They Around the NFL podcast wants the NFL to change the name of every holiday.
Welcome to another edition of Around the NFL. My name is Dan Hansis, and I have with me heroes virtually across the Southland and beyond. Greg Rosenthal, Mark Sessler. Happy Day After Thanksgiving presented by the National Football League in honor of John Madden. I don't think I have all the wording right, but probably close enough.
Happy Thanksgiving Day After, presented by John Madden? Did did you? Did you boys enjoy and enjoy the day?
Yes, had a great day. I noticed that the Black Friday Jets Dolphins ad that they ran came very close in tone and sort of authority to Dan's suggestion that at some point will just be rolling games out on Easter Sunday. They kind of like made it clear, are we now own this day?
Right?
They got it, They got thanks They've always had Thanksgiving and now they have Friday. And that's coming up in a couple hours. We're gonna be watching that game and we'll have the recap of that on the Sunday Show.
But for today, and it was a very nice Thanksgiving.
We host it every year at our house and it's a friends giving, but you know the friends are very close, so it's a like family. So it's a it's a great holiday. And the one thing in the NFL really has nailed about it, it is you know, you can't imagine Thanksgiving without football, and especially without that first game in
Detroit with the Lions. A game boys that we're gonna get to first, we're gonna go in order that none of us kind of expected to playing out this way, and it kind of changed for me a lot of my thoughts about the NFC underneath, you know, the big boys, which I don't count the lines among At this point, let's hit it. Twenty three fourteen Packers, three forty five to go in the third, watch into the left, snap to Love Loft the left side of the end, ton kut touchdown, Christian Watson.
Yes, yes, they make the Lions pay sixteen yard touchdown reception. It's twenty nine to fourteen. Wayne Larravie with the call for WR and W.
And you know, we thought we were gonna hear from Wayne from Dan Miller of the Lions, because everything seems set up for the Detroit Lions in this great revitalization period to announce themselves as a dominant force and kick butt on Thanksgiving.
But it went the other way.
The Packers win twenty nine to twenty two, and it really wasn't that close things were. The tone was set on a Jordan Love fifty three yard pass to Christian Watson on the game's first play.
Greg, we talked about it on the Wednesday preview show.
They lead the league and explosives like that, and they just kept taking it to the Lions. Greg, Lions team that, on top of being flat flooded to start the game, just killing themselves with the mistakes throughout the afternoon and they could not put it together.
They couldn't. I mean, on some level, it starts with Jared Goff, you know, turnovers for the second straight week. But I really think it starts back in Week seven, and that's when we saw the Lions play the Ravens, and that was a game they were so comprehensibly destroyed on every level. Did make you think, hmm, well you can throw that out like a little bit, but let's
see how that goes. Since then, they've played four pretty lackluster teams, five if you want to count the Packers, although they're certainly playing better now, and they're the worst defense or the second worst defense in the league, depending on what metric you want to use. They all agree. And that's a five week sample size. And that's against some pretty good quarterbacks, you know, like Justin Herbert and
Lamar's in there. But it's also against the Raiders and Jordan Love who is playing better and better every week, but is not a top ten quarter back right now. And all these guys are having career days against them. And I'm with you, Dan, I think they can improve, but right now, it's hard to see them in the mix with the truly great NFC teams.
Hmmm, I don't know. I mean, I if we talk about them as a playoff possibility, I think they're going to test for that number seven spot. I think yesterday. I mean, I'm with you, Dan, and.
The Lions, you think are going to test for them?
I'm talking about I'm saying Green Bay absolutely now.
Yeah, I'm talking about the Lions at eight and three. I'm not I'm not putting with.
No.
I think the Lions, like to me, like the good to watch. How their their strength was was their offensive line, and I thought that their offensive line was one of the reasons that Jared Goff had been you know, pristine going back to last season in many ways, and everything's changed over the last couple of weeks, like three lost fumbles yesterday, six turnovers over the last two weeks. So lucky they got out of that Bears game with a win, and it you know, in this division that seemed to
be essentially just kind of handed up to them. I'm looking to my point before, I'm looking at Green Bay and thinking, like, wait a minute, they're changing before our eyes. Their quarterback is, their passing game is, and I look at that game and like, I don't really remember Matt Lfloor having a better performance as a coach. I think no one expected that to happen the way it did. He came in with a surprising game plan. They stomped
Detroit at home, doing what they do well now. And it's a different Packers team than before because of their quarterback, because they're young wide receivers and I'm not really sure what the ceiling is for the Packers at this point. It's like they're still kind of growing before our eyes. But it's like they absolutely like I thought a week ago, oh, the Vikings will take that number seven spot. I don't know anything right now. Green Bay like is kind of an unpredictable Well.
Listen, there's room for the Packers and the Vikings eblines in the in the playoffs, and and the Vikings will get their game on on Monday night to continue to
build for them. But yeah, I think I don't think if the if Detroit had a more difficult schedule, if they had Seattle schedule for exams, for instance, and we're going to get to the Seahawks a little bit later, I'd be very worried about a tailspin for this team, because you've seen the golf and the offense really kind of stumble, and this could be a slumper, it could be the sign of an ugly come back to earth.
It's probably closer to a slump.
