They Around the NFL podcast Found Love and the Diabetes at the Santa Summits. Hello and welcome to a very special Christmas Eve edition of Around the NFL, the flagship program, Week sixteen. Can you believe it? Dan Hans is here with Mark Sessler Greg Rosenthal in our respective homes and yes, right now upstairs from where I'm recording this, my in laws from Texas are here and they are having the traditional chicken spaghetti dinner and then going to church and
then you know, celebrating with the family. But the three of us talking football, all right, that's fine too.
This is somewhat of a tradition too. I feel like we've had a number of Christmas Eve type shows over the year, one in the office, so that this one I'll take.
Well, yeah, I mean we had the advantage of working from home today, which Greg, I don't know about you. We've spent a lot of consecutively together in that office and it's perhaps not as vibrant as our last NFL headquarters. We're on game days, but I right, I quite enjoyed being home on the couch wearing the clothing night shows while these games unfolded.
Very nice, very well, said Mark as always and yes, the gift the way the calendar fell was a full slate of Sunday action. Also two games to get to on Saturday, and just you know, a little program note here, a little bit different show here. We're gonna try to be a little bit tighter with the games. We're not gonna do Sunday Night football. We're gonna hit Sunday Night
Football and the Christmas triple header on Tuesday morning. So we're gonna kind of spin through the league, get you caught up where you need to be, and we thank you. If you're listening right now on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning, or you're hiding in the bathroom because your mother in law's driving you insane, you know we're here for you. Let's get into it and start with the big game on Sunday. It was at what was called a Joe
Robbie Stadium that is outrageous. Whatever that plays in Miami's called I think it's hard rock, where the Cowboys and Dolphins, two ten and four teams looking to make a statement. Only one could ferguson his nap hold down by Bailey, the kickers up.
It's good at the Miny Dolphins defeat the Dallas Cowboys twenty.
Two to twenty here at hard Rock Stadium.
What a last drive by two of his offense.
Great running by Wilson and Jason Sanders, a perfect.
Five for five in this game, and that's gonna do it. What a finish. What a finish indeed, Jimmy Sevalo and Joe Rose with the call WBGG fun fact boys, little
Christmas gift for you. I did the research myself. Kickers were fifteen of fifteen in the four games that I tracked today, but nobody was more nails than Jason Sanders, who went five for five, including three pipes from fifty plus and that game winner chip shot you just those are the three points that were the difference in a twenty two to twenty win for the Dolphins over the Cowboys, Gregi Dak Prescott led the Dallas offense on what could have been like an MVP season winning touchdown drive in
their final possession, but that Cowboys d just didn't have an answer for Miami's offense when it mattered most.
I can't believe the Dolphins win this game scoring one touchdown. I had to had to double check that just now. As I'm looking at it, and yet it felt like their offense was in control this whole time. They could not finish drives, but I think on that last drive two against the ball, three twenty seven to go down
to point. They've been trailing throughout the second half, and it's very much a okay, what do you got right now, Miami Dolphins, and they made it look fairly easy, and I think the gravity of Tyreek Hill was such.
A big part of that.
On one big third down play where they bring Tyreek Hill in motion, or else they would have had to kick a longer field goal and they would have given cow Boy the clock back. You know, the Cowboys are falling down on the ground before the balls even snapped a very creative play call from Mike McDaniel. They ran the ball a handful of times really effectively on that drive,
something Dallas could not do. And then a couple of throws were just easy because of the gravity of Tyreek Hill that they were so afraid of beating him over the top. And that was the case throughout the day. He went nine for ninety nine. That the Cowboys were giving up short passes and Miami just controlled it was able to kill the clock, and I thought that was
a difference between these two teams. Yes, it was close in the end, but the Cowboys couldn't run the ball, the Cowboys couldn't get their pass rush going, and I thought the Miami offense had more schematic and coaching answers than the Cowboys did in this game. So it was a very deserved one, even though it was close. I really felt like the Dolphins were the better team throughout the day.
I think it's definitely a case of what if for the Cowboys, and it would have been for the Dolphins had they not been able to close it out the way they did, because you know, both teams in a low scoring game. Dolphins lost the ball on fourth down,
essentially a drive fizzled out on the Dallas five. Dallas had that opening drive fumble where they looked so good, and they never really had that kind of drive again until Dak went and did what we've been asking him to do as an MVP candidate, which just marched down the field and generate a touchdown drive. And so in a way, it's kind of like the atypical Monday Morning
Cowboys talking head scenario goals. Dak went and did it, and then it was like two of the other guy that we kind of don't really trust to go do it went and did it too. And it wasn't because of him necessarily, but that third and three conversion to Tyreek Hill. He's such a special player, and then they were able to force the Cowboys into timeouts and you get that one Jeff Wilson run in these inflection points for that drive for the Dolphins where he converts and
Dallas is out. They're out of options to that point and Jason Sanders you mentioned it Dan on the day for kickers, I mean he went three for three on fifty plus before that game winner, which was much shorter. He's the first Dolphins player in a long lineage of mind me Dolphins players to kick three fifty plus yard
field goals in a game. And that was the difference, because you're right, these two teams could not close drives and to have a kicker like that on a day like this made a big difference.
Yeah. I had a mega spicy Christmas Eve hot take on Twitter that kicking is now too good and we have to maybe start doing something about it. A listener and tweeter replied that maybe we could do something that could mess with a depth perception or vision of kickers, which I kind of like that. And this is coming from the guy that built the kicker Club, I Rick.
By the way, I think full kit like his eightieth straight kick under forty yards, Remember when he broke that record like a year ago.
It's still going. Actually, I was like, wait, that thing's still going.
This is It's really crazy. What's happened to that position over the course of this podcast life, which has been eleven seasons now. Yeah, And I'm going to preface this because I know Dolphins always have their antenna U when I'm talking about their team with the show. I'm going to preface this by saying, this is not a shot against dak against Tua because the way it's set up
was was beautiful because it was a back and forth game. Uh. Dallas had a big fail inside the five yard line on a fumble with the full back, which come on, guys, UH, give it to your best players. This game is too big for that. Uh. And then the Dolphins fail on a fourth and goal from about the five yard line, and then it comes down to these last two drives and it's and it's like Hey, Dak, this is it.
This is the type of stage that you all this talk and you you mentioned it Mark the talking head type. Shut them all up, or this is what everyone's going to talk about. And Dak makes so many big plays on that drive. He's taking a beating. The offensive line is kind of a mess in this game on the left side with Tyron Smith out and they keep having miscommunications, and Dak keeps on finding away with Ceedee Lamb with a couple of big catches one on third, one on fourth.
They have a bad sack on a blown offensive lineman play and they still near the goal line, and they still find a way on a beautifu touchdown passing a great catch by Cooks. It was like everything you could ever want as a Cowboys fan for your quarterback and your offense in that big spot they come through. And then speaking of Twitter, I then tweeted, okay, now too, it's your turn, and there wasn't it wasn't too uh that that single handedly drove that Miami possession to the
game winning field goal. It really was a Mike McDaniel masterpiece and the running game and I think and Tyreek and I think, what what this game showed uh Me and other people that are still kind of harboring some doubts about the Dolphins is what they're what they're really good at is some of the stuff that doesn't get talked about is enough like their their ferocious pass rush, how their defense has been really good for the better part of the season now, and then their offense ability
to run the football and scheme up ways to gain yardage when it's not those splashy tyreek and waddle plays.
Right, I would say, I want to say one quick thing about Dak because like that drive, he did make some key throws. There was one to Michael Gallup that was us money. I mean, he had connections with Ceedee Lamb. He was on with Ceedee Lamb. But they got to the Miami four and you know it. This was a legit call, I think, but it was an incomplete on second and goal, an incomplete on third and goal. You
got a lot of heat on him. In general, there was a holding that maybe wasn't called on Miami, but then on fourth and goal it's incomplete, but defensive holding on the Dolphins is then called and reignites that touchdown drive and sets it up. That said Dak made a I feel like today.
I saw those were like two clear penalties on that.
