna land because he's you know, Rogers has always based his game. I mean, he's got tremendous talent. Obviously he's one of the great players, but he's always played with such confidence and it's always been such a big

part of his game. This you could tell this belief that he's just better than everyone else, and you can see it on his face that it's it's almost a higher drive right now because of all the outside factors that he internalized and and and it's dry having him. I think the interesting thing with this game, and Mitch

Drobisky didn't play well. I mean, come on, I mean, he's Mitch Drobisky, like Shook said, three turnovers Mark, but he you know, he did move the ball enough, even if it was in garbage time he got them three scores. I thought that this this game is really lost because the Bears defense, which you know they need to be perfect, was far from that in this game. They got torched both in the passing end in the running game. Yeah,

I think that was as much of the story. I mean, Green Bay's first three drives all touchdowns, fourteen plays seventy five yards, nine plays sixty thirteen plays seventy five We kind of know the Bears are going to score between like twelve and eighteen points every game. I'm sure there are a lot of very annoyed people on the defensive side for Chicago at this point in the year or every year. But uh, you know, to start the game that way, you're put in a hole because of both

sides of the ball. So I you know, it just feels sort of like a broken operation. Um, it's good to see green A go out flex its muscles and romp over a much lesser opponent, right because ultimately, okay, Rogers is playing better. Their offensive line was pretty dominant and has been great all year, including in the running game tonight. Um, but the differences is the play calling. Guys are open. I mean, that's it's the offense. It's you know, Rogers is making great plays, Like but he

was making great plays all along. Now he's also on top of that having these open receivers. There was like a third down play early in the game that you wouldn't even notice, where it's him and Adams connecting. Adams makes a diving catch on a throw that Rogers through through a pretty small window in terms of the defensive line in front of him, and then sixty five yards later,

with a bunch of easy throws they score touchdown. So it takes like one great Rogers Adams play that no one else can make, and then the offense just kind of rolls, and it's nice to see Rogers supported so much. To your point about Rogers just doing things on another level, I loved how they pointed out the buster screen blitz that he saw beforehand, uh, that he just called and like he sort of shook his head and looked to

himself after, like, yeah, I'm pretty smart. I mean, he is the he's but a lot of what's the difference between Aaron Rodgers, six or seven other quarterbacks and the rest of the league that in a quiet stadium with no crowds, Rogers uses it as an advantage to hear what the defense is saying, what they're doing, what they're planning,

and calling it out to his own teammates. I think that's also the difference between Aaron Rodgers, who was visibly frustrated at the end of the Mike McCarthy era, and where he is now with Matt Lafleur in their second season. They continue to understand each other better and you're seeing

it in how effective their offense is. The rhythm, the pace that they have when they go down the field and drives like Greg mentioned, and also they continued involvement of Robert Toney, And I mean it helps a lot when you have Aaron Jones and the vaculating and you can run play action off of that. But it also helps when you have a tight end that you can throw it too off a play action where you might get him in a mismatch, you're gonna get him in

a one on one. Maybe it's in the league across the field where he's opened downfield for a big game. It just adds to what you could do beyond your receiving corps. The big question for them though, and you will use the term that Greg likes to use when it comes to Mike pett defenses, is the run funnel? Are they ever going to stop the run against the legitimate team? Because without David Montgomery, the Bears have no

rushing game whatsoever. They haven't had it for weeks and a lot of his yards were gained in garbage time tonight, So it's kind of hard to look at from a statistical standpoint, So it's not a good litmus test. And then if you face a better team that can run the ball, it kind of calls in a question how legitimate this team is. And we know they're gonna bring

it offensively, it just comes down to their defense. We will see, you're right, how this team stands up when it comes down to the tougher games remaining on their schedule, which is not very tough. We'll get to that in a second. But then of course in January because they will be playing in the playoffs. This teams the Packers

are gonna win their division. Uh. And you know when you look at their schedule remaining, it sets up, well, there one game behind the Saints, but they have they hold the head to head tiebreaker, so you know it might take them going You know twelve and four here, uh to take the number one seed, but it is not, it is not out of the realm of possibility. I just wonder sometimes with this team. Uh, like Mark said, you kind of wanted to see them whip up on

a team that they should beat. That's what they did today. Um, a little bit hot and cold at times, this Packer team. This was a hot Packer team. And when they're hot and looking good, they seem like they could beat anyone. But then they could show up the next week and you're like, wait, who are the Packers? So I still have a little bit of a lingering doubt around them,

