2020 Week 14 Recap; Sunday Blues

I'm laughing at Matt money Smith's very factual suggestion that the only the person with the most talent is the person doing that little sound bite. I wonder if you added the four of our talents together, would we be well, we wouldn't have as many jobs as Matt money Smith. If you added the four of us together, Well, you are the number one Matt money Smith van in Los Angeles now because you are a daily listener to who

is draw Time show as well. But I'd like to think that, you know, being attached to our show has lifted his brand I'd say seven to tenfold. We would like to think that. I'm not sure that's true, but we we would like to think that well I do. Welcome to everyone, Welcome everyone to the yes Week fourteen recap episode. We're going to go through every game that was played on Sunday and listen. They can't all be beautiful,

they can all be gorgeous. In fact, if I had to come up with a one sound effect that would neatly sum up the Sunday slate today, it would be this, Am I wrong? Now? They weren't. They weren't competitive. They look great on paper, but they didn't. It didn't doesn't usually work out that way. You know, we will see we're taping this and we'll see if the primetime game save us. Those were the best matchups on paper. Going in.

I was driving around with Luke and that exact sound effect played randomly in a commercial on the radio, and he was like, what does that sound effect mean? I now have a new, um more clear explanation to offer. It means Week fourteen, Sunday. All right, let's get into it. We'll start obviously, now, every team after this week is going to have three games to play, which means the

playoffs are really starting to come into focus. Uh, we'll start Today's show by digging through the NFC and what happened, because there was a lot of change right to the very top there. It's hard. He's back. He was floating in the football and his cart touchdown touchdown. He catch it over to our Sean Jeffrey Mike Reece w I P with a call Yes, Jalen Hurts NFL starting debut

was supposed to be a blood bath. Instead, Hurts ran for a hundred yards through a touchdown pass which you just heard, and helped lead the Eagles to eight Studying over the Saints, Greg, we'll get to what this means for the Saints in a moment, and it's not good. But what did you see from Hurts in the Eagles offense? I saw a guy whose legs and decisiveness gave them a little life. I mean, the Eagles are barely alive in the NFC East. We'll get to that for one

more week. But the fact that after fifty five games of the Saints not allowing a hundred yard rusher, Jalen Hurts goes over a hundred and oh, by the way, Miles Sanders goes over a hundred, and I think the Eagles rushing game got a little boost from Jalen Hurts because of the read act, you know, the read option, and also just having to account for him so many times in this game on third and four, third and five,

Hurts just picked it up with his legs. He made good decisions throwing the ball most of the day, and in the first half, when you know you're watching these two teams and you're thinking, wow, these two quarterbacks have pretty similar styles. It was a knockout. The Eagles offense was moving the ball up and down the field. The Eagles offensive line kind of dominated this game. That was shocking,

and the Eagles defensive line played great too. It was a pretty thorough beating despite it only being a three point final score. When's the last time a quarterback and a running back in Philadelphia both ran for a hundred yards. I was watching this one pretty closely, and I just felt like I kind of kind of, even for the few snaps that we saw Jalen Hurts and some of these other games, that there was just a little bit of a different energy. And that's maybe one of the

unexplainable things in football and sports. But um, you know, some of us wanted this change to happen earlier. I get why it was complex and why it didn't, but the Eagles are not dead, and it is not impossible to look ahead at this UM Washington Philly game in weeks seventeen and wonder if it could still, just like these TV people like to do, put a little NFC East matchup flex it into that week seventeen night game.

It could be very important. Philly obviously still on the ropes at four eight and one Washington, and we're gonna get to them obviously a little bit later, up to six and seven, so Philly has to do something really special. I guess I didn't see enough from Jalen Hurts to think that this is about to be some type of Cinderella run. But this was obviously something they needed because they'd gotten so stale with Carson Wentz and on the same side of things, This is a tough loss, This

is a bad loss. This is a loss that drops them to ten and three. It ends that long winning streak, and with a Packers win, there now tied record wise, but the Packers have the tiebreaker on the Saints. So right now the Saints have lost the number one seed West in the NFC and Taysom Hill. I talked about this in our Thursday show. I thought this is a big start for him, uh, in terms of put planting that seed in Sean Payton's mind, because we knew Drew Brees is gonna come back, but we didn't know how

he's gonna play, and we still don't know. But this is not probably the performance that Taysom Hill wants to leave with his head coach going down the stretch right. Not a dosa stress start by any means, but some little things taking sacks in the wrong places, overthrowing or throwing behind receivers on third downs, key plays that he couldn't come up with that ended up being um factors in the in the outcome of the game. And like you said, if we were gonna put that little birdie

in Sean Payton's mind, it's not gonna happen after that one. Well, and they he's probably gonna start next week against the Chiefs. So everyone in the NFC is looking at this. It's not just it's not just Green Bay who's you know, Packers are very excited, but the Seahawks and the Rams gotta be looking at list that they're not out of it either they're only one back, especially thinking that the Saints have are gonna now have an uphill battle, certainly

not insurmountable to beat the Chiefs next week. Drew Brees sounds like he's iffy and Hill, you know, they didn't score in the first half, um for for the longest time, and they had five first downs in six drives. And you know when he gets a fourth down key, you know spot late in the game against an Eagles defense that lost Darius Slay, Rodney McCloud and DeVante maddox three basically their best three players in the secondary. He holds the ball too long, which has been a problem for him.

He fumbled, which has been an even bigger problem for him, and that kind of, to me was the key sequence because the Saints defense, after playing a rough first half, stood up, gave the offense a chance to come back, didn't quite happen. I don't think Hill has been a disaster by any means, but I don't think he's shown nearly enough. There's certainly no controversy this year. They need Drew Brees back, and I'm sure they'd love to get him back in the regular season to get some snaps

before whatever type of postseason run they have. That was Taysom Hill's tenth fumble of the season, and it was a huge one. They were down three points um in upon the opponent's territory with a chance to tie or take the lead, and once Hill loses that fumble was the fourth fumble he's lost this year. The defense then lets down, gives up the touchdown, and that was more or less it. There was a a late touchdown uh for cosmetic purposes, and then a near recovery on an

onside kick. But the right team won this game, and the Saints, obviously, if they end up playing on the first week of the postseason, they will look at this game and kick themselves. Uh. Speaking of the Green Bay Packers, Rogers takes the snap in shotgun, looks around, scrambles to his left. He could take it himself to the ends. Touchdown nowh Wayne Larry w T MJ with the call I Love Gold. Aaron Rodgers ran for a score and threw three more touchdown passes to lead the Packers to

win over the stubborn Detroit Lions at Ford Field. The wind combined with the Saints lost to the Eagles, moves the Packers, as I said, into the number one seed in the NFC. It also clinches the division for the Packers. So another big time year for the bearded boy on the sidelines and Aaron Rodgers, who just may have I don't want to say sewn it up because there's still three weeks to play. But on the day when Patrick mahomes Is statistical line takes a dip with the three interceptions,

today Rogers has another just awesome performance. He started the game with tense straight completions. He hooked up with Davante Adams for a touchdown for the eighth straight game, UH, and was just in total control. He's playing the game at such a level of mastery right now that you can't help but admire it. So the Packers get another win, and they are stacking wins, and they are in position now UH to have that by if they could just

keep winning until the regular season runs out. I love the Packers getting some production out of a Shawn Gary. That's been something that's happened now each and every week. Like you'd like to see them blow out a Lince team. Chase Daniel ends up coming in for Matthew Stafford and had a touchdown and nullified on a pretty courageous attempt and that would have been his first rushing touchdown of

his whole career. And it was right after he threw an absolute dime on a under pressure on third and long. I was like, what is happening here? Is Jase Daniel gonna make this interesting? Didn't? Didn't happen? Um, But I like that the Packers are getting more production out of Shawan Gary because they need their pastors. To me, that's kind of their ex factor. And uh, you know, today against the lines isn't the best test, but they got it done. I mean, Stafford looked like he really banged

up those ribs pretty bad and loud. DeVante Adams we talked him a little bit on the preview show that I don't know what what else to say about him. Today, eight straight games with a touchdown broke the franchise record held by Don Hudson, who is not played football in quite a while. So that that record has been out there, well, I don't know what you guys said on the pregame show, but I'm sorry for DeAndre Hopkins because Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill or the or the All Pro receivers this year.