Bill, so they were, but it's just like that's the that's the particulars of the game. But Dak also, I thought today had a handful of throws where he was absolute money while getting crushed by someone and put it right where it needed to go. So there are these positive plays that I think you cannot blame anything on Dak and anyone does that does that didn't watch this thing.
Well, the Cowboys defense just isn't that special to me. I think that's what we've learned the last couple of weeks. And that's when you kind of zoom out and think about how he thought this season was going to be. I think that a disappointment because I had no faith they were going to stop the Dolphins there at the end of the game. And when you watch these two defenses, I thought that the Dolphins defense made life much tougher on the Cowboys. Twelve QB hits, four sacks on Dak
versus two five QB hits one second. Now, part of that is the schematic answers and how quick to it gets rid of the ball, and both quarterbacks had their misses, But like, I look at these two defenses, and right now, I'd probably take the Dolphins over the Cowboys, and that that's concerning because as well as Dak's playing, they don't
really have a running game. You look at the box score and it's CD for six point eighteen and then the you know, the only other the next one is Jalen Tolvert, who kind of caught a prayer ball for a for a bomb at one point. It just things were hard for the Cowboys in a way that I just didn't feel like they really were for the Dolphins, you.
Know, and it was a nice dride to put them ahead late. But god, I feel very similar about the Cowboys now that I have.
Well, yeah, they and five and headed to the fifth seat again right NOWFC.
There's really nothing they could do. Now. They're gonna be that number five seed. Even if they win another road game, they're gonna finish under five hundred at home. And this team just does not play with the same swagger and at the same level on the road as they are at home. And now the path to the Super Bowl and this NFC title game they haven't been to in twenty five years is once again, you got to win one to three road games, so I don't like their chances.
I think they had a window here these last two weeks to really cement that they are different, and I know there. I think they're better then they've been the last couple of years when they flamed out. But they're not much They're not that much better. And you mentioned it, Greg, that defense time and time again in this game, even if the stats don't make it look like Miami lit them up, and they didn't. They scored one touchdown, could not get a big stop, could not force a game
changing play. I thought the officiating was terrible in this game, which and it worked. I think more pro Miami than pro Dallas. But Dallas did not find a way when it mattered most. And now you're gonna be on the road. You'll probably beat the NFC South champion and get Wax in the divisional round and prove me wrong.
Well, you never know with the way the Eagles are playing, but they probably need the Eagles to lose two out of three. Although the Eagles are collapsing so hard, I'm not ruling anything out there, but you're right, they probably need the Egles to lose two out of three or else Eagles win the division.
All right, let's move on. This is a historic day in Michigan. Let's go to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Now thirty yards from the end zone.
They've got to have down six fifty eight seconds to go.
Clock will start on the snap.
Mullins takes the shotgun snap, He's back.
Mullins looking pressure, comes stepping up, looking, throwing deep down field.
It is picked off by the Lions, intercepted coming back the other way.
He fought to Malifan Wu.
This is gonna be over. Lions are gonna win it. Lions are bringing the.
NFC North title back to Detroit.
Oh yeah, bongos deserved. How about this for a Christmas gift, Detroit. Your Lions are division champions for the first time in thirty years. Jamier Gibbs had two rushing scores. Aman Ross Saint Brown went over the century mark receiving and had the third quarter go ahead touchdown. And yes, Melifan who had the game ceiling interception at the five yard line with less than a minute to play, and it allowed the Lions to escape the Vikings thirty to twenty four
at US Banks Stadium. The injury ravaged Vikings the team of around the NFL. They made the visitors sweat here. They had back to back touchdowns on each end of the half, but otherwise the lines were pretty clearly the superior team today. They won the turnover battle four to one. That was a big difference. Mullins was again ignore the stats. Mullins was kind of a mess. Nick Mullins the Vikings
quarterback in this game. Despite high yardage and some nice throws, but he was throwing the ball up for grabs, including that interception where he he's just you know, he spots the open receiver a little bit too late, he holds it too long and then gives a gift wrap interception to close out the game. So you know, they were the superior team the Lions today. They've been the superior team in the division since they beat the Chiefs in
the first day of the season. And you know what, quite clearly we need to hear from Dan Campbell like right now.
And this is special. This is special. It's something you don't get to do all the time. They're always special to win a division. I don't care how many of of them you get, because the work that goes into it. But to do something that hadn't been done in thirty years for a team, it's special. And that's a special group of men back in there that are staying tame at this point.
They're staying tame at this point because the Lions believe there's more ahead of them here Greg than the justin NFC North title. This is a team that is really under Campbell turned into a whole different animal, even from I think about what were they won and eight last year? One and seven and they've been one of the best teams record wise in football for a season and a half now, so a well earned division title and a home game in the playoffs.
Yeah, back it up even a couple of years, just thinking about how ugly that start was under Dan Campbell and then to get it going and it's very cool to see like the step by step process of a team like this and culminate. And they deserved it. And he could say that they were calm, but I saw some of those locker room videos and like Aiden Hutchinson was like breaking out the stanky leg and going wild, and it's wild how putting Melafan Wu in the lineup,
who's been on the team for three years. It hasn't had a lot of playing time. It's really made a huge difference the last couple of weeks. Last week he had nine tackles, a sack and a force fumble. Today, two sacks in an interception, and he's kind of that roving safety and suddenly you add Chauncey Gardner Johnson along with him next week. He's expected to return probably next week, maybe week eighteen, and some of their issues maybe on defense,
will get solved. They also have James Houston might be coming back. Lee McNeil like, maybe the it won't be a total tire fire by the playoffs.
I mean, the Chauncey Gardner edition would be huge. I think everywhere he goes, he's just like this guy that creates change. I think it's like I'm happy when the right team wins the division that no more nonsense and no more mathematical nonsense. The Lions are the best team. And it's like today to me felt like a lot of other Lions wins. It's imperfect, but it's like the vision is there. Like they're young guys like Jimi or Gibbs.
Like today there was this one critical third and four where he caught the ball behind the line of scrimmage and like was dodging between people and dragging tacklers for the first It's like, you don't get to this game and to this point without your rookie class, which has been one of the better in the NFC, and you don't get here with all the other guys you brought
on the team of the last couple of years. You also gave up like four hundred yards through the air and nearly let the whole thing down in the end with Justin Jefferson going nuts with Mulleins, Like it could have gone either way potentially, But it's like the Lions are gonna do this, and they're gonna they're probably like Dan, you said it on NFL Plus on Thursdays, like I
asked you for what would app to the Lions. You said, They're going to whack someone essentially in like a home playoff game and then see you later the next week. And that's probably who they are.
But there's so much everyone being eliminated in the divisional playoffs. Every team gets eliminated somehow.
Well they will, but it's like they're not like people I was reading are are do we now trust them as the Super Bowl team. It's like, no, but I do trust that, Like they continue to be more impressive. They're really well coached and the Brad Holmes has done a great job bringing a roster up that looks just like the vision of their head coach.
And let me let me uh rephrase that because or correct myself, because we see the Cowboys lose again, and we know the Niners are the Niners okay, and they're they're a cut above right now. But anything else in the NFC is pretty wide open, including by the way, if the Lions, for instance, with Jared Goff get the Rams with Matthew Stafford, which seems like something that could
very well happen. And yeah, I think we all remember when Jamiir Gibbs was taken in the first round because everyone and this isn't his fat necessarily, but everyone had b Jon Robinson fever like he was a cross between
Gail Sayers and Jim Brown and Ladanian Tomlinson. And then when the other guy got taken, it was like, ah, it's kind of a reminder that with running backs, you come out of college, get on a good team, because if you get on a bad team, like Vjeon, you kind of get forgotten, but if you get yourself in a good situation with pieces around you, him and Laporta, that obviously, that is the big difference between this year
and last year. On offense. It's gonna be really exciting to see what their journey is from here on out. As far as the Vikings go, Listen, here's here's the positive spin. Okay, the team of ATN all but dead according to according to ESPN's Football Power Index, which is
quite a title for something. Sunday's loss brought the Vikings chance of making the playoffs down to twenty five percent, which is actually, you know, one out of four they went out there in Still there's still there's still a path. And yet even with Justin Jefferson back in being a superhuman, the quarterback play is killing them. And you know, I found myself pining for Joshua Dobbs again because and I know Jaron Hall's out there is too, because but Nick
Mullens just throwing those balls up for grabs. They just, I think more than anything else, quarterback play ruined their season and these last three or four weeks, and it's it's frustrating because I thought This team really did have a lot of DNA to be a fun, exciting group to follow as the team of ATN. But it's tough spot.
