What's happening? Welcome back to Voyage, where we've set sales seeking validation, vindication and Vikings victory. Happy New Year to all our listeners out there as we approach 2023, what a 2022 campaign has been, not only for voyage. But the Minnesota Vikings Ditman is, uh, joining us live from the Cayman Islands here today. And Kane is in a Northwoods closet somewhere in, uh, in Illinois. Not really sure we get it done. We get it done. So thanks everybody.
Hope you guys are enjoying your holidays. Thanks everybody for tuning in. Um, I'm Cam Erickson. I'm the host of the program here and. Super excited to, uh, ring in the new year with you guys. Diman has had an absolute adventure, uh, that's been well documented on Twitter. The Ditman family vacation ran into some snags, but now you're enjoying the, uh, the beautiful. Presumably beautiful, uh, weather down there in the island. Sir, how is it? Uh, I mean, it's fantastic. It's outstanding.
It's everything, uh, you could ask for in terms of, uh, tropical Paradise Vacations. Now I want to touch on the Dittman family vacation, and I wanna tell everybody what happened. Cause everybody's like, why didn't you just fly to Chi Drive to Chicago and get a flight? There were no flights to Florida from the Midwest. We had no choice. So what, here's what happens to people that Don. Our flight left at, I think it was 7:00 AM Christmas day, or I think it was six. I think it was six.
Yep. So we got to the airport at three. We're going to check our bags. Now. We have six people in our, we check nine bags. Okay. That's a lot of bags, right? It's a, it's a, yep. It's a, it's a right. It's a trek. We go up there and the lady goes, no, your flight's. Oh, and you had, you had no prior warning from the airline. None. So it's like, what does that mean? Okay. Can we get it on another flight? Like, Nope, canceled. And this chick was, she was stone cold. Nope. Canceled.
Like they put the right gal on the front lines. Nope. Canceled. Nope canceled. So then Chris, the old man is just like, he, he, it wasn't even like, nobody was mad. It was just like, I, I mean, it was, you're like in, in an alternate universe. So then we sat at the airport for a while. He was trying to look at flights and the only thing he could get was, um, for six people was just Miami to through Cayman Airlines, Miami to Grand Cayman. But we were gonna have to drive to Miami.
Okay, so not ideal. And mind you, the day before we all went to the Vikings game, I was extremely hung. Extremely, extremely hungover. Okay? And all of a sudden I'm dealt in this situation where, uh, no, dude, we're actually driving now. So it's like, okay, let's go rent a car. Right? So you did rent a car, you didn't drive your truck. We go, we go, we we go up to rent the car, right? No cars. Nobody has any cars. Oh fuck no cars, right? I knew that was coming.
Yep. No, yeah, nothing good was happening at the, at nothing. We couldn't catch a break, so then we're like, fuck it. Either we just completely torpedo the trip or. and lose out on money for, cuz we can't get the money back for condos. Yeah. You can't do anything with your reservations and all that. Right, right. Like, right. Like the plane tickets was the least of the worries. It was like, right. You know, we already paid for this.
So it was like, fuck it, let's go back home, let's load the cars up. We loaded my dad's car and my mom's car and we just fucking went. And we just went and we made it down. I think I. 20. It was, it took us 26 hours. And they say normally if you look it up on Apple Maps, it's 24 hours, but it's the traffic we got through Atlanta at night, which was super nice. Not a car on the road. Yeah. So we bypassed that.
But dude, the, the second day where we went from south of Atlanta to Miami, it was eight hours of just white knuckle. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Dude, it, it was, and then you don't realize, oh, you, you make it to. you know, long Florida is Miami's massive dude. It's, it was, it was something. It was something. And then we finally got to the airport. It was kind of crazy how it ended up. We got to the airport at the perfect time to get something to eat, settle down.
We had, we had, uh, we had some beers and then we loaded the plane, you know, here we are. It's, uh, you guys stopped at, at Bucky's on the way down too, didn't you? Oh, dude. Buckys, I mean, people talk about it all the time, but let me tell you, this place is the mecca of gas stations. I. One morning, the morning from the drive from Atlanta to Miami, we stopped at Bucky's and I had this brisket br breakfast burrito, smoked brisket. Oh my God. Dude, forget about it. The knew was outstanding.
It was unbelievable. And I had my doubts. You know, I, I, I kept track of it on Twitter. Yeah, because it's overhyped a little bit, but, oh, of course. Of course it wasn't really, it's not, I've never been to one, which is shocking. I, I've been all over the place. I've never been to a Bucky's. So, you know what the craziest part is? It's like a Walmart that's the kinda like, it's like a Walmart and then like a gas station on steroids.
Yeah. But the craziest part about Bucky's is the, the concrete pavement they have with 50 gas pumps. Regular gas pumps. Yeah. 20 diesel. I mean, it's, the place is. It's a site. It's a monstrosity. It's American. A nutshell. You know what I saw? I saw something really concerning. I saw a massive, we're driving in Georgia and first off in Georgia, if you haven't driven through Georgia, a lot of like the signs or the billboards.
It was all like adult porn, like trying to get you to stop at this place to buy like toys and stuff. Oh, so Wisconsin. Oh, twice. Twice, as you know, times 10. Ericsson seriously, times 10. It was insane. And then you see, you know, you see a confederate flag and it's just like, where the fuck am I like, just weird, dude. You see a lot of that in north Florida too, if you, if I recall correctly. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it was strange. Um, yeah.
So where did you stay the night, did you stay the night, like in Atlanta, you drove from, from Minneapolis to Atlanta in one day. That's ballsy brother. It was, well we have, I mean we also have six people. Everybody can drive. So I drove to Chicago, the FIR or Rockford? I, I just called Chicago just cuz Chicago, I mean it's basically whatever. So I drove there. Um, and you know the other thing is you stop and trying to get somebody, it's Christmas day. Yeah. You stopped at a McDonald's.
