2022 Week 15 Recap: Best Weekend of the Year (Again)

great greatest sporting events of the twenty one century. Uh And I'm not gonna say anything that happened in the NFL today tops what Messi and friends accomplished and shout out to France. Gave it there all. Sure, but man, we had some bangers in our league today. It was a hard cut from it like yesterday, one of the most memorable sporting events ever to Jacksonville within like three minutes if you were in the States and watching on Fox.

And yet you know what those Jaguars delivered, Just like so many other games today, you just don't You didn't want to have a big lead in this weekend. I was thinking that this you know, we always say, oh, this was the best week of the year and this was but also going back to the entirety of our show, I mean because it it encapsulated the entire We've been bathed in football since like early Saturday, and it's been NonStop and it hasn't really had a dip in terms

of the drama in the action. So I would have nominated as the best week of football we've had every in our podcast that said, I can't really remember any of the other weeks. I feel like in a weekly basis, I'm with you. I feel like we had this conversation maybe two weeks ago that was the best week, but also the later you get now into the season. Remember what we talked about Thursday, it says gotta have it Saturday and Sunday in the NFL, So a lot of

these games and how they ended have immense ramifications. Uh, I mean, I think MESSI was feeling the heat from NFL Network. They're like, wow, NFL Network had a triple header and had the biggest comeback ever, and that Bill's Dolphins game maybe the most memorable game of the year. We need to step it up. That's when you saw all the um the natives of Argentina at the game, sobbing, they were saying him, so, oh my god, we we finally outshine the Ravens and Browns. Well, we don't speak

about that part of the triple header. In fact, as we get into the games, you'll you'll notice in the structuring here, we're gonna hit the two uh insta classics from Saturday, and then we're gonna kick that other a f C North game down the list a little bit, because quite frankly, there are a large handful, a bushel of great games to get to. So let's start, yes on Saturday, and let's start with the first game of the week and what I call the greatest lock that

has ever been locked in his real blocks. Let's go snap spot show right footed kicks. It is the Middlestone Vikings have completed the greatest comeback in the history how the National Football League from thirty three down they beat the Indianapolis coach. The Vikings are NFC North champions. That reminds me actually, oh yes, of course, Dongo to Bongo approves um midway through this game, when it was zero

at half. I believe was our buddy Aaron Nagler, who covers all things Packers, We either tweeted or retweeted something on the lines of, oh I up to hear a sizzle reel of Paul Allen today, Uh, Paul Allen of k f A N Well, it ends up we did hear kf fvans Paul Allen on this program, because yes, the Vikings do something that's never been done in the history of the NFL, which is one three years by the way, they erase a thirty three point devisit beat

the Colts six on Greg Joseph's forty yard field goal with three seconds left in overtime, and yes, that's how they finally, at long last clinched the NFC North and um mark. This is a game that I don't even know where to start on this one, because it's a game. You can watch football your whole life and never see

anything like this. I mean, I'd start with the whole that they buried themselves in and it was just it's one of these games on Twitter where the Minnesota Vikings, who have been suspicious to onlookers all season for their ability to go to sleep and then maybe wake up at the last minute when these one one score games that are regression candidate This was the game where it was like, yeah, this is the Vikings team we don't trust. You have a blocked punt return twenty four yards for

a touchdown. You have a lost fumble near the red zone, a botched fake punt that led to another score, and a seventeen yard pick six. I mean, all this stuff just unraveled in such inglorious fashion that the Vikings were called out as total frauds and suddenly we're happening rightfully. I think these jeff Saturday on Saturday jokes. I mean,

every every ugly thing is happening. At one point it looks like justin Jefferson, stuck on the ground not moving, you might have just gone to the darkest possible place for the Vikings. And then they work their way out of it and everything turns around, and what we think about the Vikings at the end of the day is

completely different. And I look at this Vikings team in terms of how they must be built mentally and psychout psychologically inside that locker room is they can think they can win any game ever, and they've done it twice now this season. Well, they were they were let back into it in many different ways by the Colts playing it's safe the only way that could happen. Yeah, the other team really has to step up in this. Jeff Jeff Saturday, it doesn't seem like he's getting a lot

of the heat here. I see a lot of Like Matt Ryan is the you know, owner of the two biggest comebacks in the history of the NFL, and I'm thinking, I mean, they did put up thirty three in this game, kind of like they put up thirty five, although they somehow put up thirty six points in the end in this game with one offensive touchdown and a lot of the reason they didn't score more as they kept running the ball on like third and five inside the ten yard line and settling for field goals. But so many

things happened during this comeback. Only Kirk Cousins could come back in a game where like I think his PFF score for what it's worth, in this game was like it was terrible because he had a couple turnover where he plays during the comeback. Here are some things that happened. He threw an interception in the fourth quarter with eight minutes left, up sixteen. Uh. The Colts had a first down in this game down sixteen sorry. Yeah, the Colts had a first down in this game, up eight with

under four minutes to go. There were the two Vikings overturned touchdowns which were just really frustrating, and he goes in the worst off official game we've ever seen and it feels good. There was an ultimate ball don't lie situation coming back. And we also saw Jeff Saturday pass on a potential game winning fifty three yard field goal in a day whereas kicker was the best now on the field. Yeah, I thought I thought it was let's talk about that fumble the return um the same, the

same Vikings defensive back who who is it again? Shandon Sullivan. Yeah, Sullivan had two plays wrongly overturned that should have been touchdown returns. In the second one, it was absurd. Uh, there was no reason the whistle should have been blown on it. It should have been right there at that point in the game or the Vikings having a chance

to tie it. And then I thought it was just um terrible that the officials, Okay, you blow the call, that's one thing, but then not have the common sense to uh give that guy a little Sullivan a break there and foul him for taking off his helmet on top of it, and then I thought about the other thing. After that all transpired, and then the ensuing by can Drive fizzles out, and the Colts have the ball and they have the fourth and one, and they decided to

sneak it. I don't want to be a conspiracy theorist here, but those officials and the NFL knew they were having a terrible game, the refs, and it just interesting to me where that QB sneak on fourth down was measured and put down and what they used, which was blowing the whistle and getting to decide where the ball goes basically as opposed to where did he reach out, where

his knee hit or whatever. That was very interesting to me, the way that all worked out that which then set up, of course, the Dalvin Cook touchdown on another unthinkable gaff by the culture. It seemed like they should have called that a first down by Matt Ryan and it was the first down. I mean, Justin Jefferson had a touchdown taken away last week by a terrible call where he was ruled out of mound and he wasn't They The first Channon Sullivan situation led to directly the Kirk Cousins

pick six. All right, the second Chandon Sullivan situation led to the turnover on downs late in the game. But meltdown, we talked about these things should not have happened. This was the first of all, if you're an official, you are trained to not blow the whistle early if you don't know exactly what happened. If you don't know that it's a dead ball. That's not what's not happening here at the NFL level. And the Vikings basically should never as as ghastly as their first half was. This should

never have gone to overtime. It should never have been as dramatic as it was. That should have clat out won the game in regulation had it been called correctly. When Vikings fans have a reason because they it does feel like week to weeks stuff. Stuff is happening again. That justin Jefferson thing a week ago was huge. Here's the thing, though, they it was a perfect game for both of these teams. It was a perfect showcase for

these two teams this season. For the Vikings to come back and now be the author of the greatest comeback in NFL history, but for that come back to be so weird. But yeah, like I said, Cousins had a fifty seven p f F F grade in this game. They also had I don't care that, No, I don't care, of course, a possession in overtime where they had to punt the ball away. That was like a moment where he thought they actually might lose it because the Colts started moving the ball back. K j Osborne stepped up

and we shouldn't like the football, you know. Takeaways from this which is like he looks like a true one. He made himself some money. He's not a free agent yet saying, I mean, he is a guy you can go to in major spots. And Dalvin Cook to get them within two late in the game, had one of the runs of the year. Do we have the call

for that run? Because I would love to hear Paul Allen at some point on that run because him breaking those taxles to me was one of the all time like runs that we've seen, and it kind of gotten buried in everything else happened. It's so easy for things buried. And the thing about we talked about yesterday, Greggy, you were in my living room. That was nice. Mark you were out of town otherwise you would have been invited. Well, thank you, I'm I'm sorry to missing Lakisha was with us,

was very nice. Um, it's not like Vikings, as you're saying, played a perfect second half to the only way you could ever come back from thirty three zip is to play the perfect half of the other team has to joke. No, the Vikings are still kind of like go ahead calls, finish this game off, and they just couldn't do it. They had nineteen possessions in the game. That's how you do it. And and Kirk Cousins, I don't really care

about the grade or whatever. All I know is he finished with four touchdowns in four sixty yards in a game they were being shut out at halftime, which that's certainly never happened in football history. And let's hear from Kevin O'Connell, the Vikings coach, who, by the you know, had to be feeling it on a level. Perhaps he never has felt it on a football field. When I tell you, guys, oh priyant coach alert, I tell you guys, I love you. I'm leading from the bottom of my

heart and that will never change. I will ride with this group until they don't want us playing buddy, and then I want to hear you guys celebrate it. There are so many stories coming out of this game that Greg Manuski, the linebackers coach, told Eric Kendricks just out of halftime, I guarantee this will be the biggest comeback in the NFL in NFL history. Eric Kendricks basically said that when the reporters came back to he just said, reporters, get out here, this is our time. We don't want

to deal with you right now. And Patrick Peterson was the guy that I had halftime, kept shouting five touchdowns. It's all you need, we got you. And the one thing about Kirk Cousins, because maybe the overall grade was bad, but if you go look at e p A for instance, in this second half, he generated the second most passing ep A in the second the second half and overtime by a quarterback all season. And he had more open receivers at in the second half than twice than twice

in the first. Just saying that his second half grade, what if they break it down the way was phenomenal, That's what I mean though, Like he had to have so many chance that's why he was so interested they had nineteen possessions like I mentioned for instance, like the Browns and the Ravens had nine each in their games.

They felt they have seventeen. They were able to withstand Cousins throwing that interception in the fourth quarter and turning the ball over on downs when he made a ghastly decision to run out of nowhere on fourth down and got tackled because the defense of the Vikings stepped up and just totally stopped Matt Ryan and the Colts from doing anything. And the Colts would be back in the little uh in the race hunt in the hunt graphic if not for this result, because uh, and yes I

did lock up the Vikings. That is a that that will never happen again, either I did. I did send a text at one point that you know, I gotta stay in lock mode, get it to thirty to seven, start forcing some turnovers and let it get weird look at too. So. But I also was outwardly like pushing for the cancelation in the Minnesota Vikings in the first half so on Twitter. So I love how when the Vikings are down by thirty plus points and I locked them up, they just lose forty to three. But when

they're down, you lock them up, they come back. And that's that's how we're packet off. Buddy, all right, let's keep moving all time game there and then the late game on Saturday night, major implications in the a f C. To a snowy Orchard Park. We go here, we go, the game on the line. The snow is fine, the snapper is good, the hold is good, the kick is up,

the kick is good. It is good. The fireworks go off to Bills, go back to the playoffs from the fourth consecutive year to Bills win it thirty two to twenty nine. Amazing, amazing, beautiful. John Murphy with the call w g R. That is Tyler Bass hitting a twenty five yard field goals time expired, pushing the Bills to a thirty victory over game Dolphins team on Saturday night. Buffalo overcame an eight point deficit um in the final quarter, with Josh Allen driving his team two scores on each

of the final two possessions. And yes, it's the fourth strade playoff birth for the Bills. They're five, fifth and six seasons under Sean McDermott. Greggy Um, like I said, you gotta credit the Dolphins. They went up there. They played a really good game. I challenged on this podcast toa to have any ability to throw the ball with um any level of success, and he had plenty of success.