They lost too many guys, but they've got They have Green Bay at home, and then they go to Detroit, and who knows what Detroit's doing in week eighteen, I would.
Imagine, just don't trust them against anybody.
Right, I don't either that that Packers game is basically an elimination game. But the thing that surprised me most after all the results that have come in in the Vikings and Packers are seven to eight, is that, like, if either of the Packers or Vikings win their last two games, they're almost definitely in which it feels like,
how is that still possible? But if just because of all the teams that are playing each other, Yeah, according to New York Times, if Vikings did win those two, they'd have a ninety six percent chance.
So it's in front of them.
I don't trust them to actually do it, partly because their defense, like as fun as they've been, you know, they didn't get after Jared Goff. The Lions had answers today only three quarterback hits with all those Blitzer and everything. Everyone's like, oh the Blitz versus Jared Goff, the Lions were better than the Vikings defense.
When you guys checked the game out, let me know later this week. But like, I'd be surprised if Sefanski watches this film. You know, Dobbs got benched for being mistake prone and Mullins could have thrown five interceptions in this game. I wonder if we see the rookie on the field of the season on the line, which is a tough spot. But like several other teams across the league, it's it's dire straits at the quarterback and you're just you're just looking for a miracle. Let's give the final
word to Taylor Decker. He's in his eighth season with the Lions. He was born in nineteen ninety three, the last time the Lions had a home game. He was emotional after this win. When you.
When you love the guys that you're playing with, it means a lot more.
Ben Boscher tweeted, He's been a Lion for twenty seven and ninety six days and for the first time he could call himself a champion. And you know it, boys, I feel like we're kind of champions because they were the team of ATN where when they were dirt, when they were nothing, and we believed.
Maybe this means that the Vikings, you know, a year from now, are doing something similar. We've been that prescient again, just not at the moment.
I felt bad for these little because in my heart watching this, it's like I kind of want the nice things for the Lions, even though the Vikings are the team of atn Cynthia Friedland, Kevin Patra, all the great Lions fans out there enjoy this.
Yeah, how could you root against the Lions? All right, let's keep moving. How could you root against the Cleveland Browns?
Harris you in the backfield of the left Lacko from under center from the twenty five play, fake to Hunt and a roll out to the left, Flaco Eyes down field, deep shot left sideline.
What's Cooper? He hasn't funny for the twenty At the ten.
Touchdown, the Maury Cooper is in the end zode with a seventy five yard touchdown.
That is what you call a tone center. Amari Cooper set a franchise record with two hundred and sixty five yards receiving. Hey, everybody, this is the semifinals of the Fantasy Playoffs. My goodness, I think Greg, your powerhouse daughter's team took a dirt nap because of that.
I mean, she's still got a chance as we're taping, but yes, Cooper dropping fifty two on her is put Thank.
God, that's legendary. I mean, that's not. That's not Alvin Kamaro with like seven touchdowns of Christmas Day in twenty twenty legendary. But it's it's close anyway. Cooper two sixty five and two touchdowns and he added a two point conversion because why the hell not? And the Joe Flacco piloted Browns beat the Texans thirty six twenty two. They
are in great shape to play relevant January football. Mark, What a fun time to be a Browns fan, and what a damn performance by their number one wide receiver. It was.
It was an incredible game for Browns fans. And I can only imagine, you know, Andrew Siciliano, you know calling this, who has been a Browns fan since he was a child, and watching something that seems so atypical once again for typical Browns teams. And it's like Flacco made it very clear, right, away that Amari Cooper was going to have a huge game. Within like minutes, he had whipped a fifty three yard bomb to Cooper that set up a quick touchdown for them.
There was later on a seventy five yard touchdown. We just saw it just kept coming. At the end of the first half. Flacco had eleven completions for two hundred and forty six yards at the end of the first half. Like he right now leads the NFL since Week thirteen with four hundred and eighty six yards on deep passes. At the end of the game, he had three hundred and seventy. And this was a weird game because it
was clear Cleveland's gonna win. But they took Flacco out and they took a Mariy Cooper out minutes into the fourth quarter. And you know, Cooper at that point was nine yard shy of Josh Gordon's single game receiving record with the Browns, and you could see him talking to Stefanski kind of playfully, like you want to throw me back in there so I can like get this thing done before and Stefanski sort of hell, according to CBS,
was just like no, absolutely not. But then Houston did a bunch of garbage time, theatrics came back into it, Flaco and Cooper come back into the game, and so then there's a huge third down completion to Cooper that essentially set the record, And I think that probably prevented a lot of annoying conversation this week about Stefanski not putting him in there for that final couple plays.
Mark Mark if Antonio Peers can call some fugazi and then like a sixty nothing game to get DeVante Adams a touch in one of the great plouts ever. Absolutely, when Cooper's done something that special, you let him cap it off and put his name in the record books.
I'm with you, and I'm glad it ended up that way. There was a really strange b line today because with all the kickers succeeding Cleveland, who Dustin Hopkins has been absolute money in the bank for them and won games for them. He had a hamstring injury very early, and so from the very first moments of the game, they're having to go for two on every touchdown. They're having to like go for it on fourth and eight from
the sixteen. Like Stefanski was asked at halftime, do you not have anyone else, like even your punter that could kick a field goal, and he's like, we flat out do not, And so it caused them, I think, to be more aggressive. And it was kind of a case study. And if like a kicker free roster because a couple of that's set that to set up more touchdowns where it could have been field goals. But it's like it leaves you concerned because their punter also was banged up.
So they come out of the game like in great position for the playoffs. But if the Hopkins thing is real, you're taking like a massive factor to their offense away. But I just cannot believe what their defense was. Their defense, I cannot believe what Flacco has done over these couple of weeks. It's got to be one of the most predictable things, unpredictable things we've seen in ten years covered and doing the show well.
I mean, they averaged one point eight yards per carry and they put up thirty six They had under thirty rushing yards last week when they ended up winning that game against the Bears. I give Stefanski so much credit because he's just leading on what's working and the kicker
being hurt. Absolutely you know, got them an extra couple of touchdowns because I mean one of those theft fourth and eight one where Flacco is basically in the grasp and throws an opposite hash throws to Cooper on the sideline, and Cooper had maybe one of the best games I've ever seen any receiver have because of the difficulty of all these throws. I mean, they were great throws, but it's unreal the plays that they made. It wasn't even bad defense most of the time. The Browns are going
to the playoffs. I know it's not official, they're ten and five, but they're basically going and heck, they actually have a little chance here to win the The.
AFC is Wonky. Our favorite Canadian, Stacy Dall's, was at the game and she spoke with Amari Cooper, who predictably was feeling good about himself. Yeah.
I mean, every time I step on the field, you know, I try to put forth my best effort.
I do truly feel like I'm unguardable.
You know, it's all about opportunities, and I had a lot of opportunities today, so I was able to take advantage of him.
You know, I booted Amari Cooper out of the Superstar club a couple of years ago, and I'm not saying that he's going back in this summer, but at the same time said he had like a really interesting career like he is, even if he's not a superstar per se, whatever that means in terms of how you view it. He is an absolute legit number one for the Browns, and you know he was for the Cowboys there for a while too. He's had he's had a great career.
And Mark Flaka the second player ever to have three two hundred yard games for three different teams too being the other one, which says a lot.
Three different team. Where's the other one?
The Raiders?
Come on?
You know that's sure?