But the schedule is so soft that I think Detroit is gonna be okay and get to that. You know, eleven wins they you know, probably eleven, they feel to me like eleven and six. That's gonna be enough, probably
to win the division. The Packers are now a team of fascination for me because of love mostly, I mean, and you're right about Lafleur, because you know, he was taken on a lot of criticism early in the season, and I think there was some like, you know, kind of sideway glances like he was being exposed now without Aaron Rodgers. But instead you look at this team now as they have as we head toward the final stretch after Thanksgiving, and he's got Jordan Love playing at a
high level. For the last few weeks, he was an excellent quarterback and that's a huge benefit or a credit to an offensive minded coach like Lafleur. So he has the offense cooking. The big plays continue to be a part of things. Christian Watson is coming out of his shell. I think he's gonna have a big close to the season now. And yeah, I like the Packers as a team that can make the playoffs, and.
I would not have predicted that a couple of weeks ago. Did we fork them?
I don't think we did.
Know, Okay, good, I have no recollection whatsoever of our four community. They do have the Chiefs, you know, next week, but after that all the games are winnable, and so I'm with you. But even if they don't make the playoff, whatever happens this season is somewhat about Jordan Love the GM goota cunts. I think he said that. I don't remember if that was that the bye week ORF, it was after the bye week of Like, you know, this
is an important stretch here for Jordan Love. And I think back to that Rams game, and I do think that's when it all changed. I know that the box score wasn't crazy in that game they won twenty to three, but his decision making was really good. And then he played well again the next week against the Steelers, and I remember saying at the time of the show, I thought those are his best two games of the season
in a row. I know he had some nice touchdown interception ratio early in the season, felt a little fluky, felt a little fake to me, to be honest, Like he had some nice throws, but it wasn't him doing it in these last four weeks, and you saw it yesterday was some next level quarterback stuff. He's a very weird quarterback, but he passes the test where if he's protected, he could obviously make some big plays. They cooked up
the Lions in play action. They attack their weaknesses deep down the field, and they're not good deep down the field. But the thing I like about him is you see that side arm angle to Heath early in the game. You saw the accuracy on the touchdown to read. But if you kind of go through his snaps on a snap to snap basis, he seems like a quarterback. Like he seems like he's making decisions, he's recognizing blitz as
he's getting a second and third reads. I think he makes some crazy throws and he's not the most accurate
quarterback in the world. So there's a little ups and downs, But like the processing, the men mentality of it all is like, Okay, this is a quarterback, and if if he keeps building off this, if he plays like this at all for the rest of the season, it's like, Okay, we've got year two of Jordan Love in this very affordable contract, and we at least know we're going into year two with him still as our quarterback.
Yeah, i'd also, you know, we on Thursday we noted like the laundry list of injuries that the Packers had coming into this game, and so a lot of that play action happened without Aaron Jones in the lineup. And like earlier on in the year, when Aaron Jones was lost for a long stretch of time, like it really handicapped and capsized the offense, and like yesterday that just was not the case, like aj Dillon did just enough
for him. But the aggressive nature of what Lafleur has loved doing, I think is very exciting for Packers fans because I don't know about a month ago, I was like, I don't know about this Jordan love thing. It's like, we'll see, like he seems very middle of the road, and there has been like tangible, visible growth and their young wide receivers are growing along with him. The same way I felt about like the Steelers coming into the year with all these like young weapons and I don't
think they're weapons at all. Happened across the board in Pittsburgh is how I feel about Green Bay now. So it's like I thought yesterday was one of these games like changed the way a lot of people feel about two different teams.
On the other side, at the quarterback position, we've touched on it briefly here, but I thought Gough was terrible and he's coming off a multiple turnover game the week before, but this time the ball security was woeful at riding me of the late period with the rams. He was missing throws as well. There were miscommunications with his wide receivers. They couldn't get on the same page. He was an
issue for them in this game. And if GoF is not going to be his pristine self he's been for the majority of his career with Detroit, then the defense is going to be what it is right now. That is the recipe for a lot of losses. Here's Dan Campbell on his team's sudden swoon again.
And the easy thing is to get in panic mode. And I know you know what it looks like, and it wasn't good enough out there, But I'm not paniced. We got the right guys here. We know how to play. We got to clean some things up and we'll have six to go when we get back, and the fight's on, man. I mean, I think there's gonna be some cruise control. We're gonna have to fight and scratch and fight and call for everything. Man.
We have to.
That's the type of team we are. That's where we're at.
All right, any other thoughts on this game?
Boys, I thought I thought we saw a little bit from Jamison Williams, But I want to just note that one of our listeners chimed in with something I'd mentioned on the Thursday show about I thought, you know, various matronly aunts around the country would take a look at Sam laporter who had a nice start to the game. Then the thing went sideways. But I don't know if we have this.
Tweet, Eric, let's hear it out loud.
Okay, So another prophecy fulfilled. My aunt, well not matronly, definitely took notice of Sam Laporta during the Lions game. She's also not a football fan. They showed him and golf in quick succession. So I verified and she even parroted back Laporta's name.
Hmm.
It is a weird tweet.
It is a weird tweet, but I appreciate it.
Quiet storm.
I think everything about it is.
Ques whether this is this is like real or it's a Mark shadow.
Or a Mark burner. Mark, did you write that?
I don't.
I don't even use uh like X myself much.
Less have about the truth.
No.
I just saw it this morning and it caught my eye that, like you know, I I think it's just matching it up on like the aunt archetype individual with Sam Laparda. Laporta's like physical being.
He's a he's a he's a young, beefy young guy, a young gronk.
Was your prediction that he was hot and would notice I thought that he would have a massive game.
No, it was more that, like, you know, the aunt who's not football like enthused, would be in the room and just notice him the physical specimen.
Yeah, you mentioned the O line, like there's a weird sort of almost analytics off about how good this old line actually is, because like everyone thinks it's one of the best lines in the league. It's certainly like, for instance, grades as one of the elite lines in the league. Pass rush win rate, run black win rate not so great. Certainly, the eyeball test the last couple of weeks not so great.