Yep. I maxed out on McDonald's and started watching football. Fell asleep for a while and then we got to. Just about Nashville and then I drove from Nashville to Georgia and then I drove the next morning from Georgia to Miami. I was the workhorse back, that's for sure. Yeah. You were toting the rock. Yeah, I was. It was a, it was a personal challenge for me. Well, it is, dude. It's, it's no joke.
That's like when, when I flew down, flew down to Tampa area to pick up my Land Cruiser, but yeah, you don't realize how big Florida is because, because even from there, which is kind of fur a lot further north than Miami. Right? Still several hours in Florida. I was on the road made up only from there to Chattanooga in one night and then Chattanooga to to upward canes at Lake Geneva. That's pretty good. Still though. It's, it's, it's a grind. So, uh, credit to you for getting it done.
Well, just credit to the family in general. I mean, it was, it was one of those things where it was just like, what? Like now we don't have a flight. Like we're like, or the only, this is the only option we have unless we can fly out on Thursday. That was the thing. So we would've flown out today and, but missed out. So it was like, okay, so we're either gonna do that or just drive. Or just go. Yeah. The only. As Keith Bateman would say, cool challenge gang.
Cool challenge It was the only thing, the only thing that sucks is that you're, when you get done with your vacation, you've gotta load up and drive again. Well see now I, I am, I'm gonna fly cause I gotta get back to work. So I'm gonna, me, Elizabeth and George are gonna fly straight back and then my mom, dad, and Abby are just gonna, but it's got, it'll be fine because they don't have to, you know, break land speeds or anything. On the way back like we did.
Oh dude, we were going 90 miles Christmas day. Chris is going 90 miles an hour down the freeway. Yeah. The whole way we were going 90. It was insane. I don't see an issue with that at all, personally. No. There were no cops on, I mean, it was just, no, it was something, it's, it's, it sounds like something out of a Clark Griswold movie, A national Lampoon. That's exactly what it was. Yes. So when are you, when are you return? The fifth. All right.
So you're, so you're tuning into the vis from Cayman Islands. Yep. And we have Vikings fans here that another family we're with here and which will go good. So Nice. Yeah, it's exciting. We gotta bury the, we gotta bury the Packers, dude, we could really, I mean, we could put 'em in the coffin and. I would love nothing more than to drive the final nail into the coffin of the Green Bay Packers this year. That would be the Green Bay icing on the cake, brother.
Yep. So, but we have a, we have a, a victory to recap here. The New York Giants came to US Bank Stadium. You were there in attendance as well. Um. I mean the, this team just continues to find ways to win football games. It's absolutely insane. Who would've guessed it? 61 yard game winning field goal on the lakes of Greg Joseph and your Minnesota Vikings are now Wellen three. Um, and yeah, now we're, now we get to go to, to Lambeau on New Year's Day, take on the pack who? Somewhat hot as of now.
They've won three straight, their playoff hopes are trending up. Um, what do you, what do you uh, well let's, let's talk about the Giants. The giants game first, because it was a gritty, it was a gritty ball game. Yeah. We had to make plays went mattered to, to try to find a way to win that football game. Of course it came down to the wire again, cuz why wouldn't it, with this Viking season. Mm. How was the atmosphere at US Bank Stadium for the white out? Uh, the white out was cool.
Um, I had my doubts. Yeah, it was, it looked great on tv. I had my doubts leading into it, but it was cool. I think it's something that, you know, you should maybe do once a year at most. Um, you know, but it's, it's Christmas Eve, it's, it was, it wasn't as, it was the one game this year where I was like, God, people just were a little distracted. It seemed like fans were, um, we sat eight rows up behind the Giants bench, which was really cool.
Um, I actually gained a lot of respect for that though. The Brian Day Ball, I like him, man. He's a football guy. He's a and Daniel Jones too. That guy's good man. In my opinion, that's a good football team. The Giants. Yeah. No, I, I, I give 'em credit too because look at the guys that they have trotting out on defense too. They're kind of Oh, their dbags are terrible. Yeah. But they're no name guys and they, they stepped up and made plays. They made it difficult for us. Um, yep.
So yeah, credit to them. Um, yeah, Kurt Cousins makes plays when it matters. Um, he didn't, he didn't look good for, for most of the game, right? No. And we went through another lull in the third quarter, and yeah, late in the third. We're driving again, you know, um, I can't re recall what the score was, but, but we had that, you know, Kirk Cousin's bad Pass, looked like it was intercepted ball hit the ground. We got can't remember what we out kinda on that. I know.
So, you know, but all these things happen and then things go away and people are still saying, you know, we're fraudulent. You guys got bailed. You, you didn't make enough plays, whatever. Right. But the, the thing that was, um, in incredible to me was just the way that we. Continue to put it together in the fourth quarter When it matters, you hit. You hit Jefferson on the crossing route. He's double teamed. Makes a great move.
Kevin O'Connell said it was the best route he's seen Jefferson run all season. Um, Kirk throws an absolute dime on the hash mark to him. He gets in for six. Of course, we allow the giants to come right back and score to tie it up and get the two point conversion. And then, and then, uh, uh, it looked like time wasn't on our side on that final drive. Yep. Throw a little screen past the Jefferson, he lunges forward for a gain of 15 or something like that, setting up for a 61 yard field goal.
Mm-hmm. I had no confidence that Greg was gonna hit that I was ready for over. Yep. Oh no, a hundred percent. I was like, and then it, it goes in and George just hitting me this with my brother and I'm like, what the fuck? I didn't even believe what I saw. It was crazy. But I think on that drive too, what propelled, what moved us forward too is there was a holding call on Justin Jefferson before the screen pass. Really? Yes. There was a defensive holding call on that drive.
And then we t that you screen. Yeah. And then we threw that screen pass to him. And then we tried out Joseph. Well, cousins got, cousins got sacked too. And it was like, we gotta, right. And the clock was ticking and it was like, oh, you know, it looked, it looked bleak. But yeah, I was ready for overtime. Greg Joseph nails it. I mean, I will say, I will say a lot of credit to that Giants team. Dude, I'm telling you right now, Daniel Jones and Sequan Barkley.
