2023 Week 17 Recap

The Around the NFL Podcast. What time does Sunday Night Football start?

Jim from the Chris Nestling podcast studio. It is New Year's Eve, Hey and Collinsworth and Tariko are in tuxedos. We don't got that, but we do have Levi in the house, Dan Hansas, Greg rosehal Mark Sessler.

Week seventeen, Baby Feels Good, feels clarifying, wash away, the sins of the old year, wash away, some of these teams eliminated today.

Let's go. I don't know about the.

Sins, but yeah, my goals just simply to get through this episode.

My body has.

Sound great, but it has been falling apart hour by hour since I got here at around nine am.

Well, way to keep the energy strong there.

Mark, We have a big show for you, because yes, it is the an ultimate week of the regular season and so much is being decided. We had both buys and first round excuse me, number one seeds clinched in each conference, and certain divisions somehow got more muddled, which is wild, but that's the way it goes in this crazy year. So we're gonna get through it all and

Okay, you look nervous because yeah, it's all in my head though, So that's a little worrisome.

So we'll try. We'll work with you, all right.

So we're gonna do We're gonna go by conference here because that just keeps it simple. Uh, Ending with yes, the playing essentially a playing game where a loser goes home. Match between the Vikings and Packers. Let's start though in the AFC. Let's go through it all in with the big matchup. It happened in the early window. It was the Ravens coming off that's stomping of the Niners looking to keep it going, and the Dolphins saying we have a statement to make.

Well.

Only one team was talking afterwards, and it was not the one from Miami.

Eight flowers comes in motion, Lamar with Tom coming deep looking for flowers.

He's got them open at the Bibi thirty makes the cats, He's still twenty cuts back to the fifteen slip kind of a tackles any Flowers touch then Ravens. That was too fast.

Seventy five yards and the Ravens extend the lead.

Oh Man, hide the women and children. The Ravens are a force of terror roaming the hillside. Lamar Jackson now the clear front runner for MVP. After five touchdown passes, he had a perfect passer rating, and the Ravens embarrassed the Dolphins fifty six to nineteen. They hung a fifty burger on Miami on New Year's Eve.

That is mean.

That win secure as a first round by for Baltimore as well as home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. And this was a game where the Dolphins came out hot on offense and you were thinking, Okay, we might have a shootout here, or maybe this is Miami's day and people like me who've been doubting them, we're about

They kept on building and building and building.

And I thought greg was an interesting little wrinkle that Zay Flowers on that long touchdown.

We just listened to.

You know, he's going in motion and then going jet, and that is the Dolphins play. And you would think the Miami defense would be ready for such a thing, having practiced it all season, But nobody is ready for the Ravens right now.

A devastating day for the Dolphins and their defense, who coming into this game were number one in the league in scoring defense and yards per game defense since Week six. So to have a game like this where yes they give up fifty six points, four hundred and ninety one yards and so many big plays has to feel destabilizing. They lose Xavian Howard to injury during this game, they

You know what, you got hurt in there. It's really disappointing on contact. Looks like an Ac Elder saying.

Right, and McDaniel, you know, said they wanted to finish strong. But you have to give credit to the coaching and Lamar Jackson and the offensive line which has really been underrated I think for the Ravens this year to give him the protection to hit all these big plays. Justice Sell for twenty three, Flowers for seventy five, likely for thirty five for a touchdown, thirty three for Beckham.

They are a big play offense.

It's their development on offense, and it's the scheme. You know, you're starting with a new play caller and they were kind of shaky out of the gate this season. But to see what they've done and what they've developed into. Wow, Like even a week ago, I was kind of questioning the Lamar Jackson MVP journey.

I can't now, I just can't. He's become that guy.

But it's also like I'd point to someone like Isaiah Likely, who you know, you lose Mark Andrews, and you think that might be like a lynchpin scenario that changes Baltimore. Last year, I think it would have been like, You've got all these guys stepping up. Odell Beckham made an incredible cat. I'm just as cz Flowers operate the way he did.

Justice Hill, Justice Hill.

And if you're and you know it's coming on special teams, it's coming on defense, it's coming through their own offense. And if you're Miami, because outside of the Dallas game, there's a lot of reasons to doubt about their performance against the better teams in the league, this is totally demoralizing.

Yeah and yeah the defense.

If Xavin Howard is gonna miss serious time or any time here, you really wonder they what they have in front of them. You don't want to write them off because the Ravens are like like the Niners.

Were earlier in the season. Before the Ravens.

Humble them, it just feels like no one's gonna stop them right now. But as this game started to kind of get away from them, you saw that breakdown where the defense isn't getting stops and then it was like it was time for two in the offense to go shot for shot.

Tyreek Hill has.

A terrible end zone drop in this game, the worst drop of his career. Maybe that's a four point play, and then two of throws in interception.

And on a great play there. He's been a great play.

And every time Miami cracked the door open, just like Lamar with the MVP door open, they just kick it in on a team. And and just when you thought it couldn't get worse for Miami, or just when maybe you thought at halftime, okay, maybe they could get this thing stabilized, they have a seventy eight yard kickoff return by Hill to open the second half, then a quick touchdown and the game was essentially over. So just a

Yeah, that'll be something to talk about during the Week two with the forty nine ers. I wonder if they'll take that experience. They'll see the Steelers on the schedule who are still alive for the playoffs, and think, let's play that game. You know, anyone that's hurt or on the edge, don't play them. But then you also look at the Dolphins in this game and you kind of get the other side of the coin. That, man, your season can change when you lose a couple big time players.

It makes you wonder if they will maybe play Yeah, like but still I don't think it's worth the risk. Just like Mike McDaniel, mark saying we need to finish strong. That's why my star defensive end is in the game, like that's a that's a horrible, horrible setback for them.

Yeah.

I mean the Ravens are healthy right now, and I don't see any connective DNA with that previous Ravens team that fumbled and stumbled in the playoffs and lamar Jack and having their reputation of not winning playoff games.

They feel completely different to me. They are not healthing their secondary though. So here's the situation. They played this game without Kyle Hamilton, who's been a breakout star this year. He had the knee.

Cornerback Brandon Stevens missed it with the ankle, got hurt during practice on Thursday or always bad.

And then today Marlon Humphrey goes out with a calf, Daryl Worley goes out with a head injury. So they they're gonna need time to get that secondary right. But otherwise, gorgeous and Dolphins sins.

Don't worry.

I'm not gonna dunk on you here. I'm not going to be that guy, but I think it does once again.

But he did lock against them, as did I. That's not a dunk, that's just I'm just saying we need to point that.

At that that must be pointed out. Give us another one there it is, Eric, are you back on this? Like dueliing Banjo's thing. Now, in Dan's defense, he threw it out there before me. It's true. That's true. Leaders got to lead, Mark I.

Always doing it either way. But the Dolphins are good. The Ravens are great, and you see it in a game like this, and we'll.

See they're just a team that's better than the some of their parts, Like they're not a star team outside of Lamar It really there's something, there's something bigger going on here that they play really well together and it's just very solid. Every group is solid. Brokewn Smith is a star and you know who else is the star? John Harbaugh dancing in the locker room afterwards. Oh, let's take a listen.

It's moved me pretty good. He does move well for a sixty.

Not great podcast content, but I like the visual. Check it out on YouTube and it does. It is a reminder because you know, Mike Tomlin has been under fire and now Bill Belichick might be out of town. A few years ago on this podcast, we're saying, oh, I don't know what does John Harbaugh anymore. Yeah, para good experienced coach with a special quarterback. It's funny how it kind of changes everyone's trajectories.

All right, So.

The Dolphins go down. That opens the door for the Bills if they can take care of business against the Patriots. They have a AFC East Championship game next Sunday.

Did they take care of business? Let's go to Orchard Park.

Takes his snap, looking to his left, fires quickly and it's picked off Rasoul Douglas at the forty on his feet to the thirty, to the twenty five, down to.

The fifteen ten five and into the end zone for the touchdown.

Rosoul Douglas the playmaker does it again, this time for six.

How about that trade for the Buffalo No, Razull Douglas returned one of his two interceptions for a touchdown that you just heard there from Chris Brown on the call.

You also tipped the pass to cause a third turnover. The Patriots had four turnovers before you could blink in this game, and the Bills inch closer to the playoffs with a twenty seven to twenty one win over the Pats. And yes they don't. They're not clinched in the playoffs yet, but like I said, they can get in with some help. Even if they don't win next week against Miami, and if they beat the Dolphins next week, I don't even need Greg for this. They do indeed steal the AFC East,

It's so important that Razul Douglas has worked out the way that he has, and it's incredible to me that the Green Bay Packers gave Buffalo a fifth rounder and Rasul Douglas for a third rounder. I mean, it was like it's it's a pivotal trade for their defense. Guys like Ed Oliver have been playing some of their best football around two and so they are not a shiny object on offense at the moment. But just take care of business and get and get it done next week.

No chance Josh Allen is winning the mvpf Now game where he said afterwards, I just did not throw the.

Ball well and everything was just off.

Two in a row, really, I mean, he got it together enough against the Chargers, but that's two in a row where he struggled.

Yes, And not much to say about the Patriots other than Bailly Zappi had three interceptions by halftime.

At one point.

Guys that Bill's defense had more interceptions than Josh Allen had completions. I think he started oh for six over seven and they had two interceptions at that point of the game.

Yeah, and here's the thing.