In my opinion, Dante Adams, it's like George Kittle last year. He takes the fight to you. Every game. He beat you in every way. He beat you at the catch point after the catch, He's reliable, he gets in the end zone. Um. I just love the way he's playing with so much confidence. And I really believe that this Aaron Rodgers has had some great, all time great seasons, this might be his best one. He's been practically perfect

this year. He has been practically perfect. Was like, I put that with any like ahead of any Peyton, Manning or Brady season, which they until the New York Giants found him in January. Right, But I'm I'm just counting the regular season. But it is awesome. He would have my m V Popo. He had it coming into this game. I don't think it's anywhere close to over because three weeks is an eternity and Mahomes has been incredible. But he's got the game and he has been just about

perfect with his throws. Wes, you you nailed it. I believe it was West last week when you said that the Packers have surrounded him with just enough talent. If it was it, maybe Robert Tonyan wasn't there or envs did it make made a couple less plays, or Davante Adams got banged up a little bit more, Alan got

Alan Lazard there, you got Aaron Jones healthy. Now it's not a it's not like a bounty of gifts like Patrick mahomes Hays, which I think you have to factory when you're talking the m v P conversation as well. But it's enough and then he he maxes out all those guys. Robert Tonyan has nine touchdowns the most. Much better line though, like a great line, like a top three or four offensive makes a big difference. Very fair. He has nine nine touchdowns, the most by a Packers

tight end since two thousand, two thousand one? Who was it, Bubba Franks correct the top, Good job by you, Greggy Yes, and Matthew Stafford he hurts his ribs uh. A tough thing for Detroit because they were fighting hard in this game. They fell behind early, pulled even a fourteen fourteen, but then the Packers just almost used their power of will to just kind of take themselves to the finish line and then get the w so big big win for the Packers, who are ten and three. They went thirteen

and three last year. So the bearded boy Matt Lafleur, even I can do this math. They are twenty three and six, Wow, in two seasons the regular season so far. Week sixteen Packers Titans is one of the bigger games left on this little slate of games. We haven't say like for the doubting of them. I doubted them last year like that, I just didn't see them as the record. I don't have those feelings this year because I think the NFC is weak and they could beat anyone in

that conference. Alright, So we talked about the top of the NFC playoff picture. Let's see who's fighting for the sixth and seventh seeds down below. Starting with a trip to Tampa. How about a gun Brady takes the snap, past protection, looks up field, throw up deep ballfield, Scott Miller touch touch top um, Scotty run. Part of the cards drained off w f U s with the call

Scotty Miller. Remember him. If you have a nice little season and then go get Antonio Brown and you forget all about him, Well, maybe it's time to get Scottie Back involved the slotman helped Tom Brady break out of his deep ball slump, and a nightmare performance by Viking singer Dan Bailey helped the Bucks get their season back on track to fourteen win. Uh. Nice game from the

defense here, boys, Tampa Bay. I know, Greg, you've been talking to bolls of sons all year, but I thought, in addition to the offensive struggles, the defense had been in a little bit of a funk. Not here. They sack Kirk Cousins six times. The last one produced a fumble that basically ended this game in terms of a competition. Uh. And after a rough start in the first quarter for the defense against the run, I mean, this is a

great run defense, as we know. And the Vikings put up seventy one yards in the first quarter alone, and you're thinking, oh, and Brady's airmailing passes the grand and Chris Godwin and you're thinking they slept walk through the bye and they came out of it still looking like a mess. But then they kind of got it together. The Miller touchdown was big. Uh. They got things calmed down with Dalvin Cook who still crossed the hundred yards, but it seemed like it was gonna be a much

bigger day. And then, like I said, I mean this was we see it. We saw it in Week one with Steven Gaskowski. Hell, it happened with the Jets with Sergio Castilla today. Sometimes these kickers, you could tell, the moment just crushes them and they couldn't kick a twenty yard or if they had to. And that's what happened to Dan Bailey in a big spot. He misses all four of his kicks, an extra point and then three

field goals. Uh. Two of them very makeable, the third one along kick but essentially costs them, you know, ten points and took them out of the game. I know Zimmer likes Bailey, and Bailey has been having a pretty good season before the last well before the last two weeks, he's been pretty good for them. But I don't know how you stay you move ard with him when you're trying to get a playoff spot and your kicker just basically cost you a game. He said, such a weird career.

At one point he was the guy that Justin Tucker had to take his throne, and then he went through a bad spot where Dallas released him because he seemed to lose some leg strength, comes to Minnesota, struggles right off the bat, and then it's like a nice sweet spot in Minnesota where he starts nailing all his kicks again. He's had four different seasons where he's only missed two field goals. Justin Tucker can't say that you got you got that all those Bailey stats off the top of

your head. I mean, what's going on here? Hey, Dan is not the only one who knows kickers well. I to ask, like, Dan, what happens with the you know this very This kicker club is a complex um environment. It sounds like some kickers aren't necessarily just allowed in because they're a kicker. Dan Billy, I would imagine, is posted up to the bar in the past and you know, whistle Dixie about his skills. But after a daylight today,

is the club nice to him or do they? You know? Like, it's kind of like your friend, if you're kind of a materialist and your friend falls on tough times, you kind of look past them to the other cooler friends. What happens with someone like Bailey in this situation. In the case of Bailey, as a veteran that's been around for a long time he has admission to the club. When things are going really well, he's gonna be in the champagne room. He's gonna have bottle service. Everything's gonna

be cool. After last week when he struggled some, he got kicked out of bottle service and was just belly up at the bar, and after today, we we had to ask him to leave, not for for good, but you know, we can't be having that. You can't miss all four of your kicks when your team's fighting for a playoff spot. And you know, the Vikings are team that I was high on as a team that was gonna make a run to the playoffs. They definitely started to get me nervous the last couple of weeks, even

though they were still winning. And now you know, after today's game, things that it's gonna be stacked up against him. They gotta win out most likely, and I don't know based on what we've seen in the last three weeks to have a lot of confidence about that. But man, Vikings, It's Vikings fandom is tough. It's one of the toughest fan bases uh to have to deal with your team because bad things happen. But that the Curse of the Vikings kicker. It is absolutely real. You just go through

the years. It feels like every three to five years there's a calamity that costs them a season or or a super Bowl trip. Uh, and it's happening again. This was a game no one's gonna forget this one in Minnesota. I mean, they had forty minutes time of possession, which is, you know, an overrated Statins like guys like Mike Zimmer love it, except you're just shortened the game for you to lose. They had eight possessions in this game, Like

that's half as many as the forty Niners had. For instance, in their game, they moved the ball pretty well, but ultimately Kirk Cousins gets sacks six times. The Vikings don't have any sacks. JPP has had a nice season. He's had a nice career. I mean he I've always loved watching him play. He has all effort all the time. You can't run a screen against him. And this season especially feels like he comes up with one monster play

every week. And he had it with the forced fumble late and he almost just grabbed that out of kirk Cousin's hand. Fumble and West Mark Dan Bailey is like Whiskey Pete. Okay, he's you know, he's over in the corner. There once was a day where after the game, he's the guy everybody wants to be around. He's holding court, he's got all the jokes flying, everybody's having a grand time, drinks are flying. Whiskey Piece the place to be. And then you know, flash forward ten years down the line.

Whiskey Petz is just telling about the good old days, never shuts up, and all he's doing is drinking whiskey all day and drinking whiskey all night. Nobody wants to be around him. Drinking outside my club is what he's doing. Also, West, he was born January. You can't. You were coming at me a little bit on the kicker knowledge, So I had to drop his birthday for you. You googled his birthday. We're supposed to give you credit for that. My producer

sent me private. Does he have any nick names on Pro Football Reference that you while you while you're on the page, Whiskey pet It is all right, Let's move on. Let's move on and check in on another team fighting for a wild card spot. Snap to Murray backing up in trouble, throws it back at the end zone. Arnold jumps up into the air and catches it for a touchdown. There are four Giants in the area. It looked like Murray might be just throwing that ball away when pits fly, baby,

what does that mean? Ron Wilfe is like reached a point as a broadcaster where he doesn't need to make sense and we all just like, oh, well, that sounded cool and fun when yeah, that was Wilfy with Dave Passion k t a r Kyler Murray connected on that floated that scoring past the Dan Arnold and Hassan Reddick. My goodness had a franchise record five sacks and three force fumbles as the Cardinals moved back into the NFC playoffs,

bought with seven win over the Giants. Mark Daniel Jones returned to the lineup for the g Men, but he did not look like he was ready for Riddick, Reddick or the Cardinal Yeah. I'm not sure he did he dress for work today. It's unclear to me he He couldn't have been worse in this spot, um it was. It was a real, I thought deflating event for the Giants, who were one of the stories of the week. Sacked eight times, as you mentioned, five by Hassan Reddick, who

I think you know. Hearing him after the game, he was he was signed, stunned that that happened. It was a franchise record. But it was Marcus gold and they got it going early. Daniel Jones, up to his old tricks um had a strip sack Marcus Goldham returned at thirty yards. Now that that was where I wondered if New York was gonna hang tough in this game, because

they had a deep and Giants territory. They held Kyler Murray to a goal in the in the offense to a goal line stand, but then the turnovers kept coming. Dion Lewis for the Giants lost to kick return fumble, a weird play where the ball was sort of inadvertently kicked out by a defender, which is unreviewable, but that led to the Dan Arnold touchdown from the from the replay right there, and then Daniel Jones had a second

lost fumble and it was kind of it. It allowed I thought the Cardinals enough time to kind of get warmer on offense. Uh, early on it looked like Kyler Murray had been confused as Allah Russell Wilson to some degree by some of these Giants disguise blitze blitzes and tactics. But the offense, you know it for the New York just a total disaster. They're one of the worst fourth

quarter offenses in the in the league. They went in um in in tough territories to begin with, Daniel Jones had fifteen net yards passing at half um it looked like it and to the point where Joe Judge basically told the Fox crew, Yeah, we're looking to potentially just

put Colt McCoy in this game. And Daniel Jones got a little banged up, and Colt McCoy did finish, but coul McCoy had been warming up during parts of the second half, So you know, I don't think it's gonna lead to a quarterback switch because McCoy came in and was no more visible necessarily, but that, you know it, it reminds you that these NFC East teams, um the records reflect a lack of completion roster wise, and this Giant's offense, which I thought, you know, the ground game

got going in recent weeks. You could kind of trust that and Wayne Gollman looked like a much better version of previous years. Wayne Goldman's not today. Uh DeAndre Hopkins did enough for the Cardinals. Dan Arnold, who shows up every week for that team with big plays, helps Kyler Murray who ran the ball ten times today and so he got going and they that was a part of their offense. I wouldn't say it was as killer as it's been in the past, but they didn't shy away

from it. So they're hanging on uh by dear life in that NFC. But the NFC is not like the a f C. I could see a seven and nine or eight and eight type team grabbing that last wild card spot. Of these inconsistent operations don't get on a hot streak. Well they got They got the Eagles and Rams. You win those first two, you're in. There was some criticism that Daniel jones hamstring wasn't Eddie and that's why you see Hassan Reddick at five sacks, you see eight