In fact, those receivers let him down pretty big time in some big spots Um and yet Buffalo found a way and as a result, they're gonna win this division. I just think of those last two drives, they're down one at home, it almost felt like it was scripted by NBC. Let's keep the field nice and clean, good weather, Let's have some offense early. Let's add the snow in the fourth as the big finish. Let's get the stop uh from the Bill's defense. A couple of times where

it was NFL network. By the way, what am I thinking? They get a couple of stops with two where there's miscommunication, not exactly bad places, but they get a couple of stuffs down eight in those two drive We're really telling because the first one was running the ball down their throats. That Alan when he needs to can just take off and run. And they get a big run from James Cook and they get that touchdown quickly. Then they get

they get to stop uh to tie game. They get the ball back with almost six minutes to go, and they do the type of drive we don't think that Bills can kind of do a six minute drive where they just take the will away from the Dolphins. And it's not really with the running games. It was with those arm throws that Josh Allen can make that to a can that nobody can except for maybe Patrick Mahomes.

Some of those opposite field hash throws, including on that last drive, including a third down play there, like are just plays people can't make, and he made a few of those in this game to score touchdowns early. But I love that he did it late using his mind, knowing exactly when they were blitzing, when they were dropping off coverage, exactly who to go to. Every decision was just absolutely spot on, and you win a division in

a different situation. Know what the Bills team we've seen maybe they melt because at one point it was second and eighteen at the Buffalo thirteen, after Allen had been dropped on a big takedown and he completes the fifteen yard to gave David that writes an arm strength throw right there, you know. Then he converts the third, the

third down, third and three throw as well. So you're right, there were two very different drivers because the one previous where Alan who accounted for yards on the day and four touchdowns. It's like, Okay, he's back, We're good with that. Fifty two yards on the one drive and the game time two point conversion. Just you know, he had offensive lineman out Mitch Morriscott hurt in this. They were already missing a guard. It's like they've been dealing with offensive

line issues for weeks. He just put it on his back in a snowy environment and he did it. I loved it. We were waiting for what can he do? Like when you're watching this, Dan Dar, aren't you thinking like this is one of the best quarterbacks I've ever seen in my life. Like this game showed him doing every different possible thing that you can do as a quarterback. Yeah. I think what makes him so special is that that variety of skills he brings. If you need to make

uh Herbert like throw, he can give you that. If you need him to truck somebody, he can do that. If you need him to get down the edge and shoot down the sideline fifty yards, he could do that. He's he's the perfect quarterback in a lot of ways, and in the perfect city and the perfect region, like he's built for this type of weather. I just thought, yeah,

it was. It was a special, fun game, a Saturday night game in December that everybody in that stadium will remember that one forever and again, like to circle back to Miami, I think, you know, this is where they I think, not just to meet but anybody else who was doubting them. They can. They're not gonna collapse. I don't think. I think they They're gonna get one of those wild card spots and they could be a tough

out in the playoffs. I don't think they're a perfect team, but being able to hang in that setting really showed their abilities. As frustrating as that was, and I mean specifically on the offensive side, that they were able to go into the elements and move the ball when necessary. I think that right number one, Mike McDaniels psychologically kind of prepped them for we don't care about the weather.

That's not gonna be an excuse, which I you know, I'm not saying that's what Dolphins teams have been, but some kind of would go up there and fold. But secondly, the concept of like oh had they been figured out after the Niners and Chargers meltdowns. The defensive coordinators now have a road map to slow down too. And the whole thing well last night, I mean it wasn't perfect, but I don't think that was proven at all. They can, They're gonna They're gonna figure out their own way to

counteract what people are doing to them. Their defense didn't come up big in a few crucial spots. You know, they came back and that came down fourteen or thirteen at one point all the way to up, so they ripped off those sixteen points and then the defense didn't play as well. But you gotta love what you got out of Raheem Most there. You get the big play out of Jalen Waddle like most, and their running game can change it. And uh, it's just cool to even

have the Dolphins involved in games like this. I'm with you, Dada. I don't think they're gonna collapse. I think they make the playoffs. I'll remember this game forever. I was watching it in Hanano Cafe with Keisha and there's a band playing there. This is you know, we wish Chris Westling was here with this obvious sleep for this show, and I really wish he was there with us last night.

You know, there's a band playing, and you're seeing the snow fallen in Buffalo, and you got all the holiday lights and Keisha and we're having a good time just watching like a classic NFL game. Good stuff. I have a question for Greg, Yes, were you in Buffalo observing this, would you have been one of the people throwing the snowballs? Or do you not approve of that type of behavior? Good question. I don't have a hot take on this.

Would you don't think I would be throwing snowballs at anyone? Know? I mean maybe on my friends. I would not be throwing it on the field. So all right, so had a friend, Okay, that's fair. Yeah. The Dolphins did have four hundred and five yards of offense. Uh in this game. They ran for more than a hundred yards for the first time since Week ten. But they've also now lost all three of their December games. So they have the Packers coming up, and that's they gotta win. They gotta

end this um losing streak. But at the same time, if they would have went up there and gotten their doors blown off. We would be it's it's it's an avalanche. See how it all ties together. But I don't think that's where they're at. Let's see how they close their season. Let's take a break and we continue to roll through Week fifteen. Let's get the Sunday. All right, two games Saturday. Let's get the Sunday starting with man. Who would have thought here as we edge toward late December, we'd be

rushing to get to a game from Jacksonville. But that's where we're at is the Jaguars are on the prowl and the guy behind the glass grave Digger knows it. Let's go. He dropped a throw looking looking fires bill of the field, and that ball is picked off. It is picked off a race Shaw Jaket. He's running it back along the right sideline. That is gonna be a touchdown, but it's gonna be a touchdown. But Jack's are gonna win it. What a race? Shaw Jaket. Pitch six? Are

you kidding me? How good is that? What a finish in this ball game? Oh? I think we might need to isolate how good is that? Justin for our podcast going forward from Frank Frangie w okav Race San Jenkins have a game. Kid. Myron Jenkins intercepted Dak Prescott's tip pass and overtime took it to the house fifty two yards and the Jags stunned the Dallas Cowboys forty to thirty four. This was a Jaguars team down to ten in this game, um, and then it became a big

time back and forth affair. Greggy, the Jags they're coming and they got a kid, QB that's figured some things out as well. There's a period in every Trevor Lawrence game now that for one quarter he just like levitates

and just hits target after target an impossible spot. And that was during this comeback, and not all of them were even caught, and they made it, and I wasn't surprised, but I'm glad you jin Jenkins to start it because the play before the pick six, Jenkins comes up in a run fit and he was doing this all day.

He ended up, I think you mentioned, with eighteen tackles and the two interceptions and he stuffs them on second and four before that, it was it was the second drive of overtime, so all the Cowboys needed was a field goal, and they had moved the ball well all day. Tony Pollard rips off like a twenty yard run. Then they get ten yards, they're at midfield and they have a second and four. Jenkins comes in with the run stop to make it third and four, and then he

does the pick six right after that. He also really started this comeback going into overdrive with an interception that people are gonna get on Dak Prescott about, and they should. Dak Prescott played a great game otherwise, and it's weird. I've seen people blame this. It was literally a great throw that was the pick six at overtime. The guy dropped it, hit him in the bicep on the move. It was. It was a perfect throw. Uh So I'm

not blaming Dak Prescott that for all. But there was one moment when the comeback was going on where that totally panicked under pressure, threw it up. Jenkins got it and they caught up quickly. It was one of those comebacks that time was not a factor. They caught up seventeen points in no time and took the lead. It was the Cowboys who had to come back and take the lead. Something about this offense because it feels like Trevor Lawrence Um totally connects with someone different every week

and they explode, like Zay Jones three touchdowns day. Jones like was essentially on the edge of not having a career a couple of years ago. So it's working. I think this is a massive win for Doug Peterson. This is a team that knocked out the Ravens, they beat the Titans, they got a chance to go against the Jets, and suddenly who would have looked at that Jets Jaguars game back in September and said, why on Earth is that scheduled for as an island affair late in the season.

It's actually the game, Like the Jaguars feel like the more relevant team that I mean, we've forked the Jaguars. We were we were about to get in travel with one of them. Let me check out the standings here after and we'll get to the Titans. But spoiler aler and it didn't go well. Uh here, it's so far. Uh, Jaguars are one game out now and they play each other in Week eighteen, so it's all there for the Jacks to steal this division. Uh. It is. It's a

team that I listen as a jetsman. I don't want anything to do with them right now because they're playing with confidence. And let's hear it from Trevor Lawrence, because again it's not just Lawrence, it's the whole operation, which is vastly improved. That Doug Peterson leading the way, better roster, better scheme, and now a young quarterback who's you know, reaching his potential a little more suddenly than we expected, uh,

compared to where we were in say, early October. Let's listen to Lawrence, who, by the way, it looks like he looks like the lead singer of the most popular Christian rock band in the world. Like it's accurate. All right, let's hear from I don't really care honestly what they what what people think? You know, I say that I do think. You know, it feels good to win a game like this, on a big game, national game, like you said, against a great team. Um, it feels good

just to you know, show who we are. So I can't you can't lie. I mean that feels good to show people that, but it doesn't change anything about us. You know, we're the same group. We lost five games straight in October and everyone wrote us all so if you listen to what people say, you're not really in

a good spot. So directly do I think also Dan look there looking looking at him, and that the presser there um, maybe maybe the fourth handsome brother that had less theatrical ambition and just decided not to join the one that you know played sports instead of went to the garage and wailed on the keyboard. Well, now we're talking about him, the ones that that's a foot taller

and runs authority. It's crazy because kind of similar to the Kirk Cousins game of the Lawrence played really well throughout, including in the first half. It was a clean first half. Two. He had an interception in the third quarter, which was his first in a long time and was on him and he fumbled the ball with under a minute and a half left in this game on a wild scramble that appeared to be the moment where the game was lost.