As bad as New England was playing on offense early on this, they stayed in the mix throughout this game because of Buffalo's struggles.

So at the ball with a chance to go to the lead in the fourth.

Acthlete or not that you know, you had the feeling

That, not just get a home game, but get the two seed. So the Bills will either be the two seed or you know, the six or seven, or out of the playoffs entirely. The scenarios are kind of crazy for both of these teams, the Dolphins too. The Bills are in, you know, they get the two seed with a win. The only way they can miss the playoffs is if they lose, and between the Jaguars and the Steelers, one of the two of them win, but not both

And they're probably that they're going to be the Sunday night game against Miami, you'd think, and so will they'll know what they'll know what's happening to them.

By then, Buffalo is two for five in the red zone as well, so they got things to clean up. And you know, Miami's bounce back from adversity this season repeatedly, they're obviously coming.

Off a lot of adversity.

This week, the Bills played like they've played the last couple weeks. Miami's gonna win that division and then the Bills just need to catch some breaks to even play relevant football beyond next week.

But you know what's crazy for the Dolphins, like if they beat the Bills, most likely their reward will be playing the Bills again, And if they lose, they're playing in Kansas City, So which is like I don't know which I would want.

Of course you on a home game, but I.

Don't know how goes you want to play an arrowhead in the playoffs.

Okay, you're right. I guess you wouldn't want that happy to play the bells twice in a row.

Also does I'll give one depressing pat stat before we move on that they are minus ten gregy in terms of turnovers seventeen takeaways, twenty seven giveaways. They were at seventeen straight years with a positive turnover differential. That was like a calling card of this team. Once again, these things are all gone. Will Bill Belichick be gone? They get the Jets next week.

Oh, they got a little break with the draft pick this week.

Come on, keep it going. Von Miller healthy scratch in this game? How about that?

Just Ben the Jets, the team that Belichick walked out on. That would be poetic.

I wish you would walk back in on them. Anyway, let's keep moving on. Let's head to Kansas City, where the aforementioned Chiefs got another crack taking the division against the Bengals.

Backing up, the Bengals got to get to the thirty five of Kansas City for a first down, Browning again stepping up.

He's throwing long down.

The right sideline, and the pass is gonna be.

Broken up, broken up, broken up.

T Higgins, the intended receiver, Shamari Connor, the rookie of Virginia Tech, dropping the knock it down at one oh seven to go in the game, and the Kansas City Chiefs are gonna win the AFC West for eight consecutive years. That is second in National Football League history only to the Patriots of two thousand and nine to twenty nineteen.

I'm the interest that Pats love there. I like that.

Well, they that was history factual, and next year they have a chance to erase your lovely Patriots from the record book. All right, let's talk about this. Mitch Holt is with the call. They're still not right. The Chiefs still can't really play functional offense.

Can I mention?

By the way, on that fourth and forever, they cut up to Taylor, which they haven't really done, because Travis Kelsey is like the fourteenth best tight end of the league this year.

Oh stop it. He's literally a Pro Bowler for sure.

Okay, great Pro Bowl. That's cool. You said fourteenth. He's like leads the eleventh best tea.

He's the eleventh best tight end this year. He wasn't even catching the first half to night. They cut to tailor. She's going nuts. She knows what the stakes are.

She's plugged in. That's good.

Yeah, But Harrison Bunker was the star, not Travis, not the boyfriend, because he won six for six on field goals. And the Chiefs hold the Bengals scoreless and their last seven possessions to take care of business twenty five to seventeen. They clinched that eighth straight AFO West AFC West title. So Greg, they do take care of business. They will be going to the postseason. They will be playing at Arrowhead in week in the playoffs. But otherwise, still a

Yeah, and they will be the three seed no matter what happens next week. They're number three. I thought this was an encouraging game for the Chiefs. I thought this was sort of an old school Chiefs game, at least reformatted for the reality of what this offense.

Thanks for That was okay, But what.

I mean by that is they're down seventeen to seven in a big game. Browning was playing fantastic, really really making good plays even when things weren't open, creating. They come back outscore the Bengals eighteen to nothing. The rest of the way, the second half felt like a real experienced championship type response.

They win twelve to nothing.

Granted it's all field goals, but they scored basically every possession, Mahomes taking what the defense is giving them. They outgained them two hundred and ten to eighty. It just felt like they really needed at that moment in time to kind of dominate, and they did. And the Bengals seemed very up for this game, and it was mostly the defense.

Yeah, Like on a day where Travis Kelce was largely a non factor. What was different for me about this Chiefs offense was explosive plays right. Justin Watson had the forty one yard catch and run. Rashid Rice had the sixty seven yarder, also a twenty four yarder. This has been absent from their from their offense in general, so that's that's hopeful. I mean the Bengals Pacheco one thirty. I think he's he run is running so well, kept them alive in the first half.

Yeah, I mean, he really is an anchor for them.

The Bengals had the ball for twenty one plus minutes in the first and you're right, I think lost in this this defeat is that Browning had some excellent throws. He did some stuff, you know, improvisational, ran well with his feet a couple of times when they needed him to, and it kind of just gets swept away. But this was the Browning that gave you hope that if they had made the playoffs.

They'd have a chance to compete. They are eliminated.

Yeah, halftime in this game, I was like, Wow, they got a real chance here to win this game and maybe make the playoffs.

But uh, I think they're up seventeen a half seven at one point.

Yeah, and it really did feel like they were going to find a way, but then the offense just totally disappeared. It is obviously the post mortem on the Cincinnati season begins and ends with Joe Burrow's injury and the way this. He gets injured in camp, He's slow to get going, then he finally does, and then the wrist injury. And although they did, you know, fight back and get back into the playoff mix, it's really their defense that you have to keep an eye on in the offseason.

What they're gonna do.

Captain lou An Arumo's he's going to be back, you imagine, unless he gets a job, a head coaching job. But they allowed They have allowed the most twenty plus yard plays of any defense in the league this year.

So it's not just about Burrow's injury this year.

They got to get better and Cincinnati had six of those plays totally yeah, like one hundred and twenty five yards.

They really have been dominated up front on defense too, and I think that that's where the rebuild starts.

Kind of on offense too. On both sides.

They their offensive line is what killed Browning today. He had he had no chance in the second half. Higgins was in and out of that game. Might we'll see if he gets the franchise tag, ends up with one catch. Chase comes back but ends up only three catches, So I guess Lagarious Sneve got the last laugh there after Chase talks, Yes.

I do come out of this season, though, thinking a lot differently about Zach Taylor, like I think he'd like with what he did with Jake Browning was important, and they came close to winning this game today and it would have been a huge victory.

I think some of the shine came up these last two weeks. But I know I agree with you. I think he's a good coach, but they got to get better. And I listen, you got plenty of time to talk about this. But the Chiefs have a lot of potential. Nobody believes in US juice going into the playoffs. For all the doubting, they are an experienced team with a very good defense with Patrick Mahomes. Can they win a bunch of low scoring games and at least a couple, Yeah,

That's been yeah, three for twelve on third down.

There was a moment in this game where Charles and Manihew and Willie Gay were shouting at each other on the sideline. MVS had one of the worst drops you're going to see all season.

It's got to just motion that the Homes like that, that it was behind them. Yeah, that was That was when it was feeling like it might be Yes falling apart. But through no, you know, through nothing more than just luck. They're gonna get the bye week that they always get. There's no they're getting the three seed regardless. It's just random that they can't move up, can't move down, and so they can't rest. Some people I would think they as I mean, if you want, if you want to

It is you, and you can have spin offs and it can go in different direction. It's like a universe. It's the rest Stop universe. Okay, so it goes in a lot of different directions.

Exciting. All right, let's head next.

Okay, let's start talking about the AFC South, which is very, very funky.

Jacksonville troops to the left, one receiver right and a shotgun for CJ beouts or tossed to the right to travel.

Got a little bit of a.

Lock forty forty five pull on the right sideline forty thirty five thirty twenty five Premiacydn still on the street, prevaced.

It all up, touchdown.

Tramnesse et in an expulsive run in the first touchdown of the game.

For the Jaguars. Jags needed this one.

Travis Etn scored twice, including that run, the longest of his NFL career. The Jacks end of four game losing streak, shutting out the moribund Panthers twenty six nothing.

A lot of people upset and frustrated after this game. Now the Panthers correct clean me I picked them to win. Where's the pick all year? What are you doing? You hate the Jaguars so much and it's clouding you? What what first time I picked up Panthers all season? The week nine on the road they would be playing better and CJ. Bethard was starting.

They got work today anyway, Yes, Greg, the Jags they win for the first time in December, and with Trevor Lawrence on the sideline.

CJ.

Bethard was good seventeen for twenty four, one to seventy. I mean, he just was the point guard that you would hope he would be not making any big mistakes and their defense was dominant. Josh Allen of the Jaguars is up to sixteen and a half sack. Wow, three sacks, four quarterback hits. He's not a crazy DPOI candidate, Like, there's no one really jumping up and saying it has to be me. I think it's gonna be Garrett, but I think Alan might be number two on my list.

Maybe it's Parsons.

I turned off that Thursday night game midway through the second quarter. Did Garrett have a sack? He did get it, okay, because he had been on a slump in that category, which has opened the door.

Yes, just an awesome dominant performance by the Jaguars. And I know it's against the Panthers, but hey, the Panther has been playing better the last few weeks. Three hundred and seventeen yards to only one hundred and twenty four for the Panthers. There was a six drive stretch where the Panthers had negative yardage over those It's the It looked like the worst of the worst Panthers game.

