Are the LA Dodgers Ruining Baseball?

upon on here. So yeah, I think we might close the loop on that, But who knows who could be next for them because they are on a war path to build an unsoppable team, and we'll talk about if that can even happen. In baseball, Massive football weekend, God, the Kansas City Chiefs take care of their business. They're going to line up with the Buffalo Bills to run that back, which is exciting and I've been stewing on that this morning, along with how about the Washington Commanders

changing a franchise with a quarterback and new ownership. Maybe we should talk about ownership more in sports. Brutal for the Lions, brutal for Matthew Stafford and Trevor Ploof who went out there to watch his friend lose to the Eagles, and they had a chance even though they shouldn't have had a chance. We'll talk about all of that in a little bit, but first let's do some baseball as it is. When I say January twentieth, okay, most teams

are reporting hitchers are getting there a little early. Players are getting there the seventeenth fourteenth, I think for the Cubbies, still the same names out there. Profar Bregman, Santander, Flaherty hasan Kim eating dog, Pistol, Pete, Alonzo and Pivetta. You know, I still think pitchers should do okay, Like whatever Nick Pavetta's looking for, I think a team will come around. Maybe it won't. We're starting to get to that point.

Pete's in the weird spot. I think Santander is gonna get paid, and maybe they're both gonna get paid by the Blue Jays, because that's not where this should start. But it was kind of crazy, kind of tough to see John Hayman being like, right after Sasaki turned down the Blue Jays that they have interest in Pete, they have interested in Santander, which was my original landing spot. So I will be digging up some of the receipts

if that happens. But let's not start with them. Let's start with the Dodgers and I we like to peel back the curtain. I think it's been a successful method for us. The Dodgers are big. It's la It's the Dodgers. It's one of the most recognizable brands in baseball. They have Joey Otani. Otani is one of the athletes that actually moves the needle. If we put Otani in a thumbnail or a title, the clicks and reviews go up.

It's it's like real, Like I think it's it's actually kind of fun that we can talk about that on our end because I feel like ESPN for years and how we're raised, they were like, you know, we we don't do that stuff. And then it they kind of went the other way when they had to like it. You know, when first take and everything would be opening with Lebron or you know, it was like, how how

could they possibly be there? You know, the joke has now become they talk about the Cowboys quarterback in like July, so they have made their move that way, and I guess for us because we are fans, like fan media is one of the terms we throw around, you know, I I know you don't. There's a lot of other sports teams that you don't want to be opening it every time, and we're hunting out that click. Unfortunately, the Dodgers recently have kind of taken things into their own hands.

I'll start with Sasaki because I guess we haven't done in here, and I'm I was laughing in hindsight because when I was doing Sasaki conversations on here, well a the last time we talked, literally as BBD was posting it, he turned down the Yankees, and I gave a nice little speech about like Yankees could make sense, like he could be the star. They haven't had a Japanese player in a while. One chance, they've got good pitching development

that matters to Roki. So yeah, right as posting and I think even a title change came out, he's told the Yankees I'm not interested, which was a crazy Hey, Roki, I'm in no place to give you or your agent advice. Next time, you can just tell the team you're signing with, I'm signing with you. You don't have to tell all the other teams. No, I don't really know what that was. That was. That was okay internet fodder, but that was

just it was interesting. Rokie signs with the Dodgers and when I opened up the whole Waken Jake episode with that, and whenever we talked about it, I would say it starts with saying, if it's not the Dodgers, because it seems like it could just be the Dodgers. And there's some of the obvious reasons why. The the location it is LA. It's one of the best cities in the world. Obviously, they've had a couple insane, crazy, scary weeks there, but

it's it's La. I mean, it's the home of music, movies, sports, good weather, and for Jpanese players, being located on the West Coast is clearly important for them and for I think for Japan to kind of be tuned into them. Uh So you start going into the other layers I mentioned Yankees and the other orgs. If you're looking for good pitching like that used to be kind of the Dodgers thing. We've seen guys go to the Dodgers and kind of rebuild themselves up Andrew heen Dog did a

little bit of who was the Tyler Anderson? Is that the other lefty that did that? Yeah, and never mind just tapping into young players and making them successful pitchers. So even before this version of the Dodgers took off, they were pitching factory and clearly a step ahead of a lot of organizations. The lineup stacked, the team is stacked. He has Japanese teammates on the team. If you're looking to win, which I do think as we get to Tanner Scott in a second, which that that is now

an interesting wrinkle. If you're looking to win, LA would be the number one place to be. They literally just won the World Series. This franchise has been so good and so dominant, whether you want to keep it in the last decade or the last like three decades, what they have done to the NL West and what they've done in the regular seasons and now it's turning into championships that we could be seeing another level for this franchise,

and they are. It's an embarrassment of riches, and I think the Rokie one stung a lot of baseball fans for more. For the different reasons for the Okay, hey, if the Dodgers are going to go out and the Dodgers are going to sign whoever sho Heo Tani seven hundred million, it's one of the weirdest contracts we've ever seen. What's there's unfortunately twenty five or so teams in the league that are like, well, yeah, we can't do that. It's just not happening. We don't have that kind of money.