Those, those, I don't know how they're gonna pay them or what that's gonna look like or what it is for their future, but Daniel Jones is good man. Like he's worth their shot to pay him. I mean, I saw a bunch of stuff coming around that they're gonna sign him for another year, maybe two years, get somebody in the draft, coach him up a little bit. And that's his tenure in New York. Yeah. I don't know. Well, we'll see. We'll, we'll see.
I mean, it, it's interesting who, because yeah, the, the talk out of the club is that he's their franchise guy, and I mean, why wouldn't you say that? Right, of course. That's what I'm saying. Yes. But, uh, but I tweeted during the game at, at one point during the game, he didn't, he didn't look great. He kept hitting, uh, Hodgen. Hodgens. Yeah. I don't even know. I don't even know who the dude is. No. But he had a, he had a career day and they just signed him off the street not too long ago.
Um, And Daniel Jones just kept finding him. They kept finding ways to move the football. I, I tweeted out during the game that Daniel Jones was a one read guy. Um, yeah. And then it came back to bite me a little bit cuz he started making plays and, and, uh, moving the football better. But well, he, he does, he does a good job. He's mobile and like I look and he's throwing to carpenters and plumbers. Dude, I mean, these guys stink, I mean, there's, there's secondaries.
I, well, what's crazy is how bad some of their pos, uh, skill positions are, and they still find a way to win games. Like I, that's where I'm saying I don't wanna suck off the giants, but I'm just giving them some respect that they can win games and compete with the top teams, with plumbers and carpenters running routes You. Yeah. And we might see 'em again in the playoffs. We don't know what our playoff seating is gonna be yet.
We need to win this football game against the Packers so that we can solidify our opportunity to have the number two seed. I think there's been a lot of talk about, you know, what, does it matter if you get the two seed versus the three seed? Well, I think it matters because the divisional round, right? We're not talking about the wildcard round. We, I don't care who we play in round one, right?
Um, I think we can beat any of those teams six or seven seed at home, you know, at US Bank Stadium, but going on the road, Uh, to face the 49ers versus having them come to US Bank Stadium is pivotal and I think everybody in the locker room and everybody on the staff knows that. Yeah. And they know that they understand the importance of this football game coming up against the Packers. Um, And we're gonna do everything we can to try to win the football game.
So I don't, I don't understand what the talk is about that. No. Um, your vikings are, are being, uh, are being overlooked yet again by Vegas. Three and a half point underdogs going into this one. Um, I love that. I love that the numbers in the hook over a field goal. Yeah. I'll take that any day of the. I'll take them plus money on the money line. Um, absolutely. Jefferson, Jefferson is inching towards Calvin Johnson's, um, single season receiving yardage record, and he's got an opportunity.
I mean, there is an opportunity to break that on on Sunday and, um, And, and he's approaching 2000 yards as well. So, um, so there's a lot to still play for, and, and not only just for him, but just this, this football team, man. And, um, I'm just, is he, yeah, I don't have the exact numbers in front of me right now, but he's, I believe 200 and 206 yards away from, from Calvin Johnson's. And then it's like 200. 230 or some odd yards away from, from two two K. So I don't know. Right.
It's, uh, they're gonna keep putting him on. I mean, he's gonna, he's gonna put in work. Jair Alexander had a press conference today and he said that J'S performance in game one was a fluke and, uh, I don't even know what to say to that. That, I mean, the dude's gonna, he's gonna have 2000 yards receiving. How can you say it was a fluke buddy? Jarre sucks. I get news for you. Guy stinks. He gets one pick and everybody's like, oh, he gets paid a lot. He get pick, gimme a break.
And I want to jump on something too, cuz I just yelled at my old men at the bar because he was telling me that, are we, he was saying that maybe we should rest players against the packers or are we gonna. You're an idiot. Yeah. I was like, you're stupid, dude. We could lose the two seed, which is one less playoff home game. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that. Yeah, you might want one more home game in the playoffs. Exactly. Yeah, exactly.
That's what I'm referring to too, is I've seen that talk on Twitter and it's like, what are you even, why are, why are we talking about that, what we talk about? Yeah. Football game, we should, we should just continue to try to get the one seed and hope some the ball balances our way. And if it doesn't, fine move forward. But we gotta con, we have to continue to full steam.
Yeah. And um, a couple other things from last week too is that, you know, Alex, the, the staff, Kevin O'Connell and everybody else is gonna, is gonna give guys opportunities. They're gonna rest starters and they're not gonna rest starters by taking him outta the game entirely. But, you know, Davin Cook didn't get as many touches in the last ball game. They're starting to work in Alexander Madison A. Little bit more. I understand u utilizing different.
In different spots there just to give guys a rest. But you're gonna, you're gonna do everything you can to win the football game. Um, Brian os MOA is another guy that I want to touch on because that guy has been spectacular, um, the last two games and he came up again, huge for us against the Giants with the. Punch, he punched it out, or fumble and fumble recovery. Yep. Um, he, the guy just flies around. He, he's looking for the ball. He's looking to make plays. He makes a difference out there.
Um, duke Shelley had another solid game and so it'll be interesting to see what their decision is with him and dancer moving forward. But just credit two to this, uh, this Vikings defense and, um, um, ed Donatello for n Not, you know, being willing to make the changes that we asked him to make. And they've made a, they've made some tweaks to the front and some different looks that they're throwing at, um, at Teams. Daniel Hunter has gone off in the last two games.
He was the highest ranked edge defender in football last week. Um, no. Two sacks, Daniel Hunter's starting to come on. That's massive for us because, yes. because that's gonna mean that teams are not able to, to double teams at Darius as much. Yeah. So everything's kind of just coming together. I like the way our defense is playing right now. Um, obviously our offense is, is stellar. Yep. I think we go into Green Bay and, and get a win here.