It's the fewest out of yards they've had in the game since twenty ten.

And I ended up watching.

You know, I drafted this partly because I picked the What a stupid I.

Don't stop bringing it up, Greg, Like you're supposed to be our smartest fall guy.

Hey, we need We're trying to protect you right now, Greg.

I'm still ahead of the game debut standings here at discount towards, so still no. But they'll be in Cynthia's model.

We can't be We're going to edit this all out of the show. Yes, absolutely, Greg, absolutely.

Did not pick the Panthers. Let's set it up.

Actually, Greg, Wow, well, just like you picked the Jaguars. They take care of businesses, say some people in Cynthia's model.

Some people were thinking the Panthers could have a chance in this game.

No.

One hundred and twelve yards for Bryce Young, he had no hope whatsoever, just getting steamrolled. It was. It was tough to watch.

They clinched the number one pick for the Bears, though, so that's even more bad news for the Panthers.

Congratulations to the Bears.

The seventh downs the second fewest in the history.

There's no good news around the Panthers. There's nothing to talk about that's good.

First shutout they've had, which is this is almost impressive since two thousand and two, so they have not been shut out for twenty one the years.

There's nothing to say about Bryce stung at this point. It's just like, well, he had been trending up. So that's why I was like, okay, but this was bad. Good job by the Jacks, I really mean it. Backup, quarterback.

You win twenty six to nothing in your home field, and if all they got to do now is win next week against the Titans and they win the AFC South.

So it was a big time game for them on a four game losing Oh yeah, I know, that's why you got to pick the check. I know it's so stupid.

And yes, this is the moment where I love to kick into one of my other favorite spin off shows within this show. But I can't. We can't, but we might be able to a little later in the week, let's hope. So you guys get what I'm saying. All right, let's move on. Let's keep rolling the AFC South. Like I said, it's funky, let's head to Indianapolis.

Two receivers left, including a tight end guard. Make that Kylon Grants on the left side. Play action.

Minshew feeling pressure taking a shotdown Phil.

For Alec Pierce. He's got it guards after they catch the.

Ten Angley right for the PIB and he's.

At the pylon. Touchdown.

Hey, it's a forty two yards strike up, pop the gardner Minshew to Alec Pierce, touchdown for the Colts's thirteen to three.

Like they keep that Garland up at Looks Oil Stadium. Now, when do you take down the Christmas decorations? Some would say they should already be done.

I like to keep them up about a week after New Year's like next weekend, Zeuser is.

Gonna I'm lay I thought about this and now granted I'm sadly by myself during the house at this point, so maybe changes there, but uh, I think tomorrow.

Is the day. Tomorrow Year's day itself. Yeah, I feel like a day of rest.

And well maybe okay then maybe the next But like you, I think a Christmas tree, Greg, Yeah, and.

See tomorrow you're just gonna shred it and take it down and throw it in the backyard.

Well it's fake, but uh yeah, I think I'll take it down, take take it down.

It's time.

Very nice mask maybe Tuesday, very masculine taking down that tree.

I mean it's a plastic tree.

Matt Taylor with the call. Jonathan Taylor rush for ninety six yards. That's the highest totals had all year. Yikes, and Gardner Meinshew hits that fifty eight yard TD to Pierce on third and one. The Colts get it done, putting away Uh the Antonio Pierce Raiders twenty three to twenty.

So here we are. Gregy.

Indy will enter next week's AFC South showdown against Houston on a three game home winning streak.

They are also tied at nine and seven with one to go.

Right, and they are the seventh seed in the AFC as we head for the final week. Pretty amazing story that the embarring a tie you know they got they can win in now. Whether they're in as a division champer the wild card, we'll have to find out. But that's exciting. And that highlight we heard, it's a freaking awesome throw. I mean that the blitz worked. It gets total pressure on Minshew on a third and one, a gutsy call and he sort of back pedals as he's about to get hit and lays it out there for

Taylor's been Taylor's been really good lately.

And like I guess, if you get the mistake free version of Minshew and a play like this from Josh downs from Alex Pierce from Michael Pippings, I don't love their group of wideouts, but that's a when they're operating well, that's a pretty solid group. Michael Pittman's the first Cults receiver do I'll have one hundred plus catches in a season since Reggie Wayne about a million years ago.

So there's something to work with there.

And I'm more I think Shane Steichen is still a strong Coach of the Year candidate because this is not a star studded offense, but he's found a way.

To court the defense for that much. Right, But they've.

Scored like twenty plus and like many many weeks in a row, and it's like they've been consistent.

They were in control of this game, was fourteen to three when that Pierce touchdn't happen, and they never really let the Raiders have a chance. They got a very late touchdown and it failed.

On Dafante Adams blew up today.

Good in the Fantasy Championship if you struggled throughout the season, but somehow on a down DeVante Year got to the finals today and he played like true Devonte.

Thirteen for one, six, three touchdouts, twenty one targets. Was he was he O'Connell zero all.

Week, like four yards last week or something.

Maybe he was like, just throw me the ball man AOC was a little erratic, but uh look he ended up with two ninety nine and two.

That surprises me.

And if I was Antonio Pierce, I would have been knocking on Mark Davis's door every day for a week until this game, trying to get that intern label ripped off. Now you got Now you gotta win next week against the Broncos or it don't look so hot anymore.

He's four and four, but the defense wasn't as good today, and more importantly for me, because I'm a dork, he was ridiculously conservative with some brutal punting decisions. They punted not once, not twice, not three times, four times in colts territory three in the second half.

One of them.

He was bailed out because he got a penalty on the punch. So people were like, oh, well they worked out at that time.

You're punting on fourth and two down ten, you need to go to the playoffs in like the fourth quarter? What are we They're eliminated now right, they are eliminated here by gone.

I think, just like with quarterbacks, because it happens every year. We let's try not to get sucked in by the last few games for quarterbacks.

Same thing with an interim coach. But who knows, we'll see.

All right, let's take a break and when we get back, we'll finish up this AFC South Maze and get Nick Schuck in the building.

How about that? That sounds good. We'll be right back.

Oh, welcome back the New Year's Eve special around the NFL.

Big plans anybody for uh? For tonight?

Mark, You're going to the hospital. About everybody else? I don't think so, GREGI can I come over? You know now we always welcome Well you can't mark next you in a bubble?

Sure next year?

All right, let's welcome in a man that I know has big plans. Nick Schuck the pipe?

What's that, Bud? I don't know if I have a big plants. They got small plans, but thanks for having me on. Guys. A happy New Year.

Yeah, happy New Year to you. Hours before twenty twenty four? Is your fiance are you, guys back in the same state. I know she's a recent graduate and she's going to be a major earner for you, allowing you to pursue your sports career even greater.

I mean, she's not a race horse here. I mean, let's let's going on two year old Philly here.

They're just gonna go win your millions. You could just go screw around right about football for years. She's a doctor, right, Yeah, she has earned her doctorate of physical therapy.

She back here.

That's a good I got a buddy, that's a moneymaker. Shout out Michael Evangelist.

Prepping for the NPTE now, which is a massive test that she's very stressed about.

You could just take your foot off the gas financially.

I was gonna say, yeah, Mike Evangelist to New Jersey Jag physical therapy, big earners over there, good job show, well done. All right, that's it for around the NFL. All right, Nick, let's get into the games. It's time now for Sunday Drive presented by the first ever Toyota Grand Highlander. Yes, I teased it. Well, stay in the AFC South. It is funky.

Here's a pistol set with Henry behind Levis. First aunt Tuttan's at there twenty five yard line. Levis fakes to give to Henry in the pocket.

Here comes Jerry Hughesta Perry the quarterback ball out and here Sims.

A score for the Houston jacksons A's racings one to then sco score.

How about that? Oh man, there's the call, Mark Vandermins shook.

You are the official, like Madden correspondent for NFL media. That was like when you come around the edge and you want to hit stick or you want to square and hit him, but instead you just run into the guy. That's what it looked like as Sheldon Rank and scooped up the fumble after the.

Sack, took it to the house and C. J.

Stroud made a victorious return and the Texans twenty six to three win over the last place Titans three nine and seven teams and the buried Titans. That is the AFC South. One week to play. Shookie, tell us about it.

Yeah, I had something similar happened to my Madden Game a couple of nights ago, except they got the pass off because it's the video game.

But yeah, three nine and seven teams.

This is not how we saw the AFC South panning out, maybe even as much as a couple of months ago.

And yet here we are the Texans gon a big win. CJ. Stroud's return added a massive boost to their offense. It was sorely needed.

They looked like a competent football team. Again, It's crazy how a quarterback can do that for a team. The story, of course that defensive touchdown. Look at the time stamp on that. That's ten minutes to go in the second quarter and they're already running away with it. They could have stopped playing right there because the Titans were never going to bring anything to the field that was much of a threat. Will Levis got knocked out on that play.

A team that's been a topic on Jenevian Clowney.

But here we are and it's gonna be a really interesting final week in the division. Very excited to see the Texans get back on track. I was worried we were about to lose them there.

It's so CJ.