And Jared Goff, more than any quarterback in the NFL, is impacted by pressure and and just turns into a totally different dude. So it's like, I don't know, They've had a couple injuries and y Tie is not coming back. I don't believe. And it's interesting because I think the whole idea with Campbell was we're gonna be great on the lines, and they're d line with Hutchinson and McNeil. Even though those two players are both good, they're bad and so now like they just don't get enough pressure
and their cornerbacks they're bad. That's a bad combo, not enough pressure and bad cornerback. So on one side, you got some issues. On the other side, if the O line starts creaking, then you're right, Dan, But I'm not panicking in both of these games. It's like, even in a bad game, they still get like four hundred and sixty four yards. They're gonna move the ball like I know it was.
There was a garbage lipstick on the pig there late too.
Greg, absolutely, but they were moving the ball when they're not turning it over seven times in the last two weeks or whatever. All I'm saying is like they're going to be getting first downs. They are a nasty running team. I'm not too worried about them there, but the defense is like legit bad. And if they're the home team
and they're it's all about it. We're a ways away from the playoffs, but they are the team the five or the six seed might want to be playing here in the playoffs because you could put up a forty burger.
If I'm a Detroit fan. I'm I'm not letting it be known. I'm a little bit nervous right now.
That's what ID degree, A little bit.
Analytics off. Greg. You said that sounds like the worst time ever.
And by the way, I did last night watched the Barry sanderstock on Amazon and reminded you of his greatness and also the you know, the struggles of being a Lions fan, especially from the perspective of Eminem, Jeff Bridges and Tim Toole time Allen. Why does that document he was always have to be back. We need to get these celebrity sports fans. And it's like like Tim Allen was in this documentary for like maybe two lines.
I watched the first hour maybe so far. I was waiting for Walker to get back. On whatever night that was, he went to the Lakers game with the front and I did not see Tim Allen. I haven't gotten quite to the end, but I thought when Jeff Bridges said he identified with Barry.
That was incredible.
I loved it that Barry was just a man the life, the juice. It's all from when the whistle blows to when the whistle stops and anything other than that. He doesn't need, Just like Jeff Bridges, there's a certain type of actor when they call cut to when they call cut, that's that's when it that's when it matters, and other than.
That, it's nothing.
So yeah, parallel, it was kind of crazy to watch Barry Sanders now and those those clips don't age at all and you're like, oh, yeah, that would still be by far the best run back in the league.
It's Sanders story, which I think I've shared on the show, and I was hoping he was going to make it into the dock, but nobody contacted me. Is when our old boss, Justin Hathaway Mark worked us eighty hours for that first Super Bowl in Indianapolis Giants Pats two, and he had me cover the flag football a celebrity flag football game, and Barry Sanders is on the game. It was on one of the teams and was not involved with the offense. They were running the offense through Maria
Minunos and Barry Sanders is there. Nobody's even talking to him, and I'm like, that's like maybe the greatest running back who ever lived.
That's an odd that's not approach to offense. It feels like a chip Kelly invention.
All right, good stuff.
And the Packers, by the way, thank you Eric Roberts. Seventeen players were on the injured list in that game as well. They had no business going there and bullying the lines in that spot.
So interesting.
All right, let's move to the middle game. And by the way, we did fork the Panthers, Pats, Broncos, Bears, Cardinals, and then I belatedly and my apologies, uh I forked the Giants.
So those are the four teams. Maybe we'll revisit it in the upcoming week.
Broncos, you know, making a sweat a.
Little bit, a little bit, a little bit time.
All right, let's head to Big d where the Cowboys were not in the mood for any type of competitive contest. Second and ten as a Dallas forty three howls back throws it.
Oh my god, god, it's playing. It's plain.
He's got one, no way twenty he touch left, he breaks the tackle of the cat.
Stop is he's did it?
But god, the whole defense is going on the land of the kettle.
That is unbelievable.
That's the most pick sixers in one season.
In NFL history. Five touchdowns.
Where did you come from?
Great call and what you if you watch on YouTube you could see it, or if you watched live yesterday, Dan Quinn up in the booth, the DC, the Cowboys going absolutely apes celebrating Deron Bland setting the NFL record for.
Pick sixes in the season, I mean his fifth, the fifth of the season.
Kyle Pitts has four career touchdowns in his whole like NFL career.
Doron Bland is a quarterback. He's got five pick sixes this year. Unbelievable.
And that was just the little like stamp at the end of the game because the Cowboys offense absolutely obliterated the Commanders, got their DC fired. We're going to talk about it. Forty five to ten from Jarro World. This was mark a total celebration of the Cowboys, the brand, and their standing as one of the very.
Elite teams in the NFL.
It was and you know, I've been critical of the Cowboy experience over the years, but not in this version of what we saw, because they have been doing this at home all year long. They are five and zero at home and have outscored opponents two hundred and five points to sixty in those five wins. That's insane. But it is not nearly as insane as what Deron Bland has done. It's like, Ceedee Lamb has six touchdowns and he's a superstar. To like, the degree of difficulty of
what Deron Bland has done is wild to me. That was not These aren't like, you know, picked off at the goal line like what we saw in the Seahawks Niners game. It's like, that's a sixty three yard return and it's done it over and over, and it's like, I don't there are certain football records that we can argue matter or don't matter. This matters because he's helping the team when he's pouring on points at the end
of the game. It's the kind of thing for me that it's like, I don't know if we'll ever see this again. This could be the kind of thing where you could go fifty years or for us, we're not going to be here for maybe fifty more years. You never know, like it could be a long time before anyone touches this because it's such a confluence of insane things happening. It's not just being in the right place at the right time, but you also have to be
the athlete to do what he's done. Like on that return, how easy would it have been a thirteen year old return? You get clipped, you're down the ground. It's just kind of magical. And I know that like it completely electrified that stadium, their owner, the whole thing.
