2024 Week 17 Recap

Welcome to NFL Daily. We're fourteen and two just doesn't go as far as it used to. I'm Greg Rosenthal in the Chris Westleyan podcast studio with my friend Patrick Claybahn and looking as always at Nick Shook in Cleveland, the Uncle of the year. How was your Christmas Shook?

It was fantastic, got to hang out with the kids, good family time. Ah, Merry Christmas to all.

Yes, and I hope you had one as well. Of course we've talked to Patrick since that previews show. It feels like a long time ago already.

Yeah, because we had NFL games wrapped across like we do a daily podcast, they do daily NFL games.

It was a lot. It was a lot this week.

It was, and it's gonna be a different sort of recap show because TNF is in this game, that game exists, Seattle, Chicago, that has happened, that actually happened. I thought the game of the week was on Saturday in the in the middle window, and we're going to get to that too. We're gonna really construct this show like NFC AFC. But I first wanted to start at least with what to me was the most important game of the day on Sunday, the game only game that included two teams over ten wins.

Let's go to Minnesota second and goal from the nine.

Sam Darnold goes out of the shotgun, cam Akers joins him to his left. Akers jumps to the right, now back to the left, Donald out of the shotgun, takes the staff, swings it to Acres, turns it up to the ten to the five to shop.

Cam Akers put this third touchdown this season, and Minnesota responds beautifully and opens up the lead twenty six to ten.

Now Vikings and cam Akers wouldn't be.

The last big play he made in that game.

Yes, Minnesota got a seventeen point lead, and then they held on at the very end twenty seven to twenty five. And it was a third down completion to cam As on a tricky pass as he's backing away from Sam Donald and they're able to run out the clock after sweating it out more than they expected to late.

Very similar to the Week four.

Game between the Vikings and the Packers, almost played out the same way, whereas very one sided for about fifty two to fifty three minutes, the Packers made it interesting and yet it feels like the better team won this game. And Patrick is just beaming because he had faith when Sam Donald and the Vikings and I did not.

You you were right, you were right to pick them.

It was it was my collective lack of faith in Sam Donald in these moments. But we got there again once again a third and three where the throughout the entire fourth quarter we're doing Game Day Live.

I'm almost Scott Pioli.

And there was a first down pass attempt when the Vikings were trying to burn clock. After Emmanuel Wilson scored to make it twenty seven to sixteen, the Packers go for two.

It's twenty seven to eighteen. Very first play.

Sam Donald drops back to pass and Scott's like, you gotta.

Run the ball.

Kevin O'Connell stuck with the pass, and then they go to that final moment where cam Akers eventually stumbles. Before that, there's a completion of Justin Jefferson where he not only got interfered with, he also got held on that play and they get a to make it third and about two and Sam Donald comes up with the pass to cam Akers. He catches it off his shoelaces there and you mentioned that Week four game. The difference in that game was it was an on side kick at the end.

If he can get four in the final game against the against the Lions, Greg.

Well, I don't think he nearly stacks up to that Culpeper season, which I would rank in the top five quarterback seasons of all time.

I've talked about this before.

It happened to be in a Peyton Manning season, but it was one of the best seas. But it is the best Vikings quarterback season since Brett Favre. I don't eve think there's any question better than any Cousins season or Keenum or whoever else you want to throw out there.

And I don't need to say that he's clutched.

Because he's just always great, but he does always seem to play his best when it really matters, And that was a great throw by Donald as well or else. You know, the Packers would have got this ball back in a chance to win the game, partly because they went for two, and partly because they suddenly just found life in the last seven minutes when really before that this thing was so one sided.

At one point.

Took it was four hundred and something yards to one to eighty two like it looked like two teams that didn't belong on the same field. Which are you a little concerned about the Packers after this?

Not concerned necessarily. I mean, if you look at who they've lost to, all those teams they've lost to have like twelve plus wins, it's it's the Lions, it's the Vikings twice, it's the Eagles.

Like that.

That's basically who they're gonna have to be and maybe all three of those to go to the Super Bowl.

Yeah, but you know what, at least that's your test, Like, yeah, okay, maybe that's your ceiling right now, but at least you have the tests and the history.

I guess.

The only downside of this is the fact that it did look so much like the first game that they play, and then that it was very lopsided for much of it, and then they woke up in the fourth quarter. Packers fans have to be thinking, God, I wish you would have made those adjustments at halftime instead of the fourth quarter. But sometimes that's the way things go, especially against defenses that are talented and are equipped to stop your offense.

Yeah, I'm a little more concerned about the Packers to show up. And yeah, the yardage total with about nine minutes to go was four hundred and eighteen to one thirty seven. I mean, that's that's a beat down. And I thought it was about the coaches and the players. I thought both sides of the ball Matt Lafleur, and you mentioned great great point by you Shook about making

Love ends up.

Eight for fifteen for sixty two yards against that man coverage for four point one yards per attempt, and it was even worse going into that final stretch, and you have Van Ginkel making big plays, you had Blake Cashman, everyone was in the right place. He just Jordan Loved that has seemed like his head was swimming. We're on

Had trouble with. I would be a little shocked. To me.

The Vikings and the Lions and the Eagles are are a clear tier above. And to Shook Specs, fine, you know, not everyone can win the Super Bowl.

It's not like the Packers have gotten run off the field by those teams, right, they've they've been in these games.

They're in this game today.

They actually get pressure on Sam Donald thirty six percent of the time. Problem Miss Sam was ten of fifteen for one to thirty three with two touchdowns under pressure. Now, he did have that ball that was picked off by Karen to Valentine, which gave the Packers their first touchdown of the game.

Kind of let the Packers back in the game at that point.

And there were a couple of passes that sailed high, which seems like Sam's having a tendency right now to kind of overstride and overshoot receivers and have the ball go dangerously. But Jordan love pressure thirty two percent of the time four of eight for forty one yards where they're kind of figuring out where does Flores send them, how is he sending them? And that extra second, that extra step slowing down the passing game, got some action

Yeah, or even potentially at the NFC South winner if they had, if they had won this game and won out, but that's not going to happen. I think both starting running backs are just b up at the end of this game. Yeah, Aaron Jones was not on the field. That's why kam Akers was out there, and Josh Jacobs, who had a good game, and they ran the ball well at first, and then there was just a couple situations. They go for it on fourth and two and Brady's bemoaning that and they don't get it.

I don't.

I don't have a big problem with that. You never know if they're going to make the kick. Anyways, as we saw, Will Riikert, who's been fantastic all year, missed a couple kicks today for the Vikings that kept it close. And you got a ball to your best player, Jayden Reid, and he dropped it on the play. And then there was another you know, on one of Riker's misses. It didn't count because they called a kind of a phantom off side that made Matt Lafler loose his He called

Yeah, I agree. I also today was the first time I got the twenty sixteen Falcons vibes with these Vikings, and I think it's because of the receiving core. And it's really because, you know, you talked about Sam getting a little like risky there and throwing a pick in

So we'll see Sarnole is playing that that well, I'm with you. It sets up a fascinating Week eighteen matchup with the Lions. As we tape this, we don't have the schedule on Week eighteen, but we do know that matchup in the Lions play on Monday night will be for the one seed in the NFC. That is absolutely amazing. It's kind of all been leading to this. Okay, So that was the game of the day. It was the afternoon.

The Bengals trying to win it from the three yard line of Denver Burrow looking to throw his pass.

It is Tew you're my tea. Hey, guys, touchdown.

It's Ovengals in the final playoff spot in the AFC will not be decided until the final week of the regular season. To NATI, Bengals are still alive as Joe Burrow hits T Higgins front game winning touchdown.

Oh great call there by Dan Hord and Dave Lapham on w c k Y.

T Higgins did it.

Joe Burrow got it done in a game that resembled so many other games that the Bengals found ways to lose despite their best receivers and their quarterback playing otherworldly football.

It just they actually got it done. And it was partly because T.