Stroud and what he's done this season makes them so appealing, like Will Anderson on defense. And it's kind of crazy to see where these two teams are compared to where they were a couple of years ago. Mike Rabel very good coach, no doubt about it, but they are in their lack dating back to last season five and eighteen, and I don't see a lot of player development. You're probably done with Derek Henry after this season. You've got issues at quarterback, and they're getting dominated up on both

I was wondering how did Stroud look in this game, Nick, because like this season just feels like such a win for them. It's almost we've almost now gotten so used to it that it's not as shocking that they won nine they're nine and seven. They want to combine six the last two seasons or whatever, even less the last three seasons. It's insane and all these rookies playing well. But did Stroud kind of look like earlier season Stroud?

Yeah, what it was was the big play was missing, but everything underneath us theres Stroud was the typically accurate quarterback, you know, navigating the pocket well.

Had a little tiny bit of rust, but shook it off. It was not a big deal with him. He looked comfortable.

It looked like the time away, you know, they gave him enough time to come back out of the concussion protocol and be back to form, and they received a huge boost from him being out there. I mean, they're night and day different with him on and off the field, and I feel very confident going in the last week the season.

Sorry about that. By the way, I shouldn't say likely. I just thrown in the possibility of a tie. But as long as one team wins, they're going into the playoffs.

We are tieless this year.

But yeah, it's an exciting moment for the Texans. Franchise because you talk about Demiko Ryans and where they are right now. He was a front runner for Coach of the Year, and some other coaches have maybe surpassed him, are gotten into the conversation and made it more complicated. But I mean, if they finish off a playoff run, all things considered, where they were the last couple of years and where they are now, I have a really

Will do a lot of good options as long the Stroud gets out of even if things don't work out next week, if he gets out of the season healthy, this is a huge win for the organization. After some down years and all the watts and drama and everything, they are going in the right direction. That was the Sunday Drive presented by Toyota Let's Go Places. Learn more at Toyota dot com. Slash Ran Hilander Shooky. You are also on the Chargers, Broncos tilt. Let's get into that.

Stidham's in the gun Burton the fullback two, He's right for protection sake, six man rush. Stidham climbs the pocket, throws on the run pass part strike thrown.

That is little Jordans Oh yeah, you spit him to tackle Persson out of tell little Jordan, we go twenty Little Jordan Hupper fifteen.

Oh, little Jordan five, Little Jordan's hell yeah, fifty four yards.

That's our dude, Stitham, Lil Jordan Humphrey, that's our best friend who.

Has bit Jordan Humphrey on that catch and run.

Oh Dave Logan with the call yard Stidham, not Russell Wilson threw for two hundred and twenty four yards and that touchdown to as I said, best friend of the show, Little Jordan Humphrey and the Broncos take care of the visage of a team known as the Charger sixteen to nine shook. The biggest storyline here was obviously the QB switch for Denver. How did Stidham look and how many shots to Russell Wilson did we see on the sideline?

Like?

What was the vibe there? A lot?

And for some reason Russe decided it was appropriate to wear his helmet on the sideline the entire game.

Which I thought no way.

Well, he was active as the backup, but that doesn't matter. No one wears a helmet when they're active.

As a now you hide from the world when yeah, you know you've been terminated essentially, but you're still there.

It's almost like a passive aggressive words.

It's very strange. What can someone explained to me? And I don't want to who cares?

But if the whole thing was we don't want to risk the injury, messing with the guaranteed money, how is he active and the backup behind Stidham? Was he going to go in this game of yes, that's someone that.

Make it make sense? That part of it is super illogical.

Well, because I don't think it was go away Broncos, go away, because I truly believe it was both. That was a big bonus. But I think at this point they knew they were probably out of the playoffs. They won this game and they are out of the playoffs,

That's if you really want to at least be consistent in your messaging in the overall comprehensive plan of the team.

He doesn't sniff the field the rest of them.

And it was a very Russell Wilson like stat line, like not not special, but good enough kept them moving.

Was that? Was that what it looked like? Pretty much?

I think Russ might have turned the ball over one or two times if he'd been on the field, but otherwise it was pretty much that. I mean, Stidham looked like a guy who hadn't played since the end of last season but still have the abilities that I would go so far as to say seduced to coach, you did believe that he should play in the starting lineup and be a starting quarterback for the final two weeks.

I mean, two years in a row and this time around.

I mean, they won the game on like last year when he played for the Raiders, but it wasn't super impressive.

That highlight that you guys just ran that was the best play.

Of the game, and it was largely done by little Jordan Humphrey, but he did enough. He missed some guys. His accuracy was not on point for most of the game. They missed some opportunities as a result. But again, they're playing the Chargers, whose offense is only decent between the twenties, so they had some room for air and they got the job done. I'm not gonna lean on the win as the defining metric here, but for a guy who just came in after not playing all season, it's fine, We'll go with it.

Sure why they only needed the Bengals or the Seahawks to win in those late games, by the way, to stay alive for next week, which you would have thought they would have shared one of them. They did not get one of those two results that they needed to stay one.

I can tell you something. Fahrenheit Cologne. I might not have done very well with women in high school, said I, but I smelled great and I wish Fahrenheit was still in vogue in the Cologne game because I would have never stopped wearing it.

That is the best smelling stuff in the world. What was your go to cologne? I wore Drakar. Oh, Yeah, that's very It was the only one I even knew about Pure Thanks, how about you, Shook.

Honestly, I still like to use a little bit from time to time, but back in today is probably Chanelle Blue. That was my big go to. I like that a little bit of YSL. And then I got to tell you, guys the story since we started with this. This is how I'm going to get out of here with this. Bridget decides to order some stuff from Nordstrom and they accidentally throw in a bottle of cologne that's.

Worth four hundred dollars and you got it for free. Wait what I'm using now? They accidentally threw it in.

It was not in the order, she was not charged for it, and there it was, and it's a big old bottle and I looked it up and I was like, that is worth a lot.

I would not spend that money on Collogue found Money Fund. Damn it, you smell like money. He's already earning for us. There you go.

I'm telling you you've got the doctor. You're all set up. Shook buddy. As twenty twenty three comes to a close, we thank you for all your great work, and but you're not going to get rid of us that easy.

We'll see into twenty twenty four as well.

Yeah, hopefully four, maybe twenty twenty five. No day tomorrow's not guaranteed. As Kyle Shanahan one said, we can all be dead, but I'm happy to still be alive and here on the pop with you guys.

We'll try to give you a better game next week in twenty twenty four too.

I'm not counting on it, all right, Chuck, thank you, buddy.

All right, let us keep moving and uh yeah, let's now get in in earnest. Let's get into the NFC side of things, and let us start with an incredible finish, incredibly frustrating if you're on the Detroit side of things. To Jarrow World, where the Cowboys and Lions went at it to the very end.

The Lions are running out of two point plays, bradon having got it the head zone.

Yet they're going from the baseboard line four to two, snap the golf look and throwing it to the left.

It is s.

Drop by the tight end, Mitchell and the Cowboys are gonna have a one point lad in the ball.

That's one of the craziest on things.

You will yeah, Brad Sham, oh yeah, god yeah, and I guess the tight end dropped it, but it was not a good pass by Jared Goff either. But in the defensive everyone connected with the lines offense, they kind of had a two point conversion and the lead taken from him, but the officials made the ruling that reverberated through Pro Football that it was an illegal substitution or legal touching wiped away the two point effort and a third two point try from the Lions did not go,

We'll get to that, but Cowboys got away with one here.

Don't want to put it all on that play, but we should start there because the play involving Taylor Decker that gets waved off is something that is going to sick in the craw of Lions fans.

I mean to have to be at this point in the season and come out of this game with this is the talking point because the officiating in general, globally league wide has been a problem and this is just feels about as unjust of an ending and and and frankly like completely changes obviously the NFC playoff picture, and it changes everything that the Lions hoped to accomplish in many ways, like and it's it was an inexcusable mistake.

The one thing that I up to it or anything.

They stand by their story that they was not properly handled by Detroit, right, which is refuted broadly by the team that they did check the boxes.

But the NFL has not come out and said they made a mistake.

So all of us, though, who watched the game, it's pretty clear. And I think the thing that we kind of learned. I don't think an average fan would know this, and sometimes you know it just covering the game that if you're Dan Campbell, one of the reasons that he was absolutely furious and beside himself was that you spend time before these games with officials, like literally in person, with like a grease board, showing them ahead of time so.

That they understand what you're doing.

Like if you're gonna run a fake punt like they did, you tell them about that ahead of time, and to play like this, here's our alignment, here's whoess who's going to be doing what, So it wasn't like you're catching the officials off guard.

They knew this was coming. They knew this was coming.

And I think that's one reason that Dan Campbell, it's not just, you know, a regular officiating mistake. It's like this was specifically laid out to the officials on who was going to be doing what, and then this happened, and there's no reversal of it.

There's no chance to make it right.

Yeah, you saw the same thing last week with a you know that led to Jay or Alexander being suspended, where he made the mistake and he wasn't the captain and he made the wrong call.

And the only reason that didn't run in Green Bay was because.

Bearded Boy had spoke to the officials ahead ahead of that coin toss. This stuff happens all the time. I watched a clip on the sideline. It was an NFL Films clip of Kyle Shanahan telling the sideline official, Hey, I think it was Kittle. Kittle's gonna run this route and then this linebacker is gonna grab him. Watch And

I think after hearing everything, and it was fascinating and also boring because it's just these procedural rules. It's like a game shouldn't be decided like that, I almost thought, like, Wow, I'm almost surprised this doesn't happen more often because it's all happening in the heat of the moment, and it seems very clear after hearing what the lion said afterwards, after watching the videos, after seeing everything that happen, it

He wrote that article weeks ago.