Well, are you saying I'm not gonna live to ninety four?
That's my I did not guarantee that, Greg.
I'm so much.
Older than you, Greg that you know, according to the two of you, that I was more suggesting perhaps I won't see that record.
Bro, You'll be if you make it, you'll be triple digits. And that's that is pretty wild.
That would be wild. That's a long time from now.
This Cowboys team does feel different now. Could they lose in the second round of the playoffs, of course they could because like I don't I don't think they're a step apart from these other teams, but they do. They do have everything they need right now, and the most important thing is just Dac dots down the field. He's
he's so comfortable and Romo. I know he gets over excited, but I don't think he says things like this might be the best offensive line in the league right now, especially in terms of pass protection willy nilly, and they are just playing out standing up front. Now everyone looks out standing up front against this Commander's pass rus it doesn't exist. But he's throwing the ball deep down the field.
That's eighteen vertical throws for a touchdown this year, according to next Gen Stats, way more than any other player, and fourteen of those are in like the last six weeks. So this is a bombs away offense. And I thought these last couple of weeks it's almost like they're working on things that they'll need in bigger games. They got Gallup and Cooks involved last week, and then this week.
I thought Pollard ran really well. I know it was only thirteen carries, but from quarter one quarter two when it mattered, they were consistently running the ball and that was excellent. It was actually not a game they were dominating in total yardage through three quarters or anything, but they were getting everything they wanted to done. I think fifteen of their first twenty six plays or first downs.
This was in many ways the ultimate Cowboys game, at least in terms of the regular season. The game on Thanksgiving with the Salvation Army Red kettle out for the first time you have a blowout of a hated rival.
You have Doron Bland making history.
You have Dak once again saying I am a very real MVP candidate. You had a certain celebrity that I'll get to in a moment. At halftime, Jared Jones was over the moon with this one.
This is so real day.
I wouldn't even day or as much as I imagine or as big as I might dream or think.
I couldn't have.
Drawn for daylight today. Yet I couldn't have imagined it.
It really covered a lot of ground. And don't you get the feeling that.
The just the atmosphere And maybe Jane Slater would be the best person to asked this question too. But when things are going well for the Cowboys, it just seems everyone when you see those like group interviews and stuff around Jered like everything is good. Everybody's in a good mood. The Cowboys are kicking butt and and spirits are high. And if Jerry's spirits are high, you can tell that whole vibe around that team is glowing.
And that's certainly where it is right now.
I'm totally with you. I think he's really well liked. I'll never forget actually being in Dallas a number of like Thanksgivings ago, it's like two thousand. Drew bledsoe era and went with my uncle and cousins too of the Cowboys game, and I watched Jerry Jones before kickoff individually shake hands with I would say roughly four hundred people like he took that time. So it's like it is his baby, it's his thing. We've always known that, and I've always felt like there's always like an era of
like hyperbole to anything he says about the team. But in this case, this season and yesterday, I did not feel that. I think it was like a this is a different Cowboys team to me than one that we've experienced together.
On this show, he was quoted as part of that scrum is saying I'll put some super Bowls in there. I don't know if I've ever had a better day with the Cowboys than today, and that that's all about Thanksgiving. Like I believe that he believes that in the moment he's saying that, in the moment, Thanksgiving is the ultimate
Cowboys holiday celebration. Wes and I love this book Billy Fountains Long Halftime Walk, which is a great book sort of about the NFL and military service and and football and how and it's set on Thanksgiving at these games and there's something so American for for good and bad like about all this. And the Cowboys putting a bang thing on the Commanders is like.
That, I'm sorry, what's bad about it? Out of the out of curiosity?
Uh?
Well, read the book, I would say, like some of the ways.
I was talking about just yesterday, Okay, the book nothing.
Bad, yes, just the over the top sort of the way they used that it was written for the perspective I was a military guy.
Yeah, because and Greg is very well known for putting myself in line on this, the celebration of people being fired from their jobs because the Cowboys decimated the Washington defense to the point that the new owner of the team, Josh Harris, fired defensive coordinator Jack del Rio after the game. They also parted ways with defensive backs coach Brent Wisselmeyer. So tough Friday. Here is a missive from the new owner of the Commanders. We haven't heard from him obviously
a lot. He just succeeded Daniel Snyder a couple months ago.
I feel exactly how our fans.
Feel today disappointed and frustrated. It's how our players and staff feel as well. I knew our first season of ownership would include challenges along the way, and we will not shy away from hard work, nor.
Will we be deterred by adversity.
As coach Rever and I discussed, all of our energy for the remainder of the season will be focused on playing better, more consistent football and developing our players well, intently evaluating the areas in which we need to improve this offseason. Our fans deserve a team that can compete with the NFL's best and win sustainably over the long term.
I will not waiver from that mission.
Okay, so strong words there from the new owner, and it did make me think when I heard this morning guys that you know, we talked about a couple of weeks ago, that the setting an environment in the league right now is very, very ripe for mass dismissiles at the end of the year, head coaches in danger. And what do head coaches and dangers do when there's an issue. You start firing your assistance and you start reshuffling the decks.