All the Cowboys needed to do at that point was get a first down to win, or at least get rid of the Jaguars time outs, but they decided to throw the ball on third and ten, kind of a

prayer down the field. Mike McCarthy doesn't force him to use that last time out with a safer play call, and usually I'm I'm for going for it there on some level, but the fact that it was like a deep shot to Noah Brown, like fifty yards down the field uh ended up coming in very handy because the Jaguars needed that time out to force overtime and get

the field goal. Yeah, And I do want because I'm gonna be checking this game out tomorrow and we have so much to get to today, so it shouldn't really focus on what's coming up next, But I do want to have the conversation at some point this week, Greg, is where where we where are we had on the Cowboys now after two so so games leading into now this loss um and the NFC East is now pretty much gone a tenant four and the Eagles are in total control of that division now even though they still

have a head to head. So costly lost for the Cowboys who were probably now gonna be a wild card team, and watch out for the Jags, who not only have moved into the in the hunt wild card area now themselves, although you know a long shot in that department, they can outright win. Graduated from berserker category to the sitimate

title threat in that division. I think that these Cowboys teams, who have had some bad Cowboys vibes over the years of like blowing it, at some point have to start being a little worried the way those game ended up on offense, UH four and out field goal, interception, three and out punt. Then they get the touchdown three and out pun and interception and over familiar rough way to end the Cowboys fans who have felt a lot of

disappointment in December and January in the last quarter century. Alright, moving on, how about an NFC team that graduated from berserker to actual playoff part possibly, let's head to the meadow ends golf's gonna throw it back and looking growth wide open, the upside, rock right with it to the thirty crock right, twenty five brock right to the five touch down Detroit Lions. Oh my fifty one yard golf the brock right. How the Lions are back in front? Oh, Babby,

how big is that? This is a the announcers losing their voice? Week? Go ahead, I opt out of this week, vadey. I'm not gonna pretend I wasn't loving and seeing that highlight? Are you kidding stones out. There was no Patriots game. The only game in town is the Detroit Lions. I don't know. I've no Dan for over a decade. To night, hes on his situation. You know, you got a real gift for pitch, right, This is a very special honor. And then I think we were breaking that out right away.

We always do. And that shows an old juicer tug boat is he's looking out for the show first and foremost, because that was not a pleasant moment. Well, you're a showman. You are a showman, Dan, first and foremost. Well, you know who put on a show? Brock Wright. What fifty one yard touchdown? Uh? Catching run on a Jard Goff pass on fourth and inches from midfield with one forty

nine to play. Uh puts the lines ahead after the Jets were that close to ceiling a massive wind and Uh it wasn't over though after that play, which made it all the more painful. The Jets get the ball back. Zack Wilson, who had a very up and down game here, Um completes a couple of miracle throws third and eighteen.

I think they convert the fourth and forever they convert Um to stay alive, but some really suspect uh clock management by Robert Salo where they had all their time outs and yet put themselves in a position where they were kicking a fifty eight yard field goal with one second to play that would never really had a chance. Gregg the leg pushed it left. So yes, the lines escape with the win. UM. I wouldn't say that the you know, the Jets outplay the lines in this game.

I think Detroit UM overall, UM felt like the better team for most of the game, and then the Jets were able to make some plays and and put a drive together in the second half to put them in the lead. And once they had the lead with about four minutes to go, you thought, okay, the defense, which again this Jet the defense even without Quinnon Williams, was doing really well. It slowed down the lines in a lot of areas they've thrived during this winning streak for

the Lions. But in that spot, I gotta give credit to Ben Johnson Um specifically UM for a play call that had the Jets completely caught off guard at midfield. There that the whole defense followed a Monrod st Brown a cross on what they thought was going to be either a run or maybe a short like drag type pass to the right, and that allowed the backup tight end to sneak out and make the play of the year for the Lions. So it hurts, it stinks for the Jets, but for the Lions, it's another big win

for a team that really is everyone's darling. I mean, they've unlocked a star with Ben Johnson, because I think that was the takeaway from the Vikings win a week ago for the for Detroit was that Ben Johnson was just a step ahead with a unique series with each play and then so did see that he tricked out the Jets to I mean, I would ask you, Zach Wilson may have to start Thursday. I saw one throw, the one where Garrett Wilson was so frustrated up to I think it was the third and twelve where he

just totally missed. Garrett Wilson, That to me is the kind of throw that in recent weeks, Mike White was making that throw and that was sort of the difference in their offense. In their passing game, Wilson was not at I mean at least had a couple of big plays. I know, some of them seemed a little hokey, but it wasn't he It was just like a major roller coaster. It seemed like it was a roller coaster. I would not say he had a good game at all. He was.

He threw three seventeen yards. He had two touchdowns. Like I said, if they get the stop on fourth and inches there before the touchdown by Detroit, everyone's talking about how he made a big throwdown field to Garrett Wilson. Then on a third and goal from the half yard line, he throws the ball to CJ. Zamba for the go

ahead touchdown. So it's a totally different story. Um, but now that they lose, you have you can actually be a little more clinical and look at what he did, which was yes, he hit on some throws downfield, but still way too many misses on throws that have to be made, whether it's a wide open receiver or receiver that you know, they talked about an NFL open versus college open. Throws that aren't easy. But for a better quarterback, and even for a guy like Mike White, has been

money in the bank. So that's what you saw. Garrett Wilson and some of these guys should calm down a little bit. About some of the histrionics on the field, because that's I don't think necessarily helpful. But what you saw there is that this team, you know, they they want Mike White playing, and the Jets were so desperate to have Mike White playing that Ian Rapport reported this morning that he has three fractures in his ribs and it's gonna miss two weeks at least. Um they they

almost put him on the field in that state. So I think this is Zach Wilson's last stand here, I think as the Jets quarterback, and this was a very uneven result. And I think if Mike White is healthy, he absolutely will play Thursday. But I think the timing of this matchup it means we might get might get the final old Zach Wilson start, as they did get to Zach Wilson from a pr how to answer questions because they asked him after the game, do you think

you should should start Thursday? Nice set up, Mark, that's good enough to deserve another starter. I like that. No, I think that's not up to me. Compute, compute and uh. For me, I think it comes back to how can I watch this film? How can I improve? And UH can I keep trying to put our offense in the best situation to win. We talked about it on the Friday Fun Show with Clay Bown. Like I said, he's

under a lot of pressure in this game. And Patrick, as Patrick sometimes so things and he said, pressure isn't a thing, it's just that he's not good. But no, I think there was a lot of pressure beyond the pressure to perform, also to handle that situation. It's just been there's been a lot on his shoulders and he hasn't always been up to the task. But it wasn't all bad, but it certainly wasn't good. It was very up and date. The crowd was on him too. That

I don't I don't care what anyone says. I don't think that feels good when you're a young player. When I watched him, I'm like, I am old because he looks twelve years old to me in that press conference, he's getting younger. It's like a little boy with like on,

you know, a little eyes shadow under his eyes. It's a massive step and test the cast for the Lions to to go east in a cold situation, in a matchup that was basically even you look at any stats in this game in terms of yards average per play, certainly the score throughout the game. Like they each have their strengths and weaknesses, but it doesn't surprise me that these two teams who came in about it almost as a pick them like played even and the Lions weirdly

haven't won many of those games. They've lost a lot of close games, they've won uh some blowouts. And it's sort of another box to check that you don't need the Lions offense to necessarily score thirty five every time for them to win. And I know they got helped out by Zach Wilson starting this game, but you get a couple of sacks out of Okwara and Kaminski gets when James Houston gets another sack, and it's crazy, this rookie pass rusher, and it's like they are getting contributions

from a lot of different players. And they're now a half a game behind the final playoffs. About both them in the Seahawks at seven and seven, only half a game back with three weeks to go, and how how much one play can change everything. Just like I said, if the Jets get that stop at midfield, everyone's talking

about Zack Wilson perseverance and leading that drive. If Jared Goff airmills that throw to the tight end and they lose, we're talking about how Jared Goff got found out against the big defense on the road when when actually the cards were down, but since the play call was brilliant and it was a can't misthrow, he hits it and the tight end does the rest and saves his numbers and they win the game. Not a great golf game.

Something to keep an eye on now as we really get to the crucible and they and so they the Panthers. I locked it up. You did gotta have it, Sunday, I got. I had to have my my five game lock Street loss has come to an end. I finally got a win. Who like, literally no one even has a recollection in that where we all there when you did this, I guess, so congratulations justin big effort for you. You had a personal setback as well with your favorite team.

So I'm gonna Sean Kelly picked this lock for me. So there we go. There you go. You gotta go to the experts, go to the sharps. All right, let's take a break and we'll get to more football. Oh yes, welcome back. Gotta have it Sunday. Let's keep moving with another game that will not soon be forgotten. At Jones hands it off On a later Montre Stevenson breaks out of a tackle at the fifty, has the forty five, breaks away from another tackle, pitches it backwards, and now

Jakobe Meyer's spinning around. He throws, you're not losing fall towards another cracking voice. I can't believe what I just saw on the first night of a car Vegas going on there. I did not see the Hota plug put that in the best cause of the air, Please, I did not see that coming. The call there is by Jason Harrowitz. There you go. Can you really say I can't believe what I just saw. I can't believe that in this case, I guess I feel slightly trademark. Are

LV Harrowitz in a big spot with the call? Chandler Jones, the former Patriot, probably no love lost between him and Bill Belichick, to be the one just standing near midfield, minding his own business as all the everybody in the building, players, coaches, fifties sixties people in attendance, getting ready for overtime, and Jacobe Myers throws the ball up for grab, grabs, Chandler Jones catches it, stiff arms um mac Jones into Middle Earth,

and then scores in stunning fashion. Final score thirty to Raiders over Pats. Unbelievable. We now welcome in the great Nick Shook the Raiders six and eight and and probably still there in the hunt, whether we want to believe it or not. They at six and eight, they're still there. And the Pats, in the crushing fashion, fall to seven and seven. I don't think have you ever seen anything like this shookie, high school, pop warn or college. No, No, I've seen it all. Now. I think this is where

I call it a career. I'm gonna move on now, guys, and off in the sunset of retirement, because this is never going to be topped in stupidity, in unlikelihood, in the fact that he's stiffed farm not just anybody, but the quarter act, like you said, into Middle Earth, sending him through the turf at Allegiance Stadium. Just a remarkable finish. I don't think you can say I don't believe what I just saw, but I truly did not believe what

I saw today. I mean, so Chandler Jones wound up with more yards after the catch than any pass catcher in this game, um, which says something about the offenses. But at least I'm the one thing that kind of bubbled up as the game ended is people saying, this is the stupidest thing that Bill Belichick has ever done. It's the most unbuilt Belichick in strategy. At the end

of the game, he didn't do exactly. That's what why Bill Belichick calls Jacobe Myers did at least say, I mean, I'm glad that they got the interview quickly, but that he just didn't see Chandler Jones there. Whether he did or not, this was not a Patriots plan here, Nick, Wait, wait, can I just say something? Well, now, I was gonna say, does it? What's the thing that was the most stunning

to me immediately in the seconds after? And by the way, Greg's fandom might be r I P because I'm standing next to him and he's just standing there, and I all, it seemed like I could see him computing all those different picks and like wooderdy lock up in this thing? What are like, did I cover the spread in this thing? And I'm just like, what is what happened to the