Shohy doesn't want us. That is what it is. Roki Sasaki coming over being on essentially a minor league international free agent contract. That means every team could do it, and you're still not competing with these guys, which now that starts to get a little daunting for the rest of the league. And I guess it's where I started the clickbait part of this that I don't think today's episode episode should be in, but it's you know, the conversation is, are the Dodgers like unfair? Are the Dodgers

good for baseball? I think currently yes, because there's there's been a lot of conversation over the offseason. I'm interested to see the product on the field. It's going to be very good. It's just what range of it you know that they have this deep pitching staff that they're gonna pitch, they have that lineup they're gonna hit. I'm interested to see are they going to have an effect of like when the Dodgers come to town, are other

teams gonna turn it up? Because that's that's kind of one of the scary parts of the MLB season grind is that if you're the Dodgers and you're grinding through a season and there's injuries and there's slumps, Like it's every baseball team that's ever played has those two things. So if you're dealing with that and you'd have the target around your back everywhere you go, it can make the baseball season tricky. Man If teams get up for you every weekend and you're you're starting to hit that

summer malaise, that can that can be tough. That being said, they can be so dominant, there's gonna be some series and games that other teams almost aren't invited to. You know, I there's a couple times in every season when the year starts sorting out and it's like good team, bad team, And you know when we deep dive into series on talking baseball, Hey, anything can happen in a three game series.

Sometimes that's not true. Sometimes there's a really good team and sometimes there's a really bad team that even if that really bad team gets like that that four to er lead early, it's like, hey, this this isn't gonna hold today. If if the Dodgers want it, they're gonna

get it. And I think the other thing that's interesting to me as I go through these Dodgers teams because in a way, they've always had a lineup like, you know, even going back to MVP Cody Bellinger, you know, the Dodgers they've put together lineups throughout and they've even had the starting pitching, which I think it's funny. Kershaw's still unsigned right now, but it sounds like they're gonna bring him back and he's gonna do a mid season party

up again, which good. Why not the Dodgers bullpen And this brings us over to their most recent Tanner Scott. The Dodgers bullpen was always good, but it always felt like a potential weak spot. The Bruce dargraderol breakout like

that was pretty sick when that was going on. God, speaking of forgotten guys, how about ureus for them and how he would kick to the bullpen for playoff games and he was kind of their secret weapon in the playoffs when they got it done and he was doing multi inning outings, he was doing the final outs in

games that the Dodgers' bullpen. And I had a little chuckle today because Evan Phillips is a very good MLB reliever and there was a couple of years there where he was like the Dodgers closer and it was like, Okay, yeah, Evan Phillips is good. If his name was a little cooler, would we have respected Evan Phillips a little more? I think so, And that's a little messed up by just baseball in general. H Right now, Evan Phillips has slotted

into their arguably their fourth reliever right now. They traded for Michael Kopek, who was electric for them. They just signed Tanner Scott, who as high end lefties go, he was the best free agent and he has he always had the arm talent. It was kind of getting the control down and it looks like that has all come together together in peak form. Blake Trinan, who is there with Phillips, and it was always like, Okay, trying kind of gets the important out. It's like, don't worry about Phillips,

and you know that kind of came to fruition. And hey, I Alex Vesia now their second lefty relievers twenty eight in sixty six point one innings. He had a one to seven to six last year. So the Dodgers bullpen without Tanner Scott was one of the best in baseball. They now add or Scott and it's it's really wild. It's, you know, just run through a quick for everyone. Snell Yamamoto,

Glass now Gonsolin, Roki Sasaki, dust In May. That's six starting pitchers without mentioning sho Hee Otani who is going to pitch for them this year, and again like never mind if they are gonna do something with Kershaw, which again every time they allude to this they do. Bobby Miller's currently in Triple A. Ben Casparius pitch in the World Series Land and knack sixty nine regular season innings to a three, six five. So they're their pitching depth

is there. If they need to tap into trades, they can. I don't know where they will, cause their lineup's pretty damn good too. Show Hey Mookie Freddie Taoskar Max Munsey, Will Smith, canford O, Tommy Evan, High Song Kim Let's see what he's all about that If he's good, that's gonna be a real that's gonna be a little twist. Miggy Row, Chris Taylor, Andy pa has on the bench, James Outman's and triple A. Uh, They've got everything you