Kansas City, so and he just I think he just had a moment where he totally got confused which guy was which, and that cost them that two point conversion, which really sucks, because that's part of the reason why that play was so cool was they were kind of playing with me with Dallas of like, normally it's gonna be Skipper, but now we're gonna put Decker over there, and it freaking worked.

All right, Let's listen to this.

Dan Campbell did a very nice job here avoiding being fined while also letting everyone in the world know he's royally pissed about the way that game ended.

Two people can't report. I don't want to talk about it, all right, I explain everything pre game to a t Okay, I did that seventy reported, fifty eight didn't or sixty eight didn't. We threw at sixty eight. That was the explanation. What would you be would you be frustrated right now?

Is it on the execution? Is it?

I don't like losing Dave, and that's what happened. We lost, and that bothers me, you know, it bothers me. I don't like having an L So that's the frustration.

And you know what.

The thing about Campbell and why you love him so much is he was going for two no matter what. Now you can say he's already clinched vision, he's got the home game. There wasn't really a clear pav to getting the number one seed, but still you have just so in his DNA. And it's the whole team that they were going for two, even when it was backed up to the seven yard line briefly, they were going

I wish Golf had hit that threat. That was a bad throw by Goff. That was their fourth two point conversion attempt, essentially because the Cowboys had taken a time out right as they were about to run the first one, and I was so impressed that that's when they threw the trick play out, so that wasn't even going to be their play, but they switched it up. So I wish GoF had hit that throw to the tight end

You're absolutely right.

I think the Cowboys, for the most part, offensively did a lot of good things in this game. I thought Dak played as well as you could have humanly played for a guy who did throw an interception, which was his fault, and they only scored twenty against the Lions. Otherwise, he had money throw after money throw against pressure. The

That said that game never should have even been in that position because Mike McCarthy went crazy. I don't know what's going Mike Zaddy was on another planet, right, Terry Jared Gouff.

It was a fascinating game, and we'll spend like thirty minutes talking about it on NFL Plus when he check us out on Tuesday. But Goff had a good game until he threw an interception with just over two minutes to go that felt like it ended the game. But Zaddy throws three straight passes, including one where Dak throws it deepen out of bounds. They hit two of them

Yeah, I mean, daddy, stop it, please stop it. It's a little like come back to us.

McCarthy has been known for this for years and years. We soon predict You're right, I mean, he's got it. Like at some point you've got to take a he took that sojour in year and like you could have spent some time on the time management thing.

He's done a great job this season.

But that's what worries me about Dallas when they get into the playoffs. It's like they've had meltdowns two years in a row in the playoffs where they couldn't have looked more disorganized. And and I get it, like Ceedee Lamb had the game of his life last night, and there's a lot to like in thirteen for seven.

I mean that is insane. But it's like they shouldn't have won this game.

Like I came away very I'm like interesting, pretty fired up about like the way that there's no accountability with you if they did.

Though they did win the game, and I thought they played well. Yeah, it wasn't like they played poorly. They did catch a big break. But it should also be said that even if that place stands, Dallas does go back down on the field, and Dak goes back on the field with an opportunity to kick a field goal, and you have the best kicker in the world this year on your team.

So twenty three second had a time out.

You're right, Well, never know that, I like, I share get the frustration.

I really do. I get the frustration of it all.

I actually the Zaddy throwing the ball over and over again basically shocked Troy and Joe into silence right And it also it made me think it was kind of did he like a score?

Like? It made a think like, does Mike know what's going on right now?

So I don't know. Listen, you know I'm a Zadi fan. I like an unpredictable Zaddi. So you throw him in. He's a wild guard, but the Cowboys might not be a wild guard. They might be right champion.

I don't.

I'm with you, Dan, I mean mark that I don't trust him in the end in a close, crazy game like this. But he did a lot of good things, I swear, even going into the final two minutes, like before Golf through that interception that really set up how it ended. I was thinking, man, this is one of the best games of the year. It's two good teams. They're going back and forth. The Dallas defense actually had a lot of good moments on their run defense where they got a ton of tackles for loss. Goff fought

It should be said that, yes, Goff through the big interception, McCarthy kind of bailed him out a little bit. And if he does hit his tight end and stride there James Mitchell, that's a two point conversion.

So, yeah, throws the ball low, it's not caught.

But if he hits him in stride the way he ninety if he throws that ball one hundred times ninety eight times, I think it's right on the money. He was a little low in a big spot and that and that was the difference.

And he took ownership. I'm always impressed by Gough how he talks to the media. But he set the perfect tone I thought, like where he mentioned everything they did wrong, but also very pointedly pointed out how much the refs did wrong too.

All Right, one last thing on this game. I don't know speaking like what's going on. Jimmy Johnson only got into the Ring of Honor for the Dallas Cowboys, uh yesterday December thirtieth, twenty and twenty three, like a quarter century after he was the most.

Successful head coach of his era.

Here he is his final words during the halftime ceremony.

The guy still got the.

Juice, cosse all of you what makes this game so great? Thank you, thank you, thank you.

And I just got one more thing to say. Do it, dude. How about tamp Town with Irvin like fainting in the background was awesome.

I love him, I love I love that moment, Like that's what it's all about.

It almost made it sure.

He wouldn't have wanted to wait it, but you could tell he he savored the hell out of that.

Yeah, and.

They now have a chance to win the division because of what happened in Philadelphia.

Seven seconds left ball at the Philly forty nine Cardinals up thirty five to thirty one. Maybe the final play. Hurts backing up to throw four seconds left two, This will be the final play.

Hurts takes a shot deep middle of.

The end zone and it is intercepted in the back.

Of the end zone.

It's by Blunt and the Arizona Cardinals give Jonathan Gannon a signature victory in his first season with the Redbirds.

Happy New Year, Dave fashioned Ron Wolfley.

My god, you hear a pin drop at the link after that, hell Mary heave fails, and you know, you could say Jonathan Gannon deserves bongos because that former Eagle defensive coordinator stunned his old team and may have terminally.

Fouled up the Eagles Super Bowl hopes.

James Connor ran for a two yard touchdown with thirty two seconds to play, and then the Arizona defense holds coming back from fifteen down the Cardinals due to stun the Eagles thirty five to thirty one mark.

The Eagles entered December at nine to one. Been a long.

December, quote Durrance, they exited. They use a cesslerism, floating trash back man. They looked like it today on defense too. They gave up twenty nine points in the second half. I mean, come on, the most points that the Eagles have allowed in the sewing in a decade since they made this sort of chaotic, bizarre switch to Matt Patricia, they have allowed seventeen plus in the second half and three straight games this year ago.

So Matt Patricia didn't fix their defense.

He did not fit what they And you know what, I've seen the Arizona Cardinals.

On the ground, especializ do this.

They've run, they ran well against the Niners, they beat up Philly today. They had elongated, stretched out drives, a flood of scoring drives of like ten plus plays. Kyle Kyler Murray looked fantastic. James Connor ran the ball so well, and it was just kind of impressive them to see. And I think that part of me was like wondering, Jonathan Gannon knows a lot of these players, he knows this defense, and did that help.

It's like, I don't know.

In this case, it was just Arizona beating them down and mistakes on offense. For Philadelphia, it's the most rushing yards they've given up all year. It looked like it. It was just an impressive performance. And you know, early on in the game, Philly looked like they could catch fire a little bit. Sidney Brown had an incredible ninety eight yard pick six. Sidney Brown is the player that they ended up drafting because of the draft pick they got because Arizona tampered with Jonathan Gannon.

So I was like that, that's pretty spice. That feels pretty poetic.

But then it just the Arizona just took control and I think it kind of for me sealed that, like Kyler Murray's gonna stick around, like there's a plan here, and like I think they're well coached.

The record doesn't reflect it, but they're a well coached team.

They it is outrageous the numbers and just you know, I'm looking forward to watching this one later in the week. But they scored Arizona on They only had seven real possessions in this game. That's that's as low as it gets. So they got thirty two first downs. That's outrageous. Four hundred and forty nine yards in six scores. So they scored six times on seven possessions, including those four touchdowns

It's one other note, DeVonta Smith left the stadium on crutches and and the game ended with like you know, Aj Brown looking super frustrated again, DeVonta Smith limping off, and me wondering what the future of the Eagles is right now.

When they took the lead because they had the Jake Elliott kick the field goal thirty one twenty eight, they had given up a twenty one to six lead, but they had taken the lead again two minutes ago. You figure, okay, now the Eagles are gonna win. I was like just thinking, like, has there ever been a less happy like twelve and four team? But now it's has there ever been a less happy e let in five team? They're the first team in thirty five years right to start ten and

And you hate to see it.

Nick Siriannis, such a humble guy be going through these struggles and perhaps being exposed without a better coaching staff.

It just you hate to see it. Also is a little curse of domin play here.

Eh, it's been a disastrous since that happened, since they, you know, put him into exodus.

That's a great point. Bring back Tom. I don't know if they did. No there, he's not allowed. I mean he's there, he's still working. Speak him in. He's a VP. Put him as a mask, make him a mask. You gotta get him back on the sidelines.

Is that a bad deal for him? He's up in the owner's box. He doesn't have to work.

It's an assistant to the GM. I mean he's good, like he does a lot of different stuff for them.

So they're eleven and five Cowboys. There are eleven and five.