Raiders in this game? And this I know di nap because they're so sloppy and the ending well kind of that'll be the focus and it should be the focus. But they're just a bad team. And so I'm fine with them fans left and right on the show. So that's the problem. Yeah, I'm alone on island. There's Shookie the Browns fans still, but I have to say, um, does do the Patriots not know that game is tied? There? That's what to me really was the most stunning part

of it. And maybe there is coaching you can't say, oh this is Bill Belichick's fault, but yes, all this criticism around New England about maybe this coaching staff is in over its head and you've seen a lot of uncharacteristic mental errors all seasoned by this team. You saw a block punt in this game where the guy on the edge for the Raiders was untouched on the block punt, a huge bus by New England special teams. Um, this

is just stuff that you can't ignore, some of this nick. Yeah, and you see, you know, Mac Jones getting frustrated week after week with the offense and the fact that they can't move the football consistently. It's very unlike them. It's it's unprofessional, it's it's just untidy, and it's not like the Patriots. But again, you're right, they had to know. They had to not know that the game was tie. This is j R. Smith in the NBA Finals all over again. You know when they come they did because

they call the clock. They knew because they called the draw. They didn't call that that that's at least what the players are saying, unless they're really trying to cover for the coaches. They said, no, they just call the draw, go to overtime. Ramandre actually gets a big gain on it and just in the moment decides the lateral and those two players, Jacoby takes it to it. So sometimes you don't need that much crazy analysis of it. It was just like a beautifully insane play that two players

are made mental errors on. But the rest of the game, where there's thirteen penalties by the Patriots in pre stop and mac Jones throws for a hundred and twelve yards, they had uh thirty one dropbacks for a hundred and twelve yards, Like that's on them, that's on them, right, and this is a game. It was this is like five games and one, but this is a game. The Raiders after that block punt and then they scored touched on right before the half, they are up seventeen three.

There once once again up fourteen points, thirteen or more points at halftime, and immediately gag it all away and give up twenty one points in the fourth quarter. Derek Carr, this gets totally lost now. Shookie leads the team on a long drive, connecting on a touchdown pass that was very close and probably was uh an incomplete pass with a toe on the out of bounds line, but there wasn't enough evidence. They kicked the extra point, which sets

up the madness that we saw. Do you want to hear from Josh McDaniels, who, by the way, on the top of everything else, this was him against the master, the pupil against master that I didn't see the midfield handshake on this one, but that had to be a little bit weird for Bill. Here's McDaniels after the game. Don't get tackled by the quarterback. I mean literally, I just was thinking I couldn't. I you know, it was obviously very um I don't know what the word would be,

but I was. I was, you know, once once ramnre pitched the ball to Jacobe, you know, I figured we probably just tackle whoever had it, and then that would that would be it. We got over time. And then when he lateraled the ball, um, I had no idea. You know, it didn't seem like a lateral play to me, you know what I mean when they handed the ball off to the back, So um, um, I thought, you know, okay,

tackle him going over time. And then when I saw the ball over the air, and then I saw Chandler underneath, and I'm thinking, oh my god, we might we might have a chance at this. And then when he caught it, I just I saw Mac was back there, and um just hoping that he could avoid, you know, whatever effort that Mac had to tackle him and then hopefully had enough choice left in his body to get to the end zone. So I watched the hug Dan and it it was. It was got to be the worst two

seconds of Bill Belichick's week. Was waiting for Josh McDaniels and Mac Jones to stop their embrace. As Josh McDaniels is telling him like a lot about things like life. Offense is probably like stick with it, all the stuff they're embracing, and Belichick is just standing there next to him waiting for McDaniels to be done. Then they then he gives him a quick The last time they faced each other, they faced each other in two thousand and nine when McDaniels was the Broncos coach, and that was

the team that started. It was two thousand and nine or ten. They started six and oh, and there were shots of after they beat the Patriots, Josh McDaniels running around the stadium pumping his fist and they caught for that and they just lost that the floor fell out, and he never How about this Raider season in general, I mean, this has got to be going down as one of the most bizarre. It might not end with anything. It probably won't. It's probably an eight and nine team

or whatever it's gonna be. But almost every game is memorable and quite frankly bonkers. Memorable for their batteries and usually the fact that they blow. But I had a few go the other way now in the last month. Yeah, yeah, their offense. They can't get to Davante Adams in the second half. That's consistently a problem for them. But yeah,

it's been a bonkers season. You know, at one point this season I was saying they're probably like the best one in four, one in five team, whatever they were in the history of football, that I couldn't get the job done. But I had way more talent than their record indicated. But now at this point they are six and eight teen because they make so many mistakes. It's just that this time around it paid off for them.

And you know, it was not a not a great Sunday for Zeusser and got knocked out of my fantasy playoffs. That's not pleasant either. But then I remembered after this, right was we're coming to the studio. Oh, Scott Zolak had to react on live radio, so let's check in the sentient power raide bottle with his partner Bob Sochi. I believe reacting to and insane play by the Patriots.

Jones will give it to Steven Sandy started your body runs it up the middle hit by Chandler Jones slips they had acrost THET five for the stuff farm off a tackle the funy. He lost the football and jacled me Byrus picks it up he circles back and he throws it across the field. Just pick up the ruts to the town to the Aude touchdown writers night. This might be one of the dumbest teams I've ever seen seen and infectory Las Vegas. I don't know what to say.

This is a heads roll type freaking play right here. Oh my god, never thought he was going to sign up for Negative Times. Oh did he just insinuate Bill Belichick should be fired? No, I think it's definitely the lieutenants under Bill Belichick. But I've seen enough little reports popping up that there will be pressure on Bill Belichick

to change those lieutenants. And you can be sure Bill Belichick is aware who is putting out these little bubbles, because it's the only people person above him, or people above him is I thought Bob Soci had a great call professional uh and that was I think lack Jack the Musburger would have been great on the call to But Harwood's came in hard with a Honeker hit and that you know, that's memorable as well. It's all beautiful, And I just want to say, Nick, no more calling

this uncharacteristic of the Patriots. It's actually been three years. This is the Patriots, post Brady. I just mean they're heavily penalized. Uh, and they're in They're inefficient and make big mistakes. Like they've been one of the most heavily penalized teams a couple of years running. Like this is who they are. It's not penalty on fourth on fourth and goal, how about yeah, you can't get the Raiders had given up thirty two straight first and goal touchdowns.

The Patriots have a second and goal at the one, and they choose to throw a couple of passes and they don't get it open. The third quarter. They had they had shut down the Raiders for most of the second half, and then things got like we're openly rooting for them to not make the playoffs, not because they're the Patriots, because they're an isore. Some people for both reasons. Sure, but I'm I like, I'm comfortable with the latter. Camp shook.

You wanna hang around for another game here? Absolutely, let's to a game that did make it to overtime, and I think everybody was kind of surprised it did. Mahomes panting off, the McKinnon trying to dart and left field clock touchdown chance City terrific run by Jerick McKinnon to win the game and overtime and the kids on City Chas have won the a f C West for a seventh consecutive year, seven years in a row. Mitch Holt us with a call w d A F Jack McKinnon,

he is a player. Twenty six yard touchdown runner o T Chiefs get three touch on from Patrick Mahomes over a game Texans team which is fighting hard for Lovey Smith down the stretch here. Um, Mark, I'll start with you on this one. Why was this game and overtime contest at all? Like? How how did this happen today? Because I think everybody expected this to be a total blast job by Andy Reid Um summed it up well. He said it was a weird game, and it was.

I think it was just an example of the Chiefs being a little bit off, and they've been a little bit off on offense, um for stretches and then when you throw in mistakes you get a game like this. This wasn't the Texans really stretching their legs here and showing us that they're turning into something more powerful. It was that you got an Isaiah Pacheco fumble at the Kansas City seventeen that set up a Davis Mills touchdown

helped them go up fourteen nothing. There was a touchdown drive before the half, but Harrison Bucker missed the p A T So that's fourteen thirteen going into half for Kansas City. Juju Smith Schuster at a big fumble that led to another Texans touchdown to put them up sixteen, and then Harrison Bucker, who we've been so used to seeing reliably nailing kicks them all over the place, missed the fifty one yard field goal was seconds to go

that put it into overtime. Nick, But you know, the Chiefs also had Patrick Mahomes completing nineteen strain passes at one point. It's like when they're bad, their version of bad is better than anyone else's version of bad. It made a close, but were you ever really in doubt that they were going to take this thing? I was surprised I got the overtime. I wasn't entirely surprised that Bucker missed that kick. He's just he's another guy who's

just kind of been off this year in general. Uh, you kind of saw it with the p A t that he missed as well, like you mentioned, But you know that's it's still the Chiefs. They still moved to football, and I like that they're actually getting their ground game kind of going a little bit with Pacheco and then uh Jerk McKinney making a difference in the ground and

through the air. Uh. It's two straight weeks where those two have combined for over a hundred twenty yards of actually it was close to two hundred yards offense the last two weeks including today, So that party is encouraging. But you're right, it's they're not at their full form yet. They're not hitting their stride entirely right now, which is fine because you still won the f C West and you still win this game. It's just that for two the last two weeks, they've taken you know, teams that

they should be beating. They they've had them take them almost to the wire in each game, had to really earn them at the end. And that's just a little concerning. You don't any overtime games where it's two yards to two nineteen. Well, the Texans had the Texans African points six yards per place. That wasn't a Houston thing as much as there were special teams. But again, yeah, they got the ball at the seventeen. They got the ball

deep in Chiefs territory on the second touchdown. To your point on Jared McKinnon, a little fantasy nug He has thirty plus PPR points and two straight games. The only two running backs to do that all year have been Josh Jacobs and Austin Ekeler. So McKinnon is fitting really well corner from the corner. But Jako is an interesting part for this offense too. I think he runs the ball differently than an he Chiefs back we've seen in a while. Can I tell you the Chiefs are eleven

and three. They're obviously in great position as they jostle with the Buffalo for that top seed. I don't put too much into you know, they were a little sluggish against the Rams a few weeks back, um the Broncos. That game is closer than it should have been. This this Texans game, now, this feels like a team that's been doing this for so long now that they're just

grinding through the rest of the schedule. They're gonna get their thirteen wins or so, maybe fourteen wins and then they're gonna be ready to cook when it matters in a big spot in January. So you just they're they're checking boxes and trying to say hell. It reminds me of Buffalo because they're slump. They never lost during their slump. SAME's all right, Chookie, thank you very much, my friend, and uh, you know, well, if we don't see you

before the holidays, Merry Christmas. Thanks to you guys as well, thanks for having me as always, Happy holidays and start celebrating Hanukah as I just found out started today that your family that had got to be a fun Christmas. He's got like seventeen cousins and siblings and got a lot of a lot of Miller light being ingested that very beefy crowd. Funny you know my you know, my my favorite there and thank you a lot of bogs light.