You know what I kind of I kind of glanced over his Raiders' career. That's where he started and he got traded, Yes to the Cowboys. Man, We've been doing this long time, the Flacco mark. He keeps on going through my head. The Flacco nineteen ninety eight Vinny Testaverdi season keeps spinning in my mind that this you know, kind of forgotten big armed pocket passer who actually did
have something left in the tank. Even if people didn't think that necessarily to be the case goes on a special run and the team starts believing, Yeah, why can't this is actually a good year mark and we could we could lament you know, their injuries and imagine if Nick Chubb was here to help Flacco that we're talking. Maybe they're they're a true like super Bowl contender, but in the AFC, Like, why can't the Browns get and win some games? Like I think this is a great exciting time in Cleveland.
Well, their defense, you know, which has never complained the whole year, is really well coached, is playing with a lot of the same players with intense confidence compared to an organization compared to a year ago. Are getting helped now. I mean it's like you're through for two hundred and fifty yards in the first half. I you know, the Texans are without c. J. Stroud or you know and other players. A bunch of them were easy pickens today, but Cleveland destroyed them in the first half. And so
I am left one of that. I would say one little football note, Dan, like I don't think that Bill Parcells goes after Vinnie Testaverdy in that situation, in that time period, if Bill Belichick wasn't part of that staff or part of that who had gotten him in Cleveland in ninety four. I've getten a lot of tweets today about Vinnie Testaverdi taking Cleveland to the playoffs and their last playoff win before Baker Mayfield as an aging quarterback for the Browns when they beat Parcels and the Patriots
in the playoffs. So it all like comes full sert.
Of any kind of washed out from baltim Or to get to the Jets. You're right, interesting, All right, let's and yeah, I don't know what else we really need to say about the Texans other than it sucks because the injuries have been an absolute nightmare for them, and.
Take it a lot drowd back next week and they're still tied for first place, so it was not a damaging loss for them, right.
Uh So they get Stroud back and hopefully he stays healthy, and we'll see if they have a run in them. But time's running out. Time is also running out for us to take the Jacksonville Jaguars even a little bit seriously because their struggles continued on Sunday.
Here's the snap on first down from the twenty two Bayfiel throws.
Toward the endzone.
Cop Myke Covene touch down Tampapee. Haven't chasked to today, Harry.
Christmas, Michael m m Merry Christmas, the Jean Knucker off. If he celebrates, you don't know, We don't know. Producer Eric find out if Gene Deckerhoff is Christian. Thank you. Baker Mayfield threw for two hundred and eighty three yards and two touchdowns to help the NFC South leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeat Trevor Lawrence and the stumbling, bumbling Jaguars thirty to twelve. That is four straight wins, four straight wins. Now for the Bucks, who you know I was talking
about Amari Cooper's had a weird season. The Bucks have had a weird season. It started out strong, Mark and then it went into a deep tailspin and they were a complete afterthought. And now they got to be seen as a pretty substantial favorite to win the South and again a team that can make noise in the playoffs. If you get this version of Baker and the team playing at this level in terms of confidence.
Right now, man Baker Mayfield and that you know Dan, we again we kind of we keep nailing it with these Thursday plus segments on Greg we talked about Baker the Lions having their mow, which wasn't wholly unpredictable, but then also like the rise and fall of Baker Mayfield, then the rise again because this version of Baker Mayfield what he did today, I was just like, this, this is a team that could go into a weird NFC and be the team you kind of don't want to
deal with. They're going to be at home that they win this division, but not to get ahead of ourselves. I just thought that he today once again, it was very much the kind of performance we've seen for him over and over. I mean, he galvanized the sideline and the entire offense with a string of key like third down conversions on the ground. He's sort of underrated. He's not going to go run for forty one yards, but he will barrel over people to get us six yards
on third and five. His connection with Mike Evans, after watching that connection with Tom Brady a year ago be so frustrating, has been absolutely on and it's like he kept getting the team out of jams with great throws. He had a pristine first half, but this doesn't happen also without the full and entire meltdown of Trevor Lawrence.
On the first drive, a terrible interception to Devin White, he is destroyed on a sack on third and twelve on the second on the second drive, a terrible interception on a miscommunication with Evan Ingram on the third drive, I mean, and then he stripsacked to open the second half with the team down, you know, like twenty seven and nothing. They never climbed back in. And then to top it all off, Trevor Lawrence, who probably should not there's I don't even know if he was healthy coming
into this game. He did not look right. He only practiced once this whole week. He was completely off with an offense that's missing a bunch of wide receivers. And then he left with a throwing shoulder injury that we don't know exactly what is going on with that too, And so it's like tough year, right. Shaguars are like we for weeks, we've been seeing their kind of disappearing
before our eyes. I mean, they are hardcore disappearing. I don't know what will happen, and they can sneak back into this playoff race at this point, but they look like the opposite, the polar opposite of the defense and offense that we knew mark from even a.
Month everyone lost in the South. So like back, there's still that.
I get that, Yeah, you know that stuff starts to get me annoyed because I get that I'm saying that right now. The quarterback is hurt, he's playing terribly. They have no running game. Their defense is a hot mess and was totally eating up today. So it's like, it's not the way I want any team to go into the playoffs.
That's all right.
I had that on our Wednesday show. It was my bold prediction that they're not gonna make the playoffs. I just don't think they're a good team. And Lawrence I think has played better than his numbers have shown most of the year, but that's not true the last three or four weeks as he keeps taking these injuries. I mean,
they were down thirty to nothing in this game. I think they're even though the because of their schedule, the you know, projections have them making it because they have I think Panthers Titans and so those are relatively easy matchup, like they're capable of losing to any team right now, including the Panthers. The way the Panthers are playing late in the season, so everything is sort of falling apart at the same time that it's coming together for the Bucks.
The Bucks are a.
Week eighteen win away against the Panthers, and in between they have the Saints, and then they can really fit. They can finish it first. But even if for some reason they lost to the Saints, all they really got to do is beat the Panthers in Week eighteen and they're almost certainly the NFC South champs. And the way they're playing well offensively, they're a better offensive team than defense. Why wouldn't they beat the Saints next week?
Anyways, Hey, I think Todd Bowles. There's a lot of Coach of the Year candidates, but Todd Bowles like.
The oh my gosh, you wouldn't be in my top ten.
Wouldn't be I'd say one thing he's done really well is like too far, he's kept his team together and like I will say one defensive player of the week. Here's another prediction. Antoine Winfield interception, forced fumble, like a huge sack on third down. He's been really good, but like he was a huge nuisance to the Jaguars the entire day.
My all pro. He's been so good all year, so good.
Hey, the Bucks might not be a great team, but they're they're in a great division to be an okay team, and they're playing better than okay right now. And you mentioned they scored in their first four possessions, two touchdowns, two field goals. They held the ball for more more than eighteen minutes in the first test, they outgained the Jacks two twenty four to eighty four, and they went into halftime up twenty nothing. They just they ended the
game immediately. So the Bucks, and don't tell me Baker and Yolo mode if they do close this division out, which I think that they will, and the Cowboys coming to Tampa on like a Saturday night, that ain't a gimme it ate. Like last year when Dak carved up a Brady Carcass Bucks team, this could be a little bit different.
So it is crazy.
This offense is unquestionably better than the Tom Brady Bucks.
Like there's not even a debate about it.
I mean, Brady was like seventy four at the time.
Yet it I know what you mean. It's still kind of crazy.
All right, one more game before we take a break. Let's head to Atlanta, where another NFC South team, the Falcons, was looking to kind of stay in the race.
Lined up at the right side of Indianapolis's offensive line, and here is Minshew on a drop. He'll be forced up in the pocket, going to take the shot for Pierson.
Who else has picked it?
But Jesse Bates on his feet forty five and tripped up at the forty three and for Baits, that's his sixth interception of the year. Boy, you cannot throw the ball late down the middle with a guy like that guy in the middle.