So I feel like we're seeing a lot of that the last a week or so, and now Washington's doing it as well. But I just think it's a little unfair, you know, to candel Rio and the defensive backs coach, when you just traded away like your two most impact players on the defensive line, two of your most impactful players, and what did you expect in this setting? Honestly, I guess you could be more competitive.
But still I think it's it's warranted only because this defense has been in It's Ron Rivera's defense. So it's a weird move because like Ron Rivera's on was certainly going to get fired at the end of the Year's almost a move that signals to me, look, we we want Ron Rivera to land this thing, but we want to show our fans we want to do something now, and we're not going to fire Rivera till the end of the season or maybe Week eight team whatever it is. Uh,
but this this is a really poorly coach defense. I thought del Rio was an uninspired hired to begin with. He lasted a while, and no team has more like coverage bus over the last four years than del Rio. They're either really awesome like or they're terrible, and there's nothing in between there was a scout for the that works. I think for Cowboys dot Com Brian Brotus, who pointed out on the Cooks touchdown, they've run that route a
lot all season. But the only team that like fell for it like a banana and the tailpipe and played it so poorly all year was Washington and they had to walk in touchdown.
Yeah, they were thirty second in DVOA. It's weird because under del Rio there were seventh last year, twenty seventh the year before that, and fourth, so they've been all over the map. I'm with you, Dan in the sense that I just think it was more of a statement move or a try. I look like what you just read. It's like a signal to the fans, like we're not just sitting pat, we see what you see. We're as
frustrated as you are. I just part of me wonders that maybe Ron Rivera is allowed to land the plane, as you said, Greg, but I do wonder if maybe this would be an opportunity, if you want to go interim to see what Eric the enemy could do for a stretch of time here.
I think this, I think this really signaled we're not going to do that I mean, you know what I mean, like today would have been the day to do it.
I would I I guess the problem there then he's he'll get swept out too potentially. It's like it's another time he's done a good.
Just over yep, right by the let's give it up Arthy, come on, now he's got this team humming.
He does remember when Kellen Moore left in the offseason, everybody their little jabs like, oh, he's gonna run the offense, how imaginative Texas Coast offense is?
Humming?
Okay, you're right, and I like, by the way, they've set up a really nice stretch run. Now they'll be heavy favorites over the Seahawks, but that's still an interesting game. And then Eagles Bill's Dolphins Lions really fun stretch run. We got a lot of Actually I looked at all these contenders schedules, there's a lot of good regular season games left. The schedule makers did nice.
Nicely done, Greg.
And finally, I thought the best part of this middle game, because it wasn't overly competitive as you could see, was Tony Romo just yeah, basically losing control of his emotions when talking about Dolly Parton's halftime performance while wearing a Cowboys a cheerleader uniform.
She's like eighty years old.
It's very impressive, Dolly, and she's a national treasurer and we love her, but nobody loves her more like Tony Romo. Please watch this or listen, and you could hear Jim Nance getting and getting increasingly concerned as Tony can't move off the idea of Dolly Parton in a Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders universe. The field is all set after the Dolly performance, we are the champions, and she.
Was wearing the Cowboys cheerleading outfit. I saw that coming.
Did I think she's gonna go with a little cheerleading outfit tonight?
And I was like, wow, it's pretty good. What do you think we're gonna see me? She looks amazing. You never know what's gonna happen here. Who doesn't like Dolly part Now? She's absolutely an American treasure, that's for sure.
And you are too fast becoming as you look at the quarterback comparison.
I've got like another take on Dolly that might even top this from our old friend on the show, Mary Kay Cabot. She's actually over in Deck mentioned here was a tweet from Mary kay Cabot. Yesterday, I'm Dolly sitting on the couch watching some football, like a big stuff Turkey, and then Dolly happened, hopped on the treadmill, booked a consultation for implants and reassessed my life's goal LF let's let's f and go Mary kay Cabot feeling no pain on Thanksgiving out.
There, no feeling good, feeling real good.
That is unlike any other Mary kay Cabot tweet. Ever, it's amazing.
The kind of the glow in Romo's face is really what takes it to the next lot.
Like he's not ready to get back to being an analyst at that point.
Nance feeling Nance tried so hard to get out of that.
NaN's desertly trying to pivot. But you know, like everybody's got to stop clutching their pearls. And you know what, Tony's right, that was incredible. And Dolly Parton, you know, if you want to do some And I didn't really know Dolly that well other then how everyone else knows her, but she is My wife loves Dolly Parton and she is an incredible kind of humanitarian and the amount of charity she does in addition to being obviously very talented actress and singer and all that.
See now I'm romoing out to her.
No, I think it's appropriate. You've done You've done a nice job, and we didn't try to sidetrack you off of that.
All right, Uh, let's take a break.
Just, you know, talk a little more dolly off mic and then when we come back, we'll hit.
The primetime game. All right, we are back Mark Sessler in the v neck.
There is one other Cowboys.
Note.
I don't know about you guys, but this, like this is more of like a parabolic mic item. I think, depending on you know, game to game. It's an island game in the middle of the day. Dak Prescott's pre snap cadence. Can we just play this, producer Eric, please.
Producer Ic?
Yeah?
Did you yet?
It's like three hundred and forty seven times this played during the game yesterday, and it just seemed to get louder and louder, and it's like, I don't know, is it to tell as a as a pre snap cadence. I love how he says it, It just it doesn't sound like a human almost.
Well, it's it's his uh Grenatine Grenadin, you know, it's it's his thing, and he's been he's been going hard at it now for a month plus. I would say, yeah, here we go to the I'm just saying that sometimes just in my everyday life, just yeah, here we go. And I think it's a nice way to just set off a conversation.