Higgins goes eleven for one point thirty one in three touchdowns and if you hear Dave Lapham kind of identifying that that ends the game. Maybe it's because Bengals fans have never heard an overtime touchdown. It was the first one in franchise history. I don't believe that this franchise has been around for a long time. It's literally never happened before. Just one of many ways Joe Burrow and in this case, Tahiggins are kind of breaking barriers as

I'm shouting at my TV when t Higgins makes that touchdown catch in the corner of the end zone. For one, we definitely reacted that way because that was a phenomenal throw and catch, a great partnership between Joe Burrow and t Higgins, who had a fantastic day as you just said. But no, I'm not thinking that these teams maybe don't deserve to be in the playoffs. I'm thinking, what a

Yeah, it's disappointing for the Broncos to not be able to close it out here, but sometimes you got to just give credit to the other team. The third and nine that Burrow had navigating the pocket and he just fits it into the tiniest window to Tea was amazing. You could make a top five t Higgins catches from Joe Burrow, you know, plays in this game, and it'd be a great highlight, Like go watch that the one you mentioned into the corner, like just over and over.

I agree with Nick, like did a.

Good job minimizing the damage and making it hard on Burrow, and yet he just kept coming at him and Adam. The difference today was or Saturday rather, was the defense did enough. They were just like a normal defense. They weren't great, but they weren't terrible. And they did give up a pretty egregious like late drive to the Broncos. But even that one you give, you give credit to the Broncos for making a crazy catch.

Marvin Man.

Yeah, as the game started to progress and gets into the fourth quarter, you really saw that this Bengals pass rush did not have it. That they weren't getting pressure on bo Nicks without blitzing, and it was actually really a gift to them. Where there was a second down and Sean Payton called a screen. The Bengals were able to blow that up and they got pushed back behind the sticks. They and then the very next play, bo Nicks throws an interception I believe it was, comes up

He makes up for that after that because.

He pretty much goes nuclear after that with two touchdowns, including the game winner. But there were chances that the Broncos had to end this game, including at the end of regulation.

Bo Nicks wanted to go for two.

Sean Payton looking over telling Bo, hey, if we get a tie, none of this matters. And then in after the Bengals don't score on their first overtime possession, the Broncos take it pretty conservatively, Greg, Yeah, give them the ball back.

Leading to that, I think.

The tie got in Sean Payton's head, and I think he made a big mistake. Let's listen, because there is so much game management stuff. It was a fascinating game at the end here.

Much worse on the Bengals side.

I don't think it was as bad as you think. Actually I really don't. But the Broncos get the ball back in regulation with one twenty nine to go, and bo Nicks was all over the place in this game. A really poor first half, I would say, just in terms of their passing production. Even though he only had two incompletions, they were averaging like four yards per attempt.

They weren't really moving the ball.

Then he comes out of halftime as one of the best throws of the year, like the longest air yard throw the year for a touchdown, has that egregious interception, but.

Has another touchdown drive.

Then he gets the ball back with one t nine, knowing that he needs a touchdown, and they get in a tough spot after a couple of nice plays.

To get to midfield.

It's fourth and eight and I thought this could have been one of the plays of the year.

Burden the fullback to the left of Knicks, Bengals rush four Knicks deep drought. Now Rolls's right blows the ball he wants Mems in the corner of the end zone.

Marvin goes up, makes the catch. That's a different touchdown.

Stud here at pay Course Stadium, a twenty five yard touchdown pass Knicks to Mems.

I mean when Nicks was facing immediate pressure on that play and he's just bailing out to his right and he throws that thing up. When he threw it, I thought there's zero chance that is going to be completed. And Marvin Mims, of all people, mosses a couple of defenders.

That's just great football.

And at that point you go for the TWU san and he's thinking about the tie and they were going for two, but they they checked the play, and while they were reviewing it, he changed his mind.

And you're absolutely right.

If they tied the game, they would have gone to the playoffs. And I think that got in his head. First possession of overtime, he gets conservative. I agree, and then they get bailed out and they get a second possession because the Bengals dooink a field goal. That was the only egregious mistake I think Zach Taylor made was not continuing to play offense in the overtime drive and

Just try to score the touchdown.

Like be safe, maybe with the concern with the play calls or whatever, but just keep advancing it.

Don't just stop.

You literally lost the game against the Ravens in overtime earlier this season doing the same thing. But he misses the kick, and then the following sequence, Nicks, you know just missed is a throw on third down that was pretty open.

I almost don't want to give.

The Bengals defense too much credit, Shook, because the reality is his Nicks missed two open receivers on third down in overtime, and if Nicks literally hits that throw where he's stepping up in the pocket in overtime and he's got someone crossing, they get a first down there, the game is basically over and the Broncos are gonna take the tie and it's going to be extremely disappointed. So I'm glad he missed it just for the drama that

Yeah, we were deeping the TI zone at that point, and it's one of those situations where you're like the Bengals they have to win to stay alive, so they got to go full force, but they don't really have the game and their control right now because they're at

Seven area yards, the second longest in next gen stat's his. I will give a cookie to if either of you guys know what the longest one is. This is only since twenty sixteen that next instance has been keeping.

Anthony ran on this very show. That is not it.

I have called it one of the greatest throws of all time over and over. It's the PJ Walker to DJ Moore throw, which just as a pure throw is maybe the best thro I've ever seen in my entire life.

A couple of years ago. And then wow, the shocking yeah he got in one.

It really was, I mean, situation, accuracy, length, all of it was incredible.

But man, bo Nick's that's it.

Like he had such crazy highlights in this game and he ends up with two nineteen and three touchdowns, one interception. You think he played a great game, and it's just up and down, which is gonna happen with rookies and this defense, I guess Unfortunately it was like a little

Have any problem with that?

Like?

I got it.

I am always looking to criticize Zach Taylor, and actually I don't think there was anything he particularly did wrong here until overtime. You got a little conservative kick, you know, kicking that field goal.

Well, I think that speaks to sometimes you can overmanage a game, and I think both coaches kind of did in that situation go you know, overtime, Both of them coach tight in overtime, which is, you know what led to the result and the fact that you miss a field goal and everything else. But like I think sometimes in that situation you can overthink it and then cost

Well, yeah, but the only they all they could have done in theory was like kneel on second down and try to score a third and you just take away a time out. At that point, the math had changed because Chase Brown got hurt. They would have been giving the ball back to the Broncos with like thirty five forty seconds left, only needing three.

I actually am I'm with Zach Taylor.

I'd rather be up seven with a minute and a half to go and be able to prevent a touchdown. And there's no guarantee, as you said that they even were going to score the touchdown. They were stopped in the red zone. And that might have been playing in his mind too. That's like, let's try to score as many points as we could at that point once the Brown injury happened.

Well, I think a big factor that maybe needs to be considered is the Broncos were trying to let them score the touchdown. That that's what plays the decision making for me. Where if you run that quarterback sneak when the Broncos are willing to concede the touchdown and you don't necessarily have to score on that play, and then the Denver Broncos can use the time out. I mean, it's it's a very niche scenario because how often are you practicing having a quarterback sneak from the one yard

It changes a ton because you're scoring with ten seconds left instead of forty seconds left.

That's a huge difference.

Five And your pass rush, which hasn't been able to get to bow Nicks for the majority of the fourth quarter, immediately it haves them go all the way down the field and score with fourteen seconds remaining in the ball.

That's football. It was fun.

You're here, right though, I mean, commn Burrow, You're right, like there was so much to get into mentally and physically. But Burrow, it's why I'm really excited that they have the voting with the MVP. How they have it now, how we've been doing it on Monday nights, shuck. And maybe we'll have to revisit MVP here for week eighteen that it's a five person ballot because I don't know what Burrow.

Is going to finish.

Some people are going to push for him to get first place. I think he'll get it some first place votes, depending on how happens. I think in the end, he'll probably finish third or fourth. But I like that we have that document and that people will be like that he's going to be on the ballot, whereas in the past there just would have maybe been zero Joe Burrow votes at all. And I like, just as a document

He would not be my MVP vote.