All right, see you l everybody. All right, let's keep rolling a lot to get to let's head across the sidewalk to Sophie Stadium, where the Chargers were looking to solidify their uh wild card spot and the Titans were looking at get things calmed down. Were learned they didn't lock up this will be a three yard kick from the right. Hash kick is up and it is cool boys, Crack my money. Cameron Ticker puts the Bolts up three with four seconds to go. What a tribe. Money's voice

is never cracked. So on the day where all the announcers are amped up and frying their vocal cords with screams from the booth, Money the great professional, cannot be undone Money with Jeremiah in there somewhere, k Y s R. On the call, Let's get some let's get some Kicker club music in here for Dick or the Kicker Ticker

the kicker for a team. The Chargers, who have long struggled to have any type of you know, trust and the guy that, as we all know and why they're celebrated on this podcast, have such a huge role in getting teams to playoffs and separate seven and nine from nine and sevens or nine and eights from eight and nins. Dicker, He's been doing it all year long, and he did it again there um at the gun, allowing the Charges

to move past the Titans. Uh a seventeen fourteen win those Charges in our eight and six and mark the Titans keep losing now seven and seven and only a game up on the Jacks. I feel for them in this one because you have Ryan Tannehill in an offense that's struggling all game on third down. They were just they've been awful on third down all year, and it came down to a last stand for Ryan tanne who

was playing on a messed up ankle. He left the game for a while early, had to go have it heavily taped, and just refused to come out like he's just the we just get this every week. There's some example of why I think he's the toughest quarterback in the NFC. Other people have other standards that are higher than him. That's who he is. He made a couple of Keith rows when they were down fourteen to seven with less than three minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

Chicka kN Quo Austin who for Derrick Henry had a big run and then Henry got stuffed and then Tanny barreled in for the tie and touchdown, and you thought, what the Tennessee has worked their way out of this dark corner they're in. But they left justin Herbert lead. They could have, I mean, they didn't but they left Justin Herbert too much time and he got to work.

It was the Herbert from last week on this last drive, a sixteen yard of to Mike Williams, a six yard of to Gerald Everett, and an insane on the move throw to Mike Williams. Who is Greg I know you mentioned this on the Thursday show that he's just doing things down the field that other wide receivers are not, and we used to see it in flashes. He's now is doing it regularly. He that went to the Tennessee twenty. They spiked the ball, then they got a weird delay

of game. And this is why this was happening, right when that Raiders thing was happening. And down in our newsroom everyone's on a I'm on tape delay on game pass at my desk and everyone's ahead, and I thought, wait a minute, Dickers lining up for this after the delay of game kick. He must have missed this thing. People are going crazy. Then I see the Chandler Jones. I say, Dicker hitting the kick and the game is over.

But it really kills me, and we should bring in Grave to Gret kills me for the Titans because their defense today. I thought played one of the best games they have played all year. Joshua calou DeAndre like what he did when he blew up DeAndre Carter on a big run. Guys like DeMarcus Walker, Roger McCrary who had a tipped interception leaping out of bounds to clue which was interception to say, it absolutely was. It was like an orchestrated volleyball play, and you just thought, like cricket play.

I thought the Titans were just gonna find a way to do this. So I can't imagine what it was like for you to be in the stadium, which was very loud today. I'll give the charge wanted some validation after jumping on the Titans bandwagon. This was gonna be time. Well, I feel bad for their Justin did go across the sidewalk and attended this game, and uh, he's a pro because he's back in the studio. Now. I got Robert

Woods glove. How can you believe that? Wait, you got your go by the tunnel guy and I had to leave the game at at four o'clock, three minutes left in the game before the Titans completed their comeback. Randy Chavez was also in the stadium randomly with tickets by the tunnel, and he got this and gave it to me. So like Raber Woods hasn't really needed those gloves this year, So I I we were kind of joking that they're a little small. Actually I didn't not give it a whiff,

and I'm not really curious. Um, I think there was a turning point in this game. Titans missed a fifty one yard field goal, which, like you were just saying, Dan, the reason we played it for Cameron Dicker here by the way, hook him, uh, is that there's the difference between a seven and nine or nine and seven team like Randy Bullock has missed the potential game winning field goal early in the year for the Titans, that's could be a huge win when it comes down to the standings.

And then a fifty one yard or which like fifty one is not automatic, but there are some teams who have kickers where fifty one yards is automatic, and the Titans certainly zero in Sofi. Well, exactly, I mean he

should be able to hit a fifty one. I mean NFL kickers these days, fifty yards is like I hit a thirty yard field goal at Sofi stadium with the holiday party party, maybe you should kick for the The Titans end up in their first and ten at the at the Chargers twenty five yard line, and they end up kicking a fifty one yard field goal because they lose eight yards from there and get a fourth and eighteen after a second and sixteen following a Tannehill sack.

They run the ball second in sixteen for seven yards. You're a third and nine back to the twenty four yard line. I'm thinking, just be safe, run the ball and kick a manageable field goal. Titans call another pass play, give up another sack. Two sacks and three plays pushes them back, makes it a fifty one your field goal. If they just stay conservative there, you have a chance. I know. That's all part of what they are, which

is a terrible offensive line. Not many offensive lines have made the Chargers pass rush look fearsome this year, and it comes down at the end. I think to like, the Chargers have Justin Herbert who can make that throw at the end and the tight and almost every team in the league doesn't. And going into these last two weeks, we were talking about Sean Payton's gonna take this Charger's job. And I said these two weeks to decide Brandon Staley's career.

Here Dolphins Titans back to back, because the schedule gets easier. Now he ends up finding a way to win them both good defense, timely Herbert plays, and now they have like according to the projections most out there, the playoff projections like a seventy plus percent chance because they're the six seed at eight and six and their schedules easy. I would also say the Titans get in their own way because I was counting there. They are the worst

third down team in the league. They had the most three and ounce they were one and for nine today. I believe they had multiple third and two scenarios where Derrick Henry is not even on the field. I get that, we know it's gonna go to Derrick Henry if he is, but you're putting Tannehill in a situation where he's got a complete throws and he had a bunch of wayward scenarios on third down. He's trying to target Robert will it's on a quick out where um Asante Samuel Jr.

All Over him. It's not open. He's trying to throw the chicken Quanto on the sideline, Kyle van Noy in coverage, doing a great job. It's not open. He's like, I think the Titans offense is one of the worst in the NFL. I kind of feel like Greg feels about the Patriots right now, where I'm just like, this Titans team doesn't deserve to make the play. It's not Tannehill's. The Jaguars are playing right now, just so much better football.

The Jags, the Chargers, and I'll throw the Jets in that make I'm putting the Dolphins into it, like that makes the best uh playoffs. Like so if we're shuffling in the Chargers and the Jags for the Titans and and let's say the Patriots, like that's just mooring. It's more, it's more fun. The Titans are one of the most boring teams to watch, and then their offense is terrible. And it's happened so quickly, Um, this this flip that's happened in the a FC South that it no longer

feels stunning. If the Jaguars take this thing. They do have the Texans next week, but it's like the way the Texans are playing, they're gonna win that game out of trouble, Buddy, it really did. I mean it did turn on a dime the moment Mark jumped off the band Yeah, but I've I've I've now been thrown off the band wagon, so you can't it was nice to blame. The team actually has issues, and you can't just blame some guy in Los Angeles talking about football. Let's play Mark,

Let's take a break and we'll continue on. All right, I'd like to avoid this, but we can't um the NFC South. We gotta dig into it. Let's start with the team that everybody thought was gonna cruise to the title, and today it looked like they might have gotten themselves figured out. But guess what, they still stink. Bucks Bengals. Let's go Chase out to the left, Burrow looking his throw by Chase heats for the end zone touchdown Bengals Choe Burrow, where this third touchdown pass of the second

half unbelievable. Burrow would add a fourth touch down pass later in the game, the final touches in a thirty four win over the Bucks for the Bengals, a game gentleman that had Tampa Bay up seventeen nothing with about minutes of play in the second quarter. Uh Bengals kick a field goal and then scored thirty one points in the second half as they continued there. Uh so, just cruise through this section of their schedule, Greggy, the Bengals flexing their muscles, now up to ten and four. I

felt anything like a cruise, though. I don't know what to do with this game. It was so strange that they were down seventeen nothing, dead in the water late in the second half, hadn't moved the ball at all. It was clearly the best half of football the Bucks had played overall all season. I would say on both sides of the ball, they were fantastic. Brady was really sharp. Cincinnati gets three before halftime, but you don't think that's big a deal. And then it just becomes a turnover fest.

Four straight possessions, one on a fake punt where Geo Bernard didn't appear to know the play called would have gotten in the yard, and they snap it right to his helmet, so that gives the Bengals the ball in field goal position, but but they don't get anything again. The Bucks like stand up, and it's still seventeen six at that point, and then the next four possessions, bad interception by Brady, touchdown for the Bengals, fumble. I believe

that one was by Brady. The pressure got there quickly, but I think Brady will be mad at himself for fumbling that off or either not getting the ball quick right of the ball quickly and throwing it away on third down, or not securing it. Obviously, his offensive line was not playing well. He didn't have Tristan Works in this game, and Donovan smith uh then left later in

the game. They fumble again the next possession, and then Brady throws another interception on a pass that where it hit him in the arm the next position, So all four the Bengals have the ball in Buck's territory to start their possession, and they clean up with three touchdowns in a field goal, and suddenly the game was over. And at no point did it feel like hey, like the Bengals have solved everything offensively, but it didn't matter.

They have something special about them as a team that when they fall down, they make the big plays, and the guys like Trey Flowers and Logan Wilson are making huge plays there without their top two defensive ends. Because Sam Harberd left and Trey Hendrickson was already out, and it's like it doesn't matter. Someone steps up for this team. That's a sign of an awesome team. I thought they found another way to win, and like, sure they the Brady fumble gave them the ball at the Tampa Bay thirteen.

They got at the thirty nine when for Net fumbled. But I thought there was this other big play, Dann. We were watching this when Burrow, um, you know, weaving backwards on a fourth down play and get sacked for a twenty seven yard loss, a very Unburrow like operation right there. But there's the play is called back by holding and seconds later he's hitting Tee Higgins for a five yard touchdown and they've scored and a two point conversion of Tyler board and they scored twenty un answered points,

and at that point it's just, oh wait. The Bucks were great for this half, and it was a very unusual thing to watch because they've been such a mess in such a tough watch um, but then they shifted back into who they were, and I think that's who who the second half is who the Bucks are for most of the season. And I think I tweeted about it, like Tony Romo, I think I don't know if it's because he kind of there. He's a Tom Brady, he's

a contemporary when he was a player. He's obviously in the respect you obviously have for a man like Tom Brady. But you know you could tell like Romo wants Brady and the Bucks to figure things out, and in that first half, Tony was just like go over his heels, like with the praise of the Bucks that this is the best they've looked, and you know he was right. Though.