Like.
A Creed rips into my sacrifice in the encore, and then half the audience does this.
Yeah.
I feel like some of these quarterbacks like they know what we're going to talk about it, and like do they lean in from an inflection or vocal point on some level to make it a little even more absurd than it needs to be. I think we all know what he's trying to say.
Well, I got to tell you this, Mark. I haven't released my top five Cadence rankings for the season. It's an annual event people really look forward to. But between his voice, how strong his pipes are, and and the unique nature of yeah, here we go, I mean he's a strong favorite for number one this year.
I'm gonna go, like with you with MVP talk, it's too early to talk about the Caenance rankings. Yet you're not allowed to now.
It's it's by the way, it's not too early anymore. My point now is that like whatever's happened to this point almost doesn't matter. It's still going to be moving forward. Dak started it yesterday. That was a nice, nice one because everyone's watching that game.
That's it's like the most one as opposed to the other Cowboys games that nobody was watching.
Right, nobody watched any of those. Speaking of which has good? What does a sham god did with that call?
Sham good?
You know?
And we're talking Nance and Romo. What a job by Jim Nance on the Deran Bland. Uh call there. I loved seeing Nance getting excited in a big spot. Let's hear it.
Second and ten there it is, this is history.
The plan could take.
It to discharge.
This will be the record by for the fifth time.
Has a pig six It's never happened in the history of the NFL.
And want a call by you?
You got me with goosebumps Nance.
That was unbelievable, excellent, you're right, accent call by Nance, who's a Hall of Fame broadcaster and uh and it's also a very Romo move to his first analysis is on the call by Jim Nance.
I wish he didn't do that.
No, he didn't need to do that, but he can't.
I think that's part of like the give and take with Romo, like he just's his exuberance. He just he just says what's on his mind, like the Dolly Parton situation from minutes ago. All right, let's get to the final game. This one was also a one sided affair. Well first and goal, eight yard lines left, tossed to McCaffrey coming left, stacked up, Stay's patient, scorns through and takes.
It all the way down to the goal line. Touchdown. See and see what a run that one?
Cmct CB A slow fuse on that one.
Because there was nowhere to go an McCaffrey taking care.
Of pisit man?
They love the acronyms over there, Greg popping Tim Ryan with the call. Awesome, awesome performance by Christian McCaffrey. Who if now Greg has Dane that we're allowed to talk about the MVP race man?
Where is he in the conversation? Producer? Eric is a mark referred to you earlier? I called you human, Eric.
Eric's can you see? Or Eric, can you see? But where Christian McCaffrey is in the Vegas MVP odds because he deserves to be there. He ran for a buck fourteen and two scores in the first half, putting the forty nine Ers ahead, and they cruised to a thirty one to thirteen win over the fading Seattle Seahawks, who are in a lot of trouble Gregy.
The Niners did what.
They wanted on offense, and even the Seahawks touchdown came on a pick six. So yeah, this was dominance on both sides.
It couldn't be one more one side, and I think has a lot of soul searching going on in Seattle. Let's talk about the team that matters the most here first and that that's the forty nine Ers. And watching this game, it occurred to me, like Kyle Shanahan's forty nine Ers system, essentially, this offense has now been there
for seven years. It's been in an NFL where a lot of things change, Like he this has been an awesome offense that's brilliantly constructed and play called for a while now, it's been a great run and to me, this is this is the best one and it's the best one because of Party, first of all, and because he elevates their offense in a way that Jimmy g
and certainly any of the other backups never did. And because they're healthy, which they often aren't right now, they are healthy, and that's when they weren't winning games a couple of weeks ago. That that was a big part of it. But also because these guys have been there
now for a while. Outside of Purty, Deebo and a Yuk and Kittle and Trent Williams and even a lot of a lot of the line's been there for a while and it's all just coming together and they've they've been so close every year and I'm not saying they couldn't be close in another year, but man, you look at this Shanahan thing, it just feels like, Man, this is the time. Listen, this is the team. This is the team to do it.
Yep, I absolutely feel the same way. It's it is so key that they stay healthy. When all five of their offensive stars have been on the field together for full games, they've been undefeated. That shouldn't change. They're so dominant. I think it really mattered last night to see that you got Deebo Samuel as the core element. Again, he's such a change agent. But it's like, we talk about the offense as we should, but their defense is an
absolute destroyer. I mean what they did last night. At one point in the first half, the Niners had sixteen first downs and the Seahawks had run eighteen plays and it never really got better for Seattle. And I mean, you know, the same way that you know the first game changed the way we thought about Detroit and Green Bay. I'm looking at a Seattle you know schedule where you've got to go to Dallas, you got the Niners and
then the Eagles. I don't know it feel it kind of feels like curtains to me, and is brilliant as Pete Carroll is at all times. I thought the look on his face at the end of that game spoke volumes. I think they're in a bit of a dark corner that will be hard to escape from.
Here are the MVP odds, by the way, Jalen at plus two fifty what this from DraftKings Lamar plus three fifty mahomes plus four twenty five two of plus five fifty DAK plus eight fifty CMC plus sixteen hundred these is so annoying.
Come on, right, I think, yes, sixteen touchdowns.
Why is Jalen Hurts the favorite? DAK was plus three thousand a couple of weeks ago, So if you caught on at any time, I think that's still value. And where where is Tyreek Hill? Who's literally my vote right now?
Greg? Nobody likes Tyreek Hill. I think that factors in.
That's just positioned on against McCaffrey. Though, yeah, I don't think that factor is he's plus four thousand. I don't think that factors into the draftking odds. But I hear you.