The thing about the Packers is too, is that, you know, everyone's high on 'em right now because they've won three straight. Well, who'd they beat? They beat, they beat the bears before a buy. Right, right. Or off the buy. Right. um, can't remember who the second one was. And then they, he did the Dolphins. Yeah. Well, yeah, but that's what I'm saying is the Dolphins game. They, the Dolphins gif wrapped it on that game. What was ua that game? Dude, Tua just, just.
Gave 'em the ball three times in the fourth quarter. It was, it was absolutely in insane. I couldn't believe what I was watching. The, the Dolphins had an opportunity before half to go up, like 27 to 10, and then they had the fumble and the packers were able to capitalize on that before the end of the half. And, and then it was a ball game. And then Tua melted down late and apparently he was concussed. He didn't even know what plays he was calling in the huddle.
So, I don't even know what to say about Tua. He's, he's just a, he's too prone to concussions and it's really affecting his thought process and the way he processes defenses and, you know, he concussion, Tua can't decipher if it's a zone or Mann defense. Regular Tua is fine, but. Concuss is not a good football player and he seems to be concussed a lot. I don't really know what to say about it. All I have to say is that I think this Packers team is so fucking overrated.
And the fact that we're given three and a half points, you should put your mortgage on that and the keys to your whip. Yeah, it's a, it's a gift in my opinion. Um, I weather's not gonna be a factor on Sunday in Green Bay. It's gonna be like 35 and and calm. Okay. Um. I just think, I just think this, this Vikings team knows what's at stake. They know what they're playing for.
They're gonna come in motivated, they're gonna come in with a chip on their shoulder being underdogs again, getting over three and a half points is, or getting over three points is massive. Um, so I, I like the Vikings to, to come out on top in this one. Um, and moving. What are your thoughts? On that line. I mean, it's, it's, it's weird. Yet again, it's, it's, it's another kind of Detroit feel. I mean, the Packers at home. Right.
Not to say that the Vikings can't play outside or anything, but Right. I feel like that's always taken into consideration. I know Detroit wasn't outside, but. depending on the weather, like it's, it's warm here today, all the snow's gone. It could actually be pretty decent conditions this weekend. I, I don't know if it's gonna get back below freezing, but yeah, it might just be a sloppy game.
Same thing, you know, not to look ahead to next week with the Bears, but Soldier Field, it's gonna be shitty conditions. Like, it just kind of depends on that. Well, I think Soldier field is the, the difference there is the wind. Yeah. But I mean, I don't, I don't think that, I don't think, I think that this week. the weather, like Erickson said, it's just, it's, even if it was cold, it's a non-factor. I don't know how that pushes a line. The weather. Well, where would that. Sl of line.
I think that to look at this from Vegas' eyes, I understand, I guess a little bit. I mean, you're basically saying that home field advantage in this matchup is worth three points and then you tack on the extra half and that's, that's basically the handicap, um, is that the packers are kind of a pick 'em, right? But, but again, it's, it's, it's more motivation for this, for this Vikings club and more, more adversity for them to overcome. I, I love it. I love it.
I. I agree a hundred percent and I'm, again, I'm kind of in a fog right now, so I'm just trying to get my, my wits together here. I've been kind of on a circus, but yeah, I guess I don't, I don't understand why the big media continues to, to fuck. I mean, this is what this is. I ideally, what happens is that we beat the Packers 30 10, and then everybody's like, wait a second, then what are they gonna say? Wait, are they?
Are they gonna say that we're good after that I don't, I don't think the media will ever say that. Yeah. I don't think there's anything that we can do to change the mind of big media at this point. You're telling me we can't even, even if we beat the Packers 30 to 10, big media is still gonna be like, nah, they're still frauds. If we beat the Packers 30, win the Super Bowl and the media would be like, uh, it was a mid-year for the nfl. Worst, yeah. Worst Super Bowl winner of all time.
Yeah, I know. It's whatever dude. I'm over it. I'm over it. Yeah, I'm over it too. And, um, this, this Vikings team, like I said, it's just been, it's been, uh, it's been a fun ride in 2022 with this Vikings. Club and, uh, they just continue to find ways to win football games school, baby school 12 and three, looking into advance to, uh, 13 and three on Sunday at New Year's Day at Lambeau Field. Fantastic. Matchup.
I'll be on the, I'll be on the slopes, but, uh, I'll tune into PA for the first part of the game and then I'll, and then I'll tune into the game. So where are you gonna go? Where are you gonna be? Just in southern Colorado. Got it. Durango. Yeah. Nice. I'll, uh, yeah, it's gonna be nice. It's gonna be, they're gonna, they're gonna be getting a ton of snow while I'm there, so, uh, it'll be fun. It'll be good to hit the slopes and, um, and then watch the, uh, the vis steamroll the pack.
So, uh, so I'm excited about that. So let's, uh, let's, let's, we're gonna do an abbreviated episode a bit here. Um, we know everybody's busy and on vacation and these other sorts of things, so, um, quick n f l recap here and Roundup. Uh, don't need to dive into too much there. There's interesting things going on in the N F L right now. Um, guys, teams are resting players. Um, we got a bunch of different quarterbacks starting football games for teams.
Josh Dobbs is starting a night for the Titans. Um, there's some teams out there, there's some interesting matchups like Carolina going to Tampa Bay this week for basically what is going to be the N F C SAL Championship. Um, but. but just a couple of things that I wanna talk about here with you guys and get your reaction on Nathaniel Hackett was finally fired by the, uh, Denver Broncos. We could have saw that one coming from a mile away. Kane's shaking his head. I don't get it.
What was Kane was on Twitter? Yes. Kane was on Twitter fucking vouching for Nathaniel Hackett saying he shouldn't have been fired. And he was a, he was, it's not fault. Ross's fault, dude. Come. That's terrible, dude, that's a terrible pay a quarter of a billion dollars. And he's, it doesn't matter if the head coach were blind deaf, and I don't even know, he's, he's at the Helen Keller School for the, the, the visually and sound impaired.
Russ should be able, if you're paying a guy that much money, he should be able to win you a ballgame. And like I said, on Twitter, he's a first year coach. Sure, there have been some bad mistakes. There have been clock management issues, but a guy like. Like, Russ, you bringing in a guy like Russ to mitigate those issues? Okay. Kane? No, this Kane, I'm not saying you're, I'm not saying you're wrong, cuz you're not wrong on that.