We do not need to litigate that here today, but my god, he he is playing some incredible football. He really reminds me of next generation, like evolution of Tom Brady, like more than any other just more athletic, obviously, like if Tom Brady, you know, could move, but other than that, just he reminds me more of Tom Brady than any other player I've ever watched.

What a performance.

I'm glad they finally got to win against a team with the winning record, So that puts him at eight and eight, Broncos at nine and seven. They have not clinched. The Bengals then sat back and they decided to watch what was gonna happen on Sunday because they knew they needed some help. They needed the Colts and the Dolphins to lose over the next two weeks. They were hoping, can we get one, maybe two of those? During Week seventeen, Let's go to MetLife Stadium.

Lockfall's out signal takes the snap, playfish lock back to throw, rolls his luck.

He's got a lane, He's.

To the five.

He goes into the end zel touchdown, and the.

Giants respawn Drew Locke on a third and goal at the five runs it in June fifty seven ago, forty one thirty three Giants.

Boom, Bob Papa. I don't know if he was happy.

Everybody was. The crowd shots are hilarious.

Drew Lock was happy?

That was wfan Giants fans maybe not. What if I told you Nick that Drew Lock threw for three hundred and nine yards in a game where he only threw the ball twenty three times. What if I told you he had four interceptions and he knocked out a former Super Bowl MVP from playoff contention.

The Colts are done.

The Giants win forty five to thirty three, and there was much celebration in Cincinnati.

Well, I would tell you that he has Milik Neighbors on his team. Yes, because that was what happened on two. It was short passes and militic neighbors and all of sudden Neighbors was gone through traffic down the field, touchdown, another one touchdown. He did spread the ball around really well. He went to Wandale Robinson, a good to mount. He

Yeah, the Giants fall to fourth according to Tankathon in the draft positioning, still a lot to be determined there. There are nine teams that have either three or four losses. Four of them have three losses. We'll talk about them coming up. But it's kind of a a come to Jesus moment, I think for this Colt organization. Patrick obviously Gus Bradley's defense in the crosshres.

Yeah.

Here, and just to piggyback on what Nick said, like this was a Neighbor's performance that just reminded you like he's got a little bit of Chasing Jefferson in him, that he can do every type of catch there possibly is in any yards after catch, like the second I wrote that Brian Thomas's wide receiver won in this class, like definitively on Twitter. He just went a little extra and I think the reasonable minds could disagree there.

But Neighbors is special.

But still to give up forty five to the Giants in a playoff type situation is tough. And they've spent a lot of money quietly on that defense, a lot of draft picks too, they have.

They got the first player drafted on the defensive side of the ball. This year they come into MetLife where the Giants now thirty four percent of the points the Giants have scored at MetLife Stadium this season came in Week seventeen against the Indianapolis wo It was it was that type of game and joke was talking about the Drew Locks career performance. One hundred and five of those yards were after the catch for Malik Neighbors. Wow today, including that a huge A couple of huge ones after

But I mean, that's been kind to Jonathan Taylor.

At a certain point, you do expect this great athlete that Jonathan Taylor is to be better at catching the ball. It's been a it's but maybe you shouldn't drop that play for him because that it's been a problem for him since since he entered the league.

And ultimately that was there were no catches for Jonathan Taylor through the or on that pitch. So he did have one hundred and twenty five yards on the ground, two touchdowns, a strong finish for Jonathan Taylor on the ground. But we're we're still sitting here with this Colts defense with an opportunity again with a team that has basically done nothing at home. And after the game, you know, Brian Daboles talking about getting.

Great play from a quarterback.

Maybe a sneak disc that's not so sneaky directed at senior dimes.

Have any inkling that you could have a big day offensively?

You know, it just hasn't been there.

You know.

I think if if you get good quarterback play, you know you have an opportunity in every game.

Wow, not wrong, It's true.

I don't think it's a sneak thisss at dives. I think it's at the front office. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I think that's a guy who's like, you're gonna you're gonna f and fire me. You're gonna keep You're gonna keep this guy who looked like a fool frankly on Hard Knocks, Joe Shane, and you're gonna fire me because I think that's the expectation right now

Was was was it?

Joe shanees called to have de Vito in because if de Vito doesn't get hurt, then Drew Lock's not playing in this game and having this career performance fair being the only touch the only quarterback the season with four touchdowns and one rushing touchdown.

It's been my most lukewarm take that, Uh, Drew Locke is a massive upgrade on Tommy DeVito and actually hasn't been that bad last few weeks. He just looks like a backup quarterback who's gonna have crazy ups and downs this game does feel more about the Colts. But it is funny to me that shar Sanders supposedly wore kind of giants colored theme fleats at his bowl game.

Did you guys know this?

Yeah, I'll go on them. I'd seen them in.

Kind of amazing and now they're there fourth. Although they they could very easily end up with Sugar Sanders, they could still end up with the number one pick.

Like it is all it's all.

Posserble, it's all in the air. It wouldn't have been had they lost. They lost this game, but it's all in the air.

So is the future of the Colts. So the Colts.

I couldn't believe this that they have made the playoffs twice since twenty fourteen. Don't we think of the Colts as a better franchise than that? That's that's not much. They do not have a division title in the Chris Ballard era, which feels like like.

Oh yeah, but they've been in the playoffs.

It's like, I don't know, that's not a great division and you haven't won it once in a really long stretch. Every other team in the in the division over that stretch has won it at least twice.

Wow, you tie that the quarterback. I mean they've had a turnstyle at quarterback since the one great year with him.

Yeah.

Well it's like, oh my gosh, and I saw this response, so I'm stealing it. I forget Who's It's like, oh no, like our our franchise quarterback retired sixty five games ago.

It's like yeah, Like, it's like, let's get over it.

They're they're living in a land of delusion where they think they're better than they they are and they can stop gap the quarterback position. Then they went and drafted a guy and he got hurt after a month, but showed just enough to make you think, well, if he's healthy, he'll be great. And then he came back this year and struggle with accuracy to the point you benched him for Joe Flacco. Then he sucked, you went back to Richardson. He's hurt today, Flacco's back in. There's no stability at

That's fit. They were better without everything. They would have been better today with him.

Quarterbacks, he probably would have won today Quarterback's notwithstanding, Drew Locke is going to have a memorabilia in his house from this game for the rest of his life. Right, if it's Joe Flacco, if it's Nick Shook, if it's Greg Rosenthal starting for the Coals, it does not matter the New York Giants.

The twenty four New York Giants scored forty five points.

That is out righteous.

So obviously gus Bly's gone and people have been speculating, like, oh, Eberflus will come back. That's assuming Stiking's gone. Ryan Kelly spoke tearfully after the game. I think he's gonna retire. This game reminds me so much of the twenty twenty one finale that the Colts had where they completely collapsed against the Terrible Jaguars. Team, and it got Carson Wentz out the paint basically, and people now it seems obvious,

Who knows. You could see a situation.

But I just have a feeling that Jim Ursay will make a change that this game is gonna have some big repercussions. So the Colts they're out, They are no longer in the hunt. Take them off the graphic. They played in the early window, the Dolphins played in the late window. Would they stay on the graphic?

Versten, It's a thirteen yard hunder play.

Absolutely rolling to his right, he is gonna run with the football. Don't concurve me the end.

Zoe reach in touchdown.

Wow?

Tell me, I thought he's going out of bounc He's stayed in on his feet.

What a run by Tyler Huntley.

What a run? What a performance? What do you know? You let a guy practice in.

Your offense for a couple of months who knows how to play at the pro level, and he looks a lot better than when you just stick him in there, because he's the fourth quarterback that you can, you know, put in the lineup. Twenty two for twenty six were two hundred and twenty five yards and a touchdown through the air for Huntley.

He also led the team in rushing.