Right now, he has some rough stuff in his personal history.
Let's see, let's get back to it. So, yes, McCaffrey, I believe he's got sixteen touchdowns this year and he's dominant. Brock Purdy statistically not his best game. He threw that pick six. I mentioned that briefly made the game somewhat interesting in the third quarter, but also kind of put a stamp on the game and put the game away with a beautiful throat to Brandon Nyuk in zone coverage, and Shanahan after the game made a point to really
pump up Purdy in that spot. He said, you know, that is a play where we have something underneath a little checkdown that could have went for twelve yards. So when he decides to put it over the middle on a line from about thirty yards out, that is a high level throw. And I think it gets to mark what we were talking about on Wednesday about you know, Purdy and the kind of season he's having and this like we act like he's this little boy that was plucked out of obscurity.
That's a high level football throw.
So, yeah, he might not have the arm talent of those other quarterbacks we mentioned just now, but he's got enough to make it happen when he's pulling the trigger and using his instincts for good.
Yeah, I love that you brought up that throw because I think that's an argument in favor of the fact that this quarterback has elevated the play of Brandon Ayuk, who I mean, Brandon Ayuk was for multiple years in a row talked about this will be the year he
totally breaks out and becomes a start. Has a lot to do with him, but it has a lot to do with Purdy as well, and like their connection has been essentially flawless for weeks on end, and that throw was not the kind of throw that like a mid tier quarterback that we'd want to write off as a system guy makes. And now I look at those MVP odds and it's like, where is Perdy? To be honest, it's like I find that to be slightly absurd that he's not near, like in the top five, top six
of that list, if not higher. I think it's just we're looking at a perception problem when it comes to brock Party in this offense.
Here's the thing. If they get the one seed, and I'm not ruling them out of that, like he's got a chance. It's stupid the fact that Jalen's plus two fifty, because that's just like they have the one seed. And I just love the way they started this game. I think of NBA teams, you talk about two man games a lot, just like the two stars kind of playing off each other, you know, Porzingis and Jalen Brown right now,
beautiful two man game. They got a two man game going with CD, I mean with Debo and CMC and where they're just using them interchangeably and matching them up, and they have the Seahawks defense had no freaking clue what to do the first couple drives of that game. Shanahan just owns this matchup. He owns Pete Carroll, who's a defensive coach. When when the forty nine ers have the ball and the way they use those two guys is it's pretty beautiful.
It's funny, and that's obviously credit to Kyle Shanahan, the offensive mastermind.
I like this thing that's going on this show.
I feel like there's been an uptick in it this year of just like shots to Mike Shanahan, Kyle's father sitting stonefaced in the stands with that shock of white hair and a lot of like, younger fans don't even know that Mike Shanahan. Kyle Shannan is who who he is in large part because of Mike Shanahan, who was a genius in his own right and won multiple Super Bowls. And now Kyle has kind of taken the league over and it is that dude Seattle, You're right, had no answers.
It looked like Reek Wollan got benched in this game, although Carol downplayed it afterwards, but he was he misstackles, he said it. Carol said after the game that he had a bad shoulder, but he was playing special teams after they took him out of the game for Michael Jackson. So I mean, you talk about Reek Wollan was one of the best young additions to the league last year and now he's on the bench on.
The offensive side of the ball.
Obviously, Gino Smith is dealing with the arm injury, but this offense just is not humming anymore. Greg And if Gino is not physically right, and we'll have to see, he played that game with a big kind of like not on his throwing elbow, maybe.
It is that time to have a jewe Lock conversation.
But at the same time, like nobody was like pumping the brakes on the Drew Block experience harder than me a couple of years back in Denver. It's not necessarily a great second option. But the offense has hit a rut.
There's no doubt about it.
They're disappointed, Like everything about this team is disappointing. They're six and five, And what you said about the Packers and the Vikings can get in is in large part because the Seahawks can fall right out of this thing. I mean, think about these two games against the Ravens where absolutely this game in the Ravens game where absolutely Gino didn't excel. But and he's not gonna be able to elevate things going really wrong around him. But find
a spot on this team that's not getting blasted. They spent their whole offseason building up this defensive line, completely changing it, spending tons of money, draft picks. They got young guys coming at Draymont Jones, they trade for Leonard Williams. They get blown off the ball, They can't tackle anyone. Seem see their defensive rookie of the Year, Tarik Willans getting benched. Their linebackers are slow. DK metcalf is having one of the worst seasons for US for a quote
unquote superstar wide receiver. The guy can't make a catch.
I was gonna, I'm telling you the club I think greg I had.
I think.
So he's killing my guy, Gino. Gino's not great, but two drops that killed Drives. And then when it's fourteenth to three and you're trying to change the game, and that could have been a touchdown or at least a fifty yard play down the field, and DK just drifts and drifts and trust me, Seahawks fans have been losing their mind over DK's play in this game, and then their own lines stunk in this game. Most of those sacks were quick sacks. So it's like, I just don't
see what they're they're good at. They maybe they're average enough to win nine games again, but man, it's it's pretty disappointing.
It's very This is also one matchup that they've they've just they cannot solve. And I think, like last year on Thursday Night, like Sharvariusward versus DK Metcalf was physical and it went both ways. Like last night, he was just taken out of the game DK Metcalf and and then you got nowhere to go.
I'll give the final word to Christian McCaffrey, who deserves to be way better than plus six thousand, because he has.
Been sixteen hundred buddy by the way, sixteen sixteen accuracy sick, thank you, and Purty's plus three thousand, number eight, so he's sort.