If the Cowboys win next week, they win the NFC East, that the Eagles would need a loss from the Cowboys against Washington to try to get the NFC East back.

You mentioned even the Cowboys can't blow this, No, Dad, I don't think so.

So it'll probably be the Eagles as the five seed at the NFC South winner. You mentioned how it really that result really changed the Lions season. I think it really changed the Cowboys season. The Lions now have a bit of a rallying cry. They're going to be the three seed most likely instead of the two seed, which is a difference. They could be traveling in the divisional round instead of being at home. They could have a

Another crack at the Cowboys.

Right, so it sets up that they could be on the road back in Dallas.

But who knows a lot to get to before then.

Well that's a big difference. Yeah, all right, let's keep moving.

The forty nine ers they had had to beat the Commanders on Sunday and get a little bit of help to lock up the one seed.

Everything once San Francis goes away. Here's third down.

Purty looks right, Purty now chased out of the pocket, Now going back the other way.

Three sixty span, it said, throws for the end zone. A York is open touched film that Washington Secondary. Do they even have eleven guys on the field?

You are you?

Are you?

Greg Popping, Tim Ryan Eman, A good old time a New Year's Eve. You know they brought back Anderson Cooper. I love Cooper and the other guy? Who's the other guy?

The bravo done? Andy Cohen? Cohen, Oh Cohen, Okay, Don Lemon's history. He's done. Wait, Andy Cohen's.

Back Cohen and no, but they they took away booze from them the last couple of years.

Well it got a little boozy. Some stuffy CEO said no more drinking. Drinking's back.

And guess what Zeusser is tuning in to CNN's Coveragetif you.

Do remember that, Greg and I jogged by Anderson Cooper and he said a little it's gonna have been, sir, very nice.

So you watch, so you watch, you watch Cooper, and you watch his buddy.

I forgot his name again? Cohen Cohen Cooper and coch I was hot right now. Then last fifteen years.

You hit midnight and you switch over and you watch Miley Cyrus.

I always think she does a nice job. And this year she's got a hit.

In the last few years, she's doing a nice job on the Year's eve, right, but she hasn't had a hit in seven years. Hit Flowers this year. So she's hot. So we got a nice, nice lineup.

You've got a huge night ahead of you. It's gonna be wild. What's her hit?

She had, like the biggest hit of the year. Okay, Flowers, Okay, check it out. I will Eric. Can you sing just a little bit of Flowers as the resident young man?

No, I have no clue, no idea had last time I heard May Cyrus's voice.

Acting by myself. Flowers. Now I know that song.

Now I recognize something, something something, All right, let's get to it.

That was the biggest hit of the year, monster hit. I can take my I don't know about that. That's the biggest. The biggest is this big statement.

Very very Rosenthal moment. You don't you don't even know the song. I'm telling you, it's the biggest hit of the year.

Number even if it's not. It could be top five, but it wouldn't be the biggest. How do you measure that they have streaming numbers? They have all sorts of things. Well, there are measurables for that kind of Rock.

Party threw two touchdown passes, moving past the worst game of his young career, and the Niners cruise to a twenty seven to ten win over the Commanders in Landover minutes after the win, those Eagles we just talked about were stunned by the Cardinals, and that allows San Francis to go to clinch the number one seed and the buy and home field throughout the NFC playoffs. Mark, the Niners got the dub, they got the buy, and they moved past their Christmas nightmare.

They're back.

Well, well, I drafted this game because I wanted to see how Rock Party specifically would well. Sure, but like I really was, like the whole Brock Party narrative got on my nerves and did it was?

Yes, it did.

He was.

I can barely talk about it.

He was absolutely flawless today and I thought he when you go watch this and added element to his game and he became the leading single season yardage record passer for the Niners in their history, and there's some competition there. He started to do some things today, throwing the ball improvisationally on that throat to Ayuk and just seeing the field in a way that reminded me like, I'm so tired of people just acting like he's sort of a vanilla standing.

He looked great, everyone was back. There is one.

Concern though, Christian McCaffrey left the game with a calf injury, was questionable, never returned. They did have a good game from Eli Mitchell, but that's obviously like a key thing to monitor. And one thing about Washington because you know, it was assumed that Jacoby Brissette was gonna start this but did a hamstring issue before the game, and so Sam Howell, who had been benched, gets thrown back in there.

So unpleasant situation.

For this meant a lot for the forty nine ers, and I think McCaffrey is a great example why just guys playing through injuries they want to rest macalfr At that point in the game, I think they had a two score lead and it appeared he was trying to get back in the game, and I think it was just, you know, unfortunately for his fantasy owners, after dominating all year, he has a rare game without a touchdown. Ninety one total yards. Uh, that was quiet. It is right, he's

This was their goal the whole season. Very nice.

You know what else was very nice? What the old zeus there with his accurate pop culture knowledge.

The number one stream song of twenty twenty three according to Spotify Flowers. That's why they call me a geriatric millennial. He nailed it. That's global, global, one billion streams.

Global, And you're right, party is a great second reaction player here.

Nice stuff. I thought some Ofa's best bros came today.

I think the way things and Mark have gone gone out, how'd she get paid by the brock Party camp?

By the way, what is the I think he's got. It's not a spin.

I think he's got to get MVP votes. We'll see if Lamar the thing is. It's probably over now in terms of those two guys playing. I think the vote's going to be more split than people think. I think Lamar will win. I think do a sandwich prop on that. I think perty McCaffrey, like I think people are going to do other votes.

I think Lamar is gonna win, and it's not gonna be close now because of the stage on Christmas. And then, like I was saying before the Christmas game, Greg, I thought he needed that, like a massive statistical game to clean up some of the counting numbers, and he got that today with the five touchdowns of the perfect passer rating.

I just think he now has a pretty spark, probably pretty unbeatable right now, and he's maybe it's like thirty two to eleven to four, look something like that. That's all I'm saying, CMC.

I thought.

Believers, I feel like voters don't even remember four weeks ago, they'll remember today.

Let's take one more break and then we will get you caught up in full. All right, we are back.

Let's keep rolling its head to Seattle game with huge playoff implications between thee and Seahawks.

Naji's alone setback Rudolph under center, reverse motion by Robinson back to the right.

They give the Nagi side steps. A man finds his way inside the five CRIDs out to the one yard line. He didn't get in.

I don't think yes, they really touchdown Nagie Harris there, unbelievable. Never say die, I want the end zone? And he got in from nine yards? Ze how did he do it? He said, a little bit like Barney from the Simpsons there.

How did he do it?

Could have been Bill Hillgrove and Craig Wolfley with the goal. We all have all the Wolfleys here, W DV E. Naj Harris. They did record that from Mose actually, so it is possible. Nag Harris rushed for a season high one hundred and twenty two yards and he had that mean physical run one of two touchdowns. The Steelers keep their playoff hopes alive with a thirty to twenty three

Nine and seven, very much a lot. I've maybe Mason Rudolph is a game changer. I mean he's a season changer. He's an offense changer. Two hundred and seventy four yards and twenty four attempts the next Gen Stats had him plus seventeen completion percentage over expected, which is an extraordinarily high number. And when you he's had the two highest UH numbers for them this season by any Steelers quarterback

They had a one hundred yard rusher and receiver in the same game for the first time since twenty twenty one, which tells you, like how an emick they've been. But I'm with you on like Mason Rudolph, who I had written off as a non factor like has had absolute chemistry with their playmakers, and like Pickens is a completely different wide receiver with him at the quarterback.

Seven for one thirty one, four hundred and sixty yards again only about eight possessions, which is crazy five for stuff. There's the most yards they've had since I think four years something like that for the Steelers. So it's it's it's a long time.

It wasn't just because Big Ben's stunk. The last two years.

So it was those big ben Stinks years and then this uneven transition to pick it and beyond. Yeah, so any signs of life from Pittsburgh I think I said going into this week, id of like drafting them because they're so boring to watch and have been for a couple of years. I was watching this game, was like, okay, because Seattle at least early on as well, they're moving the ball as well.

And you really actually saw, considering it's a.

Game of all due respect Greg Gino Smith and Mason Rudolph, you were seeing some big time pocket throws.

Rudolph had a throw where the pass rush.

Is coming in on him, he hangs in the pocket, hangs a perfect ball down the sideline and Pickens makes a beautiful diving catch.

It was one of the best kind of plays QB to wide receiver.

You'll see the Seahawks give up those sort of plays and it was great throws, I thought, But they also gave up two hundred and two yards on the ground. This is why the NFL season is very confusing when it comes to like numbers, the things can just change. First five weeks of the season, Seahawks number one in the NFL in yards per carry allowed since then, the absolute worst run defense in the NFL. This defense has

That was big And I do not want to hear it. Tomlin is a sensible man. Will it be Kenny Pickett or Mason Rudolph, I do not want to hear No. This is not like will it be Mason Rudolph playing too well the last two weeks? And it's twenty fourteen. Ben Roethlisberger ready to return after his tight rope ankle surgery. No, bro, Let's ride the hotthand and see see where things can.

Go, and here's where they can go. For the Steelers, much more alive than I expected. They need to win, but they're playing the Ravens.

He'd be tabulating.