He doubled anyone else in rushing with fifty two on the ground. The Dolphins cruise twenty to three. They're eight and eight, and there's a real chance here, shook, that they make the playoffs.

And it's not the Broncos.

If the Broncos lose next week, and it's not the Bengals because the Dolphins are ahead of them in the pecking order, that it's the Dolphins at nine to eight that get into the playoffs.

What do you think?

Yeah, the sneaky little back door entry for the Dolphins who we all left for dead. Oh, I don't know, six to eight weeks ago when they looked awful before they even got to a back and even then it didn't look too great. And now suddenly here they are. They win a game without to against the Browns, team that. Granted, if it was pretty much any other team, it would have been a closer game because the Browns offense is that bad. But the Dolphins go on the road and

No, they didn't.

Now the Browns are closest to tanking of any team in the NFL because they're playing a quarterback that clearly doesn't give them as good a chance to win as another quarterback on their roster.

That's DTR.

I liked what I saw at DTR in those preseasons, and I kind of get why they just wanted to take a look at them and evaluate, and and they've been able.

To look it over.

Yeah, forty eight dropbacks tonight and they ended up with one hundred and sixty two passing yards. And I'm not gonna go crazy giving the Dolphins flowers, but they did beat two of the actations that I've been you know, throwing their way in terms. I guess you're right, it's not as cold, but we killed McDaniel for not getting it done without Tua. Earlier in the season and he had his quarterback ready to go. Now Tua may or

They have the Jets in Week eighteen.

Yeah, it was.

It was that devastating hip injury that ended to his career at the University of Alabama. It was the concern coming into the draft. It took a long time for recovery.

It's it was.

He says it's unrelated for what it's worth, but that doesn't mean much to me.

Yeah, but when when I hear Tua and hip like, that's immediately where my mind goes. And of course there's the brain injury concerns that a lot of folks have, But that was other than the you know, he have ankle surgery in college as well. He had that, the strap angel ankle surgery. But it was the hip injury and all the extensive recovery that he went through where he misses these games this season, and as you said, you pointed it out, they just weren't prepared to play

Greg.

It was not his best it was season. He played three games.

He did have a nice stretch the year before, and I'm glad this this is one of those games that keeps him in the league for an extra three or four years. It's good, a little dicey.

Good because I mean we've we've seen Tim Boyle play for multiple teams in four Tyler Huntley, who has a Pro Bowl on his record, by the way, I can still play. But dtr and the Browns did have a fourth and goal and he added an attempt to Jerry Judy where Judy had a solid case that Jalen Ramsey grabbed him and wrapped around and interfered with that pass attempt. But that was the best scoring opportunity. A rough looking

Do, so I don't I'd rather see the Broncos. Yeah, even if t was playing. I think to me, the Broncos and the Bengals have been more central to my experience this season and would just be more interesting. What am I even putting the Broncos in there?

Everyone wants.

I just want to see Joe Burrow in the playoffs, like Dolphins or Broncos whatever, I don't care between the two of them. I apologize to you Dolphins, but yeah, don't be mad that we all would rather see Joe Burrow in the playoffs. And I was saying all week weird Tyreek Hill vibes that it was a squeaky wheel type of game for him. Nine targets, nine catches, one hundred and five yards. All he needed was snow puntley

No, not that one, another one.

It's just like and they got him from behind, just like by the ankles and like those that's been happening a little more with Tyreek k All right, let's take a quick break, because that was it for the wild Card. It's all set up for a three team battle. The Broncos will play the Chiefs next week. Could be against their backups. We don't know that for sure.

We don't know at all.

The Bengals will have the Steelers tough game, and the Dolphins, Yes, they could sneak in the back door against the Jets. Let's talk a little more about a team. After the break that clinched their.

Spot pistol formation, Herbert takes the snap to throw they rush for and takes a shutdown field has mcaukee car touchdown Chargers. Let mcconkee fly that plane back to the sideline and what away from mconkee to set the Charger rookie record for most receiving yards season. He does it on that grab a forty yarder for his second touchdown of the game. Thank you, Elliott Woolf.

Oh call him money Talks cass tired by Matt Bunny Smith on KYSR. Yes, Money, you said what.

Some Patriots fans were thinking.

I was thinking was this is the guy that you traded back for to take Jalen Polking. You passed on a somewhat undersized white receiver.

Lad mccakie just eating you up.

Mccacky won a four rookie receivers to go over a thousand yards, by the way, first time in NFL history that's ever happened. This Chargers team is awesome. They won forty to seven. They only punted twice, They had four hundred and twenty eight yards a fifty five percent success rate.

Herbert just going absolutely nuts.

They're going for fourth downs at midfield with like twenty seven ACKs left in the first half. Total confidence, total trust. He comes through in that situation. Great pass, bro Ladd is awesome. How dangerous do you think this Chargers team is? Now that the offense is kind of cranking up a little bit.

All it took, apparently was the Buccaneers to come out here and lay the woods right, and then the past two weeks the Chargers have been unstoppable. Where As we saw in New England give Buffalo a really solid game. I thought that they would move the ball and make this know. It was dominant from wire to wire and perhaps you know Lad mccauckey extra motivated to get outable as money money into me.

I think he's happy to be playing with Justin Herbert. Not that Drake may would be bad, but he's in a much better, more stable situation. More on that in a second though. A couple of injuries in this game, Josh Palmer and Elijah Molden and both got hurt. Elijah Mouldens their slot corner, and it'd come back for this

Yeah, when Daniel Aqualley is receiving praise during a blowout game as potentially the patriots best defensive lineman, I think you know what kind of front you're facing. But I will say this, it was a perfect time to activate JK. Dobbins from IR and get back and kind of get his feet underneath him again. He averaged four yards of carry in this game. You can just see how much better this offense is when they can run the ball effectively, which they have not been able to do without him

Fair, but I just thought it was Herbert's two best games of the season, perhaps in a row. To do it against the Broncos, a much better defense, obviously that's more heavily, but to do it again, they weren't having games like this earlier in the year, no matter who they were playing. Now, the Patriots played a game, unfortunately,

It's not professional like that. It's just sloppy and it shows.

Tom Current said something to me that stuck with me, which is like, you can't be this bad on the field and this bad off and that's what I think this coaching staff is and it sucks. Like Keon White is out here straight up saying more or less we need to change the coaches, like that's some needs to change.

It's not working, and.

Drod Mayo again goes on the record and said, yeah, that was just a miscommunication.

You know.

We had to talk about it, and they asked White about it after the game. He's like, yeah, we talked about it, but I stand by what I said. Changes need to happen, and it's just it's not great. And I think two things can be true, Patrick, because I think it's a little bit uncomfortable. It's an uncomfortable situation.

Yeah, it can be.

It could be a mess, and there's hopefully another opportunity. Uh if this is the end for Gerrod Mayo.

I I don't know that it will be. I don't know.

I would just look at the at the roster in totality and asking how many how many of these guys are going to be contributing to winning rosters years down the line. Yep, we've chronicled the problems up front. They do get seven points in this game, those seven points. I have nothing to do with coaching. It's Pop Douglass and Drake may making a play when the Chargers jump offside. It's one of the few Chargers mistakes that happened in

All of these it's all bad.

It's all bad that go on where Yeah, it's but ultimately I think perhaps it'll be best for both parties, Rod Mayo and the Patriots fan base of somebody else is coaching.

I know personally how I feel that.

You know, I'd love for the Patriots fan base to be mad at somebody else and talking about somebody else's mistakes.

But you know, it's he's a Patriot.

He came up on the alleged Patriot way, and we'll see how things turn out in the future.

Let's listen to Steve Weisch, our friend who's been getting it done lately. I mean he's on Netflix getting watched by twenty five million people, and then he flies over to Foxborough and he's in an Island game on an NFL network. He was with Derwin James and Justin Herbert after the game, Justin.

You passed Peyton Manning for the most passing yards first five years and your career.

What about setting your record and getting a playoff burn You.

Know, I think it says so much about the guys that we've had catching those passes.