Of in the max but not really ridiculous.
One of the things I like about the write ups by the AP and others on Thanksgiving is like just like a lot of turkey talk, Just like turkey talk slips in there, and I want to hear this quote from McCaffrey because I'm reading it and I'm like, man, this guy's really going into detail about this turkey. And it's like slotted in between two like beefy graphs about the you know, and of this like statistics about this win.
And then you have all, right, here's I'm going to drop in the CMC quote here and the guy just going on and on about the turkey.
That was awesome.
It was actually really good turkey too. I have no idea how they kept all of the dishes were hot. I was bummed. I didn't get the sweet potato with the marshmallows that I didn't I don't know if they had the they had a fork, but then they you know, we had to pick the turkey leg up. By that time, I was eating the turkey. But the turkey was really good, well cooked, wasn't dry at all, and like I said, still hot, which was impressive for being, you know, twenty
minutes after the game. I don't know where they kept it, but it was good turkey.
Somebody gives them, say an update, how they kept the turkey warm?
What did they use?
Was it an oven kept on low?
Was it just covered and kept maybe in a microwave with the microwave off?
Like what what? How did they keep it?
Was there one of those burners underneath, but they they were very careful not to have the burner turned up too high, you know what I'm talking about?
Those things. I don't know.
They got to have it. They got to have a kitchen somewhere in the bows of that stadium. But I was thinking, as we're listening to that, like, man, I've rarely heard CMC talk at length, and maybe that's why he just gets super nerdy about turkeys, and that's.
Just he was just a matter there. That actually was a quote from July. I mean, the guy, that's all he talks about.
I gotta say, I watched this game with you know, friends and their families and and a lot of kids were there, and no moment all day popped to them like George Kittle throwing that turkey leg up into the crowd and running turkeys afterwards. That was huge in the ten year old set they were talking about they wanted to throw some turkeys. It was just like that pop. So that was a nice, nice moment for Kittle to really break.
By that by that moment in my house, and I still have a family here that stayed the night. The Princess Bride had been turned on by that way.
Okay, yeah, that makes sense. Had late.
We had a late as you wish anything else. No, all right, I'm gonna go play football with some kids now, really, Yeah.
Damn, I.
Hope people dominate them like that sounds a good spot for you to really shine athletically.
Yesterday we played also and it was tough because I had to be We used to call it automatic QB, but I think my son corrected me and say now that they call it all QB or something. But anyway, we had an uneven number, so I played QB and it was tough when you automatic QB on both sides because it's like Barrys anders in that flag football game. Like I'm trying to distribute to all these kids and there's so many mouths to feed, and nobody's happy.
At the end of the game.
You can't win QB because everyone thinks they should have been targeted more.
And here I am.
I've completed probably about sixty or seventy percent of my passes and half the kids can't even catch that's pretty high percentage. And after the game, I'm being told that
I was leaving people out of the game plan. So we got another game about to play this Now we have even number because some people went home, and I'm going to be playing defense and I'm going to be very physical, and I'm going to send messages to those who complained about my quarterback play, specifically my eldest son, jack who thought that I cost him the game yesterday by not throwing it to him literally every time. So I'm gonna I want our friend Kareem What was it,
Kareem Jackson. Yeah, I'm hitting like Jackson in this game.
Okay, I wish I was there. I had not to sound like Sessler when he plays in tennis with his family. But we played a little football too yesterday, and I almost thought I was dominating in the game so much that I had to back off and not not be as show offye with what was going on, like you said, distribute it around. But the explosiveness was absolutely there, and
I was. I was very proud of my son. Though to finish the game had a key Charvarius Ward like pass breakup on me, so in a big spot, I I ultimately didn't come through for the team, and he just he knocked that thing out of my hands, like Charvarius words.
I mean, we've we've you know, we've played with Walker in the past and you've seen that those innate dB skills, So I'm not surprised to hear that update.
I I don't really I like to keep my sons in games where I'm involved, but very rarely do they get the W And that's the way I was raised as well. My dad and one on one basketball took me into I was like a sophomore in high school. To finally beat him, he did this back down move in the post where he would back me down and then he'd use his left arm as a clear out and do a little jump hook and it was total bs. And I would tell him that. I actually told him
that last week because we were reminiscing about it. And when I finally beat him, it was all the more rewarding and it was a changing of the guard athletically within the family dynamic.
And that's why I've.
Recovered due to me, you know, right, it talks about that.
So when they beat me, they'll beat me, and that will be a moment or they'll never beat me.
Perhaps as well. I'm like, now, I'm like Barry Sanders's monster of a dad.
No, that's good, dad, work the tennis court. I keep the foot on the gas though, I'll tell you that much.
I know you do, buddy.
Never forget that Barry Sanders' dad on the day that ran for two thousand yards in nineteen ninety seven, when the first thing, excuse me, not at the two thousand yard when he went to the Hall of Fame, Barrass Sanders' dad for Santras' induction and gave the speech. The first thing he said was that Jim Brown was the greatest running back of all time. And then he said that his son was the third greatest running back of all time. And everybody was like, Who's what did he mean, who's
the second? He called himself the second greatest running back of all time. Imagine now that's taking it to an extreme. Yes, his dad was a handyman.
Right, and he literally did not play professional football.
Anyway.
Be nice to your kids. One day, they'll have to take care of you, all right. Happy Thanksgiving weekend, everybody, enjoy it. We'll be back on Sunday with the full recap of both the Black Friday Jet Stoppins affair, Can't wait and everything on Sunday. Until then, you know what you gotta do.
Heed the Car