But out of all things that you and I didn't read the Twitter threads, like I said, I was busy traveling across the nation, but Oh yeah. All, all of the, yeah. Yeah. All of the, for you, that's the thing that's gonna trigger you to go off on Twitter. I mean, there's a few things and I, one of our, uh, rivals, p m t, uh, they had Nathaniel Hackathon earlier this year, and I, I liked him. I liked his character, I liked his background. I think he's a good guy.
And, you know, giving a guy 15 games with an elite quarterback in danger, Russ, he's too busy filming subway ads instead of defending his head coach and winning a couple ball games to let a rookie coach get through the. Dude. Nathaniel Hackett had no business being a head coach in this league at this point in his career, he's not built for it. He's not a leader of men. He's a, he's a playbook guy.
He probably came to the, came to his interview for head coach and said, here's my offensive playbook. It's like, yeah, but what about the culture in the locker room? He, the dude lost the locker room, right? Nobody was on board with Hackett. You could tell, you could tell the last few weeks, and especially the atrocity that happened on Christmas day. Mm-hmm. letting, allowing Baker Mayfield led Rams Club to put up 51 points on you. It's disgusting everybody.
Everybody had, uh, had tuned the coach out. And yeah, some players have started to tune Russ out, and I don't think that they're, that he doesn't deserve any of the blame. He certainly does, yes. But, uh, but Nathaniel Hackett had no business being a head coach. He lost the locker room. He, he didn't have a message. He didn't have a message for anybody except for, here's my offensive playbook, and that wasn't even good enough. So, so, so who, who would've been good?
How was, how was Sean McVay qualified a couple years ago, being the youngest head coach and then, you know, all these GMs there in organizations, they're focused towards getting younger talent, trying to count. They hired Nathan Hack O'Connell's. Done? Yeah. They hired Nathaniel Hackey before they hired O'Connell. Okay. Think about that for a second. Yeah, that's fine. O'Connell knows how to build culture. Fine. You just asked me who's, you just asked me who's better. That's one prime example.
Okay. He also has a better team. Uh, that's, that's debatable. D I mean, yes. Is Lata Murray the same? Are Delvin Cook that. The Vikings are definitely a better team, but what I'm saying is Nathaniel Hackett had every opportunity to, to have that team winning football games. He just couldn't do it because nobody was bought into his message. You have to, it starts with culture and, and I, I understand these are buzzwords that come from guys that are.
that, you know, it's like a, it's like a corporate thing. I get it. Cul culture and things like that are sometimes overused, but it's true. Like you, you, you, nothing happens on the football field until you rally the troops off the football field and get everybody to buy into what you're preaching. Are you saying This guy, this guy, never. Well, Matt Eber flu should be canned of the Chicago Bears. No, cuz people are clearly playing for him. They're playing behind him.
They're playing for his message. They're not, they're not good enough this year. The bears are not good enough this year to win football games. The Broncos were good enough at roster construction wise to win football games this year. Yes. They just, that's haven't point, haven't done it. That's your point where he says who, who had the better team? Obviously the Vikings are the better team, but if you look at the roster makeup.
when they made the hire it, the Broncos weren't that much far off of the Vikings. And you said Latavious Murray. Well, they have GTE Williams that got hurt, but that was the guy they had on their team. And I do know what you're saying that Russ deserves a lot of blame cuz he is a leader in that locker room too. So when we talk about culture and stuff, Russ is always gets, he's the leaders, the quarterback. Yes. Yes. Right.
But I don't, I just, again, I'm confused on that is the thing that triggered you to go rant on Twitter? I don't know. It was also a slow day in the office, so Oh, okay. Okay. Try to get some clicks. Got it. All right. Okay. Makes sense. Makes sense. Um, so other than that, other, other than that, we've got, uh, looks like a couple, couple of quarterbacks might be done with their current clubs. That includes Derek Carb and, uh, Zach Wilson. Um, does, does what is Derek Carb played that.
Win. Played horrible wins. Yeah. How many, how many wins does that team have? I, I feel like they're one of the worst offenses in the league. Look again, it's another situation where there's, there's fingers to be pointed in all different directions. You could say that the coaching staff hasn't, hasn't put together a good enough game plan to get things done. But if you look at the Raider's schedule and games that they were in and games that they probably should have won, there's a ton of 'em.
And I'm not saying this, this Raider's team is good. They stink, but they had an opportunity really to, they could be a playoff team right now if they would've just won the football games that they should have. Um, Derek Carr has been atrocious. And it's, it's kind of gone a little bit overlooked. His completion percentage is his worst since his rookie year. Um, he leads the league in interceptions. It's just, he's not been good. He, he has not been accurate with the football.
He's done been making good decisions and he's done. Yeah, he's done. His time in Oakland is over. So where from Oakland, where, okay, let's make a prediction right now. Everybody gets a choice of a team where you think he's gonna go. New York Jets. Ooh, who I just mentioned, are in need of a quarterback as well, because Zach Wilson is done. They're moving on from, uh, from Zach Wilson. He couldn't hang, he couldn't hang. I feel like, uh, Derek Carb is giving me Tampa vibes. Oh, could be.
That's it. Car, no. Derek car's going to, uh, where my b He's going to the Baltimore Col. Hmm. make sense? It doesn't it? Yeah. Matt, Ryan, Phillip Rivers. Yeah. I mean how Derek Car Saturday coaching. Derek Carb. Ryan. Saturday. Saturday's not gonna be there. You think Saturday's getting canned? Saturday's not gonna be there. There he's just an interim guy. Could be true. Or are they gonna give him a cushy front office job director and player personnel or something? Maybe. Maybe they should.