Nope, can't do it. Means shoe Jesse Bates with another big play to seal it. Taylor Heineke did not turn the ball over a quarterback. That's I mean, that's a win. I don't need anything else with that team. Just don't turn the ball over a quarterback for the Falcons and that was enough, adding one touchdown pass, leading Atlanta to a twenty nine to ten win over the Colts. I mean, come on, Indy, get blown out here by the Falcons. The Falcons keep themselves in the mix whe whether or
not we want them there. Greg they're here, They're still around.
Yeah, the formula they came into the season with hoping for I was finally there.
This was a very.
What's the opp just game? Just like there was nothing extraordinary about this game. But it was exactly the Falcon nothing burger like Bajon for one hundred and twenty two yards, like an entire drive coming out of halftime. That was all Corterrell Patterson, Tyler al Jeer and Bajon Robinson, Kyle Pitts with like a long early touchdown they ran for one seventy seven. Other than giving up an early long touchdown drive by the Colts, they basically just shut him down.
And I think it's all because Arthur Smith's kid wanted him to get rid of the facial are He's back to the no mustache.
Let's listen.
The last time you showed up without a mustache, she said, it was like a three am impulselve.
I had a change momentum. But you know, clean up, church myself up.
Loadays hey, he's got to church himself up. They're not that seven to eight.
The charisma is just as exploding out of my laptop scream right now.
You know, there was no Michael Pittman for the Colts, Like at some point when what's his name, Noah Grayson and Will Mallory are your two leading receivers, Like you just don't have enough on offense, and Heinegi got lucky on like one pass that could have been a pick Sex, but other than that was very steady hit open receivers was solid. The Falcons finish at Chicago at New Orleans. Even if they won those two games, they probably wouldn't get in, So they are still kind of just barely holding on.
And I mean, I've been like touting the Colts is a solid team, and they are. They have been a solid team, and they've been consistent, but like you cannot have Gardner Minshew getting sacks six times and having tribes fizzle out, you know long they you know, they had Jonathan Taylor back and that looked like it would make a difference early, but like they just fell apart today
and I don't know, I'm struggling. I'm trying to find teams to believe in, and it's like, I guess the Cults are just another one of these flotsom jets and operations.
Here's a hot take Dan the AFC South is worse than the NFC South. At least the NFC South has some teams that have outscored opponents this year. There's no one in the AFC South that's done that. So hopefully C J. Stroud saves us there, because yeah, the cold schedules so easy that they might get in and I don't know, I just don't think they have enough Firebarer, Mark about this.
You got the Browns Man, that's a team to believe in. Just ride Baby's card. I think it's just like it's it's we can't force these like bottom of the wild card teams to be something they're not. They're inconsistent and sometimes good, sometimes bad, and they're they're seat fillers come January ultimately, no doubt.
But then I also don't need to go down avenues like with deep math constructions to figure out how like a completely lifeless operation is going to sneak into the seventh seed. I just that's not doing it for me either.
Don't need to do it.
I'm not going to.
Remember that Netflix summer, remember that, Mark, or you just got up and left the studio for that series? That comment? I could do that right there. Whenever we're doing a premiutaations of a team that you don't believe in. Yeah, you don't have to walk away. Just do the Tiki Barber move when he got mad at Joe Beningo a few months ago. Just turn the mute button off, sit back. We won't get mad.
We'll get it, Okay, message received.
Anything else on this one, Gregy, No, we're good, all right, good, good for you. That was. And by the way, I got my Jets Christmas sweater on Mark. You have a nice red plaid shirt. And Greggy is best of his foot right now with his Santa hat.
You know, we're trying to help oh Eric on the edit here Christmas Eve. But there's a little bee before you. But yeah, you can check us out. I think this will go up on YouTube.
There wasn't awkward dynamic though, because Dan like, you know, this is all for the show, like like entreated you know, Greg and I to go find our like ugly Christmas sweaters which in the past we owned, and like Greg couldn't find his, and I was like, I don't even know where mine exists.
I think I moved and I lost a lot of clothes on purpose, but I got rid of I think it was gone in the move.
But there was a sense that like early this morning is the games were kicking off, Like I think we've really disappointed Dan, and I'm not sure how this is going to go down on the show. But you've been very you understand how it is to move and have possessions, and.
It's tough. You just don't know where everything is. Listen, I'm the blind ambition of the show, Like I want things, I want to do things and try things, and and sometimes it gets you know, eyebrows go up, and like why is he even worrying about wearing matching Christmas gear on the four box or the three box on the Christmas Eve show. I just think it's nice. I think it makes the show three percent better.
Three percent that's pretty big.
Eric. I'm sorry for the f bomb, but you have to admit that Greg's hat is festive as fun it is. I will it's worth it. It's worth it a couple of all Right, let's take a break and we'll keep going. Yeah, drop that beat, hip hop, Santa, Santa's coming tonight, Santa's having a nice year, a nice year for the kids, Jack and Harrison, some you know, some high points, some low points, but overall enough where they don't get cold. And what is the big gift that's arriving in your
respective homes for your children? For me, let me just make sure Santa Santa's got the PS five coming with the Spider Man game bundled in there, and you know the people are just going to be going off in the house at about seven thirty am tomorrow.
Yeah, we did our Christmas last weekend because my kids are now they've arrived in Japan. It's already Christmas there. They've already opened their second load of gifts from Santa there, which.
Is our time zones. Pretty crazy when you.
Think, yeah, it's way ahead. And but I did the thing where they opened their presence. They were happy, and then it's like, oh, I think there's one more thing. I was like, I don't know if this is a little risky, this is gonna work. I think there's one more thing I left upstairs. Bring it out was a PS five as well, and.
They went freaking.
They went nuts, like like, no, no, that was that was when we were here. That was when we were here last.
But it was it was made in Japan, so yes, go ahead, Mark.
I was Greg, I was gonna say, you think you should have had two ponies waiting upstairs. That would have been theatrical. So Luke is very into plane spotting. He's got his own Instagram site that is kind of it's exploding. So he got a flight simulator console or he's getting it tomorrow. Colton's at the age and this will happen to you soon where he's just like, yeah, just give me like money so I can go buy what I want when I want, Like, okay, that's easy versus you know,
targeting a gift that a child doesn't want. That that is you can't force that.
Yes, along the lines of what you did, Greg, I'm taking a page out of a Christmas story with the
red Ryder bb gun. You know, after all the toys were open and Ralphie was like, ah, like he didn't want parents to know he's disappointed, but he was PS five is gonna be in a little different area and that will be like, oh, you do one of these moves, and this is you know, I'm now father of a nine year old and a seven year old, so you know, I've had a lot of years and I heartily endorse this to any young parents out there, do the old rope adope, let them open the presence, the one that
they want most, they don't get and then all of a sudden, Oh, what is that. You want to go nuclear? You want to see the house explode? I can't wait. I actually I'm more excited as a as a parent for Christmas morning than I was as a child. I didn't think that was possible. That's one of the great things about being a parent. And my kids are getting older and I know there's only so many years that it's special like this. So cannot wait. Let's get back to the games. And you know, I just shared some
intimate feelings about how I feel about family. But I'm also very passionate about the Sunday Drive presented by the first ever Toyota Grand Highlander. Let's head to the Saturday games, starting with Cincinnati Peters Lean Is twenty.
Four to eight, all corporate s Bengals bringing the Blitz touch pattern down the left sideline and it's Trada comes George Pickens to the ten of five touchdown.
He beat corner or loosing Bentley And I'll tell you what, Mason Rudolph played it in there perfectly. He sure did yeah, Mary Cooper was probably in most starting lineups. I don't
know about George Pickens, but if he was, congratulations. Mason Rudolph threw for two hundred ninety yards and two long touchdowns to George Pickens, who's been under fire for some of his effort and tued this season to say the least, and the Steelers gave a little jolt to their fading postseason dreams with a thirty four to eleven win over the Bengals. Gregy, I'm so mad at myself. Last week we did the fearless predictions and I said the Steelers
were done winning this season. But I forgot the golden rule of pro football, which is Mike Tomlin literally can't have a losing season. And I wish if one of you just would have said it to me in the moment, I would have pulled back the reins on everything. I would put up a hard stop sign and pivoted. I think maybe you did that on purpose so I could look like a fool today because they absolutely stomped the Bengals in a game where everyone was not only counting
out Pittsburgh entirely. Everyone that already was busy writing the obituaries about Tomlin in Pittsburgh. We'll see what happens down the line, but for now they're still alive, right.