You know, a great offensive line giving me time to get the ball off and guys like this getting me the ball back.

So couldn't have done it without him.

Humble humble right there with what humble man, humble man. All right, congratulations, guys, sorry, thank you, thank you, thank you.

I want the intensity and the happiness which I see out of Derwin James after every game.

It's awesome, much.

Happier than Justin was about that, and so just even keeled, it's like, oh, that's that's neat that I did that thing.

All right? That is it from Foxborough.

It is now time for the Sunday Drive, presented by the all new hybrid Toyota Camera.

So Yes, the Chargers. They clinched their playoff spot.

Let's go to Buffalo where the Bills were trying to clench the number two seed in the AFC.

Clock down to two.

Here's a step back to pass, has time, rolling to his right, try to buy time.

Heaves it back across the field, looking for.

Ty Johnson and going up and pulling it down off the roof was Keon Coleman for the touchdown.

That was Keon Coleman getting it done as part of a forty to fourteen victory by the Buffalo Bills. It was forty to nothing while Aaron Rodgers was in the game. Tyrod came in in the fourth quarter immediately led them to two touchdowns. If you didn't think a lot of people enjoyed that, you're wrong. But this is about Josh Allen and the Bills already. Afterwards, Sean mcdermoer indicated that there will be some players they want to take a

Absolutely, and I think it would be a mistake to have Josh go out there, because Josh Allen only knows one speed, and so those are only bad things that could happen in this situation where they didn't really even need it. Today, he saw that there was a great keyon Coleman touchdown folks bemoaning Amari's targets in the last few weeks. He had a chance to go up a Massa defender for a touchdown, and meanwhile the Jets could do absolutely nothing.

They had opportunities.

There was a third and one early on in one of their first drives of the game where Kenny boy is running a drag. He's wide open, there is nobody within five yards of Aaron Rodgers, and he throws the ball at his back ankle and then is pointing to something after the play, as if as if Kenny Boyce should have done something differently on the play where he couldn't make a catch that was in the dirt. Then Aaron Rodgers had a personal foul pushing down a defender

We actually have sound of the referee breaking essentially as he called the unnecessary penalty on Rogers.

Rogers had had only one interception in the last eight games, matched against fourteen touchdowns, personal foul, unnecessary roughness on.

Offense number eight.

He's like, I've never called a late hit on the quarterback the opposite way.

How about that?

Oh man?

When you when you think about how things end, sometimes they can be ugly. He had just taken the sack record. He's been sacked, I believe more than in a quarterback in NFL history.

Is that right?

And just after that he threw his interception, his second of the day, and then was called for an unnecessary roughness penalty on a day where he ends up with one hundred and twelve yards. It's easy to forget that the game was only twelve nothing at that point. It was actually, yeah, the Jets defense was game for a while here until it wasn't. But a lot of credit goes to Christian Benford, who's had a really nice season.

Shook one for one for sixty nine yards and a touchdown. Mitch Trubisky have a day, sir. It's uh. First off, I can't believe they gave Nanson Romo this game. First off. Secondly, a good good day for the Bills to kind of wash away some of those defensive concerns because even the Patriots gave him a run for their money last week. To just put together a dominant performance like this, especially

Okay, So the pendant was what it was, came from his offensive line.

It was like it was like an encrusted pendant with a seventeen. It was a jersey and it said MVP.

Where the name goes.

He can keep that.

That's cool, Well, I mean he can.

I mean if they say he's the you know, those are the voters that matter to Josh Allen the power of fringship.

Yeah, I don't know. I think it's gonna be close. All precincts aren't reporting, But I don't know. I don't know how to.

I don't know how this one's gonna go. I think we need.

Nobody does, because it's it's kind of nebulous, and it's it's vibe based.

It's it's like the college football playoff rankings.

I like, who knows. People always say it's a narrative award. To a point, it's also a status award. And if if Lamar Jackson ends up leading the NFL and yards per carry, yards per attempt and has the greatest QB rating and touchdown interception ratio in NFL history, which he has a good chance for.

He has it right now.

In terms of TD interception he's second all the time and qbrating like, those are a lot of stats and I think I think he'd have a chance.

And who knows.

If Joe burghes crazy like maybe that the maybe voting for five people have untold. I don't really know why that would affect it too much, but yeah, I think this game cements Rogers getting booted if him making jokes about Brick Johnson cutting him didn't because he actually was playing better, And just from a pure football standpoint, just because the market is so barren and the contract is so difficult, they're going to have so much did cap.

Fourth down and ten, Right here, Williams shotgun snap blitz is coming.

Williams throws the ball up for grabs.

The ball is intercepted if Roland comes near side, knocked out of bounds. The first takeaway of the game by the Seahawks could not have come in a better time. The fans head for the exits, and the Seahawks are gonna win this ball game by a score of six to three.

In the words.

Of Mike Holmgren many years ago, a same score in Cleveland between the Seahawks and the Browns. He said, set offensive football back thirty years.

But that's okay, we'll take it.

Ooh, great job there by our producer Eric Roberts getting that sell the team chant in and yeah, they they went hard at it during the Amazon postgame show.

I don't think that's gonna happen.

I don't think the Seahawks are gonna win this division either, But I wanted to go in chronological order to explain how this week played out. The Seahawks are at nine and seven. They're well over their win total for the season. They basically are the team people are expected, except a little a little better, maybe even, but struggling on offense. They get a win six to three. Not a good day for my guy. Gino did not look healthy, but

Like it took them six minutes to get.

To the forty yard line when the clock was really important, and they only ended up with one hundred and seventy nine yards. A lot of them was on that last drive. It was just a totally dominant effort by the Seahawks defense at least gave them a chance entering the rest of the weekend.

I don't know what you want to say about this game, Nick.

Yeah, well I'll say this. I had a flashback to being in my grandparents' kitchen and considering a second helping of Thanksgiving dinner when I watched that final drive, because that looked a lot like they're lost in Detroit moments before Matt Eberflus was fired the next day rough for the Bears. It sent off a lot of people online saying Madden players would be better at managing clock than the Bears coaches have been this season, which, okay, all right,

Yeah, Gino wasn't moving well in this game and the I don't know if it was the injury, but he only attempted five throws over ten yards and most of those were late before that there was nothing past the line of scrimmage.

He was limping a little bit out there.

Caleb, by the way, on throws over ten yards, one for nine for fifteen yards and in an interception. I can I think I know which play that was, which was his best play of the game down which came on the Was that the fourth down?

Yeah?

Okay, So his next best play in the game, though, I thought was telling, which was after he fumbled the snap, because it just let him be like, Okay, I gotta go make a play. And I do think he's has this weird mental thing going on where he's just trying to from the pocket and try almost not to make plays. And the best place he make, like that fourth down to a dunes or the one after the fumble, is when he just goes out there and makes Caleb plays. I mean, he actually had a number of great throws

There was an opportunity to I believe Keenan Allen in the middle of the field that Caleb thought about. It just seems like the process is not go out there

They had one fumble, They did reach Bear's territory like four or five times out of eight or nine drives.

But yeah, it was just gross.

And the Bears had every opportunity.

But once again, it just seems like the poor management that we see at the end of the game is also happening during the beginning in the middle of the game, but it's a little more glaring at the end from the way things are executed, and they're people down right, like Thomas Brown has doesn't have the bodies staff wise to do the things that the Bears could have done earlier in the season because of the firings that happened in front of them.

And so it's just bad. It was bad before, it's still bad.

So and not only that, they're four and twelve and right now they have the number nine pick in the draft.

How is that even possible.

We looked at it last year and four and thirteen would have had you two or three in the draft, and now they're nine. So it's like they're getting some bad luck there this game. And this is true of this entire week. And maybe it's my excuse making for why this show is going to have a Week eighteen like length, But this Week seventeen has never felt more like Week eighteen. And I think that's because of all the bad teams this year, because there's not gonna be

This league thrives on parody, right. The parody exists in Tankathon now, it's right near the top. This year, I don't think we've even completed that parody circle graphic that we usually complete every year.