That's why this is I think is disappointing as any loss all season there has been for the Bucks, because you get to this point of the season where you're six and seven and you're playing the defending a f C champions and you're kicking their butts, and it's late in the second quarter, and you're thinking to yourself as you go to that locker room, even after you give up the last field goal, all right, like everything is

still in front of us. We can win this bad division and if we get our personnel right, and all of a sudden, Chris Godwin's looking better and Mike Evans is on the same page. With Brady, maybe we can make a season of it. I don't think there's any way that this team can wake up tomorrow morning and think there are anything else than just Also, isn't it just flipped from their other games where their their horrid for three quarters? Then Tom Brady has the big point

for one quarter? Just was it happened early? But this is a team that rarely plays sixty minutes football. To give you two has a lot to do with the coaching. This one felt flukey just because so many turnovers in a row. But Bolls feels how you feel. Dan After the game, he said, we gotta keep fighting. We understand what we're doing is not good enough. By fart's not even close. We've got three games left to try to

save our season. When was the last time you heard of a team who's in sole possession of first place with three games left of the season saying we've got three games left season? How many times in recent history is a team in six and eight and they're in

sole possession. They're kind of an uncharted territory. But I don't think that sounds like a team that doesn't believe and it's off and they shouldn't because it's not very good, and we keep on thinking they could be good, but they've given us so much evidence now for three months. The Titans right and it was a mature and like resourceful game by the Bengals, although I think they'll be a little concerned the average three point yards three point eight yards for play on the day. They never got

the ground game going. They couldn't find it. They couldn't buy an explosive play, uh from Borough. It was. It was a strange, strange game, but there they've learned, like how to win in any situation, so gotta have it Sunday. The Bucks didn't have to have it. They were gonna be in the first place no matter what, even if they lost. Who locked it? I locked it, and so did the West Brothers, sweating it out a little bit earlier. Actually, wait, now,

I should have played that once. I forgot Mark was thinking about changing his lock, but he's stuck with the Niners. It was just so good, all right. Let's move to another NFC South matchup. A gotta have a game for the Falcons with their new quarterback Desmond Rider and the Saints, who just needed a win to get into the well, not into the hunt. They don't do that for the

division race, but in this division nothing makes sense. And I said to that a low snap looks to throw, just throw complete across the mental the Saints haven he was hit five, Justin Evans was complete to Drake London and Evans hit and and if they say that that's not a complete I'm jumping out of this book. You never know by the way they said it was complete. So my cost did not jump out of the box for w w L. Because Justin Evans stripped Drake London.

It was the defining play in aen win for the Saints over the Falcons, who did not get a boost. It doesn't appear so from Desmond Rider in his first stought. So that as bad as the Saints have been this year, they're five and nine and still have a pulse in this division and the Falcons dropped to five and nine, and they've had many chances to try to stake their

claim to this division. But just another l I I hate to say, after beating the drum for Desmond Ritter for so long that my biggest takeaway from this game is the Falcons would probably win if Marcus Mario. That is a damning indictment of any quarterback. I mean just because Ritter played, you know what, one of the bottom ten games by a quarterback, I would say in the league this year. Maybe now we know why the head coach did not want to play. And you've seen this guy,

I've seen him. I've always wondered about that because you would think Mariotta would have been taken out of the lineup before this. But it was like, you guys don't understand what's going on in practice. Maybe Mariotto was so mad, I'm getting back. I don't know. Ritter showed something certainly in college and in the preseason, but he was confused. He end up thirteen twenty six for ninety seven yards, and that was after attacking on a couple throws at

the end. Uh, you just couldn't shoot straight. Basically, any time they dropped back to pass felt like they were doing the Saints a huge favor. The Falcons were able to run the ball, including Ritter who had six for thirty eight. They had two thirty one on the ground. Tyler algae Year was out there looking like Peyton Helens. We gotta hear from this committee because this is Mark skuy was Marks Guy. It's been six to eight weeks. It's funny you should say, because I did get a

voicemail during work today. Okay, hello, my name is excuse me Ted Becker. I am calling from the My Guy Committee. I am attempting to reach one Mark Stephen Sessler about running back for the Atlanta Falcons. Tyler Al the guy guy or Tyler al guyor Tyler Al. I'm sorry, I've never I've never pronounced this name, Tyler al Algae yere Algae. He is officially, uh, your guy. Like to apologize that this request was put in some time ago and we've

just been backed up. We've had a lot of absences lately, uh, people coming into the office given everybody the flu just crazy. I myself had it three times in the last two months, and quite frankly, I feel a tickle on the back of my throat already. So anyway, Tyler al Gayer is your your guy now, Mr Steven Sessler, and UH feel free to use that title for that player, uh in conversation, either in media or out of media, UM, but not in print. Uh, that was not approved. I think you

need to you need to refile for that. Unfortunately, there's a time limit on that, and there's a tickle on the back of my throat. Oh god, what a vitory not expecting that again, this happens almost every episode. There's a point in every episode. You need to watch the YouTube version of this show wherever you get this program, because for the first twenty seconds of Ted Becker's call, Mark's face was as tight and angry as you can imagine,

because he thought that Charlie Brown moment was coming. But no, Mark, you got your guy. Well I I you know, I held out a long time. I was prepared to critique that UM corporate office for basically the guy on the phone, Ted Schneeblely or whatever his name was, Ted Becker and his in his entire presentation. But um, it's worked out well. Tyler l Gear seventeen carries a hundred and thirty nine yards a touchdown, eight point two yards for cattle to

everything was after contact. He was running. He leads all rookies with rushing yards overexpected. He is a special player. May he is my guy. We haven't mentioned the yet. Yeah, the Saints are now one game back. You do you do think about that come back? The bucks at on Monday Night football, and think how the Saints would be in first place sole possession if not, they looked like a first place team. No they don't. They put they got a fourteen it so bad. They got a more

quickly and then did what they could almost blow. If you're a Saints fan, though, I think you're at least happy. Juwan Johnson is one of the most improved players I've ever seen in my life. Was a wide receiver, now now a tight end prohijia heat. Every time he touches the ball it's a sixty plus yard touchdown. And Chris Olavy another nice smooth game. So at least they have some fun offensive pieces. That's about it for this game. All right, did we cover all the teams the NFC South?

I don't think. Now we've got one more. I do want to say, though, this is the first time since the first ever game between Saints and Falcons that the Saints now owed the all time lead in this rivalry fifty four to fifty three. What a day you are the on the beat of this rivalry. That is good to know. Thank you, Greg. Yes, there's one more team in the division, another team booting an opportunity to make a play and and and get to January relevance. It

was the Carolina Panthers, well welcoming the Pittsburgh Steelers. Let's see what does he does. He goes over the top, touchdown Mitch Drobinsky and for Mitch his second of the year rushing. That's the way to go, Mitch Drobinsky, following your own hands and then pound it in, get it across that goal line. That's a great job of leading the way. That reminds me of the who was the character in the office, the woman who eventually married Michael Scotch.

He took over for Toby and hr and Holly, and Holly thought someone had had uh wrongly told her that Kevin Malone had intellectual disability and um, so she was being really nice to him every time, but it was Kevin doesn't have any issues like that, and he um. It just led to a little comic like a true true Mr disconnect there. And that's the way it sounds like these announces like great job, Mitch, I'm really proud

of you there, buddy, getting over that line. But Mitch Drobinsky, you know, he went into this game knowing full well that maybe a lot of people in his locker room didn't want him on the field. Everybody is really into Mason Rudolph in Pittsburgh for whatever reason, and there was some heat about him playing in this game with Kenny pick it out with the concussion. But Robinsky played um and he played pretty well for Mitch Drabinsky, including that.

The reason I chose that place specifically for the Steelers over the Panthers was that was the final play of a twenty one yard excuse me, twenty one play, nine one yard touchdown drive by the Steelers to start the

third quarter. That shoot up about twelve minutes of the clock. Uh. You don't see too many of those, and uh it kind of for a game that Pittsburgh really controlled for most of the game, this was the game that it was most uh typified what we saw uh down in Charlotte, where Caroline Panthers had some momentum and you thought they had a chance really to make a move and find

their way to first place in this bad division. But the Steelers, as they've been doing for the most part now for you know, the last five or six weeks, they're showing that they're a team that can play and they can they can win games, and they might get keep that five hundred tree going for Mike Thilin. Their offense has improved bit by bit consistently for five or

six weeks. And you know, I think if you look at one of the major discredit to this team early on was the offensive line, and they've been better and they there. Pat Meyer, the offensive line coach, is someone that like was on the hot seat I think heading into the season, and everyone's improved a little bit, and I mean it didn't fall off entirely with Trabisky. I have to ask you one little question on this game. Though I read that this is maybe one of my

favorite things. I'm just gonna read what I read. Steelers linebacker Marcus Allen just made it incomprehensible error, getting called for unsportsmanlike conduct for going into the Panthers huddle on their sideline one while Carolina faced four and seven. What was what was this? I've never seen anything like it. It was a time out was called before this play,

and you just see him and he had the replay. Uh, he wanders over to the far sideline and just inserts himself into the huddle of the Panthers and his talking

ish and it's an automatic first down. They they scored a touchdown after that, and I was thinking, the Steelers lose this game, that's like an all time and they had another I'm trying to think who the other one was on They had another unsportsmanlike conduct foul earlier in that game, and I was just thinking to myself, like, Mike Tomlin is gonna be cracking some skulls if they end up losing this game. But they didn't. And um, on the on the Panthers side, Um, Sam Donald was

a very Donald esque performance. He's done well in terms of protecting the football for the most part, although he did have a fumble in this game. Uh, but uh, the offense was a little bit just stagnant in general. Uh. They struggle to score points here and that's going to continue. You need the defense to be great, and they weren't

great in this game. And the part of the reason was Deante Johnson absolutely killed the Carolina secondary in this game with so many big catches, including big throws down near the end of Give Travisky credit for that as well. Well. He was the guy who said he wanted Mason Rudolph to play Deante Johnson and yeah, and the Steelers had thirteen edge of time and possession. They converted twelve of sixteen third down opportunities and that's when Deante did a

lot of his damage. So there you go. The Steelers continue to get better. The Panthers are, you know, just the team in the NFC South, which was the Mark Sessler drive of the I just thought that was the coolest thing that's happened on us. I mean I still have access to watch it. He does have his time. I was burning, but yeah, I do watch all the games at the same time. On this we go just quickly big picture. Pittsburgh's in the a f C at six and eight if so, they're kind of in it.