I was one of those everybody's I thought the Bengals were gonna drop a hammer on him. Pickens goes Randy Moss four for one, ninety five and two. He has an eighty six, a sixty six, and a forty four, almost all of them on a woozy one was the first one was a little flukey, was you know, it was a nice throw. But Dax Hill comes down and takes out two defenders by taking a bad angle, and suddenly he's off. But the Bengals are just kind of soft. They're zero to five and the AFC North, which is crazy.
It was symbolically, I think there was that play where Warren just decleted the Bengals linebacker Jermaine Pratt on the Calvin Austin rushing touchdown, and then on the opposite side, the Bengals are just stuck on like the one yard line or was a five yard line media yard and they can't get a foot for three straight plays, So then they try to throw it and they don't get that. It's just like they're not tough, and for this game, the Steelers are tough, and at least they kind of
they brought the Bengals back into their mucke. It's like, if we're probably not going to the playoffs, you're probably not either.
I mean, this was sort of the Steelers offense we were expecting when they fire the oc or hoping for not expecting. But Mason Rudolph, who's been an afterthought, it was kind of surprising that they even brought him back, Like this season, is throwing the ball with confidence downfield. It's like the connect between him, him and Pickens had a lot to do with the fact that he's sort
of like fearlessly tossing deep balls and they're working. And I'm with you, Greg, Like my one concern for the Bengals, it's like, yes, Jake Browning, it massed over a lot of sins and you know, he had a couple of terrible interceptions in this game. But like they both lines
seems so easily dominated. And this defense, which has been like not talked about, I think a lot nationally is having like major issues, like completely fell apart, and so at this point this very I thought there were the most hopeful notes that we had in the AFC because of Browning. Reality struck hardcore yesterday.
It does feel like these quarterbacks, even the ones we believe in, and I'll use Dobbs as an obvious example, Browning as well, some of them. You know, once once a few games pass and there's some tape that they get exposed a little bit. And I hope that's not it with Browning. I hope he bounces back. Who do they have after this? Greg? What do we have left for his chiefs?
In the Browns at Kansas City?
That's tough. That's obviously, that's a tough close for Cincinnati, and I think.
They want them both. They're probably in. That's the thing with all these teams, because they probably won't win them both.
That's the thing.
No, like you gotta win, you gotta win the Pittsburgh game when the Steelers are on their back, and they couldn't. So that is that. So we'll see in terms of for Mike Tomlin, how this could change his future even if they don't make the playoffs, if they they close out with him winning record, you know, does that quiet anything about him being fired or traded? I don't know. But one other take I have is in the fourth
quarter when there were Mason Rudolph Chance. He's been there forever, and you know, he's been all sorts of stories around Rudolph forever. He'll probably be I don't know. I was gonna say he'll be somewhere else next year, but he's been around Pittsburgh for a long time. They're playing Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer on the PA after the game, and if he's being interviewed, and when the sideline reporter mentions that to him, he kind of rolls his eyes, like,
don't bring up this damn song again. I don't like it. It does nothing for me. It's way on the nose, Red Nose nailed it. Let's just move on.
You know.
I did like how much Alex Heismith, this teammate, was gassing him up, just like this guy's the man. Like the players, I think, like Bason Rudolph, and they were all but saying like, don't go back to Kenny Pickett, and I kind of don't think they will. I think they'll they'll give Rudolf another try.
Oh do you see Kenny Pickett in Chabinsky next to each other as the crowd is chanting. I was thinking, what's going through those minds? Do they share any words together? Is seventy thousand? Like hammered? Pittsburgh Yinzers are going nuts channing Mason Rudolph's name. Bengals playoff chances down to fourteen percent after the loss, So yeah, they're in a bad way. That was the Sunday Dry presented by Toyota Let's Go Places.
Learn more at toyota dot com. Slash Grand Islander Saturday Night Football at SOFI Stadium.
Let's go right to Allen takes the snap pocket collapsing, has to roll out to his right to buy time.
Looking downfield, He's got Dave Davis over the.
Shoulder, caught it to fifteen, and he drives his way into the end zone.
For the touchdown. Wow. Josh Allen buys time, rolls out and drops it over Davis's shoulder. Then he drags a defender the last eight yards.
For the score.
That might have been. Eric Roberts was at the game with family. The Bills fan producer Eric in the call from Chris Brown, the most important throw of the season for the Bills. We'll see they're down ten to nothing, and you know gave Davis hasn't done a damn thing in a couple of weeks, and Alan hits him. He drags the dB into the end zone with him. It gets them on the board, calms the game down. Josh
Allen helped to do the rest. He rushed for two touchdowns through for that one, and you needed the twenty nine yard field goal from Tyler Bass with twenty eight seconds to play to escape with a twenty four to twenty two win over the Chargers. Mark A loss to the rudderless and Herbert free Bolts would have been, especially after what happened the previous game for the Chargers, who gave up, you know, a sixty burger and everybody got fired.
That would have been an absurd and almost fitting stumble for this particular Buffalo team, But they narrowly avoided catastrophe, checked the box for the w and their playoff and division hopes are still alive as a result.
Yeah, I guess it just like almost doesn't matter how they got the win they did, but it kind of reminded me early on because they were real sleepy. It reminded me of the way they showed up in London against the Jaguars where it's like, what's going on with this Bills team. I mean, if anything, it was.
Much send year, excuse me, too much of that this year, too much of that.
It looked like other Bills games on that front, and they got in their own way. They had a you know, James Cook, who was awesome a week ago against Dallas, had a killer fumble that nearly caused them this victory. The Josh Allen interception was on an incredible throw across his body. It was just a wild interception and a
great play by the defense. But guys like Ed Oliver, you know, I think like Razulla Douglas, they bailed out this offense until it got going, and I mean, you're still gonna get I think Josh Allen down the stretch on third down, through the air and on the ground, He'll always do these incredible things. But it didn't leave me. It just kind of left me like encouraged by their defense to some degree about late what happened kind of
later in the game. But again I'm just wondering what when the Bills season might just end because they don't show up for four full quarters.
Well it's nine and six.
I think Collinsworth was fair to keep hammering the like short week coming off an emotional high. It is hard, I think for these teams to get emotionally as high as possible for each one of these games. The fired coach principle is real three and zero this year. I know the Chargers didn't win this game, but they were eleven point under dog give Smith. I mean they were played hard and like Brad and Staley's watching this game thinking like, oh my god, he complete eatly changed our
defense and it's totally working. Derwin James around the line of scrimmage, like doing different concepts and Easton sticks playing clean ball like it just it was a tough night for Staley, but like Alan also made the plays, like he had to get a field goal basically to keep
their playoff, you know, likelihood going. And he hits a money, very difficult throw to Stefon Diggs on third and eight and then hit Shakir which what looked like a touchdown at first, but they ended up calling it back, but that was still a money play by him, Like they got it done. You just got to escape these things. And I have a feeling we'll have a better performance next week. Those fumbles are what killed them. The Bills, by the way, before this were one in seventy two
on the road when being negative three in turnovers. The only other win was against Sam Darnold and Adam Gase in Week one in twenty nineteen, so like they overcame a lot, they got out of there with a win. I suspect we'll see a much better Bills team the next couple of weeks.
Come on, clean it up, guys. I mean, how long are we going to be doing this to turn it over three times until your season hanging in the balance and need your kicker to make sure you know, if your kicker slips or someone blows a blocking assignment, your season's like all but over. And it's just like, guys,
we just can't keep flirting with disaster like this. Eventually your season is gonna be ruined because of its shout out by the way, you know two hashtag too easy for Kickers Cameron Dicker, who had a listen a commendable social media post put out by the Chargers in the wake of that disaster against the Raiders where they had some fun with Dicker trying to gain a Pro Bowl spot,
and it was kind of a fun viral video. That obviously nice to follow up a viral video like that with a five for five performance in prime time, but it just it was not enough for the Chargers. And by the way, Greg fired coach principal. That's fine, but it's the Pasachia bump.