sacks because he shouldn't have been playing. Well. It's also a terrible offensive line. I mean, I think it's it's all mixed in there. Did he look spry and healthy um not necessarily because his mobility is a big part of his game. He didn't see that today. But the offensive line also, I thought, gave him very little room to operate. I mean, they were This is not a Cardinals team that does that every week. So it's it's it tells you that New York's line is a big

old hot mess. I mean, the Giants got flexed into primetime next week against the Browns. And the fact that Jones was not healthy in this game, and Joe Judge said he didn't have regrets playing Daniel Jones in this game, but it's something they're gonna have to monitor. Their season is, you know, on the brink at five and eight here, and they're gonna need They're gonna need a couple of

wins here, including potentially the one against Cleveland. So is Colt McCoy potentially the answer behind center McCoy against the Browns and prime times day night week fifty you gotta be kidding me. Give good, Give the Cardinals some credit. I know Jones isn't healthy, but to go three nine yards to one fifty nine to have a total, full scale beat down, we haven't really seen this out of this Cardinals team against anyone. UM. That's as surprising a result as I think we had today. The way that

they were playing to just totally dismantle. The Giants get some credit and they're the favorites now. All I'd say is, when you watch this, like, tell me if you think it looked like a beat down from the first quarter through fourth. In terms of the Cardinals offense, I just I just don't totally yardage aside. I just struggle to buy them um going forward. But it was a better It was a better showing than it's been of late. It was a must win for the Cardinals. They got it.

The Giants fall at a first place in the NFC East. Let's talk about the team that sits there all alone. Pocket collapse. Throw a pick right down the side like a cabra. Curl gets a block for James Smith Williams. He's still going five touchdown touchdown Washington. Second defensive score of the game for Washington. Cameron Curl jumped the route, gathered the Nick Mullins pass, took into the house. Washington's

second defensive score in the game and over the forty Niners. Yes, Washington now sole possession of first place in the NFC East of three games to play Mark. Chase Young was also a monster in this game. He had the other defensive score this football team defense wins games. Chase Young I thought produced one of the best rookie autings I've ever seen by a rookie defender. I mean, you could kind of feel this coming at some point for him. He just took over the game. And I think it

started early on a play which was real. It showed how kind of mentally tuned in he is too. With Nick Mullins kind of hanging around in the pocket, Chase Young watched justin school come at him and basically said, I'm not going to rush the passer and then bang eyes off of Chase Young. He's left alone. He darts at Mullins and dropped him to the turf, and it was you know, they brought it up and showed it on replay a couple of times because it was a

really interesting, uh approach. He then blew up Jeff Wilson on a forced fumble that gave washing the ball at San Francisco's. At one point, like Nick Mullins had a weird shuffle pass, Chase Young like bent his body to tip it down to the ground, and then the touchdown came, the fumble recovery touchdown for forty seven yards. And he did not look like a defensive lineman to me running down that sideline. He looked more like a big old running back with wheels. I mean, he's just the next

level athlete. He took them completely out of this game. But because it's the Niners, that kind of fought back, and at one point Alex Smith Um suffered a calf injury right before half, so Dwayne Haskins came in. Um did Dwayne Haskins thing. I thought he looked okay on an opening about seventies something yard drive where they went for a field goal. Um that helped them out, but then the offense kind of fell apart. They're just not the same offense without Antonio Gibson. They aren't, and they

weren't as able to be as creative. Today. The Niners gutted this out. I mean, I look at this Niners team and we've forked them and they're gone. But this is a team plane in Arizona Stadium with the Cardinals logo and name in the end zone. I just think it's been as much of bad luck the team could face in one campaign. The Niners have. Washington's defense is super legit, and I would give them a chance to win this division if they can get anything out of

their offense and if Alex Smith is healthy. We're talking about Jimmy Garoppolo and whether Kyle Shannon wants to move forward with him. I think they got to redo that quarterback room. Nick Mollins is just it's one thing to like lose everything that they've lost, and then you come into the game and you lose Devo and you lose Devo right away, and then you lose most and you're playing this Washington team ultimately, like They're offense was no

different than Washington's offense. Washington had the ball fourteen times and scored nine points. They had ninety five yards and thirty five dropbacks. So it's like he's not he's I think he's a good backup. Actually, I think he's played fine. I really do. Nick Mullins has started like sixteen games and never thrown for less than two hundred and fifty yards, and any one of them, it's the turnovers um and it's like, I think he's productive, but he doesn't protect

the ball. But it's the same thing less last week with Debo out, they never really got um into the flow. Monster came back, but you know, they're just it's it's one thing after another with this team. That's like he got four or five guys getting injured every game. Mm hmm. This Washington team, they're they're in first, but how depending on how you know serious. That's Alex Smith injury. And even with Alex Smith, I mean his numbers were even

worse than Haskins. Smith dropped back twenty times, had fifty seven yards and got sacked and threw a pick. So they made life tough. And I think they're going to find a way to get into the playoffs, if you know, if I if you had to pick one, but they are limited. This is the game I'm least looking forward to on game past. Twenty nine drives in this game, well,

it's no like this was my anti um. I wanted it going in, but there was ten minutes left in the second half while every other game was in halftime. I thought to myself, what has what has going on here? You can sell that one with Chase Young because I'll watched quite a bit of this game and and that was as close as you see the Lawrence Taylor exactly. He's beautiful in a week without in a year without many great defensive rookies, and even you know, Chase Young

was you know, not productive for a long stretch. I think he went two months without a quarterback hit or a sack. This type of game might be enough if he finish his strong to go get that rookie. I think he's healthy now, this hipp in through, I mean he looked, he looked healthy. Breaking news here, this from the New York Times. Following years of protests from fans and Native American groups, the Cleveland Indians have decided to change their team name, moving away from a moniker that

has long been criticized as racist. Three people familiar with the decision said Sunday, why do I bring it up? Because the move follows a decision by the Washington football team in the NFL and July to stop using a name long considered a racial slur. Uh. And obviously this has all been part of a larger national conversation. A lot of things have changed. Twenty The Indians now joined

the Redskins in the dustbin of history. About that all it tech was Washington been threatened with losing five million dollars worth of endorsements, and they're now having like an ownership battle behind the scenes, that is in the courts, and now they're in first. I think, I think, I think they they're keeping that name. They're they're gonna be the football team forever. All right, let's move on. Let's now move over to the a f C. Starting with Yes,

the number one seed over in that conference. Left footed punter taken by Hardman. First time he's gonna returned today, and he's got an edge at the hard in midfield. Forty five party, two blots, duty to l fifteen time far gets reporting pass. Chet has taken into the end zone touchdown Chance City punt return for a touchdown, the first in the career of a Cole Hartman to go

with this kickoff returns for touchdowns. Mitch holtus with a call, w d a f I mean, how crazy is it that the Chief's offense they have a guy they call the jet and it's not even Tyree Kill that doesn't see there Nicole Harden and sixty seven yard punt returned the final touchdown in a run of thirty straight points for the Chiefs, who clinched another a f C West title in a thirty three thirty three to twenty seven went over the Dolphins in the same building where they

claimed Super Bowl fifty four. Uh this February, Gregg, the Chiefs started and finished slowly in this game, but that surge in the middle was just too much. Yeah, reminded me so much of the playoffs last year where they spot, you know, an opponent ten points, but you felt like it might could have been more. Miami missed a kick and DeVante Parker dropped a potential touchdown. You know, you have those up. Maybe it was seventeen nothing. You somehow

forced Patrick Mahomes uh into three turnovers. One of them he just dropped the fumble. But you know he throws three interceptions, and you still lose. Like you do all these things right, you have them scrambled. They thought they were gonna come with the blitz. They didn't really early

in the game. They they're doing a good job, and yet you lose going away, um because it's Kansas City and and I know, like Mahomes maybe lost a little in the m v P race, but he still made I would say four plays in this game that I mean, you just like Marvel at that were just unreal throw I mean, I know, I know he didn't he had the turnovers, but he also put up three D ninety yards and just had some unreal plays, right, And this game is most likely thirty seven to ten if Hardman

doesn't fumble when they're going in for a score after that safety, and then things changed. And give credit to to Ah and the Dolphins who showed a lot of fight here and they're a team that is easy to respect. But the thirty seven sometimes makes me think that the Chiefs have have reached that level. And their twelve and one obviously this year and they uh they when they go twelve and four thirteen three last year won the Super Bowl, when their last eight games, uh that they

they can get bored. And then when when they get when they get a little bit of a scare put into them, like a tend nothing score in this game, they wake up. They just kick ass for about an hour and a half real time, and then once they get into that zone, like Greg you had mentioned on Thursday, it's it's time for the Chiefs to blow out a team. I think it's because some of their their focus wanes a little bit. Sometimes this is just a wild theory, but it kind of checks out when you watch a

game like this. I agree because if you think of the two moments where they went into the I mean, look, they're trying hard their professionals. Of course they're intense every game, but the two spots where it was like, oh, this is the big game for the Chiefs going in. UM that come to mind to me was the Ravens in week two or three and the Bucks game where they both come out and they blow the doors off when

they are needing to be at their very best. They are, and Miami fans are probably saying, but we didn't have all of our players, and that is totally worth um pointing out. Not only did they lose Myles Gaskin, who's been great for them when he's played right before the game with COVID nineteen, they didn't have Kyle van Noy, who was Defensive Player of the Week last week. They didn't have a land In Roberts, and then they lose Devonte Parker uh and Jachim Grant in this game he

had he like to have played fairly well. This was a game I appreciated having Tony Romo on the call because I think he helped point out the ways that to have played. Well. I'm not saying he was like great, but he does a lot of good things for a rookie. And so this wasn't a discouraging game, I don't think for two of you men. And he yeah, he left like he had a nice game before that, and yeah he heard his he heard his shoulder and if that's serious, that's really going to hurt him to uh in the

fourth quarter, So that that was rough. When it came to the Dolphins, you could point to Miami, though, is the team that um has people that gave Mahomes issues in the past when they faced New England. Some of those people are in Miami and they gave him trouble today. I mean, I think it's very easy to decipher the difference between these two teams and the tears between them. But um, this is what Miami does every week. Sometimes

it works, sometimes it doesn't. But they cause all sorts of problems with people that most people hadn't heard of a year or two years ago. So I you know, I stick with what kind of I was saying on Thursday, I think they're really well coached. I said they were up for anything. Anything means um playing well and then losing too, so that that is something that they were up for today. But um, I literally anything for anything.