could want. It will be interesting to see how the season goes on if if if they really need a corner another outfielder, like you could see someone squeezing in there. They have more than enough trade capital h to get really whoever they want or God, it's gonna be super interesting if if they have a significant injury, I mean, they'll be able to go out and get whatever replacement they need. So it really is you know it it leads into some fun baseball conversations. Is this one of

the best baseball teams we've ever seen? On paper? Like yes, Like that's I can can end that conversation pretty quickly and then all time, I mean, I don't know, it's it's tough to go into the mentality of before a season, what does a team really feel like? Because I I I ever regrets the Atlanta Braves when they won the World Series, the Atlanta Braves were stacked, and for me, part of the formula was, you know, to just repeat is really hard in any sport. Baseball hasn't had a

repeat champ since two thousand, Hello Yankees. And hey, maybe that's the volatility of baseball. Maybe that's the player movement. Maybe that's the fact that whatever team you are, however good you are, it's gonna come down to a five game set that if you play another good team, If the Dodgers play the Phillies and I don't know, a pitcher's tipping his pitches one game and that's one of

the five, your season can end. So that first five game Dodger playoff set, watch out for that one, because that's gonna be their first pressure pack series of the year. I wonder who who they get and what both teams are looking at at the time. But the fact that we can pencil them in the postseason is pretty wild in the sport, and I'm interested to see what's next. I mean, if they build a dynasty here, well there

should be a roadmap out there for other teams. I guess the part that is scary about the roadmap is if you're the landing spot for every Japanese baseball player. Other teams cannot copy that part of the roadmap, so that'll be something to check in as this process goes on. Hey, I know I'm not the most beloved with Dodger fans as they play the Yankees in the World Series, and the Diamondbacks have kind of adopted me. It's kind of cool. It's kind of like the Bo Nicks story with that

wide receiver. Like, I don't know, if you're a Dodgers fan, you should be enjoying it and say it's nobody else's business. One final thing though on Tanner Scott is that he got offered more by the Red Sox and the Cubbies.

right time. This is his moment to get his contract that turning down other money, and again who knows how much Like we're the cubs in the Red Sox each each another fifty K because at that point we're not moving the needle any direction. But supposedly they they offered more money, and Tanner Scott said, I'm going to la

and you get it to a degree. You know, it's it's hard to put our I think it's hard for a lot of us to put ourselves in the shoes of someone who's even made ten million dollars playing baseball. But you know, I could go into the speech about taxes and agents. Okay, so let's cut that in half, and then we're buying nice meals and things like Tanner Scott might only have a million dollars. Either way, that's

some really good Tanner Scott problems. Hey, man, I the more I thought about it, and I was kind of unhappy. Tanner Scott pitched for the bad Orioles teams. Tanner Scott pitched for the bad Marlins teams. Maybe Tanner Scott wants to be on a winning baseball team. No, it's awesome winning, and the Dodgers are set up successfully for that. So

that's where the Japanese thing. I think there's a fair conversation on if it really just becomes a Dodgers pipeline, Like you know, we've in Hey, this this isn't just for Yankees fans. Who you know, who's our guy? Munataki Morikami. I believe he's a free agent next year, power hitting first baseman, third baseman. It's taking a I think some steps back, but is a guy that's supposed to come over and has a chance to be very good, and every player from Japan has a chance to be very good.

They won the WBC. They've clearly caught up to whatever the normal expectation is. Max Munsey is a free agent coming up this season, thick third baseman. That the is that the safe spot for more Kami. I mean it's I don't want this to come off as whining Yankee fan who just lost the World Series because their team couldn't play defense. It's just the Dodgers have become the example. They won the World Series. They're getting players in free agents. You every team wants their team to be doing what

the Dodgers is doing. I guess if you got ownership, which is very important and going out and getting free agents and making trades for guys and paying players and all that. If you have that, there's currently one thing

that's missing from your organization, and it's that ability. So I'm just interested to see the next steps I super teams and repeating it rarely works out that, you know, I there's there may be a day in late to mid October when we're talking about remember all that conversation about super team another, the Dodgers unfair and all that, and sometimes a lot of times baseball rears its ugly head and it's like, here's the Diamondbacks, Let's see what

happens with them. I'm interested to see what goes on with the pipeline from Japan because I don't know, and I'm coming at this from a Yankees perspective, and I'm wondering if there's an element of this being unfair, and that's, you know, as a guy who watched Moneyball over the weekend,

here's your Dodgers, here's the Yankees. Here's a lot of other teams, here's fifty feet a shit, and then there's a couple other teams down there nowadays that if I'm trying to make this a fair playing field for everyone, which it's part of the reason I do enjoy sports. It'll be interesting to track the next steps as of now. Good for the Dodgers. Anyone could have signed Blake Snell that contract was not in another atmosphere. Another team could have traded for Tyler Glass now and paid him. They

did not. The Dodgers had the advantage of depth and being the dog that some of his injury fears they didn't have to worry about. Ta Oscar was a free agent from Seattle a year ago. Like Freddie you know, remember his free agency got a little weird. Like there's a lot of this team that you can't point at and say bad or funny business or whatever. I'm excited to see what Dodgers baseball looks like. I'm interested to see where does the line stop. And it's also the