Doesn't matter. They. They're bad. It doesn't, yeah. Right. It doesn't matter. Stink. It doesn't matter. You're a bad club in a bad, in a bad city with bad fans, in a bad culture. Yep. Yep. Exactly. Bad culture. So, uh, um, like I mentioned before, though, there's not too much around the NFL that's super intriguing. It's, it's, it's gonna be tough for our pick league, that's for sure. To, to, to figure out who's gonna.
Cover some of these spreads here and what the motivation is for some teams going into this week. Uh, the only other matchup that I'm tracking is even remotely interesting is the nf, well, there's two, but it's the N F C South matchup between the Panthers. Um, visiting the Tampa Bay Bucks n ffc, south Crown is on the line. The Panthers are depleted on defense. They have nobody in their secondary JC Horn is out their, their other guys out.
Um, they're running out practice squad guys on the edges that that's gonna be a problem for them. But how can you put your faith in this Tampa a team? They look lethargic, they look terrible. How, how do you only beat the, the Cardinals? Um, by three points. I mean, it, it. I don't, I don't understand what's going on in Tampa Bay. I think, I think Tom Brady's checked out. It's apparent he's got, he's got two, three games left in Tampa Bay and then he's done.
Um, if they make the playoffs, he, they're gonna lose in the first round. He's done. Tom Brady's so far removed from what's going on in Tampa Bay. He doesn't like it. And he's, he's already checked out. I've been looking for his face around here in no. Side of his? Haven't yet. No. Not in the Caymans. I don't know. You got any banks? No, I haven't got. What do you mean banks? It's got it in his safety deposit box. Oh yeah. Did you go uh, did you go deep sea fishing today?
No, we're going actually on uh, Saturday. So the idea is that we catch the fish on Saturday, which is New Year's Eve, and then start, go into the new year eating the fish we caught that night. Cuz you can bring those, the fish you caught to a restaurant, they'll cook it for you. Oh, that's sick. It's so, yeah, it's gonna be sick. I'm pretty pump. Actually, keep your eyes peeled while you're out there for Tom Brady's face. Yeah. Yep. Will do, will do. Yeah. I might catch it. You never know.
You might, you might, might need to get your pops micd up on that fishing trip. No, he doesn't go. He is. He gets mosh, he gets sick. So tell him this. Take some, uh, tablets of whatever the hell that is. Uh, what do you take when you're motions sick? Dramamine meth, AAMP. Oh yeah, That would be the worst time to send out there All right, so well, who do you guys like in that one? Do you think Carolina can get it done? No, I think you gotta take Tampa Bay.
I mean, I wouldn't touch that with a 10 foot pole, but I think you gotta go Tampa Bay. I mean, I think Carolina covers though. Three, seven, that's a a seven. Is this three in the Yahoo pic? It's. That's, that's, that's stupid. Stupid. Yeah. Yu's world, I forgot. Yeah, right. Yu's world. Yeah. I probably go to Tampa Bay I guess. I dunno. The other one that's gonna be very nice is the Monday night football matchup, buffalo travel to Cincinnati game. Sick game.
Yeah. So, um, That, that one's super interesting. I, I think I lean Bengals at home. Yes. But, um, but, uh, that's, that's a, that's a real, real test for two AFC clubs that have a legitimate sh shot at winning the thing. So, um, that, that one will be interesting. Other than that, I mean, the, the board is ugly. It's bad, it's gross, it's terrible. There's a lot of football games that are meaningless. Yep. Another interesting thing though is, what are your guys' thoughts on this?
The, the commanders are going away from Taylor Heineke and going back to Carson Wince. That's the dumbest thing, I think. Yeah. That's terrible. Yeah. I mean, are you, are you telling me that if you're the commander's front office, you think Carson's gonna be your guy next year? Is that what they're trying to say? No, no. What they're saying is that we pay him more money in that. I don't think the other guy's that much better.
So we're gonna, we're gonna use what we pay, and I think that's what's going on. Right? I, yeah, I think so. I think they have to, I think they have to give him an opportunity. I mean, if it, but, you know, Hynek, he's been bad. Yeah. Carson wins has been terrible for a long time though, and he's, he's choked in these big situations. They, they're in a must win spot. They, they have to win. They control their own destiny. Yeah. Yeah. So it's, it's tough.
I mean, I, I don't agree with the decision to, to go away from Heineke. I just think Heineke has a better grasp on the locker room and guys are bought into him a little bit more. Yeah. So going back to Carson Winz is super interesting, but, uh, yeah, I don't know. That's wild. I think it's gonna bite him in the ass. I don't think they're making the playoff. No, there's no shop. They do, they're not. They have to be Dallas 18. Yeah, but what's Dallas's motivation gonna be?
They're locked into the fifth seat already. So they could be resting starters next week. True. They're already gonna be resting quite a bit of starters tonight. Probably after probably one half. Well, why did that line move to, I think, uh, I don't think Derrick Henry's playing tonight. No, he is not. Nobody's playing for the Titans cuz this game doesn't matter for the titans. This game doesn't matter for the titans. Their, their fate is determined already.
They're, they're playing next week against the Jacksonville Jaguars for the AFC Sal Championship, so, got it. What, what happens tonight does not matter for them. So even if they win tonight, Nope. Doesn't matter. Damn. Yeah. So, so how do you hang? Nobody's that one. Nobody, nobody's playing for Tennessee. I don't know how you possibly could even begin to handicap this one. 14 is a lot of points. A ton of points, but the titan. The Titans are treating this like a preseason game basically.
Yeah. By running Josh Dobbs out there and saying, Hey, let's see if you give us a better chance to win, cuz we're, we're gonna need you next week against Jacksonville. So. Right. Shit. Yeah. I mean, bears, bears six and a half in Detroit. Bears have been covering. Yeah, it's a lot of points. It's a lot of points. Um, Detroit again is playing for their playoff lives as well too. So, and the lions got gouged last week for 570 yards from the fucking Carolina Panthers. It's just bizarre.