No, this weird year.

This is a very non parent you know, there hasn't been much parody this year. It has been a year of terrible teams. Everything is built towards not making that happen. But even good teams, I mean it, by the end of the year on some heaviness to them. I think that's actually true about a team that's that's won five

It's almost cruel what's happening to the Seahawks.

They're just watching themselves die slowly, but at least that they won. They did their part this week, and they watched on Saturday night and they just hope for the Cardinals to come through for them, because then we'd have a nice little Week eighteen winning in game?

Would they get it to Sofi and goal from the five?

Tyler looks do his sideline justures with his hands.

Marvin Harrison Junior in motion from his life. Here comes the blitz start of the end zone.

It is Enner second off the chesty attended target, but.

Divings Ter play.

Have the front left pylon shot McBride hung up.

In the air and the Rams clinched.

The game with back to back interceptions.

That was JB Long our friend on KSPN, and a little cameo there by.

Maurice Jones Drew, Wow, we're trying to get Maurice on the Monday Night recaps putting screws do him. He's putting, he's playing coy.

So if you're listening Adam on Twitter and say you want to hear him because you're such big MJD fans on Monday Night trying to trying to book them, but it's tough. He's a star, so is a Kello Witherspoon. A star in his role, and he has stepped in he was on the street at the beginning of the season into that starting lineup. Him and Darius Williams has taken over those those starting jobs and provided some stability. And he made a great diving catch on a ball

Yeah, and those offensive struggles are ones that I think at a certain point because you look back at that game against Buffalo and it's like, well, the Rams can do this. I've said for weeks the Rams are gonna have this puncher's chance, but the players just weren't there. Matthew Stafford I did have a nice run in this game, but look to be having some trouble getting away from

Maybe there's a flag on that play.

I know McBride would would have liked to get the holding call, but ultimately he gets his head around and gets his hands on the football, he catches it. And we're talking about Cardinals rams with an opportunity to I mean, excuse me, Seahawks Rams with an opportunity to settle it.

Instead.

It's another one of these late season losses for the Cardinals where they're so close. But whether it's offense, whether it's defense, and a lot of times it's Kyler turning the ball over. I don't I know that there's folks that say that Kyler could have put a better ball there. He had Train McBride in the face. Yeah, regardless of the exact position of where the football is, he hit him in the face.

Yeah.

Kim Kitchen's had a big interception earlier in this game. And if it sounds like we're being a little hard on the Rams, they were doubled up in terms of first downs in this game. They gave up four hundred yards and yet Nick, to give them credit, their pass rush was pretty great, and especially in big moments, Verse and Fisk and Turner and Young, who have really been such a story for them, held up enough to let the offense get into the game eventually and get the win thirteen to nine.

Yeah, this team is becoming a chameleon because they've won in so many different ways this year. They've looked bad, really bad early in the season. They figured it out to get back to five hundred. Then I feel like they spent all of their offensive energy in the shootout win over the Bills, because in the last three games they followed under twenty points each time. But they've won all three games because now suddenly they're a defensive team.

They are fair.

They scored forty four in that game against the Bills. They have scored exactly forty four in the three games since.

And McVeigh wasn't really that happy after this game.

Jordan Rodrigue, the athlete, kind of pointed out to me, and I went back and watched it, and yeah, he was very clipped with his answers, and you could say he was saying the right thing that the years in his league has taught him that he wants to enjoy it. But you can tell there's a little bit of frustration there. Under two hundred and sixty yards on offense for a couple of straight weeks, and it's actually not that different than a lot of their season where the defense really

By the way, the Cardinals did almost have the ball for forty minutes. Yeah, I think the Rams only got fifty four offensive plays, so that may have played a role as well.

And they did a lot of that without James Connors too.

That's the thing is Kyler had five or six awesome throws in this game, and he ran the ball well. He keeps saying he wants to run more. He wants to run more next year. Jonathan Gannon had a bad decision. I thought at one point to kick a field goal, he ends up having to go for a much longer fourth down Later, I thought McVeigh after a really long Cardinals drive, made a bad decision not to go for it on fourth and inches. I'm a little worried how Cooper Cupp has kind of not produced late late in

They go to episcol formation. It goes back to Barkley. Barkley breaks the tackle. He's at the forty, he's at the thirty. He has at the twenty five yard line. He has done at the twenty five yard line. Let's see what he has right now as he goes to the twenty five yard line.

He has just because the two thousand yard worship bark Shake on one.

Barkley goes into NFL history.

Love that Merril Reeze, Mike Quick wip. Eagles went forty one to seven. Nice touch by Nick Sirianni to take a time out. It's like kind of an NBA style where you take the stars out of the game with two minutes left so the whole crowd could really cheer. I hope that was Nick Sirianni leaving Saquon in for his thirty first carry to break two thousand so he can rest him next week. We'll see, because he's only one hundred plus yards away from breaking the rushing record.

Yes, it was so all the asterisk folks out there will have a chance to talk about it with Brock Bowlers and Mike Ditka here in a little bit. But yeah, he does it in sixteen game. It's and just an incredible season for Saquon. In a game that seemed dicey at the start where Cooper Rush has come out, he survives a pick six from CJGJ who really just caught him peeking on an inbreaking route and comes comes up with a pick six. But Cooper Rush comes right back

Some of the guys who who couldn't make key plays.

Late in the loss of the Washington Commanders, Dvante Smith had two touchdowns, could have verily easily been three touchdowns. I already talked about CJGJ. He got another pick after that, and remember he got run from the game for multiple personal foul calls.

And this is it. This is what this Eagles team can be.

Despite this late season spoiler Dallas team that we believed again in the air in the Carolina Panthers against them, they actually kind of blew them out. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers their season hinges on these last couple of weeks because they couldn't get a win against this Cowboys team. And then they come in there to Philadelphia against their backup quarterback and get blown out forty one to seven.

Yeah, surprising and a great show of force that DeVante Smith could go six for one to twenty, gets a couple of touchdowns. Saquon gets one to sixty seven in the game to get over two thousand and Yeah. Kenny Pickett who actually left the game after taking a painkilling injection for his ribs according to Mike Florio before the game, and at halftime, and they're running in with the touchbush a little dicey there. He scores a touchdown. Then Tanner

Yeah, those of you who thought that the Eagles might have a tough time because they're backup quarterback. You got both backups and they still dominated. No. I mean, this is one of those wins that you expect from a team that's superior, but it's a rivalry games, so you never know. And yet they came out and just dominated front to back. And you know, like you just said, sakuon breaks two thousand rushing yards. That's fun. I would like to see him play next week just for history's sake,

I really hope they don't.

I just think that's so stupid and short sighted. What a great advantage it is to know your seeding when you don't have the advantage that the top seed will have in terms of the bye week, and you can rest a guy who needs to be fresh and has had a huge workload. I personally will be be shocked if they go for the record.

Also, it's not gonna play. I think the seventeenth game thing.

It doesn't matter, but you're going for a record, where like you, you would need the seventeenth game to get it. Anyways, he's at three hundred and forty five carries that the stats of guys who go that high, it's usually not good for the rest of their career, so let's just save them. It just seems so obvious. I really think they will, Actually, I really think they will. They're an anachally analytically minded organization. I think they will sit him.

It is the only sensical play to not play Sakwon Barkley. You could make the case then having him in to get this carry to go over two thousand yeards, I think might have a questionable call as well. But it's good to hit the number. It's good for the offensive line, it's good for Saquon. You heard the explosion from the fans there in Philadelphia that got to see it at home. I think it may be worth doing just to have

The game was you.

Know these the seventeenth game was was added for a whole bunch of reasons that had nothing to do with records and a whole lot to do with, you know, compensation for people who aren't Saquon Barkley.

Right, I think it's fine.

Saquon's compensation is finally set here you know, we had some some issues with that previously.