I'm tabulating, and the way it worked out for them pretty nice. Ravens thirteen and three, heavy favorites, you would think. But Ravens may be sitting next week. So the Steelers, they got to get that win. There's no scenario where they lose and get in. Gotta get their win and then they need either the Jaguars against the Titans or the Bills against the Dolphins to lose. Okay, it's reasonable,

That's what they're based on everything that we're hearing around Baltimore. It totally feels like Lamar and company plays the first half, stay in striking distance in that first half.

And then try to win the game in the final two quarters. Ooh oh. Nick Westling locked it up on Thursday night. As I understand, that could be a devastating blow there. Frush air.

Nick Wesseling, well, he has to now go into hero ball mode and basically lock against you pretty much the rest of the way.

What is he the greeback or four back? He's a lot better lot of weeks, but did a fantastic job. It was great having Nick.

Beautiful.

Always good to have a Westling. Thank you Nick for your help on Thursday and all season. All right, let's go Happy New Year to the Westlings on the west side of Cincinnati and beyond. Let's head to the meadowlands where the Rams are trying to keep their fit playoff hops uh flickering, and it got pretty scary.

Middle of the field officially fifty four oh number there. Firstly in the final minute of regulation. Who is that Mason? It clears the little is that Mason Crosby wearing number twenty one.

It's get off my field, wo win, Get off the field, Mason Crosby, number twenty one.

Mark. You do not abide by that. I thought JB. Long really deserved you know a little more, spot.

J really that you do you love as much as anyone I noted to jump into these booths during these calls and go with your own threat of it.

Would be weird if you do anyone else that did that, because you Jabian. I will see him at Jack's barbershop, and we're gonna work. We're gonna work through.

What just happened there because Mason Crosby, wearing number twenty one, was wide left. That came after Tyrod Taylor had a hideous two point conversion and miss that allowed the Rams to stay ahead, and they end up escaping with the twenty six to twenty five win ob Regima and Los Angeles has clinched.

Uh wait, Los Angeles clinched the playoff. Bers, they're in. They're in at that moment they happen, but with the Seahawks following them out as complicated.

As Greg said, when the Seahawks fell, the Rams make the playoffs. Quite a rise for the team across the sidewalk.

Greg, Yeah, yeah, sometimes you need some luck, and I think the Rams played a good game, a good enough game to win for most of the game, and then started falling apart late. Special teams gives up a big return to Gunner ol Chevski with three twenty seven to go. Their special teams has been a disasters that was wild. I mean they missed two extra points the Rams in

It to nine to make it a two score game. Plus you know Havershick, he doesn't have.

Her shick, I didn't have anything, and so they go for the other extra way he missed another one. I got to assume that's the last time we see Havershick in a Rams uniform. McVeigh, I could even go through it more just drive me crazy with the game management. But then, yeah, a little bit of luck. Tyrod Taylor, you mentioned it missed a miss two point conversion, which again only happened because of a mess up on special

Setting up a film for twenty one fifty yarder and then McVeigh calls a time out.

That was even more mistifying to me. But then the Giants ski they couldn't get it. Give the Rams defense some credit. The Rams defense played well in this game. I know it doesn't seem like it. They put up twenty five points to the Rams defense only gave up thirteen points. Really in this it was turnovers by the Rams offense and special teams.

What was going on? Sorry? This game was crazy?

What was going on with the moment where McVeigh and Stafford seem to be going at each other.

That was on the third down play before the.

Giants you know, got the ball at the end they run run pass there and I thought, again McVeigh was too conservative, not throwing on the first two downs because he just wanted to kill the clock. Was hoping to get out of there, and then wing Martindale, which was kind of eating Stafford's lunch in the second half in a way that I haven't seen against This Rams offense

So there's an exciting element to knowing that the Rams on the first weekend of the playoffs will lose in horrific fashion. No special teams, Like there's something like exciting about just wondering like what will it be?

Like, how will it happen?

Be a missfield goal, will be a block punt, will be a hideous tripping penalty? Will you know the holder drop a snap? I mean, mark the mind. It just wanders all these different multiple choice tests. You know that the Rams will foul up their season on space teams.

Kyrin Williams three more touchdowns up to fifteen another one hundred yardsgue winner and then Puka Nakua five for one to eighteen. He made a big eighty yard play like he is their number one. Cup looks a little injured and Poka now and granted he's getting the extra game. So he fell just short of the quote unquote sixteen game records, but he's four catches and thirty yards away from setting the rookie records for catches and receiving, and he's getting that extra We'll don't do it.

Uh to Soldier field first.

And goal fields, with Taylor motioning left then back to the right, takes the snap up the middle on the delay fields, pusting left to the five.

To the pilot, puts the ball on the orange head into the paint. Touchdown bears justin fields. Fourth of the year.

A nine yard touchdown caps off the drive at a thirteen to nothing Fairs league.

If they wanted to say something, how you made me self catching Zip zipped it up an insight and like, I just thought it seemed to be craving of yours.

Zip locked roway the key.

I feel like not liking it is just like a little implied in pointing of that, I mean just a little little needle by me, a little needle.

Jeff Johnnyack with the call a little Justin Fields throws for two hundred and sixty eight yards in a touchdown pass he rushes for that score too, and what who knows that could be it for him in Chicago is a home player. The Bears stick it to the Falcons, who stink thirty seven to seventeen in a game that

That's what I'm thinking as I'm watching this game, and I know that you can make the case for it, and we will talk about it. There's going plenty of time to talk about that.

But this is a game where you see the type of play from fields that like, are they building something here? And if they are, and I feel like they are, that there's been incremental progress here as the season's gone along and the team's getting better and they're going to have the ability to spend money and bring in better players, you really want to blow it up for a lot of ticket.

That was my takeaway from this game. I mean, you've got the stadium chanting his name, yeah, and that matters. It does. Like I look opinion on the quarterback.

I think I'm not saying that front offices should use that as the reason, but I think there is an energy around the team with field there and God just thrown it the other way. If they traded him to the Giants this offseason and he becomes a superstar for the New York team in the NFC, that would be an all time you know shot to the lower section of the fan base unless they you know, draft a Hall of Fame or something.

But still they've won four out of five. I think they're better than right now. Some teams that are going to make the play lower section, like the the Afs, you know, like put them against the NFC South winner.

I'm taking the Bears.

The only time the Bears have lost in the last five games was that heartbreaker versus the Browns or else.

They could very well.

Be about in this PLAYFF team in the South anc right right exactly.

Maybe not Texans, but yeah, but they would be right there because they they they are. They have put together something. It's a really good defense and enough playmaking on offense. And our guy in rapport, said eber Flus. He puts some caveats in it that needs to finish well, but this result obviously is a great start to that that he's going to end up keeping that Bears job.

Ibraflus had no public identity to the vast majority of football watchers, and I think that's changed now.

His defense has been among the best.

It's been really good, and they were eliminated on Sunday despite the win.

But I think they're threatening the needle. They got the number one pick from the Panthers.

They've looked good fields is helping his trade value if they do want to trade him. Like, it's actually a pretty good time to be a Bears fan, unlike the Falcons, who don't have a quarterback, who aren't probably going to make the playoffs in this terrible division, and who knows what they're going to do in terms of their head coach.

I mean, there is there is some reporting that he's gonna stick around Arthur Smith, but I like, I can't think of a team that I felt more differently about back in August.

But that I hear you, But that reporting was also before they lost by twenty of the Bears and then they play the Saints next week. If you lose by twenty to the Saints and you're seven and ten and the third place, we'll see they are still alive though for the division. The ESPN and bad incorrectly sent a tweet out that said they were eliminated and left it up for thirty minutes. But no, they actually can win the division if the Bucks lose next week and they beat the Saints.

Yeah, the play calling from Smith was bad in this game, and somehow they're still alive because of what happened in the last game. We're going to talk about before Sunday Night football. Tampa Bay had a chance to hunch their ticket and they failed.

There's the snat here trumps pressure car throws it towards he ends on looking for Taysom Hill.

Chasom Hill makes the catch on the near side, and that is a touchdown.

To Taysom Hill, his second reception of the day.

He's thrown a pass, caught a pass, thrown a pass, caught a pass. Mike Costs with the call ww we the NFC Salva is freaking hilarious. Derek Carr threw two touchdown passes. The Saints beat the Bucks twenty three to thirteen. They climbed back into a tie with Tampa Bay for first place in the NFL's only division without a winning record.

Mark Why why?

What a disappointing performance considering what the Bucks have been for the past month, what bigger Mayfield's been. He had about forty yards in the first half on Tampa's first eight drives.

You had.

Four to three and ounce two interceptions in a fumble. They melted. They showed up also looking incredibly flat. Where the Saints, who have been a chaotic mess in certain ways and driving their fans crazy, and I started to see Saints fans saying, wait a minute, this is the this is the version of Derek Carr that we've waited for.

He was ten for thirteen on third downs.

They were a little banged up, and he made a great use of Juwan Johnson and his tight ends. One hundred and thirty three of his yards and both touchdowns went to tight ends, and they looked really functional. They lost Alvin Kamara in the middle of this game, but they were the team that came out and stomped Tampa Bay from ward to war. The scorer is not indicative of what this game looked like for three plus quarters. I mean, Baker and the Bucks did the thing where

I mean that it's certainly there's a chance of it now, and that's crazy. But I think maybe the lesson here for all of us, and Mark, I know you got behind the Buccaneers on a a locular level.

None of these teams are worthy of trust.

And even the ones that we'll string a couple of wins together like that, come back back.