I think the best bet on Sunday, and it's gonna be one of my, if we do the capper of the year bet, is whatever the, uh, Detroit, Chicago over is, if it's 70 take. It's at 52, so Oh, easy. Yeah. That's, that's kind of low. I put my, I put my truck keys on that game. Uh, all right, let's move on. From the N F L, we got, um, a big slate this weekend in general with, excuse me, the college football playoff is, uh, is happening this week. Some other interesting matchups in New Year's Six Bowls.
Um, gonna be a lot of fun. College hoops obviously is going crazy. We're at a great time of the year right now. Conference play has started in college hoops. Um, but let's, let's look at the, uh, I wanna get your guys' picks for the, uh, college football playoff. Okay, let's start with that. I, okay. I'll go first and it's, I think I'm just gonna go chalk, Georgia. Really? You don't think? I think so. Do do you think Ohio State and T C U have a shot?
Yes. Okay. But it's not, I don't think, I think T C U I don't think they, I don't really think TCU U has a shot. I mean, you look at where the lines are at, it's seven and a half, six and a half. They're begging you to tease it.
Yeah, I mean, kinda like, like you said, I think Michigan and unfortunately Georgia, I think Ohio State has more of a chance than T C U does against Michigan, T C U. I mean, I think we talked about this maybe last episode or a couple episodes ago now, but I think, uh, who'd they play? Oklahoma State? No. Kansas State. Kansas State. Kansas State, yeah. Yeah. I think Kansas State would've played Michigan better than tcu. I think they play more physical. They play more physical.
I, I, I actually, I actually disagree here. I think T C U has a chance to win this football game against Michigan. I think, I think TCU U'S defense is, is slept on. They, they actually are physical at the, at the attack. They're gonna, they're gonna beg Michigan to throw the football. They're gonna do everything they can to stop the run.
I don't think Michigan is gonna be able to just run all over this T C U defense, uh, like they were able to, you know, in the past couple of games against Ohio State and against Purdue, I think T C U. Should be able to, to limit their run at least a little bit and give 'em a chance. The, the spread is seven and a half, so I like that it's over the touchdown. Um, Eileen, t c u actually. Interesting, interesting. But I think, I think Ohio State's gonna get Molly warped.
I mean, that's also the biggest crack of shit is that the game's in. Yeah, I mean, it's just, it is what it is. The, the Ohio State chartering jets and, and Georgia's pulling up in a bus. It's, it's games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Georgia is gonna have a home crowd there, essentially. Um, their defense, which is what they pride themselves in, is gonna have to be, have to be solid in this one.
You know, Ohio State can do some things different on offense than maybe what Georgia's seen to this point, but, I just think Georgia is gonna handle them. I, I don't, I don't, I don't believe in Ohio State after what I saw, uh, in that Michigan game. This will be Ryan Day's last game ever coached as the Buckeye's head coach. And I'll tell you here's why. Here's why. they don't have a shot and they should have a shot against Georgia.
Georgia's a really good team, don't get me wrong, but they're not the juggernaut they were last year. The problem and the reason why Ohio State doesn't have a chance is cuz they lack culture. Their culture stinks. Nobody cares. They're all kids from California. They're not from Youngstown, Ohio. The it, the culture's a problem. They're gonna get absolutely destroyed by Georgia. Destroyed. Yeah. And I like where that number's at too. If you're gonna back Georgia, it's at six and a half.
I love that. Absolutely. Um, I love that. So then who do you think, you think Georgia's gonna win it all? Yeah, I think Georgia wins it all. It that, that, um, the other thing that's interesting in that one to me is the, the total, so that's 62 and a half. So Vegas is anticipating a lot of points in that one. They're expecting Ohio State to be able to move the football and score a ton of points. I don't. Mm. I agree. I like, I like the under there a lot. Me too. A lot.
I kinda like the under in both. The other one is at 58 and a half. Yeah. Yeah. Bet. The under Yeah. I sync at college football. So same comment. Same. I think I'll give you, we're all, you all believe Georgia's gonna win it all. Yeah. I, or I think George is the new Bama. Like they're, I don't think anyone's on their pedigree. I think that's fair. All right. You wanna do, uh, you wanna do a quick gambling corner here? Sure. I haven't even done any pics. I've just been No research. Really.
Just, just go, this is gonna be off the cuff, just whatever you feel a hundred percent. But I got a couple picks. I'll, I'll tweet out an update on, uh, Capra of the year from last week, uh, with my new phone. My notes app did not carry over, so I just need to figure out our picks for last week. Actually, I think I found them. but I'll, I'll tally it up. Okay, Kane. All right, so my three picks are gonna be Florida State minus 10 in one minute against Oklahoma. Oklahoma's given up.
Brent Venable stinks. Florida state's, uh, they're peaking. They're a good football team. The cheeses ball take Florida State and my other one is the over, what was it at, uh uh, Detroit, Chicago. 52. 52. Oh fuck. Yep. That's another one of my picks. And then my, this is my, uh, last one, which I love. I love and I love it for no reason. And, and I love that. I love it for no reason. Okay. Two lane plus two against U S C. I love it because it doesn't make sense.
I think this means something to Tulane, usc. They don't give a shit. They might not even play Caleb Williams. I love it. I don't think their, their position players and their roster is that good. Take Tulane plus two and those are my picks. I love it. Um, all right. I'll give three plays here. I like the Minnesota Vikings plus three and a half. Mm-hmm. I like 'em on the money line as well. Locking it in, uh, locking it in as soon as I can.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna play that Vikings plus three and a half at Lambo, and then I'm gonna go with that, that one I just identified right here. Live Ohio State, Georgia, under 62 and a half. That's too many points. Ohio State's not gonna be able to move the ball as much as expected. If they're gonna be able to hang around in this game at all, they're gonna have to create some turnovers and, and slow Georgia's offense down. Um, I, I just think 62 is way too many points.
Uh, I'm going under in that one, and then I'm going to the granddaddy of 'em all for my last one. And I'm taking Utah minus two and a half. They're not gonna lose another Rose Bowl. They're not gonna lose back to back Rose Bowls. The motivation is there for this Utes Club. Penn State. Yeah. It's a little bit scary. They can move the ball offensively. They're, they're, they're a good club. I understand. Um, but under a field goal. I love it.