Tanner Scott example. If they're getting players and I'm not saying for a discount, but other teams putting in slightly better bids on players and they're choosing the Dodgers, well, that's because they're going to win games, and it's because

they're a good organization. It's because Dave Roberts is beloved and it's because their clubhouse is reportedly just an awesome place to be, so for the other team games, yeah, it's a little bit of figure keep up on the other levels, so that if Japan just becomes their best minor league pipeline, then you can complain about that. But as of right now they're doing so much other stuff could but yeah, there's a little bit of jealousy and I'm I'm so interested to see the next steps and

how the rest of this free agency pans out. Uh, And I guess I mentioned Toronto a little bit off the jump. They were the second finalists to Sasaki Padres. I'm not even gonna talk about you because I think it's a very sad conversation and I don't know the next steps. Your ownership is fighting. There's a lot of

money and good players on that books. I hope, Uh, there's a profar and there's a something else and where we get excited for some Padres baseball because this team was up two to one on the Dodgers and they felt like the best team. Think about that, the Padres as of what was that three months ago? For a couple of days, we're like, I think they're the best team in baseball and they're going to win the World Series, and now we're wondering, how are they going to fill

out their team rotation? You know, are they even going to get the money for I don't want to say stopgap type players, but at MLB players to participate in the bottom of their lineup and back into their rotation. That's going to be wild to track. Now the Toronto Blue Jays and hey, are waken Jake Redheaded step Son Foolish Baseball he had it first. Man. I think it

was one of the first times I asked him. I was like, hey, man, if you've got something you want to talk about, like we're we're kind of fueled by passionate topics. And I think it was the end of twenty two or middle end of twenty three, and Foolish was like, this could be the end of the Blue Jays, and I was like, hey, man, like, I hope you understand. I can't really say that I can, but Blue Jay fans they are hostile, and especially to Yankee fans. Toronto

is sitting at a weird spot. And I guess, I, you know, maybe I should acknowledge the Miles Straw trade a little more. George Springer clearly on a second part of his career. He's thirty five. Remember he had that bizarre start last year that he did bounce back, so there's something in there. But he was a one point two war player, a ninety five weighted runs created plus at thirty five. Does he have another season of something

in there? Sure also could not Boba Shet. I think the whole world is expecting him to bounce back in a big way, hopefully just being healthy. Contract year can go and that would be obviously a massive change from a loss last year. Vladdie the break the final breakout hopefully happened. He is in his contract year. It's gonna be one of the stories of the sport this year. Let's see, you know, Flattie, My god, if he does what he did last year again, he'll be twenty six

in free agency. Uh, it's gonna be closer to Sodo than anyone thinks, because if Juan Soto got that money, vlad is in a ballpark offensively with Soto. And this is gonna sound kind of crazy, but Vladdie's position at least is gonna make more sense for a little bit. I don't know, it's it's it's a wiggly conversation.

with Vladdie it seems like it's coming together. It seems like there was a little immaturity on some of those early Blue Jay teams that it seems like that's going away. And you know, the difference between twenty six and twenty two is significant, Like that's you know, I've seen young BBD go through that change in our workplace. You know, now he's got a beard, so that I think for Vladdie it's it's it's repeating last year because he's had

the good season. If he does that again, he's going to have age on his side, and like, you know, you can plug him at first base and he's going to be there for probably the next decade or so.

Where for Sodo, you know, depending how you value outfield defense, that conversation is going to get interesting that between the d H spot or is he willing to move where Vladdie Junior You're almost like, yeah, I mean he's going to be able to play first base at a similar level until he's thirty three, thirty four, where Soto has potential to become a very big negative defensively. I mean, look at Jin Carlos Stan Anyways, Vladdie's going to go chase a big number and who's going to be involved.