It's like you, you don't come in with a heart agenda and they you know, but I I do, Um, I do think the future is very bright. Every week they seem to game plan well for the team that they're playing, not just hey, we're gonna stick everyone into what we do the same thing every week. They seem flexible in that front. Um. I had some hope that

they were going to hang around in this thing. But the chiefs man when they hit that gas pedal, like you're saying, Dan Night's out, It's all over, goodbye West. Um I like talking eighties baseball with you. Uh, it's so great to have a lefty quarterback back in the league. Bloomers. Sisson was one of my favorite players ever. I'm sure he has a special place in your heart as well. And now I think part of what I like about two is not just that he's a lefty, because there's

been plenty of crummy lefty quarterbacks. It doesn't it has to be more than that. I just like his throwing motion and aw fluid he is. It reminds me of like Will Clark. Remember that beautiful, sweet lefty stroke of Will The thrill sometimes with lefties and there's a little bit of lefty jealousy. Anybody that's played sports um can attest to. It just looks better and it just looks so good coming out of to his arm. He's just he's such an athlete and a great thrower of the football.

Well Clark baseball's greatest red ass. He was to be a total jerk. He's a red ass, which is different but in the same category. In the thirty for thirty to describe his red ass as he'd go and play you in poker and not even care if he want or not, just as long as he could tell you at the end of the game that he beat your ass in poker, even if he lost money. He just wanted to win, just sore. Like, what is a red ass? Look it up right, A j Perzynski a great red ass.

It's like our our cock the cockney section of our audience. Apparently Pete Rose a red ass. Any any other thoughts on this game? West? Did you attract this one at all I did, and I would push back a little bit on saying that to have played well, to have played well in the second half, I thought he was not ready for prime time in the first half, and that was when they had a chance to really stomp

on the Chiefs. When the defense was making all those plays, it looked to me like one team had a great offense and the other team was still learning to find its sea legs. And that's not to say that the two is not gonna grow every week. In fact, he grew throughout the game, and that's a very promising sign. But I thought that the difference in the game was that the Dolphins offense wasn't ready to compete in the first half. No, when Parker dropped that touchdown, I thought, like,

they're not gonna win this game. They gotta play close to perfect. And uh, when you're when you're leading receivers are Lynn Bowden and Mac Collins and you're leading running back is DeAndre Washington and you're eight and five and in the playoff race, it's like, okay, I mean, just let's let's try to win some games that Congratulations for being competitive and move forward. Maybe big game against the

Patriots next week for the Dolphins. It feels like two of us like improves because he seems that these sort of halves revanishes when he's kind of like fancy free and they're just kind of go and for it. Well, he's not. He's physically gifted, and so that is a tough thread. I think. Not to cut you off, sorry, mark Um. I just mean like, if he's relying on going through his progressions in his eyes and stuff like that, that's like advanced stuff for a rookie to have to

try to like really look great. And everyone is talking t J. Watt, Aaron Donald, Myles Garrett. Defensive player of the Year. Xavian Howard now has nine interceptions and five picks in the last five weeks. That's pretty damn and the best was insane, insane good uh to pull off what he was doing. That was one on one coverage against Tyreek Hill and he came up with that pick

all right. Uh. In other playoff matters in the a f C, they'll sweep it right side of Jonathan Taylor, Huett down the far sideline, out springing everybody ten five Jottthan Taylor touchdown in d Y A sixty two yard run for the rookie otta Wisconsin, this longest rush of the season, and now the colt lead A to seventies. Mattie Taylor w f N I Johnny Taylor have a day. The rookie running back rush for two scores, including that sixty two yard breakaway dash and the Colts win over

the fading Raiders in Vegas. Indie was dominant on offense in this one, piling up nearly three hundred yards by halftime, finishing with over four hundred fifty yards total and the win that keeps them tied with the Titans the top the a f C South with three weeks to play um. Meanwhile, for the Raiders, that's three consecutive lackluster performances, two of them losses. Probably should have lost the Jets game as well,

and uh the Raiders. They look a lot like the John Gruded team that limped to the golf course last December, and it seemed like this year was gonna be different, but I don't think it is. Jonathan Taylor is interesting. When Cam Newton got COVID, came back and and really hasn't been the same quarterback he was earlier in the year. Jonathan Taylor comes back from COVID and plays lights out. He played way better in the last few weeks than he did before he had COVID. What's up with that?

So you're coming up with the theory that the COVID helped him. I have does look better. He is running like. It's not a hard theory, it doesn't sound like, but it's percolating in West's mind. It could be like he's just decided, Okay, I've just had a life and death experience. Let's just forget all these things that don't matter at all, push all these self doubts out the window, and go play like I know how to play. How different they are when their ground game is doing what it's doing.

I mean, they scored on seven of eight drives before they you know, took a knee to end the thing. Um, Philip Rivers, I think in the last four or five weeks has produced maybe three of his best games, And um, it gives you some hope. I mean, my I was ready to count them out because of their offense seems so limited, but suddenly t Y Hilton has risen from the dead. So you know, there's a couple of factors that play here. I mean, they're gonna win eleven games there.

They don't feel quite like an eleven and five team. I'm with you, but they do deserve they they they are a tough offense I think to prepare for, and they definitely have players on defense, and they're gonna win eleven games. Like signing Philip Rivers, I'm ready to say is an unqualified success. What else were you gonna do? U? I could have signed Cam Newton, for instance, and it probably would have been a huge mistake. Uh, And a lot of people thought that the Cult should have winn

that direction. And yes, I think Rivers and I was one of many people that had some reservations whether this was gonna work. But he has been, for the most part, very good for them. But the Jonathan Taylor situation and hem Himes, who's a nice guy in the mix as well, that's so important for them. I mean, I view them

obviously is a tear below. The true contend is I think that I like the Titans better than them, but maybe the Cults are have more balance ultimately, but the Titans are just a little bit of a higher ceiling for me. But it wouldn't surprise me if either of those teams end up winning the division. Um so I like the Colts. I just they're hard team to kind of fall in love with. Yeah, they showed up though, Between them and the Titans, it's like who's healthier that

well that week? Right, They're They're both they both have really tough Week sixteen games on the road where the Colts are at the Steelers and the Titans are at the Packers. Now, a million things can happen, but the other you know, spots on the schedule all look pretty doable.

Those teams are both going to the playoffs, though, and I've sort of I'm not saying it hurts the end of the regular season, but I'm I'm not so sure seating matters that much, you know, but there's no home field advantage the opponent get Like, I'm not, you know, it's not you have a nice moment you win a division. But whether the Colts are the five or the sixth seed, or whether the three or the four seed, is it really going to make a big difference in their playoff

on who the hell knows. Interesting thing happened on the Colts offensive line early in this game. So Anthony Costanzo, who sprained his MCL on his knee. A couple of weeks back. He returned to the lineup, leaves the game after a series. They put in a person named Chaz Green as his replacement, and I mean some people, and I mean no disrespect to the Green family, but sometimes you just know it's not gonna work out. Chads Green is not going to be a great blindside protector for

Philip Rivers, and indeed he wasn't. In fact, he was so bad in his one series that they pulled him out of the game. So Frank Reich said, uh, Quentin and put Quentin Nelson at left tackle for a little bit until Costanzo came back in the game. Uh what what were you had? You had a Chaz Green take there was Oh, I mean, this is the guy Adrian Claiborne took down eight sacks on it. He's proven by he's the guy who's single handedly sabotaged the Colts all fence last week when he had to play well, the

Cowboys fans still call that the Chazz Green game. It was that Falcons game, Yeah, where he just that was it. There's first string, their second string, third string, and then there's Chaz green String, which is off the roster. No, Kenny Moore had an incredible Odell Beckham Jr. Like interception in this game. And they Cults defense in general, that's one of the things that they do well. They forced

three more turnovers they have twenty two this season. So yeah, they ball hawk a bit on defense, and rivers can carve you up if you protect them still and t wise getting hot and if the running game gets going. Okay, talk split with the Titans beat the Packers, beat the Raider. They've ultimately done what they needed to do, uh to get to the dance. All right, What was he gonna say?