but you can't argue with the results they're in. I think they're first of all, they gotta go thir they I think they're gonna have to win out to get the one seed. They can't count on the Saints. We have to talk about Tayson Hill again because no, but they would just have to lose twice. You know, the Saints haven't lost in a long time, and they would have to lose twice in five games. That's just asking a lot. That would be a lot of luck for

the Packers. So mostly one time out right, right, But if they If the Packers lose once, then they need the Saints to lose twice. So that's it's just a lot to ask, right, So most likely they have to win out, but looking at their schedule, they could do it, and they could be a much more like you know, we spent all offseason talking about legit thirteen and three or not, uh, and this would be a very legit there. They feel more legit than last year's team to me, Yeah,

well big. A big reason for that is is tonight's win because against other solid defenses this season, they've struggled. Tampa Bay pretty good defense. They got beat by twenty eight Minnesota. You always can count on on a challenging scheme from Mike Zimmer, they get beat in that game, although that was the Dalvin Cook game Indianapolis. They losing overtime last week despite putting up thirty one points because they can't get it done when they have the ball

late in that game. So this is the first time that they've gotten to win over a legitimate defense and putting up forty one points is a statement for then um and like said, the schedule does set up pretty nicely for them. I think the big test comes in weeks team when they play Tennessee because then they have Sunday night on Sunday night. That's a good one. December Titans packed better than this. That's gonna it's gonna matter.

I know enough of these Bears. Five straight losses. You don't see that too often for a five and one team. Good news. Not only are they add a prime time for the rest of the season, they have been banished to or all early Sunday games for the end of this season. Well bad news. One of the four of us will be covering them, so you know, good news it will be shook alright. Hey Nick, um, what god

awful meteorological pattern has fault befallen Cleveland today? Um? Well, actually the weather is pretty nice, but it's supposed to rain up to not or not rain. It's supposed to snow up to nine inches on Wednesday according to the local weather reporters. So um, this is the guy who hasn't bought tires for his truck that needed to do it a year ago. Luckily, working from home living downtown, I don't drive very much, so I'll be able to

trudge through it. As for the Browns, we'll see they got a good running game, so we'll see alright, good stuff. All right, that's it. Thank you to Chris Westling for joining us. We'll be back on Tuesday. Uh well there's this. You know, we have a weird week set up here. So we got Monday night football of course, and then right now scheduled you Tuesday night football. Uh so just

know that we will be covering all the what's up America? Well, I just wanted to do a quick Oh yes please, yeah, just jump in the elevator with me real quick, if you will. Um and I would like to just do a little locks updates. So Mark Sessler, you are in going up to the penthouse and the elevator because the Chiefs one, Greg and West with the Giants one Erico with the Raiders lost that Um and Dan lost with the Cowboys the Raiders. Wait, you are the reason the

Raiders lost. Yes, I'd like the thing I touched. I'd like to see the score differential and Erica's locks. It feels like there's also been a lot of one sided ones. Every have you thought about the irony Erica that you're the weakest link in this lock challenge as well? Yeah, it's uh people on Twitter. Sure, sure like to list that one, you know, it's a good one. Who's Aaron though?

That would be more concerning. Dan is a little bit of an errand aura to him with the locks this week, you went down swinging it like I'm getting on here. I finally realized what I was having fun with locks. You know, picking the Cowboys is having fun for the show's sake. And then you see, you know, people locking up the Chiefs and locking up the you know, Joe Burrow,

Liss Bengals. People are taking this seriously. So it might be too late for me, but I'm gonna holdna wait a minute, and lock up the chiefs against like Wilton High School, I mean the they it was it's time to get serious because everyone else is. I would say this, let's go. I will do a deep dive tonight and I will go look at every lock that you've made this this year. Dan, you have some in Greg. I can see on Greg's face he knows that you have

some severely concerning locks scenarios. No, because this is I'm the I'll talk endlessly, but like you have some seriously hideous and have it on my desk, but not I am I will not deliver it when you ask, and I will not do a deep thought. I am. I have already suffered through the Chicago Bears. I'm going to bed, but you know what I'm talking about. I have no idea what you're talking about. And it's time to get serious, all right. This is Dan hands Is signing off for

Quiet Storm. Nick Shook Shook as like involved with the car crash at the end of everyone the old boss Ricky Holly would have of course, the mailman until Tuesday s