Joe's McFly partially thinks that the Mets dream is to go full basically his dream team, it's to sign Vlatty next offseason. So it's Lindor Soto and Vlattie. Maybe they will. Maybe that is the plan. If I'm the Toronto Blue Jays and Vladdie Guerrero Junior will sign anywhere near a dotted line, I think you need to get that done. And I'm not even saying this offseason because he's gonna hit free agency. He's made it this close. He deserves to hit free agency and drive up a bidding war

and get paid. Layers clearly struggle with the Toronto thing. Man George Springer signed there because he got an extra year. Hinjin Reyu signed there because he got an extra year. Barrio, so I think when they traded for him, it was kind of like, hey, if you sign this extension or we can be in the ballpark here, and he was about that. Uh. The only one that makes me laugh

was Chris Bassett. Chris Bassett was kind of a normal free agent, you know, three years a year or whatever, like okay, but signing free agents in Toronto hasn't been as easy. And that's where I liked Anthony Santander from them from the start. And again, this part kind of stinks for Toronto, but it's because Santander has a couple flaws. Defensively, he doesn't stand out. The on base percentage is in

kind of a risky spot. But hit forty four homers and if you're looking to have a shot this year, you know, look at the money that's getting handed out around baseball. If Santander if other teams are scared to give that fourth year or whatever it is. If the Blue Jays are willing and he's willing to sign, you have to do that because that would be the switch hitter you'd have between Bashett and Vladdie, that could give you a top three in a lineup that could move

things offensively. So for the Toronto Blue Jays, it's really interesting. How are they gonna go back to the drawing board if they're really struggling to extend and sign guys. Do they need to invest even more in their minor leagues? Or when guys are coming up on free agency, do they almost need a raise, you know, one to two years out. Do we have to trade guys to cash in on their value now to rebuild it. I don't know.

Something's a little off. There's another part of me that wonders, are they just gonna go ham to finish off this free agency? Are they gonna get Santandre? There's Pete rumors right after their DH spot is currently listed as Will

Wagner again. A little bit of that is Hayman, who's you know, there's some rumors him in him and Boris or in cahoots I'm interested to see if Toronto throws the kitchen sink at it or is this gonna be a weird We're gonna play some defense and we've got some you know, Earn Clement can get you to warn a season and what does that do? I don't know. I think if you're Toronto and you're trying to woove Laddie for the last time, there's a couple moves and

players out there that you can still do. You can have a bad daydream about their rotation and their bullpen. And if you added a couple hitters, other guys become more valuable, Andres Jmenez's defense who they traded for, he becomes more valuable. Alejandro Kirk on both sides of the

ball can be an asset for them. That let's see where Toronto goes the rest of the way, because I for a couple of these free agents that they're starting to get a little anxious with spring training and everything coming up, if they can get the value that they were looking for from the Toronto Blue Jays. You know what, there's taxes up there that are that are real. You're you're not like a citizen, Are you having a kid? Are they now Canadian things I haven't had to think about.

But let's see what goes on. We've got a couple more bodies to go. Will there be a secondary trade market? Remember everyone kind of thought Dylan Cease was gonna go, but we don't. No one knows what's going on with that franchise in San Diego currently. Let's see what happens the rest of the way until then, a little bit of football college National Championship game tonight, just remember that. So that's exciting. Notre Dame Ohio State. I'm going to

start planning my whole day around that. That is huge. Get ready for that. Ohio State's supposed to roll big spread. It'll be interesting to see what Notre Dame has in their back pocket, if anything, or they may not. And we may be talking about a somewhat historic Ohio I mean definitely a historic Ohio State run. As they went from kind of a laughing stock. They never beat Michigan in four years? How could this happen? Ryan Day? What kind of die is he putting in his beard? How

do they seemingly lose every big game they need? Here they are on one of their most dominant runs that We've seen a college football team go on and if they can put it together for sixty more minutes against a team that they can a team that lost to Northern Illinois early on this year, it could be dominant. It is fun, you know the storylines that sports can provide, and that's part of the reason that you know, media and sports almost need to be more hand in hand.

Like Notre Dame has left an offensive tackle who's starting in this game who was out all season, but he was supposed to be a stud. So it's like, Okay, is that guy going to come in and be dominant or is that guy going to come in and get worked? Is that guy going to come in get worked and then limp off three plays in? Like it's it's the crazy part of sports that it could be game changing. Could run it behind them every play and then they're dominant.

I don't know. I I'm rooting for good football if I'm if I'm putting cheese on it, it might be Ohio State as the spread with a little bit of happiness hedge, because Ohio State can get under my skin a little bit, but so can like Notre Dame for everyone, So this is like the most hated championship game. Ever, will Notre Dame be able to pass the ball? Who will make the plays? How will college football rear its ugly head? Never know about that one. Let's watch that together.