Why play well.

Also, life is short and they got to do something really special that they'll remember for the rest of their lives. And it was a little risky, but you got it done. To get to have to get over one sixty five to get it done is kind of amazing. He's at almost twenty three hundred yards from scrimmage. It's just a magical pickup. I'm really looking forward to watching them in the playoffs. They're gonna have the two seed. We have to wait to see and find out who they could

Powers Ad Myers both to the right. Shotgun. O'Connell's looking that way.

He's scrambling, he's trying to escape the pocket he's throwing. Oh, there's a wide open man in the end zone back pylon, no signal yet for Tucker touchdown.

Raiders.

Oh Connall, let it get out of the pocket. He was looking and looking that Tucker was wide open. That's six for the Raiders and they capitalize on the Jack Jones picks for a touchdown.

Drank up the Las Vegas Raiders two game winning streak, ruining their draft position. Now they should be trying to win for Antonio Pierce and Aidan O'Connell should be out there trying to prove my most lukewarm take right, which is that Aiden O'Connell is an NFL quarterback and that he's gonna have like a nine year career as a perfectly solid NFL backup.

And that's an excellent.

Outcome for a backup quarterback. Taken in the fourth round. And I think he's putting it on tape. I think he knows how to play, and I think he played really well for most of this game. Raiders win twenty five to ten. That's their fourth win of the year.

And that's why you look at the final score.

And that's the story of the Saints. And then Spencer Ratler experience. You know, just when you think he's starting to build a little bit of steam, he throws a couple of picks that makes second guess. And have we ever seen a team that feels they've already fired their coach, that feels more like they're gonna make more changes in the offseason than these Saints. Like you're playing a Raiders team that, yeah they're coming off the high of winning

It's a tough it's been a tough season. They don't have many offensive players out there with Spencer Rattler for him to throw the ball to, and Juwan Johnson had a big drop in this game.

There were other mistakes.

I came up with the scenario that could possibly get Mickey Loomis fire that it would have to be something drastic, which would be losing in primetime and an embarrassing shutout and then losing to the Raiders convincingly at home. Yeah, and it happened. He hit the parlay, so we'll see. I think that there's great mystery there. The biggest story of this game where the records that brock Bauers set.

There's a lot of them.

Number one, he set the all time receiving yards record for rookie tight ends and as you mentioned, it broke Mike Dicka's record, which was a record for over sixty plus.

Years nineteen sixty one.

That's incredible when you have a record that long.

It's like Norman van Brocklan still has the single game passing yard record, which is.

Crazy if you think about it.

I mean, if you're adjusting for inflation, Dicka going for that much back then is like seventeen hundred yards. He was never the same again because he had so many injuries. Still had a Hall of Fame career, but never a season like that. So that's really impressive, But that's not it. He also brock Bauers broke the PUKA rookie receptions record for anyone.

That's pretty cool.

So receiving yards at tight end, he had already broken the tight end record for receptions like weeks ago rookie receptions.

And then I think this is an underrated one.

In the long history of the Raiders Oakland, Las Vegas, Los Angele, no one has ever caught more passes. Brock Bowers broke that record today too, and he did it in a tight little sixteen games, breaking Darren Waller's record from a few years ago. So Brock Bowers, I love you man. The celebration in the lock in the very crowded Saints locker room was cool. They all were like really celebrating with Bowers. So a nice movement for the Raiders.

Yeah, and again a message that if you don't get your quarterback, if you fall back in the draft sometimes you know, it's like, oh, well, we'll just have to take this guy who maybe going to Campton one day, and you live with that.

You need to do that again. Can you do that two years in a row?

I don't think so.

No, you can't.

Cam Jordan was staying after the game. According to the reporters, they are taking pictures with his family on the field.

So it could be his last game.

He said, it's not up to him that he plans to play football next year, whether it's with us. He really hopes it's in the Black and Gold, but that'll be up to the Saints obviously.

Could be a lot of changes there.

Let's go to another game which is going to have a big impact on draft seeding, draft positioning. It's the Jaguars, It's the Titans. It's in Jackson, empty backfield.

Mac drops the throw he's looking, fires it to the.

Left side Portlands on Cot touchdown Brian Thomas Junior for the score.

Where are teams gonna.

Learn to not cover Brian Thomas Junior.

And man coverage?

Yeah?

Maybe next season. It seems absolutely crazy. Nice ball there by Mac Jones. I watched way too much of this game. That was Frank Brangy and Jeff Logoman on w j XL because we got this picks competition on game debut, and I've kind of felt like, for some reason in my heart that this was gonna be the swing game, and I was wrong.

I picked the wrong team.

And Mac Jones did not play well in this game, but his two touchdown throws.

Were both awesome plays.

That was a great throw by him, great catch by Thomas, and then the first one to Parker Washington was an incredible toe tap by Washington. Jaguars win twenty to thirteen in a game they got out thirteen to nothing, shook and never looked back, at least not too much.

Yeah, it's kind of one of those weird games where you're like, both these teams are not very good. Both of them are playing with backup quarterbacks, but one team has an awesome receiver and his name's Brian Thomas Junior. Like they did whatever they could to get hitting the ball as much as possible, kind of like Milik Neighbors earlier in the show. They ran an ender like a jet sweep to him as well, and it picked up a big game that proceeded a touchdown the touchdown pass

Yeah.

Shout out to the fans that stayed for that game. It was tough conditions, a lot of empty seats. But the Jaguars fall down to fifth according to Tank Thon in terms of the draft, the Titans are up to second. The Patriots are potentially playing the Bills back up next week, so that I'll give the Titans something a root for.

They could wind up with the number one pick.

Either way, they're in a good position if they lose next week. I believe against the Colts, I don't know if we need to say too much. Brian Thomas eighty catches, eleven and eighty one yards and ten touchdowns.

That's a solid rookie year. And we look at what neighbors did. Jayden might win the award. How did LSU lose three games last year?

Right?

I have no IDEA great point? All right, let's get to the NFC South. So we saved this for the end because obviously Sunday Night five football involves the Falcons. It's pretty simple either the Bucks or the Falcons are gonna win the NFC South. The Falcons have the edge entering the week. The Bucks, though, they have a chance here because it's really a three team for two spot situation between the Bucks, the Falcons, and the Commanders. So even if the Bucks didn't win the division, they know

That hacker hasn't plucked temper Bace got it, stupid score chan.

J Russell, Buccaneers doing it from all angles.

Chefs kiss.

It's the Duccaneers.

I love it.

Great job there by Patrick. A professional host like Patrick or Ion Eagle would have set that up a lot better by telling the audio audience that there's a duck on the field right before the Panthers are setting up to punt. And yeah, that punt block is what made this thing a laugher, But it was on the way. Forty eight to fourteen an offensive masterclass by the Buccaneers

Especially when you go when you have a guy like and I know his name is Bucky, but today he's Ducky Irving from scrimmage. I had to squeeze that one

Oh.

No, Baker, Baker was incredible. Let's throw up his passing chart from today. This was one of his best games of the season. Anytime he missed the throw I was stunned because he was just so accurate. Most of it was to the middle of the field, but he was really spreading it all around three hundred and fifty nine yards five touchdowns. It's just some laser shots over the middle was so sharp, really well protected, it must be said. And that's been a huge part of their four formula

Yeah, the whole offensive option playbook was available against the Panthers team where Bucky Evern goes a thousand yards rushing on the season, two hundred and sixty five of those this season have come against the Carolina Panthers here in the past five weeks.

And so that you know everything's available to them.

They beat this divisional opponent at home when they needed to.

They can do this. They can also be.

The team that struggled against the Dallas Cowboys in a game that they needed a couple weeks ago.

Yeah, but that was their only loss in a while.

Although they struggled against the Panthers, they probably should have lost that game in overtime a while ago, and it was big that they pulled that out. Their defense is to me the bigger concern. They got the Panthers off the field quite a bit. They were pressuring Bryce Young more than he normally is. But man, like I said, he ended up with two hundred and three yards and

He's in.