What's what's Mark smiling about? Greg's Greg's just I appreciate Greg's zeal for these playoff races where this is the point of the year where there are three or four teams are gonna make the playoffs, that I've not been his vocal this time around. I just simply don't buy in any level. Cults are one of them. I think they're tough, but um, Greg seems to be more into

the who gets in? How does it happen? Mathematically? They're all special and like some of them to me are special in a different way, and some of them are not special at all. Right now, if you if you feel good about putting the Browns in the playoffs, and you probably should, and you feel good about the code, you don't feel good about that, but I mean, if you're gonna look at it mathematically, you should. What do you mean the nine and three? Well, because you're on

a big lock off Monday night. What a night. That's fine. They're gonna get beat on Monday and they'll be okay. Nine and four just can take a loss and survive. Browns, Colts slash Titans the other wild card that leaves one more. So it's gonna come down to the Dolphins, the Ravens and you. I mean, the Raiders are deep in the Raiders, and the Raiders play two of those teams. I think. I think they play the Dolphins and someone else and

your Patriots. And when Rosenthal is just happy he didn't have to do the recap with anyone else you could do with his own little private hive on Thursday night, So good for him. Um, all right, let's talk about the Titans. He's waiting for Greg to return fire. Nothing gonna run Henry at right yard Tick Hall thirty ten five and zon Ulli Bulldozer Titan, the Jullie Bulldozer like Mike Keith, of course, the Great Mike Keith w g F X Derrick Henry ran for two fifteen and two

touchdowns and the Tennessee Titans dominated Jacksonville. That's twelve straight losses for the Jaguars. Stank mark. When Henry gets into the end, gets into the zone, the zone that he's in now, and it's usually in December. There's no one in football quite like him. No, and it seems too and some of these games happen in the first half and you can tell right away, um that he's in that zone, that he's dialed in, and a team like

the Jaguars has literally no chance. I feel like I've watched this Titans game could happened today about six times because it's the same thing. It's one or two magical shots to a j Brown, it's a lot of Henry and it's simply over. By halftime. You've left the team that you're playing so flummixed. And I think in this game, the defense, um, they shut down James Robinson early. They made life real tough on Mike Glennon. Mike Glennon was

pulled for Gardner Minshew. Gardner Minshew brought a little life to the offense. The running game got going, but they were way too deep in a hole for any of that to matter. I mean, this was a game where, um, the Jaguars basically I thought eight minutes into this thing. Now I watched every minute of it, but um, you know, I would have bet everything inside of my house, um that they were going to get waxed. And they were waxed.

And I mean it's not excessive, but I am a Spartan sort of more of a Spartan type personality, so it would be doing me a favor on some level just to push all these objects out into the streets. Someone comes by picks them up, but we have to probably rebuy some stuff. Anyways. I would just say that when you're talking about the cults, like, honestly, if someone has a cults fetish, I would be much closer with that. On the Titans. I just think the Titans when they

are on are unstoppable. Then they'll have a game, you know, a week from now where all these other issues crop up and they don't get an up flow early and you can nip them. But this team powerfully like in terms of pure offensive power, I think can lay it to anyone in the a f C. And the only concern I'd have to be with the same kind of game script we saw against the Chiefs last year. But I mean, Henry is is an m v P candidy to me. I'll say it every week. I just think

he is. Henry is four d and sixty eight yards away from joining the two thousand club. He's going to do it. I think UM for four sixty eight divided by three um somebody somebody, it's like or something. He needs a hundred and it's somewhere here that is obviously

within range. And I would not rule out because West when this guy gets going, and it's this time of year, and it's a good Titans team, so you're running the clock a lot, running the ball out to run clock and try to close out games and teams tired and beat up in December. He is such a weapon this time of year, this time of year, and on a team with a J. Brown and really Corey Davis has stepped up this year on pace for about a thousand yards UM. But a J. Brown like to open that

game with that one handed catch was just phenomenal. That guy seems to get better every week. I still go back and forth among Terry mclau and A. J. Brown and DJ Metcalf over who's the best receiver in that draft class, because they're all three absolute studs and they changed their offense. Is the Titans offense is pretty loaded?

It is because and they're also different, which I think helps that there's really not many power running teams like them, and there's certainly not two guys on the outside, not it's not like these little guys in the slot. Humphries I think is now out for the year. Actually it's two guys on the outside, one of which Corey Davis, as you mentioned, came into the game with more more numbers than A J. Brown this year, which I think would surprise a lot of people that Davis has been

that good. He's not the number one receiver, I don't think, but for him to go one thousand, one thousand, they're tough to prepare for. It was Henry's fourth game with at least two hundred yards and two scores. That's that's an NFL record that he had previously held with Hall of Famers. Listen to these names, Jim Brown, Barry Sanders, Ladanian, Tomlinson. He's a Hall of Fame level player. Now he just needs a longevity and I guess that's the that's the

hardest part. But two thousand yards you put that on the resume too, and we are flying west history here and he put him back in there. They put him back in there to get the two hundred. That kind of thing where he's getting these twenty six carries, thirty carries. He's he seems indestructible, but I don't know that worries me a little bit. Also, he's running over a hundred yards and nine straight road games, Like, who does this?

This is crazy? All right, Let's now dig into some more grizzly affairs on the schedule talks White Fanker, Carlos will Dislee comes across in the right flat, makes the catch, turns up field and welcome back Uncle will touchdown Seahawks three. Now she got all over the jet. Yes. Russell Wilson threw four touchdown passes, including that dart to will dis Lee, before giving way to the legend Gino Smith. Gino Smith

revenge game. Late in the third quarter, the Seahawks laugh their way to a forty the three win over the Jets at the stadium formerly known as the Clink. We knew this game would be a shameless blowout, but that almost doesn't give it enough credit for the total absence of the competition in this one. This was not an NFL game. This was This was um the Seattle Seahawks against you know, our ladies, a perpetual misery, you know, based in Hoboken, like there was. This was not a

real game. And uh and and get credit to Pete Carroll for understanding that. So that's why he got Russell Wilson out of the game. In the third quarter, Jamal Adams chased Sam Donald out of bounds behind the line of scrimmage, which gave him eight and a half sacks, which gives him the record for defensive backs in a season. Then they got him out of the game. It was basically a glorified exhibition for Seattle. The only thing missing was the fans to enjoy it all. You could tell

the Seahawks players certainly did. So they keep pace with the Rams and they have a trip to Washington next week and then a big showdown with the Rams in week sixteen. The only tension here was was Pete Carroll gonna let Gino throw it there in the red zone. I had to flip it over to see what was gonna happen. Like branded on third and goal at the ten, I was like, come on, let Gino cook. I mean he went, he went four for five thirty three yards.

You know, they went out the field. Let him try to get a touchdown his revenge for by the way, like utterly flopping as a second round pick. I don't know what the think him in the head coach going back and forth publicly ever ever since. You know, I guess, yeah, he wouldn't want to revenge on Rex. But Rex is ancient history obviously there, So like a game like this, I don't know how much to take out of him

for Seattle. All I can tell you is that, uh, you know, it's a nice little, uh get right game. There is an issue there on the offensive line. Brandon shell Um he returned from a high ankle sprain in this game, but then he left at halftime and didn't return. Carol said that Shell tweaked at a couple of times. Uh, So you have to watch that in terms of them, because the offensive line hasn't always been that been there for them, and the Jets, of course are now oh

and thirteen. Jacksonville seems committed to this, so it might take going sixteen to get the number one overall pick, which is obviously not ideal. I've looked at the schedule for both teams. Uh My, my greatest hope, I guess is the Jaguars have the Bears. The Bears are playing better in the last couple of weeks. But when I looked at this a couple of weeks ago, I said, Okay, could the Jaguars, especially if your boy Minshew is as great as everybody thinks, can can they knock off the

Bears and Trabinsky? Uh? To finish two and fourteen doesn't seem impossible. You know, you need to get on the Minshew bandwagon. He gives them a better chance to win, and you can. You can, you can lasen all the little slights that you wish, but he's gonna give you what you want so that you have a quarterback that you thought the Jaguars playing this week good. What happened to that narrative? Well, I don't think the coaches are tanking.

I mean, we've I think we've established like the front office could probably say, we'd like to see this person. But you think Doug Maron's thinking, I want a tank so I can get fired to the next coach can get a great quarterback. Like I was saying, that's why it wasn't a tank. There wasn't a tank situation. I'm just saying, now, Minshew, I'd see the same for Adam

Gates though, that Adam Gaze just simply isn't talented. I mean, Adam Gaze isn't part of some deep state plot to tank the Jets and then you know, receive offshore money somewhere. Maybe he is. That's the Jets are tanking by keeping but Joe Flacco on the bench. Let's let's see their best quarterback in New York. Why did we need to see three games of Mike Glennon to prove that he's

still Mike Lennon. Well we didn't at least the see Hey, if I was a Seattle fan, they I think there is a difference between their defense right now, and I know it's the Jets, but it's like the Jets just put up a ton of yards and points against the Raiders, who are a dog defense. This, This is the type of thing that dog defenses don't do. They just throttle one of the you know, the or steaming the leagus. I think they are making some progress on that side. Well.

They lead the the league in Saxons week nine going into this this week. Yeah, I mean it's not coming from places you'd expect. It's not your your number one dominating edge rusher, but they've they've found a way to make it happen. All right, So if Minshew is indeed a big upgrade, can you guys give me one win at Ravens Home Bears at Colts? Can give me one? That's a tough slate. They did beat the Colts in

week one and they know him well. Um, but I think the Bears, you're right, is their best bet there? Yes or no? Can you give me a win? What do I have to go? I'll not given it to you at Ravens Home Bears at Cults. I mean, I'm arguing that Gardner Minshew is the best option for them and a ten year backup. I don't think he can win games alone. Um, They're gonna need a lot to go, right, I mean, they haven't allowed less than twenty one points since like Week one or something. So their defense is

the bigger issue, not just which quarterback starts. I mean, the Jets are gonna take this thing home unless the Patriot. The Patriots week seventeen feels like the only way that they're getting they're possibly even gonna get one. Enjoy all your little Jet digs its slights, because it's gonna change sooner than you think. We're not digging on the mark. I think we've been like totally respectful to the Jets. That's during a tough season. I don't know who you're talking.