Maybe we'll talk a little bit on Wednesday. Let's talk a little NFL football because this is the best week of NFL football of the year. And it started off with the Kansas City Chiefs and we had Penticon last week, and you know, this is this is the Chiefs. People are calling it the you know, the Chief's Invitational Tournament. You know, get get your memes ready with Patrick Mahomes and the referee doing a jersey swap. You know, a couple AI videos that little sultry between Patrick Mahomes and

the referees, at least I think they're AI. And those memes came out after this game because there was a couple penalties that you're just like, come on, fellas. With that being said, Chiefs come out, they win twenty three to fourteen, and it's just a it's a very weird exercise with the Kansas City Chiefs, who are now fifteen and two, or they were fifteen and two in the regular season, fifteen and one in games that the other

teams were that they were competing in. There's just a weird you feel like you have to be perfect against them, even though the numbers and statistics don't lose that. And like the Chiefs offense hasn't been kind of scary all year, but the Texans missed the field goal and that hurt them early on. Chiefs get a block on a late one even though the game seemed to be already decided

at that point. Their defense, Chris Jones is one of the most dominant players in the NFL, and he went from people need to talk about him more to know he's dominant and he kind of gets the respect he deserves. And Mahomes to Kelsey was working seven for one to

seventeen man for a touchdown. So to see them have that the running game not really there for them and this Texans team, you could see their defense coming together at the right part of this season, but it wasn't enough in Arrowhead, which is a, you know, one of

the toughest NFL environments, if not the toughest. I feel like we've got this weird thing with the Chiefs and I was very guilty of it this year that they've been so chiefsy, if you will, that we ignore and we look at the other teams and what else is brewing because we know they're still Mahomes. We know they play good defense. Spagnolo is gonna get shout outs during the games because some of the blitzes he dials up.

It's like, wait, we read all these stats about WHOA this quarterback is so good against the blitz don't blitz them. Spagnolo always blitzes, And it seems like it gets home enough that has there ever been the Chiefs game that it's like, Oh, there goes another guy running free. They blitzed, and like it just doesn't happen. Chiefs and Andy Reid coming off the long layoff too, people were worried about.

That doesn't seem to affect them too much. Although we get basically the same Chiefs game we get all year. Important to some a late safety at the end of this one, and yeah, I'm I want to fast forward and talk out some Bills. Bill's Chiefs a little bit, but I guess I can circle up on that at the end. Hey, for Houston, this is what it is. I don't know. It's almost like you you took your

your sophomore stroud year. That felt just everything felt a little weird, from the coordinators to some of the play, to some real injuries that that changed how this team felt. You bring it to the drawing board. Next year, you get better. You're still feeling bright about that in Houston, speaking of feeling bright. The other game on Saturday, Commanders Lions get ready for the shootout. You know, one of

the higher over unders of the season. Uh, this Lions team who won again a pseudo playoff game against the Vikings, and they look dominant against them. The Commanders, who Hey, I've been driving the Jaden Daniels bus. But I was also very much like you can look at a lot of things on their schedule and be like, well, you know, they escaped with a couple wins against bad teams, and their defense had some times this year that were very lackluster that it was like, hey, maybe you know, they

barely survived the Bucks. If the Bucks don't run a jet sweep and fumble it, the Buccaneers probably win this game, and that's who the Lions would be playing. Unfortunately for the Lions. Jaydeon Daniels is that guy Dan Quinn, is that guy, I mean dan Quinn man, he is a couple horrifying plays away from having a very different NFL resume. The Atlanta Falcon Super Bowl game. That again, go look at the Atlanta Falcons as a franchise, not one of

your more successful franchises. He had them there with Matt Ryan, and I know that was so weird that, you know, dan Quinn was the head coach and Shanahan was the coordinator, and Shanahan got a lot of the credit. But also if they had just run the ball more in the second half, they probably win that Super Bowl. And then we're talking about dan Quinn as a Super Bowl winning or coach for the Atlanta Falcons, which there's not a

lot of people you look at and say that. You know, he had the Cowboys defense playing at an extremely high level, that that went away when dan Quinn left. Dan Quinn originally goes back to those Seahawks defenses, the Legion of Boom and that kind of thing. Like, dan Quinn has an amazing resume as a football coach, and it's all come together with this Commander's team, Cliff Kingsbury calling the plays, who I think he's an amazing offensive coordinator, not a

head coach. We'll talk about that another day. And they get the turnovers, the pick six golf gets rocked a twenty eight point second quarter from the Commanders. That man, I feel bad for Lions fans when you so the Lions have the breakout season and it's you know, they were supposed to be the breakout team and then they were and that was awesome, but still nobody had expectations. Now the expectations happen and they live up to them.

They're fifteen and two. The offense is clicking. The defense seemed like they survived so many injuries and they were getting guys back and healthy that maybe the defense was going to bounce back. They did not. Commanders hang forty five on them. Again, the little things that are having Diami Brown, the wide receiver is breaking out at the right time for Washington. Terry McLaurin. Terry McLaurin with a quarterback.