My bad. I was going and using the Brad Spicer you know we're you're right.
That's eighteen you certified, bro, Like, what are we doing? My bad?
You know, I regret you did.
It's okay if you don't. If you think fire coach principle is better than.
Now, it's not Bisachia bump just rolls out the tongue.
Anything else on this one.
Bill's got to win these next two. I know they're nine and six, so it seems like they're super safe. But of all the teams tiebreaker wise, if they go ten and seven, like if they win next week against the Pages then lose week eighteen against the Dolphins, they're probably out, which is I think would be surprising to people, even though they'd be ten and seven, so they probably got to win both.
They're driving me crazy. I want to get behind them. I want to see them as and Eric. I want to see your team as like the real AFC team that could just blow through January. But I mean they're they're hard to trust, but they survived. You know who else survived? The Packers against a bad Panthers team. What's so bad today? In the shotgun?
Here's the snap right shunk looking around close the middle gods Man had him playing on inside of thirty five down, not even time, running down down to one second goal. They get the ball, spice and do they have a chance for a field goal try?
And the officials are conferring trying to figure out fast hit the ground was zero on the pocket.
The game is over and there is your Christmas Eve the dagger all right, Wayne and Wayne Larravie with the call WRNW. I didn't think it was even a chance there. I was watching them for the first time.
It was so close. It was like half a second. They got it right, but it was so close.
Yeah, Jordan Love threw two touchdowns, ran for another, made some big throws to set up and Carlson's go ahead field goal nineteen seconds left. And yes, the Panther's painfully run out of time on that last gas rally hold on thirty three to thirty Greggie. The pack defense still obviously stinks. My god, come on, guys, but Love and company did enough to survive a two to thirteen opponent.
Yeah.
I thought it was a really mature effort by Jordan Love. It helped the Aaron Jones is back, getting over one hundred and twenty yards on the ground, but they kept having to score, and they kept scoring like he had to answer there when Bryce Young tied it up at thirty. It was obviously Bryce Young's best game of his career. I thought from the beginning he made a lot of good throws and people will be like, oh, the Packers
defense sucks. He was hit ten times in this game, and so the Packers eveense sucking was part of it. But watched if you ever do watch this game, like he was on the run, made a great touchdown throw, there, had a two point conversion overturn. A lot of these were while getting hit. So I thought he had a really nice game, but not as nice as Love, who was didn't have as many difficult throws to make. But I just thought it was really mature and he had to deliver late and had a dime to Dobbs. That
was a controversial call. That Panthers fans were upset about looked like he might have dropped it. I think they were right to keep the call on the field. Then another dime to Craft and they're winning again with like these rookies and guys like Bo Melton who picked off the scrap heap. It's like, it's very impressive what they're doing offensively defensively, they stink.
It's got to be tough to be Joe Berry, because you're getting talked about week after week. You know you're gonna be without a job in a couple of weeks. Here you gave up three hundred and ninety four yards, twenty six first downs, and six point four yards per play to an offense that has been almost entirely unwatchable. And so I am glad for Bryce Young. And it's not just because of Green Bay. You're right, it's we
needed to see this. I think if you're a Panthers fan, you're dying to see some shred of evidence that this first overall pick has something inside of them that speaks to more than what we've seen. Like, I think guys like there are these unsung heroes on that offense, like an Adam Feel and who it feels like week to week was just cast off as a useless free agent signing.
He's been there a week for a week, he had to He had nearly two hundred yard receivers today Bryce Scheung, which would have been quite different than what he's experienced. But I mean, Green Bay's defense to me, is like putting Jordan Love in this terrible spot week after week, and it's like it almost is just like ride this thing out. I get it there. They can go nine and eight if they want, But it's like it's just like you've got to change so much on this side of the ball.
Mark imagine they followed your Thursday game plan a ran the ball fifty times. Bryce would never have this moment where he could build off it. This is whenever you have Joe Barry defense. Uh it is It's like all bets are off. It seems like we should try to get out who are they playing next?
Let's get on to that roster, Nick Mullins in the in the Vikings in the elimination game.
Basically, yeah, let's let's find a way onto the Vikings roster. Like will be Uh, we could fill in behind uh Hockinson as tight end Mark, we're gonna put you at uh the number three wide receiver. Greg We're gonna put you in a nice scatback role, and we're gonna charge it. We're gonna put up about three hundred total yards combine. I feel it. I feel it, and there's nothing Joe Barry can do to stop us. All right, let's move on.
Let's head to Nashville, where the Seahawks were looking to keep their playoff hopes alive after that dramatic Monday Night win.
Third down and goal from the sixth Parkinson on the left, Gino looks that way, throws back shoulder. Parkinson has the catch, touchdown Seahawks. A perfect back shoulder throw by Gino and the Seahawks go up nineteen to seventeen.
Steve Rabel with the call Kiro Gino Smith threw his second touchdown pass on the fourth quarter, that five yarder to Kolbe Parkinson. With fifty seven seconds to play, Seahawks they are in the playoff picture for sure, in clear focus by beating the Titans twenty seventeen back to back victories. Now, Mark last year was Drew Locke playing the hero. Today, Gino got in the act.
It was, you know, before the game, because when we did our draft on Thursday, it was my impression that when Greg took Green Bay Carolina at the end of the lineup there that he was he labeled it as the last available game. But sitting out there was Seattle at Tennessee, and we've got a true Geno file here. So I like, I DMed him this morning and said Greg, like, if you want this like Seattle game to see your guy like, and he was like, no, I'm actually fine
with what I picked. So I went on to enjoy Gino Smith's fourth comeback victory of the year, which leads the NFL among all quarterbacks. And it took a while for him to get going. You know, it was a bit of a sleepy star for Seattle and Tennessee. I got to give them credit, and I really think Rabel like this is this is the sign of Mike Rabels, Like Tennessee battled in this thing. They just simply they're Outmann offense, but they just battled and they gave Gino
Smith a lot of troubles early on. But this drive I wrote down this is Gino's moment with three twenty one in the fourth quarter, down seventeen to thirteen. Go show me Gino Smith that you can do exactly what Drew Locke did a week ago. And he unfurls a total money throw to Tyler Lockett on third and six. He is destroyed on a sack, but he does not give up. He hits on third and fourteen Jackson Smith
and Jigba for eighteen. Another couple of big conversions to Lockett, then a deep shot to dk Metcalf that this happens all the time, but it drew a Pi gave them first in goal. Zach Charbonay slammed twice, but then he hits Colby Parkinson on that touchdown. It was like Gino just made these throws. I think he was like six for six, five for five or six or six with like sixty yards when it mattered most. And then the defense put the coffin on Ryan Tannehill and the Titans
offense in the final last gap gas ptend. So Seattle, I believe you if you're gonna go win win games like this, Like what's not to like in the NFC? I mean they can do it with two different quarter backs in six days.
Hmmm, very similar games too.
Yeah.
The Titans of us five games by four points or less. This is kind of like every Titans game.
It's just like this.
They could have had a very different season, and so cond Seattle like they've will won a lot of their games just like this. I think Gino now is tied for the league lead in game winning drives. It's not necessarily like even a stat that means you're doing great. I think Kenny Pickett is also tied with him, and like Ritter's up there. Uh, but they've won a lot of these games. On the last drive, Pickett and Ridder up there.
We got to eliminate the whole stats.
You don't know what That's what I mean. That's like I saw. It was like, wow, Gino has four.
I think I QB wins in the Twitter COGNACENTI we gotta we gotta come for the late game drives too.
That's I I'm with that.
I'm not really into the game winning drives thing, but uh made it happen when it mattered most. And they get to eight and seven and they're they're in pole position, but their two games are are pretty tricky with the who is it?
It's pits and then I forget who it.
Is in Pittsburgh in Arizona.
Yeah, they probably have to win both of them to get in. They could, they could win one and then get some help. They'd have a better chance than most teams.