Who are you talking to yourself? Enjoy it while you can. Let's move on and receiver in motion to the Montgomery crack turns into it? Can you not to outside to the fifty nobody's gonna get up twenty fifty ten Fick skipping into the episode Dinner, Montgomery first step eight r

gallip for six hen the Pears lead the Texans. How their first step for the game offfectively, Oh Jeff Johnny at w BBM, David Montgomery set the toe, owned the long t d run, and Mitchell Robinsky through three touchdown passes. His first matchup opposite to Shawn Watson as the Bears stomped the Texans thirty seven, ending a six game losing streaker. Greg, I know the Texans are missing many of their playmakers at this juncture, but did did Mitch really I'll play,

did that happen today? Sure? I guess, I guess it was a good pick by Ryan Pace. I mean, I take it back all that back. They have scored a ten straight touchdowns in the red zone the Chicago Bears. How about that. I wouldn't have expected that. I mean, this was more about the Texans defense, but absolutely, Uh, Mitch and Naggie were on some twenty eighteen stuff where where guys were open, and they moved the ball very well. I didn't think Watson actually played pretty well um for

a while in this game, despite the score. But he was just holding the ball waiting for some receiver to come open. And uh, you know when Chad Hansen as your number one. Brandon Cooks was a late scratch for this game. So remember how we were like, well, you know this Texans receiver cords. You know, they don't have DeAndre, but they've got four pretty good guys. That was like three weeks ago. They don't have any of those four guys. They're all gone. The Bear sack Watson seven times, including

a safety by Khalil Mack. You know, on the same day that Rosenthal was burying Khalil Mack on Twitter, so maybe that was a response was it was a bad job. I just noted he hasn't been that productive here with the quarterback hits and sacks. I wish I had added Robert Quinn into that mix. It's just they have the highest paid defensive end, you know, tannem in the league, and I think they have a combined fifteen sack you know, quarterback hits and sacks. Quinn has three and and Mac

had twelve. But Mac had a nice forced fumble early in this game which kind of set the tone. He got the safety. His best game in a while. Alan Robinson played one of the best games of his career. He was awesome. And the Bears are not of it. They play the Vikings and next week. If they hadn't blown that Lions game in horrific fashion, they'd be seven and six and tied for that last spot right now.

But that Bears Vikings game is basically an elimination game, and one of those two teams next week is going to get to seven and seven and and still be in the mix whether we like it or not. I mean, this is what they were meant to be. And I'd start with someone like David Montgomery that everyone I know that's a Bears fan has been telling me how great he is, and um, it's like, Okay, he's been productive the last couple of weeks, But here's a little bit

of a flying anointment. Your head coach didn't give up play calling here. I mean, it's Bill Laser making these calls. They have been better and Montgomery hasn't done better. He has, but it's like, but, like, is it a great selling point that the coach you brought in to run a high powered offense it becomes becomes high powered for the first time in like seven hundred sundowns since he stopped calling his plays. It just seems like a little bit

of a stuff. Navigational points. Take what you can get. At this point, I mean, they were going to get kick. You know that was gonna be the last It still might be the last three games of Matt Naggy. But whatever gets it done. If it's you're playing against the Houston Texans, who have been the worst run defense all year long. You're right that that helped, but no, he he really has run. I thought he was like getting to be a capital B bust and he's run well

the last four weeks. He's made people miss um. He's made some good reads. The low point I think of a pretty low Texan season was Romeo Cornell telling the sideline reporter coming out a halftime that they were lucky to only be down twenty three to Mitchell Robinski's we're lucky to be down um. And since people like to do this, and we brought up Khalil Mack who won the trade. Everybody wants to always know who won the trade.

I don't know. So the Bears in that famous trade with the Raiders back in twenty eighteen, I guess it was they got Khalil Mack awd round pick which became Cold Comet. They got a seventh round pick in that was alignment named Arlington Hambright, and then they gave up a first round pick in twenty nineteen that became Josh Jacobs. They gave up a sixth round pick that became I

guess it was traded away. Uh. They gave they got a first round pick Damon Arnette cornerback the Raiders, and the Raiders also drafted Brian Edwards in the third round eighty one overall. So like, and then the Bears gave Cleil Mack a massive extension. So who won that trade? Wes so far? Who knows? Who cares? It feels like it's I mean, it feels like it's neutral. Feels like I feel like the Bears did because they had a you know, Mac was the key in them having a change.

Like he did everything they needed to do the first two years of those that deal. If not for double Doink, he's taking him to the super Bowl. But it was bad, it was bad. He's taken I mean that was the first round game. You think the Mitchell Drobiski is going to the super Bowl? Why not He's taking to the next round of the playoffs? About that, because yeah, I

don't know, I'm not buying that. If Mitchell Trobinsky is one double Dog from the super Bowl given an extension, he's still young, he had he has played a little bit better, and uh, like I said, it's they not only do they have the Vikings, but they have the Jaguars. After that, the Bears are not quite out of this if they could somehow beat the Vikings. I mean, Travisky has is building himself, um not unlike the Colt McCoy's

of the world. Like a ten year career. I mean, he won't be a starter, but he'll make excellent money and there'll be some seasons where he doesn't play at all and lives in a gigantic house in like Outer Indianapolis or um Los Angeles. It could be a beautiful future. You're kind of like our beat guy Mark for who's going to have ten year backup careers? Well, I mean it's a very attractive concept, very attractive concept Outer Indianapolis these days, I want to be the emergency act and

it is. Would Chargers win Mike Badgley with the game winning field goal? Now good for money, k Y s R. Because all season long, when there's been big moments at the end of the game, there's some shenanigans with game officials or something otherwise that gets messed up and he's unable to make a clean call there and he's able to do it. Charge with special Charger special teams get the glory in this from Michael Badgeley built the forty

three yard kick as time expired. The Chargers bounce back from that humiliation last week against the Patriots with the road win over the Fouth and said, I don't even get music. That's that's how Seton's charges some of the parent season has become. Los Angeles put itself in position for the game winning kick because Michael Davis picked up Matt Ryan with thirty six seconds to play. Greg I

bet this one felt good for Anthony Lynn. They had to have, especially after all the focus um on his game management struggles which probably reached and the deer at the end of the first half, which one of the one of one of the biggest fiasco's I've ever seen. They just left points on the field, so to get a win in a game where it looked like Justin Herbert had just given it away a moment after Matt

Ryan had just given it away. In the final four minutes alone, the Falcons were in field goal range, Ryan throws an interception, Herbert gets the ball back, throws an interception, and then Matt Ryan gets him back into field goal range and throws an interception right back, and then Herbert without Keenan Allen on the field does move it down the field with one of the prettiest throws you'll see to set up that field goal. So it's nice for

the Chargers to have nice things. Finally, that was embarrassing

at halftime. That was tough to paint the picture. It was twenty two seconds left third and one inside the ten I think goes about at the eight yard line, and they come out of a time out and they and they run the ball with no time out and and then there's no there's confusion and they and they don't decide what they're gonna do, and it takes too long, and then they run the field goal kicker onto the field too late, and so there's twenty two seconds left at the eight yard line and all they got was

a gain of no you know, no gain out of it. They never got the field goal attempt. They never got a chance. It was it was tough. This was after Anthony Winn had taken over special teams duties. Sure well, I'm still real to his credit, that was this was easily their best special team's day of the year. They had a nice kick return and they could get the

kick game winning touchdown. Here are these this does this team not employ the same department that thirty one other teams appear to employ that tell you like do this with a minute and a half. I don't actually like Greg in your ear, I don't know changed the play because Lynn acted like you can't run in that situation,

as if he like didn't know what was happening. But even then, your team needs to be well coached of like what happens right here, twenty two seconds is plenty actually um to run a play then run the field goal team on if things go wrong, and they would just were totally unprepared. Um, but hey, the Falcons were even worse. There's no points after halftime. Ryan got picked off three times. He had eight interceptions the whole season. He got picked off three times in a row in

the second half. If you ever watched that Belichick Saban HBO documentary, don't imagine that will be queued up immediately for this evening. But there's like a three minute uninterrupted clip of Belichick gathering like fifteen players around him and quizzing these like freaked out offensive lineman on situational football, and they are not They're not breaking that hud until everyone gets it right. And it's all these little things that get under your skin every week. Greg, all right,

it is time. It is that time was Sunday Night where one handsome bald man is replaced by another. Nick Shook jumps on now and he will take the baton from the great Chris Westling West, any parting words for tonight, leave the show in good hands with my boy, Nick Shook. I appreciate that you can hear the confidence and the gravitas in West's voice. Chris, thank you. You are a warrior and we love you. See we all right? All right now with Shook on board, let us hit the

final two games ahead of Sunday Night football. Very high kicked. Spencer settles underneath it at the seventeen avoids. One tacker

runs into a blocker and now he's loose. Spen. Here we got Spencer foot race midfield forty thirty Spencer five touchdown Denver, oh Y. Spencer got things going for the Broncos with a long punt return for a score, and Drew Lock was well, you know, locked in, throwing four touchdowns in a thirty two to twenty seven win over the Panthers, who have dropped seven eight Shook Drew Lock played like a guy who wanted broncos By back in

his corner for another off season. Yeah, he had a nice little second half there to really pushed the ball on the field and help the offense put some points on the board. But I'll tell you what, man, there were a couple of times there where they tried to give it away. I got a credit their defense for playing pretty pretty solidly in the first half and limiting what Carolina could do and really frustrating them while allowing Drew Lock the time necessary to build a little bit

of a lead. You know, at one point it was nineteen to seven. He hooked up with kJ Hamler for a couple of long touchdowns. It's nice to see him get involved as a rookie. But um, yeah, I mean it was a return to the promise that you would see out of Drew Lock. I mean a fantastic stat line seven two or eight yards, four touchdowns, a passer

rating year one fifty. Uh. That's what you want of a guy who you think is supposed to be your quarterback of the future, which he has not looked like um for a good amount of this season prior to this week, So you could call it a lucky draw with Carolina. But Carolina has been a scrappy bunch for the majority of this season, so it's not like it was just a an easy game to play. Uh, and

he did well well. I get I get worried about these late um December games where a quarterback of high suspicion um goes nuts and then everyone inside the organization starts to think like maybe we need to dig back in. But it is, you know, like any any signs of

life from Denver's offense. UM is intriguing, just because we had such high hopes of what happened with Teddy Bridgewater here at the end though, I saw a lot of comments from Rule about he took a delay of game penalty and then he he rushed for on a he rushed on a third down right before the two minute warning, and it kind of deep six them when they when it's not how Matt Rule wanted to organize those final few minutes of the game there. Yeah, and then on fourth downy he had a one yard pass to to