There's a lot of old tweets out there about that he had the one breakoff run where he could not be caught. Zach Ertz with another playoff touchdown. Jaden fifty one on the ground. Eckler had forty seven runs like they ended up running for one eight two passing for two ninety nine Lions. It's brutal. I don't know what to tell you. It's it's get that defense healthy, add to the defense for the next year, and I don't know.

It's kind of the the beauty of playoff football where we had a lot of the dominant teams win this weekend. This was unfortunately for the Lions. This one was the outlier man. Brutal, brutal feeling for Detroit fans out there and they haven't signed anyone in free agency. Alex Cobb that leads us to Sunday Eagles Rams Rams kind of feeling like the other team rivaling the Commanders, accept different story.

It's the veteran quarterback, it's the whiz kid head coach, and they're going into Philly to face the Eagles in the snow. Does it get any prettier? The Eagles dominated them last time, but everyone kept seeing the stat this week that was running backs that ran for two hundred in the regular season facing a team later that year and they were all held under like sixty yards that I don't know. I think for a lot of us that haven't played football on the NFL level, hell college football,

hell high school football. For myself, it's like, okay, so you know football is obviously played with a mean streak, and if you have the big bodies, is it. Hey, we're not letting this happen and we're coach them up. Hey, big boys up front, we gotta be better. Blah blah blah. Saquon runs for two bills the Eagles, the Eagles, Eagles in this one man, Like, I think that's what i'd say. Jalen hurts twenty attempts or less fifteen for twenty one

hundred and twenty eight yards. Saquon Barkley two to Zho five on the ground, Jalen hurts seventy on the ground, like that is where their bread gets buttered. And it's it's I don't know fully what it was. Was it the NFL went to all these spread offenses and everyone plays nickel defense, and finally the one team adjusted that said we're gonna go big, and we're gonna go massive at every position and we're gonna jam it down your throat. Because that's feels like what happened. It feels like what

we want in sports when things swing too far. One way that we go the other with them that they have the quarterback who squats a billion pounds and they can get a touchdown whenever they want, except they didn't. They had third and goal from the two yard line. The team that can get a free two yards essentially

whenever they want it. Saquan gets stopped right at the goal line, goes to replay review and then they go for the tush push false start by Lane Johnson that they have to kick a field goal that gives the Rams life on this and Stafford deep in his bag Man three twenty four, two touchdown, zero interceptions, Puca was six for ninety seven, cup Higbee DeMarcus Robinson like there was a lot of guys contributing for the Rams. That the Rams have the ball and are driving down the

field with less than two minutes left. What Eagles with their classic just moments of what is you doing? Baby? They get the stop when they meet it, need it a huge, huge Jalen Carter sack after on second and twelve from the Philly twenty three, Stafford gets it to Nikua for ten yards. Stafford gets sacked, They lose nine fourth and eleven, looks for Nikou again, it's out of bounds. Eagles win and yeah, it's the most Eagles thing ever.

I it felt dominant, but they could lose and that's how they actually lost to the Washington Commanders a few weeks ago. A fun run for the Rams obviously that they're not at the point where they want to they want to hear that. And the Eagles, I I think they're still my super Bowl team. I went into the postseason with that and that's it's because it feels like they sometimes make these horrible mistakes and they still find a way to be fine because they can run it

for two hundred on any team in the NFL. And they did that in the playoffs, letting the Rams know it was coming. Jalen Hurts with the big run too early. That set the tone. Eagles move on in the snow, pretty snow, good football snow. That set up the game of the weekend Bills Ravens, I mean, the two MVP quarterbacks.

We ran through the whole thing. I do think something that gets overshadowed throughout all of this was the Ravens were favored, which I again, this is Vegas, but it's money like it's real and for coaches it's motivation that I think they said something because this Bills team has been really good for a long time now. It's like the first time in it's like twenty home games that the Bills haven't been the favorite or something like that.

So they the Ravens who beat the Bills either. Earlier this year, the Bills looked like a motivated bunch, you know, a defensive defensive lead heead coach who I've been tough on in Buffalo, but you saw it in the defense early, like the Ravens were trying to run the ball, and Buffalo was coming out firing that We're not going to let Derrick, Henry and Lamar just run loose on us, Like that's not how this game is going to go. Today.