Utah, give me, gimme that, I'll lay the points with, uh, the Utes. They're gonna, they're gonna win their first rose bowl here in this one. I like it. I like that Utah pick. Um, I'm gonna stick to N F L only cuz that's the only thing I have some competence in, although not much. Um, new England, two and a half at home against Miami. Two is in concussion protocol. He's not playing this week. Um, so I'm saying New England at home, new England's still in the playoff race, correct.
So they're still playing for something? I believe they are. I guess technically maybe, but, uh, there's, there's a glimmer of. and Yeah. So I'm, I like them by two and a half at home. Um, I almost want to take KC 12 and a half at home against Denver. Yeah. You, you've gotten an interim coach in Denver. Mm. KC They aren't good against those big numbers, and we've been saying that all year, but I feel like this is one of those times where, Denver's not gonna be prepared.
They've got an interim coach. Russ might be on the way out. Probably not, but who knows? Um, so I don't know. I'm just not gonna overthink that. I think Casey's gonna win by two touchdowns. Um, I love the Giants at home by five and a half against the Colts. Yeah. Don't know why. Aside from the fact they, you know, they play the Vikings pretty well. I think they're, well, they win. They're in so, Yeah, so that obviously helps 'em. They've got motivation. Indie really doesn't indie stings.
Jonathan Taylor's not doing anything at all this year. So that's what I'm gonna say there. Um, I love Buffalo by that point and a half on the road in Cinci. Um, since he's a tough place to play, uh, I like the fans in ci. I like Cincinnati as a, as a whole, as a town. Buffalo. I just think their defense puts 'em on a different level.
I think, you know, we've, we've still seen the same issues with the Bengals this year, where Josh Allen, or not Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, he is getting good amount of time in the pocket, like it's better than last year. But with how good that Bill's front line is, I think they're just gonna push through. They might have six sacks on Burrow in this game unless he's getting rid of it really quick. Uh, so I mean, point and a half on the road plus Buffalo.
They wanna wrap things up and try and push for some higher seating. Um, and the last one that I like and it's gonna be my spread, my spicy serrano, spread of the week, bears plus six in Detroit. Bears. I actually looked at their record. They're five and 10 against the spread, but I think like probably four or five of those have come the last couple weeks with the, the spreads getting wider and wider. Um, Detroit is actually 10 and five against the spread, but, uh, I don't know.
I mean, the bears are still playing for something, not playoffs, but little. You really, you didn't sell me, you really didn't sell me on that pick I'm just saying the Bears have been. That's all I'm gonna say. And the Bears have been covering, were you, were you expecting them to cover last week? Yes. You were? Yeah, I had 'em. Okay. I had a money line actually. Who did they play again? They played the bills. I didn't remember. Yeah, I had a money line plus three 10 brother.
Oh, they got whacked. And they got whacked. Yeah. Right. Maybe I'm thinking a different one, but who know? Not too much conviction this week, so I apologize for that. It's all right. It's all right. It's all right. Everybody's got other things on their mind. It's New Year's, it's holidays, it's Christmas, it's, you know, uh uh. So all that matters is that the Vikings going to Lambeau and get a win on Sunday. So it's all that matters. You got anything else before we wrap it up? Official VO vo.
Official mug of Voyage. Oh, oh. Um, if you wanna make money and you like money, um, something you should do and you should consider is following our college basketball picks because we fucking win money and we're gonna win money tonight against Butler. With Butler. Yeah. We've got. We're starting to hit our stride in college hoops, guys. So I'm excited about that. Our picks are out there. Our picks are on Twitter. Conference play is here. Big Sky opens up conference play tonight.
I've got a few picks in the big sky. We're making money. We're making money everywhere in college hoops. It's been fantastic. Um, and uh, it's starting to get to that time of the year where it's really fun. To, uh, to handicap this sport. So, right. Excited about that. Continue to tail us there, Butler minus two and a half max play tonight, um, at home against, uh, Providence. I love it. I love it.
So, um, Yeah, well that about does it, I guess we're, we're, like I said, doing a little bit of an abbreviated episode here. Thanks everybody for tuning into Voyage in 2022. Podcast was started in week one of this year, man in, in Yu's basement Um, and if you listen to that one, it probably sounded like we were underground in a subway tunnel or something like that. Uh, but we've come a long way and we're starting to get there.
And, uh, we appreciate everyone's support for this year and, uh, look forward to sharing more with you as we advance into 2023. We're gonna have the website up and running at the beginning of the new year and, um, we've been talking about it for a while, but there's gonna be a good content out there on that website, um, and more ways for you to, uh, to get in touch with us and reach out and be a part of this thing. So, um, Skull vis, man. I'm, I'm, I'm excited.
You know, everybody have a good safe New Year and, uh, you boys as well, have some fun. All right. Not too much fun though. Nobody be idiots. And one last thing to wrap up 2022, I really appreciate the the p t O package that I put together for the organization. you know, we've had, I, I did a podcast on, uh, out on the Cape Cam. You did it from an undisclosed location, and John, you're down on the Caymans, uh, you know, addicted to the. Committed to it. Commitment, brother.
It's all about commitment. Yep. A hundred percent Commitment is all we asked for on voyage and uh, and you guys have all returned the favor, so thank you guys for being a part of this and helping us kick off this journey this year. It's been, it's been a lot of fun and there's only more to come, man. We're just barely scratching the surface. So. Cheers. Uh, hope everybody enjoys the new year. Stay safe out there. Don't drive drunk. Don't be a coward. Don't get into any altercations.
Don't get locked up. Otherwise, I'm gonna have to do this podcast from a, from a jail cell again. So, uh, we don't want any of that. Yeah. Not again. Not again. Yeah. Not. Yeah, we, we, we don't talk about that, but yeah, I did do, I did do spaces Twitter spaces one time from, uh, from cell 22 D All right, well, skull, skull bikes, baby. Let's get this win in Lambo and end the end the year right. Cheers. Talk to you guys later.