Curtis Samuel fourth and eight. That's not going to get the job done. So it was a tough day for Teddy. I know, statistically it looks fairly solid thirty or forty, but there are a lot of times there, whether it was the pressure that Denver was bringing or just decision making, he just didn't look like he was a situation where and he looked like he was comfortable. Um for most of the game. Wasn't in much of a rhythm for most of the game, even though you know they managed

to make it close to the end. Um, it was just it just wasn't his best outing I think of this year. And it's kind of like, you know, we talked with our our editor David Ealely, Um, you know known Panthers fan, Uh, they are going to be in the market for i think a quarterback in the draft in the first three rounds going forward. It's it's this is not a long term plan for them. But that was that I think based on his contract, he was the actually the lowest paid veteran quarterback, like with a

multi year deal. I think that was always the plan and if he surprised them, um, then they could change. And he has guaranteed money, almost all of it into next year, so he's gonna be there next year with someone else. But he's played much more poorly over his last four games. This has been a trend. Uh, he's been struggling. He's had the Panthers have had the ball, a ton with the ball with the chance to win,

and the man they almost like they never win. They were three and two at one point and they just it's been kind of a snake bitten season four. Whether they leave it up to Joey Slide to try to hit a record breaker field every week every week exactly, or they end up, you know, with the ball in Teddy's hands and he can't excutes one thing or another. It's kind of annoying though, because you do see the potential of Joe Brady's offense is just has to execute

it better. They set the groundwork. No one was you know, it was disappointing how it's gone, but they've set the groundwork. Yeah, for sure. Mattie Rule was pretty pumped up. A bit could have been coach speak, but he was pretty pumped

about Teddy Bridgewater entering this season. I would think if you asked him privately, he would tell you he's a little disappointed how this played out, because I don't know if the salary they got him at a good value for obvious reasons with Teddy's background, Um, but I think they thought maybe they were going to get a little bit more maybe, but I think the first half of the season, if anything, I mean, you couldn't have said he was below any expectation, so that it's really, yeah,

he's last. He's kind of taken on water a little bit down this Their offense has been watchable, much more so than I think I thought are many others did going into the year. The wide receivers have been good. Christian McCaffrey missed his tenth game in eleven games. Quad injuries suffered during the bye week, aggravated it in Wednesday's practice. That has been a major issue from me. He's gonna missing almost the entire year after having that record breaking season,

So that needs to be uh talked about. Two when you're talking about Teddy, because he thought he was going to have the best running back in the league on the side and he really hasn't. All right, let's roll on snap to Dalton throws it writes a slant the Cooper at the goal line and he's got it for the Cowboys touchdown. Brad Sham the Sham God k r l D. This was not an Andy Dalton revenge game.

There's no revenge to be had for Dalton against the Bengals, but I'm sure it felt good for the veteran QB to throw for two scores, including that connection to Maury Cooper and a thirty seven wins shook. The Cowboys looked like a defeated team on Tuesday night. They showed some fighter. Yeah, you know, it always helps when you run into the Bengals, who were quarterbacked by Brandon Allen. Um. You know, they

didn't have all that much fight in them themselves. They didn't help themselves at all either by foaming the ball away three times in the first two quarters. They had three toll turnovers in the game. But they dug themselves a hole and it kind of made things easier for Andy Dalton. You know, that's not like the pressure was really on him. Their first score of the game, their first touchdown of the game was a fumble return for

a touchdown by Alton Smith. So, um, it was ten nothing before kind of before you knew it, and he didn't. Dalton didn't really have to do much of the work to get there, and then you kind of let the Bengals just you know, trip over themselves a few times. I mean, they're still a couple of years away, and they're much worse without Joe Burrow, and he was really

elevating them before he got hurt. Tee Higgens had a little bit of a rough day and five catches before down RDS, we had a couple of drops and it was really like the type of drop that it wasn't a contested catch is just like his mind wasn't completely there. He just wasn't fully focused on hauling the past. And I think that's where the Bengals are at this point. So while we thought the Cowboys were also at this point,

the Cowboys are still the more talented team. And when you get two teams that run into each other like that and maybe they have a little bit of a source of motivation for you know, to get their backup quarterback a win in the place that he used to call home, this is usually the type of result you see. And it was just the difference that the marginal victory was. It was multiplied by those turnovers, those mistakes that the

Bengals made. So it wasn't necessarily the most unwatchable game, but it was a very lopside game for the majority of it, and every time, you know, I get you got three games on it once. Every time I would turn and watch a player two, I just found myself chuckling it at what was going on in the field, usually when the Bengals had the ball, because it was just like, oh, man, like the end of the season

cannot come fast enough for this. I know this is I think it's because of COVID is a big part of it, but man, it feels like it's been week seventeen for some of these teams already for a couple of weeks, like football seasons like that, Like it's long, the winter comes, there's injuries like they take up you know they get, but it's come early. I mean, this is why you're making the big bucks shook coming in.

I know you saw Cowboys Bengals on the schedule, and you say, they're gonna give me this game and I'm gonna have to make it sing and I'm going to because I'm Nick and Chuck. It's funny. I was talking with Elia yet about game assignments and I was like, well, and in the early window, it's uh, I'm gonna go down to Cincinnati and catch that Dalton revenge games. The guys in the podcast, right, he does he play ball with you? Or is he? Is he doing tough managerial stuff? No? No, no,

we played ball. What it is is, I'll pick the lead game that I really want and then I go bounce back with what you guys want, and I just take on like three games at once and we just roll with it. Yeah, I mean that you can put everything on Nick Shook's shoulders. Humor me for a second. The Cowboys, and let's give Cowboys a little bit credit because we were all talking about on Wednesday and even Troy Aikman was crying in a soup about this. But

what happened to the Cowboys? They're not even trying the seasons of his grace and then they can at least get off the mat and beat up on a team, which I wouldn't even have assumed they could have done that. Uh so they did do that there four and nine. They have three games left. Listen. I'm not saying I'm in on the Cowboys. I'm just saying Home forty Niners winnable. The Niners are, you know, not having a good year. Home Eagles. I mean, let's not go crazy about the

Eagles at Giants. So you let's say you win out. Unfortunately Washington has the tie breaker on you, so you need to win out and then hope Washington collapses. And I think that's the path, not even collapses. Just I guess you did the Washington six and seven, so they got to lose out. That's where the Cowboys are right now. I mean, I feel like a nuclear bomb was dropped on that path some time ago. I understand the optimism, but I do if Washington hadn't one today, then you'd

have something. But too bad. They gotta win out. Washington's gotta lose out. It's that simple, that's it. I'm not sure this Cowboys team wants to play an extra game. You'd have to sell me on that first. And then as I gained by the Brandon Allen Bengals, even though it's thirty to seven and I haven't watched this game at all, just looking at that, and I'm gonna say, you know, they they got a little lucky. It was. It was as bad as it looked in the score,

in the in the stat sheet. His parents were in the stands. They kept cutting to them. You know, they're wearing their number eight Bengals masks. That was sad for him, But then they have a paper bag on their head. That'll be the people a section over because of social distancing. Dan. If you if that actually happens, not the whole Washington collapse, but the Cowboys winning out, you know what you're setting us up for, right an entire off season of the

Cowboys are for real. They're getting back back super Bowl favorite again, which we've gone through for the last two years. That's happening either way. It doesn't matter how the season ends. People will be talking up the Cowboys bounced back team that's come back. Oh Dack's back, and oh what a great draft. And it's hard to get a read on what they even were last season. It's like it's like Mike McCarthy just paid extra for a pff elite account.

They're really gonna go far. All right, let's move on to Sunday Night Football. Sunday Night back the other way for Bucklow. Aaron Johnson was star touchdown pills Ron Johnson with the pick six of Ben Roethlisberger. Of course, Mike

Arrico with the call for NBC. It was the turning point of the night for the Buffalo Bills, who pretty much coast from there to fifteen over the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have now followed eleven consecutive wins to start the season with back to back losses and that now puts them behind the Chiefs as the number two seeds in the a f C. And on the Bill side of

things shook more of the same from last week. A lot of good vibes came out of their game last week when Josh Allen was lights out against the Niners, and this is more of a total team effort by the Bills. Yeah, no doubt. The defense creating turnover is getting stopped in this and really from the final moments of the first half all the way through the end of the game, a key interceptions you end of the game to kind of undercut any comeback hopes for the Steelers.