Ravens come down the opening drive, they get a touchdown and you're like, oh, okay, but hey, maybe a blessing from my Denver Broncos they did the same thing, and the Bills came back and Boat raced them. The Bills came back the rest of that half twenty one to three. The rest of the way, Josh Allen looking incredible. James Cook has been a clear difference maker for them. They're backup running backs Ty Johnson and Ray Davis. You know, I was on some James Cook betting props last night

that Davis and Johnson. I mean, they looked a little better, and I don't know if that was element of surprise or cooks out so they're not going to them, But it kind of goes back to the story. Now for this Buffalo Bills team, Shakir is the go to wide receiver and man, he's got a little a little wiggle to him, as they say in football six for sixty seven. But otherwise we're spreading the ball out Shakir Cook, Mac Collins, Kinkaid, Samuel Ty Johnson, Kean Coleman, Dawson Knox all with receptions.

That being said, it wasn't the prettiest game passing through the air for Buffalo, and it really didn't need to. They were moving the ball enough. That being said, in the second half the Baltimore Ravens, they kind of got the juice. The offense started clicking more. Derek Henry and

Justice Hill started getting some more yards. Lamar was finding guys two fifty four through the air for him to the fact that they needed to drive for a touchdown to tie the game, and they did it with ease, almost too quick if you're one of the football people at home thinking about that. But they needed the two point conversion and absolutely brutal. They draw up the right play. It's kind of that rollout play that I think a

lot of football fans have gone familiar with. And is it the wide receiver, is it the running back who's out there in the flat by the pylon? It's Mark Andrews lamar hits him in the belly. It's a little bit of a weird play because again, your boot body's moving in different directions and you gotta squeeze it and still keep your energy going backwards because he's right by the goal line. It's no excuse for that, though. Mark Andrews drops it. A play that will live in Baltimore

infamy for years. And that was it, and that was all that the Buffalo bill has won twenty seven to twenty five. I think the home field thing got overlooked just a little bit, that Buffalo especially. I mean, my goodness, that that place was going nuts. But couldn't I look back in point at those Detroit Lions and say the same thing And it wasn't the difference there so good

on Buffalo. I did have a moment when when they were announcing it at the end of the game that I think in this era of football, if there's a team that deserves another shot at the Kansas City Chiefs, it's these Bills. They the famous overtime game that you know, just whichever team had the ball was scoring and the Chiefs won the toss. Buffalo deserves their hack at them, and they're gonna get it in Arrowhead, and I I'm

questioning things. I sure am, like I believe in the Chiefs and the that they win games because that's just what they do, because they have a legendary head coach, that have a legendary quarterback, legendary tyan, legendary de coordinator, legendary d lineman. Like they they are the Chiefs for

a reason. But God, it still doesn't feel great. And yet the Bills kind of do like this feels like the best version of the Buffalo Bills that I don't know, I guess I fully don't have my head wrapped around it. This morning, I was thinking of flipping over to Bills from Kansas City because I've thought it's gonna be Kansas

City and the Eagles for a while. The Bills are very much, very much in it and might flip me by the time the game comes around, because it if you didn't know it was the Chiefs, you'd be saying it's the Bills. Problem is it is the Chiefs. And then on the NFC side, Eagles Commanders again, these teams played a few weeks back and it was very Eagles Commanders that the Eagles looked like they were running away

with it and had the game in the bag. Washington scored twenty two in the fourth quarter to win thirty six to three, and Jayden put on a show five touchdown passes. So that's you know, the funny thing with motivation is and this was there was a lot of Kenny Pickett in this game for the Eagles. So is this going to be this is gonna fuel the Eagles to dominate over a lesser, lesser team at home instead of on the road, or is this a thing for the Commanders where it's like, hey, guys, you can do this.

Jaden threw for five touchdowns on them, we can beat this football team and it would be an exciting story of Jaden. I mean, he will become a star of star. If the rookie quarterback can lead a team to the Super Bowl, my goodness. I'm still on the Eagles. They they can hand the ball off every play and win a football game, and that that was thought to be out of this league a long time ago. And yet

I think it's in fat more than ever. As you're seeing running the football at all level of football, it's kind of where it starts, and teams have forgotten that and running the football sexy again. So the other thing I wanted to mention the big loser of the weekend, Sam Donald, keeps it rolling. Sam Donald had a little bit of a loophole that was like, you know what, Hey, maybe Sam Donald, he caught the lines at the wrong time.

They got ANZELONEI back that home Field's disgusting whatever commanders put up forty five on them. So that's tough for Sam Donald. The other team was the Rams. Okay, maybe the Rams are peaking at the right time. They got this young d line that it's all coming together for them. I don't know, they were fine, but it was more so I was looking for a Sam Donald loophole that maybe he just got screwed to in the year. Still not looking good for Uncle Sam. So great football weekend, Natty.

The Natty is get excited for that. And again we still got some baseball moves that's gonna happen. So appreciate uh BBD firing it up on MLK on Monday morning to get this out for the good people and his uncle Dan