I mean they're really not in it, but they're two back with with three to play, so they're that much. If Indianapolis had won that game, we would have fourteen FC teams still alive. But there's so many of these six and eight teams. Jacksonville, who has a better chance because they're in you know, division race, and then Las Vegas, Cleveland, Pittsburgh. Maybe one of those three team goes total berserker and

gets the nine wins, and that's a bad thing. Yeah, it's not good that five and eight teams are alive going into weeks six. NFL wouldn't agree with that. I know they wouldn't have, but this is what they wanted. But I don't think it's suggest telling you it's a great thing. These teams, like those four teams are a perfect example, but especially Jaguars, Raiders, Browns. I would throw the Steelers like they're They weren't as bad as their

record before and now it's all even down. They all deserve to be They're all like six and eight teams and just has maybe better. A shout out to Pittsburgh's defense, which saxon Donald four times and completely shut down the Carolina running game, which had had average close to two yards in their five wins, had twenty one yards on sixteen carries. So you know that I am a Donald defender. But if you take ways running game and you say, Sam, you need to leave this offense, Sam, it ain't gonna work.

Let's take a break and we'll be right back al right. Beefy beefy week, No buys. So we keep rolling on. Let's head to Soldier Field, where the Eagles are looking to put the NFC in a vice gript they line up and they stick and that was a penalty flying they called the touchdown. Now it could have been defensive, that's what that is. He knows. I don't. I don't

know how we got to that point. I that was Jalen hurts third rushing touchdown of the of the day, which by the way, has not happened on QB design runs by any quarterback ever in the next gen stats era. So I thought that I thought that would be an interesting call seven years They also they also I'll get into why this was a little bit of a different game. Yes, I didn't think it was. There might have been a full looks like I did not commented. I mean, I

I agree with you. That was milk toast. Jalen Hurts, Yes, tied a career high by running for three touchdowns. The Eagles beat the Bears. Interesting Eagles are thirteen and one. That matches the best starting franchise history. But Mark Sessler, this was not easy as many of us anticipated. It wasn't And I would say that, you know, we say the Eagles keep finding different ways to win each week. Uh, this would be the case again because they had overcome

a lot of their own issues. Jalen Hurts uncharacteristically through two interceptions. Uh the Eagles route played for a big chunk of the first half. Jake Elliott, with the team up seventeen thirteen, missed the thirty eight yard field goal they allowed Byron Pringle to essentially run in four share it with us. I have to do not disturb on.

I don't know what's happening in Sometimes perhaps it was what can you let her know we're doing she's watching, Actually she's watching the live stream, which you can go to NFL dot com. Mark. Yeah, I'm not surprised that you actually would love to know that she just did that to Mark. I'm not surprised at all. You stopping Mark, you gotta argue that, and then Greg stopping Dan from stopping Mark from stopping justin so it's just like I'm going to fold up the laptop and someone's utterly exhausted

as the host. I'm sorry, Mark. I had to address because the audience obviously was thrown for a loop there as well, and I just didn't want to leave them out in the cold. It was a delightful bell. We didn't need to die. The sound in the podcast version because it was a very strange to take it out. Now you have to, alright, go ahead, Mark, Well, it's just was saying the Eagles like they were not perfect

like they've been the last couple of weeks. They didn't even give miles and we got to wrap up this, uh this episode because she was starting to get fired up show under the next game, Like what is the point of doing this? I'm just saying, I'm I'm starting to see the anger building and I just find it like I find it. I find it tedious to take notes on a game and then none of them are given to the listener. It's like, I feel for the listener. I feel for the listener. That's the ultimate loser here.

They struggled and they overcame their struggles. That's all. The's all I'll say about it at this point. Anyway, what else give us some more that son Reddick seemed like a j Brown and this is not going to be favorable for Justin's ears a career high one eighty one yards. He was dominant when they started to make plays. This is like this was their bad game. It kind of reminded me of the Chiefs game. It's like the Chiefs had a bunch of issues they got out of it.

What were the Chiefs on the other side mostly what we think this was Philadelphia's version that they still had four hundred yards of offense. They still had a defense that had three players with two sacks that dominated the Bears outside of Justin Fields doing a couple of magical things. Field got hurt at one point, it came back in. They've clinched the division. They basically have Dallas next week that can be the number one seed that they win.

That this was the Phillies bad game. I don't know who's going to stop him in the NFC and left San Francisco plays one of their best operations, one of the best outings, and yet it's like box office Justin Fields in a game against you know, Jalen Hurts. Who's in the mix for m v P. I'm not saying Justin Fields should be in the mix for m v P in anyway, but think of how valuable he is to the Bears, that he more or less by himself.

They like that. I'm saying, in this game, how much value does he now have that he runs fift He's on his way to having the greatest season rushing the ball any quarterback in the history leagues. Everybody say he's almost too valuable to this team. No doubt the fact that he has them competing in this game. It's pretty special and at least it's exciting in a weird way.

The Bears keep stacking these losses while justin Field keep his balling out is perfect because they're gonna have uh the tour, maybe the two or the three pick in a draft with Jalen Carter like they You know, they also have about forty seven million more cap dollars than the next closest team. The fellow I've been doing the free agency list like it's a bunch of players you don't want to be spending a lot of monty. Also the point being they don't have a ton of cash

tied up in a bunch of junk. Anything else in that reporter's journal ark there's a ton more. But I think we need to you know, we're being told it's time to hurry the show up, and we don't want to listeners. If there's something else in there, well I'll email it to the listeners. All right, Let's then move back to Saturday. Why don't we were the Cleveland Browns. They were trying to stay in the in the hunt category, but they had to beat the af C North leading

Ravens to do it. Could they five step drop looking left, he swings it let People's Jones he's in standing up, touchdown, the touchdown pass from the Shawn Watson the Donovan People's Jones from three yards out and Cleveland expands its lead. All right, So there was a historic opening game Saturday. There was a highly memorable game in the snow in Buffalo at the end of the night. In the middle

was you know, you don't usually have this. The worst part of the sandwich was all the meat in the middle, which was the Ravens and the Browns, and the Browns take care of business against Ty Huntley with a Lamar Jackson inact of a thirteen to three win. That Donovan People Jones three yard touchdown catch came from Deshaun Watson, who was making his home debut for Cleveland. So there you go. The Browns um have one. Uh. This game

in Baltimore entered having one six of seven. Now drop behind the Bengals who are looking up in the n f C North. This would be like two beautiful, perfectly created and cooked heated buttery pieces of sour dough bread with some stale mannaise in the middle, out of data, and you just manaise out of date mannaise to your parallel. You don't like me, And this game lasted about two hours and fifty minutes. It was perfect for me, But Greig, I don't like stale mayonnaise either. Just to throw that

at you. But I'm just saying, get I don't think I disliked this game as much as as you guys did. Was serviceable. It happened quickly. It's it was it was I mean, it just was over so fast. There were so few possessions, nine each. The Ravens only punted one time. You know how hard it is to score three points

when you only punt once. Here here's how you do it. Uh, You get inside the ten, call a play for your fullback who has like space, and he can't get a half a yard on John Johnson, who outweighs by about forty yeard. It's nice defensive played by John Johnson. You get inside the ten another time, Denzel Ward picks off a pass. De Sean Jackson doesn't fight for really not a great throw either. Zero points there inside the ten. Twice you get Justin Tucker to miss two field calls.

What the heck happened there? Uh, you throw a fumble and then the only touchdown that you give up or you have a fun ball and then the only touchdown you give up in the game was after you stopped the Browns out of three and out. But there was a penalty on a face mask by Justin Houston. It was just a really sloppy game from the Ravens and the Browns, to their credit, has been playing better defense

overall and didn't make many big mistakes. And the Browns hurt the Ravens in every possible way you could outside of a dominant offense. I do think Deshaun Watson looked better. There were moments where you thought he looked a little more comfortable. Their offense is not what it was before, but even you know, I think it was important for Nick Chubb to get have a bit of a better game. He has had a tough couple of weeks. But Cleveland's defense,

which is really cost them this season. Sometimes against these divisional opponents, they show up and then they vanish again. But the Ravens they had. They've had these close games with the Ravens and this was another one of them. And Miles Garrett like I don't know, every week he seems to be I know, he's not a defensive Player of the Year because their defense isn't special and what does that really even mean? But he is among still the top five defenders in the entire game. Got to

play like a lot of weeks. They play like an eight and six team, which they easily could have been if if they just closed out a couple of those brutal losses they had earlier in the year. So there's certainly no pushover. And if if Watson continues to get better, although these are baby steps to say he's getting better, uh, you know, they're gonna be trouble, maybe as soon as next year, and there they could be in berserker mode for the rest of the season. By the way, the

they have a pretty easy schedule. I looked at the six and eight teams, they have the easiest schedule among them. All winnable games here. Well, remember it was Nick Shook who forked the Browns, so that comes that he needs to reach out to a local food bank in Cleveland

if the Browns and probably make the playoffs. But you know what, I think he would sign off on that this was a wonky game, uh, in terms of scheduling as well, because you had the first game, which was the classic with all the scoring and it went to overtime. So NFL Network held all these games, so they throw it to this game in the second quarter, so you missed the first quarter and then the game goes super quickly and then all of a sudden and ops to Colleen and Steve Smith and m j D. And I

don't want to leave the last person out? Who else was Mike Rob? Real Rob? They all sa had to feel like forty five minutes to an hour, I believe it was, and they did it expertly. So really a strange, stale mayo. I think it has to be a meat product in between the sour dough though lamb's tongue, So

this is the lamb's tongue of the sandwich. I would sign off on that I was at a place um at the base of a mountain called the Party Doll, watching Colleen and m j D and the rest try to get through that it was a very strange time. She she was tough out there, no gloves on, and Steve we're hurting, was ready to go. They were getting after Mike Ravens are going to be killing themselves that they ran. Edwards went seven point nine yards per carry and Dobbins went nine point six and they managed to

like not be that competitive in this game. It's a pretty costly I liked the real Rob's leather jacket that zipped up like like indent left and he kind of looked like a Z's friend in the leather from a pulp fiction the third act of pulp Ficture. It was a very out of the game collection. UM. Anyway, Uh, let's move on. We have one more game to hit. Back to Sunday. It was at Mile High Stadium, and this will be quick. They tossed it left side. Here

comes Murray blocker out and side five touchdown. Stretch gets up and go celebrating. He's around weather this year. Dave Logan with a call ko A. Russell Wilson cleared concussion protocol, but the decision was made by Nathaniel Hacking and the Broncos to keep him on the bench after that. Um getting knocked out last week, so Brett Rippon steps in and get some help from Octavius Murray and the defense plays well again has been the case all season for

the Broncos. That has never been the problem. And against the Cardinals team without Kyler Murray, they get the win to Murray greg Ran for a hundred and thirty and a touchdown. He's looked good and Marlon macklock better in this game, like keeping careers going here in Denver. It was sad game though, because Colt McCoy went out with a concussion, and considering his concussion problems over the years, it's concerning. He was on a third and one uh