And then of course Josh Allen, like you said, just lights out again and you know he's got to be thanking the heavens for that offseason trade for Stefon Diggs, who absolutely torched the Steelers defense specifically and that keys sequence at the end of the second quarter into the third quarter when they ran out I think it was twenty three. I answered that they scored. Um, you know, it really does wonders when you have a number one receiver, but especially when you have a number one receiver who

can hit you in all levels of the field. And Stefon Diggs that did that. Um, you know, his yards after catched had to be astronomical. I haven't seen the exact numbers, but he was great with you know, getting open, finding soft spots in the zone and also picking up the extra yards and really kicking this offense from first gear, struggling to get out of first gear all the way into fifth gear and rolling. And if they play like this going forward, I mean they're They're a team to

definitely watch. It definitely be a tough, tough matchup for other teams. I love that seven minute drive to end the game. I love stuff like that. I mean, when when a team can do that against an number one defense and just finished the game with the ball in your hands. Get Mark Sessler, you know, to the recap, we're all rooting for the Bills to be moving the ball at that time. But that's like, to me, that's it. That's the NFL. Like, that's the point in which your

team has basically just exerted its will. And in the second half, the Bills had two thirty one yards the Steelers at eighty. This game is totally on the Steelers offense. I know Josh Allen will get a lot of attention, but it was the mismatch of the Bill's defense versus the Steelers offense that really was decisive. I'm with you. They had thirteen drives. If it's it's no less tedious than it was four years ago in the studio. But thirteen drives. One of them went over thirty four yards,

seven of them went under ten yards. It this is not a balanced offense. And this is weeks in a row. Um. And I don't know who body replaced James Conner with, um little Jimmy Connor who's never played a football game. But I mean, they can't they can't establish the ground game. Um, you throw in Deontae Johnson. Drops, they had drops in their last outing. Um, they just seem had to sink.

And I get I get that they've transitioned to a quick strike if you want to call it that offense with Big Ben, But UM, I don't think it's really what suits the Big Ben that we knew of old. I mean, it's what he has to do now. But teams are adjusting. I mean, if you can't like what you can't take them seriously on the ground and like their defense played absolutely awesome, I thought in the first half. But you're gonna break a defense when you can't respond.

They had their four drives in the second half, three of them were three and outs. Maybe it was every man tennis star Jimmy Connors, who's who's now the running back. He's about sixty six, which would you know check out for the way anybody in the backfield for the Steelers looks.

But it's it's very depressing, uh to watch the Steelers right now on offense because as when this quick, quick shot attack isn't working, it just feels like such a waste with all the skilled players on the field with uh Deonte Johnson, who I know is having issues with drops, but you know, James Washington, Juju Smith, Schuster and Chase Claypool has become an afterthought in this offense all of

a sudden. Oh, by the way, during this run where they're struggling to win games now, so yes, when it works, the Steeler's offense out of his hand, quickly, get the

ball in the hands of the receivers and they make plays. Uh. Nobody had anything to say, but there there seems something almost pathetic about it for large stretches of this game, and it makes you wonder if if the Steelers offense has the ability to pivot and not obviously go back to the way they were five years ago at Ben Roethlisberger, but to create some balance in the passing attacks so it's not always the same thing over and over, because it really is a drag over and over, these little

five yard passes, these slants, these screens. It's just nothing explosive about it. Yeah, you know what Bill Walsh built an offense around that. You know, it's almost forty years ago, well not the not the version of the Steelers and they had a great running game, and they had a great running game. Yeah, and the problem with that too is that they're simply not executing on those short passes, like you know, the drops. So there was Eric Ebron last week, Deance Johnson this week, and in a couple

of weeks prior. It's it's completely short circuited their offense. And you're right, Greg, they don't have a running game. You know, we thought last week, but they didn't have James Conner, so that's why they couldn't run the ball. They had James Conner tonight and they still couldn't run the football. They haven't been able to run the ball for a while. It's putting too much pressure on their defense.

Like you said, Mark, they had a fantastic first quarter and a half and really the whole first half, and they gave up on under yards and gave up three points to Josh Allen. I mean, that should be enough to carry you through where you have a chance to win the game, and then Big Ben puts it on a platter with the pick six and and puts them in a hole and they never get out of it.

I mean, from they just started an avalanche. I know that this is something that a lot of people have said, and I know maybe it was an overreact and last week, but the Steelers have not looked like a one seed or a two seed for a while now, and things aren't gonna get any easier for them down the stretch heading into the playoffs. I wonder if we're seeing the beginning of a meltdown. Really, they haven't been the same team since the COVID Wednesday game. It's been three weeks. Right, Well,

they're they're in an interesting spot. They'll get the Bengals and we'll see what happens with the Browns game, like whether you know, we'll see what happens with the Chiefs. I don't think a two game losing. I don't like count them out of it. I don't think they can I think they can rebound. Their defense has to be so dominant though, And now when you when you don't have Hayden Bush has been gone a while, Vince Williams and Dupree. I mean that's now four of your key guys.

It's not just like one or two. Now, hopefully you get you know, Hayden and and Vince Williams back. But I think about the Patriots when they lost two in a row and everyone thought they were kind of dogs and they won the Super Bowl that year. Think of the Broncos when they lost too in a row in mid December and they won the Super Bowl. The people

kind of thought they were dogs. So it's possible, but that one seed feels like so far away and and there now in the in the lower tier of like they are going to have to figure some things out and get lucky along the way and and win road games, which is tough. I mean, the problem was the the undefeated record shown a spotlight on them, and we have certain thoughts about an undefeated team that's you know, deep in November, early December, and then you have the chief

sitting out there in these comparisons that highly annoyed Steelers fans. Um. I think to Greg you you mentioned Nadier like earlier, like tonight has to be the peak um world of doubt for Steelers fans, wondering if like so many other very promising Steelers teams, um ultra tough, rugged able to work themselves out of a corner or two, but will it end um in January? Like so many other Steelers teams under Mike Tomlin, ware good but not great. And you've got we're watching another team in the A f

c uh looks just ten times more powerful in Kansas City. Yeah. And the Bills, I mean, the Bills are I think I think Chiefs fans have to look at the Bills is like that's the that's the team that scares you the most. And they basically won the A f C East tonight. By the way, I mean that that's not that's not a small thing. The Bills are not. The Bills are gonna win this division. Now, that's a big deal. That is a huge deal. We talked about the cleil

Mack trade and who won that trader earlier tonight. It is one of the best trades. It could go down as one of the greatest trades of all time in terms of helping both teams. The Vikings send Stefon Digs to the Bills, the Bill send a first round pick to the Vikings, the Vikings draft justin Jefferson. Everyone wins in that situation. So the Bills are hot, they're peaking at the right time. And now we wait and see what the Steelers are gonna do, how they pivot off

this kind of cold de stact. They've parked themselves into very interesting and we didn't get a very I mean, it was cool out um, the Steelers going down. There's some interest there and the Bills on the rise. But man, we're hoping for a good game Sunday night to salvage Sunday. We just couldn't get it. We just we searched for it all there was more teen's messy. Well, it's up to you, Mark, I mean, you know, Baker and the people on the field, like, yeah, they matter a little bit,

but I would mostly. I mean, if someone has to play an actual on field role, I think Nick Shook would be the better person to pick them myself. What am I gonna do? Listen, miss the ten yard field goal. We've we've discussed, we've discussed the mystery of what happened to me with the Browns, but the greater we haven't never really we've alluded to it, the non mysteries, the fact that I would never stay in a chance with those guys after spending many, many on field hours with

those guys. No, not a chance. Interesting. Interesting. We're gonna get to the bottom of that one day. Nick Shook's mysterious departure from the Browns um real quick the Raiders five defensive coordinator Paul Gunther. I was gonna make note of that during the game because Greg had teased he thought a big change was coming, but then wouldn't say what it was and when it when it say it was the head coach or the quarterback, So I thought

maybe it'd be the ball boy or something. But it was it's Paul Gunther who goes so I guess everything is on Paul, poor Paul g Uh. And we'll see if they can respond from that. And before we go, let's check in on the locks. Greg An other w for Rosenthal. He picks the bucks and locks him up. Chris westling down goes West. He took the forty niners

who did not did not get it done. And then, of course, yes, if the game itself isn't enough a lock off for the ages, the old Zeus er Uh is getting behind the Baltimore Ravens mark and and this is what I call the kiss of death, Erica get behind the Cleveland Browns. At least she's getting before aleven minutes into the game. Right, Well, I think eric is on a hot streak potentially. I don't know why you'd be doubting our producer or anyone here, like I think

she's capable of sky high achievements. I don't know. I never doubt Erica as a producer, but as a picker of locks and fantasy teams, you know, and real teams. Then it gets a little all right, good stuff, great to hear from West again. We'll be back on Tuesday, uh, with our recap of the big Monday night football game and look ahead to week fifteen? How about that? How

about that? Sessler? I will absolutely um, if the Browns get torched tomorrow night, I will look forward to Tuesday with the way I would look forward to like an axe being thrown from a hundred yards away into the center of my head. I don't I'm not going to be excited for that conversation, but I'm sure everyone will handle it with um grandiose uh, you know manners, So will be fine. Mark, have you been have you been like taking victory laps? Have I been missing something here? No?

I never have. That's not in your character. I mean, if they won the Super Bowl, I will, I've told you I will set on fire. But even then it's not just it's not decided. Even if they win, it's never decided with them. Did anybody did any of our listeners reach out to your shock about you know, the thing that you're doing with a girl, the thing with a thing. They're all good people, and I also, like I said, keep my Instagram private so there might be

like requests sitting there unanswered. But whatever, very good. All right, let's get out of here. Is Dan Hanson signing up for Nick Shook, The sciss Or, the Old Boss and Ricky Hollywood in the Shadows where he stays in the shadows there and you always wonder what's going on in there once. She doesn't pop in until Tuesday.