To Earth is always just around the corner. And for Tampa, that was today, right, you know what, Mark? Unfortunately, and I was with you. I this was the game I was really thinking of locking. And one thing you didn't do, though I did, is I took a rest stop.

Stop. I went to a rest stop.

And they get the Saints come back from that Thursday night game, look at their wounds, A nice long weekend there while the Bucks are working hard, and that little extra rest.

Such a good show because it's it just takes you inside the game. Maybe the Bucks knew that all they have to do is beat the Panthers next week to win the division, because that is still true.

All they have to do is beat the Panthers next week and they win the division. The Saints are probably still alive for the wild card, but barely at A and A, and this is a nightmare scenario for Saints fans, because you're right, I think the keep Dennis Allen if they go nine to eight and they beat the Falcons and then move like they'll keep Dennis Allen, but they'll miss the playoffs. That's kind of a bad combo. They could get the wild card though, but they would need

Stick that in your pipe and smoke it like I'm gonna feel bad for anybody whose team is alive into the last week.

And Cars not going. He's played two of his best games increasingly on Dan's radar. The car has been very good.

I mean he has multiple touchdown passes, like four games in a row or something he's played.

You're not allowed to say that. The strike it.

I mean, he has great but fine, I'm just saying they could be a division champ. It's funny, all right. Uh, let's head to Sunday Night football.

To receiver stack on the left, off that stack read in motion to the right.

It is second down and ten for the Green Bay Packers at the twenty five and Minnesota snap to love.

He looks, he throws the middle. He's got red cutting left, soup to defender, twenty turns corner, fifteen, ten to five.

He has a touchdowns touchdown, Dada Reid. He is dominant here tonight. Twenty five yard touchdown pass. It's twenty three to three.

Dayden Reid dominant. How about that.

We're back at our home studios now to close things out. And it was Jayden Reid going for two scores, including that game ice A really in the final seconds of the first half in the Packers cruise from there, thirty three to ten over the whoebegone team of around the NFL, Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings seven and nine and pretty much out of it now, but mathematically still alive. The Packers eight and eight, and they have a lot on the

Two quarterback situations that couldn't be more different. Jared Hall starts gets benched at halftime. Wasn't like the worst quarterback you've ever seen, but there was no way he was going to lead a three touchdown comeback. Nick Mullins wasn't either, because Jordan Love just kept pouring it on. I just think you got to look at Jordan Love's first start against the Vikings, where he was a hot mess. The

I love has had you know, some reps in practice dealing with banged up wide receivers. It seems like that's been a theme for them for a while. Now there's such a diff it's him and it's what he's done and what he's become, but also like to have Aaron Jones go off for one hundred and twenty yards like they were missing him for so long. I think the surprise in this game for me is really just the Vikings defense collapsing, like they they've been a good defense

I just don't. I don't like this decision.

There was a risk attached to it, more risk to me than having Nick Mullins in there, who, at least through his mistakes, seems productive and a bit more like a gunslinger. And when he came in, you know, he got Justin Jefferson going a little bit, and I thought that they responded to him, and so if you're Kevin O'Connell. You're in a tough spot. You have been all year at quarterback. But a bit of miscalculation in my book.

Yeah, I mean Mullins average.

He was in the Gabbard zone as well, so and the you know, they didn't light it up in the second half, but you know, I think.

With they never got the ball back because the defense just couldn't get off the field.

No, it was the disastrous game, and they were missing a couple of guys DJ want Byron Murphy Junior. But that doesn't explain a no show like this, I think. And the reason why, even though I didn't necessarily agree with go to Hall, you knew and the way O'Connell seems to be wired like he couldn't wait. He could not wait to get Dobbs out of the lineup after those turnover marred games, and Mullins was playing so careless with the football that I think he just I guess

Position calmed down. But yeah, I think Greg, I think you put it well that.

When we were back at the office that O'Connell was in his head a little bit by then because he had everyone, including us, the team of ATN kind of got sucked into the idea of what this defense that was on the rise and the skill players at Jefferson coming back, and then Dobbs what he brought to the picture that maybe in a wide open.

NFC you can make something happen.

But once Dobbs fell off, and then you turn into Mullins and then you turn into the and you just get into that really dark place that that teams do when you're just churning through quarterbacks looking for an answer. So the Vikings, you know, it's it's sad, but at least at least we'll always have the memories of two two time failures team of at N. Uh you know, ful fool us once a fool us twice, Shame on us. It will not happen a third time.

Vikings.

We promise you your time as team of at N is over. They're one in five in their last six. I think they're two and five since we chose them. I could be wrong on the date. I'm pretty sure.

I think you're right.

They won the first game and then things started getting weird, And yeah, Mark, I know it's a tough blow for you especially, but like that, you know it's been disappointing. But Greg, what is the there is a pathway playoffs?

They will not make the playoffs. I'm just gonna say right here because I think there's many reasons why. But they need to beat the Lions. Lions, uh could be resting players. They need the Bears to beat the Packers because the Packers are now winning in are really doing this?

Yeah, I love it. And they need the Cardinals to beat the Seahawks. That's gonna be tough.

And then they need either the Panthers to beat the Bucks or the Falcons to beat the Saints. So Tarico was trying to talk it up as like, hey, you've seen crazy, you know this actually isn't that difficult a path I'm like, what, I don't expect any of these things to happen.

Stop it. How about to Rico and Collins are within the tuxes tonight.

I liked it like nice little I don't know why you tagged me as like anti tucks. I thought they looked you know, it was. It was memorable, as Keith Hansas will say, oh yeah, they will look good shop.

By the way, the Vikings defense started collapsing two weeks ago. This is their third straight pretty bad game. They've had injuries and stuff, but they've also been a little bit of a gimmicky defense in terms of just always sending pressure in the zone behind that mayod good quarterbacks have maybe kind of figured out. It just feels like everything, you know, just ended at the same time. Jake Browning kind of ended their season. I really feel that game was the turning point for them.

Jake brown Oh yeah, they're up seventeen to three in the fourth quarter, I think, but you know, yeah, I think we should give a little credit if we're gonna be killing Joe Barry most weeks, and it's deserved.

The Packers defense has been switched. Cheese. You give him a little credit today. He shook up the rookie and so they you know, the Packers.

Here's the thing I've seen a couple of cornerbacks do without Alexander and without another one of their starters.

Right, So I think I put I put the Packers.

The standard is higher because it's Green Bay, but I put the Packers in a similar bucket to Houston where you got your quarterback. Like Love has established himself this year as certainly a guy who they bet on and he's stuck with and he is now their established starter, and he could be a star in the league.

So even he's playing like a star, that's what I mean, like he could be all right, he could be a superstar.

I mean he's he's put enough on tape where you could see a ceiling for him that is, uh, you know, Pro Bowl level or perhaps even All Pro. Something really clicks in and and so regardless of how this season ends, I would I would say this first post, Aaron Rodgers season is successful for that reason alone.

Yeah, And like I think we learned a lot about Matt Laflore because it was easy just to tag his success or attach his success to Aaron Rodgers, and you had to your it was your job. And it's essentially like the reason that he was hired was to develop a young quarterback like this. And you're also saddled with Joe Berry's defense, and he's coached some really great games amid all that in like, uh, I don't know, I'm open tonight.

Yeah, like they they they've done a great job.

He has more yards and touchdowns that this season, Love does than any Bears quarterback has ever had in the season, which is just a little stick. But now he has to play the Bears defense. It's a kind of a perfect Week eighteen. Game reminds me exactly of Lions Packers a year ago, with the Lions having the chance to knock out the Packers. Now it's the rising Bears with the chance to knock out the Packers. And that is what that's a that's an early Is that an early

Anything else. Boys, it's New Year's Eve.

It's a quarter to midnight on the East coast, almost nine o'clock here. We don't need to continue to talk into microphones anything to put a.

Bow on things.

Tabulations wise, greg Or markin now, but we got to talk the Sunday night announcement.

It is Bill's Dolphins. We're wrapping up week eighteen, or it always made sense. Bill's Dolphins on Sunday night. And then I think what was probably the number two choice for this game is going to be Saturday night an early playoff game Texans Colts. Loser goes home, winner makes the playoffs. That's a spicy little Saturday night game too.

Yeah, we'll take it. We'll take it very good. Jay Stroud, go go make a playoff rookie season, get in primetime for the first time, and go in a playoff game in that game. That's a nice little spot. Got Steelers Ravens on Saturday too. M that's right, less exciting and to.

Our listeners, it is at the end of another year of around the NFL, and we thank you for.

Hanging around. You've given us a great life and we appreciate you. Know what. You know what we got it We had hip hop Santa Eric.

We got something else with a little more bizaz, a little more heat, a little more contemporary.

We have the rights to that song. I think it's like seven hundred years old.

Okay, ooh, I thought you were going to play Flowers by Miles.

Now that we do not have a right, but I'll be having a nice night with Miley Cyrus and friends and family, and I hope everyone else has a great night and a great tomorrow in twenty twenty four. It's gonna be a good one. Maybe this year will be better than the last. Another durance.

I like that.

I love our listeners all right here. I guess I said it, and they don't say it all for me. I love you. I love you the most, very weird. That's that's basically what my two young sons do to each other, you know, but I do it the most.

It's like, all right, all right, thank you to everybody again, and have a great beginning of twenty twenty four, and we'll be back on Tuesday. Another funky week because of the holidays, but the playoffs and week eighteen right around the corner and will be there until then.

Heed the call, Happy New year. N DI

P.