QB sneak at that point. The game was close. Trace McSorley came in and and was overmatched against this Broncos defense, and it wasn't that close. It was interesting. I saw that there was not eighteen thousand plus no shows empty seat Denver. In Denver, that's a that's a big deal. That is a football crazy town that has always loved their Broncos. That tells you, I mean the owner, it's

new ownership. They're freaking out when they see all those empty that's I mean, I think it's the top three football town of any NFL city, and I have friends that have sitting season tickets there and I you know they're they've been unhappy obviously, but to not show up because even when the team's bad, and they had a lot of bad teams, it's still a great party. And so it's like really basically a very loud voice saying fix this now. And I don't know what you go

into next season with. But Greg, I mean not to belabor this conversation. If Brett Rippian is going twenty one for twenty six, is it just a little short dump off passes and screens? What are we looking at here? That's that's so much better than what Russell Wilson was. That's something like wild not good throws. But I don't know. He had a couple of darts in there too, across the field and the son of or the related to an NFL champion. I just mean there were some pretty

nice throws in there. I'm not going to say his father's name was Mark Mark Rippian, but I wanted to make sure that it wasn't. I'm like, sure it wasn't his uncle or something that was last name Rippian. I say, rip, That's how I've always said it. I know you always say it that way. There are things I say, they say it ripping for what it's worth. Well, then I should probably correct how I'm saying. Why one of those

last names? Are you here? Different ways? I've only heard it from you, Rippean, it's R Y P I E N. So I think even as a child, a young football fan, I was hearing it. Exactly, I understand. So if it was in your head back, then it's not. I'm not trying to stage shade confrontation with the family over as Merry Christmas from the Rampians exactly. All right, We've come to the end of the yellow Brick Roads. Sunday Night football from Landover Giants Commanders. The winner seventies something we

sent chance of making the playoffs. The loser thirty something percent chance of making the playoffs. Yeah, you could say it's a big game. Shiant fans on their feet here in Washington, trying to urge on this defense. Heinecke in a shotgun set. It's the snap, he's back to throw, he's under pressure, he backs away from pressure, still looking now,

rolls left, clows into the end zone. And it's not the way to complete Carne Holmes knocking away Tipodeaux had a monster game, but Darnay Holmes makes to keep playing on Samuel and the Giant fans rejoice here at FedEx Field hows they hold on on a fourth and goal the sixth, leading by eight. New York City. If you're here in the tinsel Town tune stars, you know the Jiman came out on top with some help from the officials. Man, the officials did not cover themselves in glory this weekend.

I'll tell you what a wow own. That was a pass interference. Anyway, the Giants get the big stop Cavon Thibodeau had our friend, our buddy had the big sack bumble recovery touchdown earlier in the game. That set the tone, and Washington looked like they were going in for a score. In fact, they did go in for a score, and we're setting up for the two point conversion to try to push the game to overtime, but no, another contrayson calling.

Terry McLaurin wipes away a t D and then yes, that final player you just heard, twenty to twelve final Giants in control now for that playoff spot, and Mark Sessler um good job by the Giants. Again, this kind of harkened back to the earlier part of their season where they kind of find a way. Yeah, I mean i'd I'd point to Brian Dable making what I thought was the call of the game. There was that really incredible.

And we've seen a couple of great drives today. Um, this was an eighteen play nineties seven yard drive that eighty eight up eight plus minutes and he went forth from fourth to nine from the Commanders thirty five and it went They converted and went on to score a touchdown to go fourteen to three. I'd love that about Dable. That's the one thing about this team all year long. Are they a talented team? Are they their record? No?

But Dable has put them in position to do those types of things where I flipped the flip it around and look at riverboat Ron, who is not riding on a riverboat at the moment. Who chose to two points punt from the Giants thirty four yard line and also from the Giants forty yard line, And these are two teams that look at look at similar situations in different ways.

Everything you're saying I agree with, but I can't get past the end of the game in the way that this was handled by the refs, because Terry mcclaurin looks twice to the officials on the side to see if he's lined up properly. Because when the guy in the slot moves out, he now has to be at the line of scrimmage. He looks over twice to the official and and twice it appears he doesn't get any signal to say, no, you're not there. I would love to

hear what they're saying after the game about that. And then a clear and obvious p I also goes against Washington here and yet Greg, I guess the way to look at it is, yes, they kind of got job there, but there was some fumble luck and interception luck dropped interception by Taylor Heineke on a fumble snap, So it was a bit of a sloppy and in general, but God, what people are gonna be talking about is the officiating, which is stinks, you know, like this, It was fitting

for these two teams that it came down to the end like that, and it was a little ugly at the end because Washington could not finish drives throughout the night. Did they score touchdown. They score one touchdown in the game, and they got inside the tent a few times there at the end. But the past interference was so beyond play. And it wasn't just at the catch point where he has his hands all over him and his restricting dots and Johan Dotson who made a great catch earlier in

that drive to set up the game ending sequence. Uh. He also grabbed Dotson's arm earlier in the route to the point where Dotson had to like move up his sleeves during the play. I've never seen that before, Like do you need to have your sleeves back in place during the play. But that's that's how much contact there was, and it is a disappointing end uh to the game.

But I don't think it should take away from that se Juan Barkley performance either, um in terms of him breaking tackles in that last drive that that felt like kind of a great sae Quon Barkley moment, uh in a season where he had been struggling over the last month. Is there not a better argument for reviewing past interference. Maybe you review past interference in the red zone. YEA,

I know, but we could be through it. But if the if the answers, we don't you get this tonight, because Dan, I agree it like you asked me to, Like, there's no bigger playing this game than that, and that's that's going to be the talking point, and no other play kind of matters. But the thing is there were a lot of other players that mattered in this game that when it comes down to that, if that can't be reviewed, the McLaren think it actually is more mystifying

to me. Well, here's the thing, and I Collinsworth said it, and collins with obviously he's been doing this a million years, and he played the game and he he makes the comment that the officials do not want to make a call in that point of the game. And I agree with that. When it's ticky tack, when it's just hand fighting, yes you let the game get settled. But when it crosses that line where it's very clear what's happening, you

just can't miss that call. And and I just think after especially the way this weekend started with the Vikings and there were some just terrible officiating in that game as well. To have another Island game at the end of otherwise great weekend of football, it's crazy um, that's just the way it played out. But you know, Washington, it feels like if they look back on this season and it's outside the playoffs, it wasn't just those calls.

It was the previous possession where they're going towards the end zone again and Heineke gets knocked down and loses the ball and they review it and it's a fumble. Another huge turnover in this game. And I think for Washington, while the momentum they had coming off the by with the Giants and a lot of trouble, to let this game get away at home, that hurts. Yeah, And there's

it's there are little other things like they were. It was fourteen to nine, and why because Washington converted to two point conversion, there's an O P I so it's taken away. They line up Joey slide for the P A T and he misses it. I mean, just little points and plays left on the board here for Washington because they are sloppy team. So are the Giants in

many ways. And it's like, all right that you could play this time things twelve times and they probably would each when at six there I don't see a huge difference between these It's crazy. This is uh, this is a case for having a week off. Arrest is like overrated because they tied, the Giants had the week off that while the Giants are getting blasted come back and then lose. I gotta give the Giants defense credit for

playing with a lot of energy. I know the stats ended up being in Washington's favor, but especially early in the game, Thibodeaux was all over the place. He gets seven. We we said, I think going into it, they're gonna need some Heineke mistakes in this game. In Heineke through the ball well, but he lost two fumbles. He fumbled twice against the Giants on in the first game against them as well. And those two fumbles and Thibodeau scoring seven and getting a few other tackles for lost also

twelve total tackles. Like he's in coverage on one of the biggest plays in the game. I'm not sure about that, but it's like he was all over the place. Ocelari had a big play at the end to like their defense played with energy. That was on that third and six where he's dragging Heinike down to the ground own and Heinik throws these short and completion, which the Giants probably just need to win one more game. They're well,

they're at eight wins. If you get to nine in less Detroit UH or Seattle wins, all three Giants are probably in. And according to ESPN Analytics, the Giants now have a nine percent chance of reaching the playoffs and Washington is down to thirty six. So just a massive uh swing in that game. I have our friend Mark Cavon Thibodeau. He did that thing on the field where they take your camera and you do the selfie video and you're very amped up. I'm gonna play it for

everyone right now. You see all we got one on and you see my hair crazy. But that's December. Football is below two degrees and were trying to play and we're trying to finish. Man, go big Blue. I wish we had that guy in the studio back in June. Mark. He got poked in the I at the end of the game, Thibodeaux, But this is why they made him a top five pick in the draft, to have this type of impact game in primetime. That was his coming

out party. Big game. Yeah. I think if we could have um, you know, seen the future and told him how the asked couple the last month or so, we go for him and share that news with the nut interview might have gone a little bit better, But I would say this, he is has been a successful pick for the Giants so far last like four or five six weeks. He's making plays every single time they finally have someone. Now the Giants are in a much better position.

And yet I'm just gonna be real with the listeners, I don't want to watch either of these teams in the playoffs. I'm rooting for a scenario where they both fall out. I don't know if that's possible, the backers even could get in there, or I'm just saying two of those three teams I've seen enough. NFC Washington has San Francisco, the Eagles in San Francisco, Cleveland, and Dallas,

So Washington is not so easy slate. The first round of the NFC playoffs isn't gonna be so hot because you're gonna have an NFC South team and one of these types of teams. For what it's worth, NBC's Terry McAuley, who's their referee guy, said it was definite dp I on Giants and end Zone and he wouldn't have thrown the flag for commander's wide receiver lining. Oh but how do you see the problems? Right? I gotta say macauley. I could be wrong here, But is it mere? Does it?

Seemed like some of the other official analysts Sometimes there's a lot of officials. I think McCauley comes for the heads. Yeah, that's why he gets bricks through his window with the paper with the rubber band, Like stop now, Terry. He won't. He won't stop because he can't, because he's a beacon of truth. You can't stop a name. A man named Terry can't stop it. Terry. Okay, the West Bros locked the commanders, did they? Why do I never we taped

too many shows? Okay, all right, good stuff, good app Not keep it up this week? Nick? Why you gotta do that? You don't need it? Um? Nick hanging there? But hey, keep fighting. We'll be back on Monday, Monday Night Football recap, Greg Rosenthal and Bill barn about coming back Billy be visit to talk Rams and the Packers from lambeau Field. And then we'll be back Tuesday. And then we go through the whole thing again. The wheel,

the wheel and the sky keeps on turning. Steve Burd all right, thanks for sticking around, he'd the call