Yeah, he really is.

And he was before the season.

To me, Yeah, I think he was too.

It's tricky when you haven't made a lot of all pros, which he hasn't, but plenty of guys have made it in without those if they've stacked up seasons like he has. Jalen McMillan, by the way, inducked him into the Fantasy Football Playoff Hall of Fame. In terms of if you picked him up, I guarantee you he is on a million championship teams two touchdowns. Good job to all the owners out there that played him throughout. Good job by you,

Night football game. Play the game, guys, I enjoyed my time.

Uh yeah, he's getting it done with Scott Pioli.

Let's go to Sunday night football in Landover and places ready to explode.

Two forty five to go in overtime, third and goal at the two, Jayden and the gun.

Rodriguez to his right to tight end. Still up, here's the staff. Game's gonna throw forward. He does think he is one seconds.

The playoff tuck down walk again they went over time. We'll see you.

Freaking Jimmy, this is a missile.

But Tayda Tallils that was a missile and I want to go to the playoffs, fram Weinstein and London Fletcher w b ig one of the calls in the year for one of the moments of the year.

The Washington Commanders have done it. They come all the way back from a miserable season and dan Quinn's first year with Jade and Daniels. They are playoff bound with a thirty to twenty four overtime victory over the Falcons and Nick. When I think back on this season, I will think about so many different signature Jadeen Daniels moment.

It feels like he is the.

Center of this season, even though they're a six or a seven seed in the NFC. It's the win over the Bengals on Monday Night football. It's the Hail Mary against Chicago, which started the Chicago tailspin, by the way, and kickstarted this Washington run. It's the victory over the Eagles after that fourth and long last week, and then yes, a thirty to twenty four victory over the Falcons out dueling Michael Pennix, who was up and down but pulled off some jade and Daniels magic of his own with

It's crucial. It was to me. I'm rooting for the Falcons.

But when I saw that coin flip land on tails for the Commanders, as like, there's no way the Falcons are stopping them here.

They're not going to force the field goal.

I've watched this entire game, and I've watched this movie over and over and again. It's amazing that a rookie quarterback just feels that bankable in the biggest moments.

Yeah, what a game, I mean, what an experience for Commanders fans. And this is the fitting way for them to reach the postseason. It truly is because of the moments that you just described, the Hail Mary, the game against the Eagles recently last week. It's just it's been a magical season for this team. With a rookie quarterback who was not the consensus number one. He was the

It's a team game, and the Commanders have found a way to get just enough stops. It's a complimentary game. They come out of halftime down seventeen to seven. Strange first half because I thought Washington was really getting whatever they wanted. But they had a really nice play called

Yeah, and the way that they come through in these clutch situations is really what stands out to me, because this is a team that wasn't supposed to be here. This is a team that was at the worst defense

What I say emotional too?

I just mean like it's almost like I'm a fan of the team and I'm just thinking, oh, there's no way they stop now. And it's because I'm loving watching Daniels. But it's a great point. It shook because the first is the key ist touchdown. Great great play by Daniels in the first half, throwing it against his body, but really good catch on a night where McLaurin has seven targets for five yards. Aj Terrell with an awesome performance covering him most of the day. That touch down catch

Two left there.

It's not even a thought like, of course, you can't blow fifteen seconds. They end up not even using the timeouts. They go into overtime with an extra timeout and they only use another one to get set. Like it was with the clock stop. They didn't even end up using another one of those timeouts. They get up PI on their second to last play in regulation that gives them a fifty six yard attempt. Riley Patterson comes up short. He's a guy who's bounced around. He's a replacement kicker.

And so I'm gonna say.

It honestly, that's fair. But I also not in defense of them, but you know, just to give him a little bit of a break in some grace here. I think the environment had something to do with it, because Washington had a hard time getting organized too. At some point in that overtime drive, they called him time out just to get jan and Daniels a breather. There were multiple instances, especially in the fourth quarter, where both teams struggled to get lined up, get set before the play clicks.

They looked tired.

I thought Raheem Morris should have used his timeouts in overtime just to get his defense that he didn't.

At all, But that's fair. I think they were just fancy night.

I think like people are always like defense gets tired, like offense gets tired too. Washington was on the field like that whole second. I appreciate that. And it's a good shout out to that Washington crowd, who I've seen it when they've been good, certainly of the RG three year and there's been other little pop up years, but you get a feeling that they're waiting to be one of the best crowds in the NFL. And they're back

Could have been one of the throws of the year. That's like a rookie stamping.

His moment where Riley Patterson hits that freaking kick. All we're talking about is how great Penix was to finish this game and he never even gets the ball back in overtime. So props to Penix, who I thought had an up and down game, but the flashes were there and the finish was absolutely awesome, and through no fault of his own, they end up losing this game because he doesn't get the ball in overtime.

What was the number one attribute when he came out of college that people talked about positively with him?

Armstring, poise exactly.

Guess what showed completely on that drive and on that throw the Pits on fourth down. That live arm.

Baby.

He fit that thing in there and Pitts made a great catch. Fans of Kyle Pitts, who think he's been in jail since he's been with the Falcons, are eager to see his release. If he's got a quarterback like Michael Penix who's not afraid to throw them the football. It was fun. I mean, they lost the game, but it was so fun to watch.

Yeah, And they might not make the playoffs now though because of it.

So they're eight and eight. Commanders are in at eleven five.

They're actually the sixth seed right now and the Packers are the seven depending on how much they care about seeding. We'll find out in week eighteen. We can get into that during the week. But if the Falcons had hit that kick, Nick, Commanders would have been in a situation next week where they had to beat Dallas to guarantee their spot in the playoffs, and Dallas beat them before Dallas is at home.

You just never know.

That could have been a nervous, frisky type of situation Commanders fans, especially after you know, potentially having blown this lead at the end, that would have been a very nervous week. And staid it's the Falcons who now go into next week without control. And if you're a Falcons fan, you're just adding this to the list of improbable, just weird,

Yeah, and then when you take stock of the entire season, what do you come away with? Because you went to the whole Kirk Cousins ordeal, you saw him bench, you saw the start of your future, hopefully at quarterback with Michael Pennix. But where do you go from here? Are you happy about this year or do you feel like you missed an opportunity based on how you started this year?

It's somewhere in between, because I think Raheem's defense showed some progress over time tonight, Yeah, not really in the second half tonight showed some progress down the stretch, and you're starting kind of a new regime but this was also a go time type of season because they have so many young, talented players. That's why they gave Kirk

Drake London was awesome in this game. Kayden Ellis was awesome.

Actually, I think there's some good things to feel if you're a Falcons fan and look that they're gonna get with a better record. All Right, so let's set up next week's schedule before we go for the last time this season, the Browns are in an Island game. I Apologizeck, I apologize to everyone else. The schedule makers, understandably because there weren't really many options, decided to go with AFC

It's kind of crazy because the Seahawks.

And the Rams, it's like the division's over, but they're literally gonna tie potentially if the Seahawks win that game in record, division record, conference record, common opponents like they are down to the fifth tiebreaker. But we just already know how it's all gonna work, even if the Seahawks win that game, and that's why they are eliminated. And yes, Sunday Night football Lions and Vikings for the one seed.

Yeah, that'll be fantastic. That was the start of the lines as we know them now when they took it to the Packers and winning the offseason with a lot of momentum. We not the same setup for this Sunday night, but a lot of not still at stake on Sunday night.

Okay, So I guess I don't know if Patrick would agree that momentum can continue from one week to the next in the playoffs? Does that count or is it just within a game? Who really knows. We'll find out next week. Hit the music, it's time. Who fired up? We only got.

Sixteen games left of the regular season, Shook, No.

Seventeen because we got a Monday Night. It's gotta be beautiful me and Shook. Look when Jaden Daniels is stamping his status as a freaking legend as a rookie, that's what you know. Football is back. We'll see him Monday