But we'll see.
All right, Let's head to the Meadowlands where the Jets jumped ahead big and then had to hold on for their lives against the Commandos.
Out of the hold of more steat to try and put the Jets on top. Fifty four yards away, Fannessy will snap there, it is the placement down, it's away, it's got the distance.
It is gone.
Greg Sarlock does it.
Five seconds to go, and Bob was, Susan, you're the call. I mean, calm down. Let's calm down with you.
He's partying tonight. He's partying.
What I mean every day is just it's the Jets are God's cruel joke. Greg Zerline kicks a fifty four yard field goal five seconds to play, and the Jets, after blowing a twenty point third quarter lead, hold on with the They don't hold on. They actually lose the lead. They go down twenty eight to twenty seven, and then Zerline bails them out another kicker having a monster year. He's missed one kick all season, fifty four yard or
with five seconds left. That was enough. And I say that it's the Jets are a cruel cosmic joke, because the day begins with Brian Costello of The New York Post reporting via direct conversation with Woody Johnson that indeed, Robert sala is coming back, and so is Joe Douglas, and we're running this thing back. Essentially, this entire year was a mull again. And this isn't necessarily a surprise. It feels like it's been trending that way. I don't necessarily agree with it, but this is kind of how
it's been trending. And it would have been so on brand for the Jets. Then to blow a twenty point lead to one of the worst teams in football at home on Christmas Eve, no less, and and and it's also kind of funny in a sad way that they find a way to thread the needle where they don't even give us like just a real fun afternoon. We had to suffer through the second half, and then they make the kick that actually makes our draft kick pick worse.
It just they are masters of the craft. I have to almost give the Jets credit for what they do to their fan base. But anyway, you should know this about the game. And shout out to Jake Briskett, who once again came in for Sam Howe. And we're going to get into that in one minute, but first let's hear from Bob Sala, who has very strong takes that might might upset one Patrick Clayboon, but wouldn't necessarily a complacency or anything. It was just momentum shifted and listen
the blowing that lead. It was just momentum and there's nothing you could do, nothing you could do about it.
But they got it back like they it didn't. It didn't they did something about it, you know, because then they were that's.
An NFL coach telling, you know the world where we sit with momentum, So you know, just it's you just put.
Its four dollars a year to coach football. So am I going to I? Am I going to sit up there? Check would say on Mount Pius, you'd say that he's wrong.
Shout out to Greg Zerline, by the way, hitting that kick, just I just feel like it helped the mood of this this whole show, you know, like we this would have been a dark day for the Jets.
I feel like, I know, I know, you're got me all wrong.
Greg's fun, but I'm just saying if they had on the day they announced Salah is getting the job blown that lead to the commanders, it would have been a little.
Totally a piece with it, Mark Greg. I was totally a piece with them losing the game because of the draft pick, and it provided very little joy the fact that they won because they played so damn poorly. I want to just give a little shout out to Jake Briskett, who, at one point factoring in the last week's game and this week's game had five executive touchdown drives, which is awesome.
And I really have to you have to say, we know Ron Rivera is not part of the future in Washington, and we don't need to say much more about this game, but like we know, he's not the future in Washington, but now Ron is benched Sam Howe like two weeks in a row, and how played like dog poop in this game, and he wasn't getting a lot of help from his offensive line. But to see Jacoby Brissett, who we all like in respect, but a career backup coming and just for the second straight week, light up the
opponent and get his team back in the game. It's like you would make even in a playing for nothing situation, you might go with Brissette the rest of the way. I don't know if Rivera will, but I think Sam Howe is really mortally wounded his opportunity to be the quarterback of the future in Washington with these last six weeks. The play has just not been there. And I feel bad for him because it's a tough situation there. But he's you know, he hasn't been playing the guitar. Put it that way.
Yeah, I think he's. I'm with you. I think he's. You couldn't be in a more perfect storm of problematic scenario for future young quarterback with issues. Ownership change happened, coaches gone like I don't like it for Eric b Enemy, who finally became a soul play calling OC who's gonna be out of there? And it's like Sam Howe's probably gonna be swept out with the rest of them.
All right, one more game it is the Chicago Bears and Cardinals. Hold on to your butts.
Field's under center brings morning in motions, DJ Mortal left snap play fake fields fakes the end around the morning now rolling to his right band Chase zings it into the end zone, wide up, Marcedes Lewis touchdown, touchdown, Bears one yard toss hand the fortieth career touchdown for Marcedes Lewis.
Marcedes Lewis everybody our buddy, MJD's favorite dude, always talking about Marcedes Lewis in the theater on Sunday nights.
I think they were in the same draft, like literally the same draft class.
Believe Marcedes Lewis has now caught touchdown passes in the National Football League in two thousand and six, in two thousand and twenty three. That's cool anyway, justin fields through for that touchdown to Lewis and ran for another score. The Bears beat the Cardinals twenty seven to sixteen. Cole Comet had another big game in this one, four for one oh seven, even though he missed the second half with the knee injury. Hopefully he's okay. Khalil Herbert goes
for one to twelve and a touchdown. So the Bears bounced back after you know, melting down against Cleveland the prior week. And uh, you know, the Bears have four hundred and twenty yards of offense in this game, two hundred and fifty rushing. So we're talking about how this team and is it too little, too late for the coaching staff. I don't know, but they do seem to have an identity and fields. While he wasn't perfect in this game, he had a bad interception in the red zone,
but he started out beautifully. He throws for one, he adds ninety seven yards rushing, and I just you know, it'll be interesting to see how he closes here and what that means for Chicago.
And it's like it's such a there were two things happening, and we talked a little bit about on Thursday that you nearly have Green Bay falling to Carolina. Instead, they nip Carolina and the Green Bay Packers can celebrate tonight, but they brought the Bears one step closer to having the first overall pick that they can do whatever they want with and maybe change the future of both teams in that division for the next fifteen years.
Bears and Jets both win both at six and nine. They are the eighth and ninth pick in the draft right now, so the Bears happy they have the one pick on top of the eighth pick and they're not eliminated.
How about that.
We're going into week seventeen. The Bears are technically still alive, and again a lot is technically live. The Cleveland Browns, Mark I, just as I was looking for eliminations, are still alive for the one seed in the AFC.
That you know, how many things could happen.
So is that the the Browns win out and everyone loses out.
More or less, Yes, to get the one seed. But I think they have a chance to win the division in a more realistic way than people would understand, because they would win the tiebreaker over the Ravens if the Ravens lost twice.
Well, that is not I mean that's not probable. That is we're at the point where that is far from impossible.
H Kyler Murray, by the way, their passing game, you know, he's given them a little boost, but their passing game just is not clicking. And that was the sixth game of Murray running the offense. So they they have work to do. I know, Greg, you're you're pretty confident that they're running it back with him, but it would be nice to see him have one of those like vintage Kyler games before we fold up the tent. And I don't really have anything else to add about this game.
No, I just want to wish you guys a merry Christmas. Good luck on the you know they we're a big reveal tomorrow, Dan, I want to hear that are I want to tape it at the time. I have mixed feelings about that. You want to you wanna be in the moment, so I sort of pleaded with Emmaica to tape it quietly, like and I am glad that I have it because I've watched it a few times since.
It makes me happy.
Yeah, that's it is the eternal quandary Christmas morning. I could still picture my mom deb in you know, nineteen ninety with that big old video camera on our shoulder and we hated it, my sister parents and I just despised it. And my brother was younger so he didn't you didn't care. But do we want to do that same thing? However? Mark, Like, this is a different culture now and and cameras are everywhere, the phones are always out, so kids aren't nearly as self conscious as we once were.
So there's a lot of uh, there's a lot of different angles to look at it.
From this, I think I would I would get the moment recorded and sort through the feelings around that at a later at a later time.
With a licensed there therapist. That would be a good but yes, Merry Christmas to all who celebrate, and thank you for listening to this show and every show, and until next time, which will be Tuesday, do one thing, have yourself, Merry Christmas and heed the call