The MMQB NFL PodcastConor Orr and Rohan Nadkarni discuss the Chargers firing head coach Brandon Staley after a disappointing tenure with the team, the Eagles handing over defensive play calling to Matt Patricia, the backlash against the chiefs after their recent struggles, the Bills underdog turn to end the season, why teams are not going for it enough while trailing, and the rest of the week fifteen slate
Hello, and welcome to the MMQB NFL Podcast. I'm Connor Orr. We got my man Rohan here because the Dolphins are flying high. It's the it's the episode before Christmas. Good vibes only Rohan, even though I'm coming back from the blue. So this is my this is my Michael Jordan moment right now. And I blame I blame Brandon Staley for this, the Chargers.
This is this.
I was not supposed to work on Thursday, right, Thursday was supposed to be a very chill day. And then I get home, throw on the TV just I'm gonna have Thursday Night football on in the background, you know, relaxing, and then I look up at the score and I'm like, okay, you know, Raiders start hot. And then I turn around, you know, get a couple of things together in the kitchen. Look it's twenty eight nothing. And then I'm like, okay, this is getting borderline out of control, right, and then go wrap a couple of Christmas gifts with the kids, and then you look back forty two to nothing at halftime and then it's like, okay, red alert. You know it's going down. Time to work. So I didn't get my tight six and a half hours in that night, and then I think that just downward spiraled me into a point where my inside's just shut down.
You know. Yeah, I think you, like a lot of people were caught in Brandon Staley's wake, unfortunately, sounds like you're part of a wide swath of collateral damage of the Brandon Staley era in Los Angeles.
I loved that guy. I'm gonna miss him. You were in LA when Brandon was there. I'm and we're the technical start to the show. We're going to talk about the Dolphins. We're gonna talk about the Bills, how scared Rohan is of the Bills coming for the Dolphins to usurp the division take it out from underneath them. But you were in LA when Brandon Staley was there. I mean I loved him. I thought I loved going forward on fourth down and all these wacky different scenarios. I love the the hardness of his pregame workouts, Like do you see how hard that guy goes on the field during pregame workouts? And then I just I'm gonna miss him, I really am. I'm truly gonna miss him.
Yeah, it's interesting, you know, first of all, it's funny that you mentioned being in Los Angeles. The Chargers remained kind of an eighth class citizen in Los Angeles when it comes to sports. The Stanley thing is unfortunate. I mean, I liked him too, and he had like a string of bad luck on some of his fourth down decisions. It felt it felt like the odds were not in his favor, even though most people agree. I wouldn't say most people. A lot of people would agree that he was making the right decision and analytically every time, and he kind of just had a string of bad luck, which happens. It's a high variant sport, you know. And you wrote this, Connor, and it's true. At the end of the day. What's tough is they just weren't able to do anything with Herbert on his rookie contract, right. And I think what's telling is they didn't just fire Brandon Staley. They find their GM two. Tom Tulesco has been there for a really long time, for as long as I can remember. He's been calling the shots in that front office, and they just weren't able to get it done. I mean with the Quentin Johnston, the rookie receiver that's been an issue the defense, and Brandon Staley is supposed to be a defensive guru. They give up sixty three points to AID and O'Connell's it's tough because I yeah, it's a tough one because I do think he was an interesting coach and I want more coaches like him. And when he would break down some of his fourth down decisions, I thought he did it in an intelligent way, but a lot was going wrong there by the end of his tenure. It's like, oh, so, I just want to say, like, Kellen Moore is just sliding through here. It's just he's like the backup quarterback right now. It's like, no one blames Kellen Moore. It's like, oh, it's the have you seen that Gordon Ramsey me on Twitter where it's on one side it's like him hugging a kid and he's like, oh dear, oh gorgeous, It's okay, And on the other side it's him yelling and it's just like expletives. He's like, you bleeping donkey, what's wrong with you? That's that's Kellen morriversus Randon. So because Kellen Morris was to come in and save this offense. Yeah right, they said, they said the offense you know, wasn't good last year. It was too conservative, blah blah blah. Kellen Moore is gonna come in there change the offense. What's happened. The Cowboys offense has taken off, and we'll get to that Cowboys Bills game. Dak might be the MVP without Kellen Moore and now Justin Herbert, it's still not really having a great year, even though I think we all agree he's a very talented quarterback. So I just think it's funny how Kellen Moore's escaped because he was just through the savior of that offense and no one's even talking about.
I know, it is pretty nice. And I do like there's tons of situations in life where the bomb hits and it's partially your fault and you just get to walk away. I do love those, and I am not I am not of a moral fortitude. I don't have that kind of moral fortitude to be like, yeah, you know what, guys is partially on me, Like all coaches say it because you have to say it, but you can tell which guys actually believe that it's their fault or not. You know, it's like, hey, it's on all of us guys, you know, right, you know, and then they're just they got their phone out and they're texting Albert Breer or Adam Scheff from the band. Again, it's actually that guy's fault, you know. But I agree with you. I do think I do think that that whole thing was messed up from the beginning, and it was crazy. Was I wrote this after Brandon Staley got fired, So you Shane Steichen was the offensive coordinator before you got there, so you could have. And then he took a non play calling role in Philly, so he left for a demotion basically right, So stiking out the door after year one when everyone was justin. Herbert threw for five thousand yards with Jo Lombardi that first year, but I think everyone was kind of like, you know, we could do this could be better, you know, it could it could look different. And then Frank Smith left offensive court, offensive line coach at that point to go be Mike McDaniel's offensive coordinator, integral partner of what's going on in Miami. And so you had these two guys and then all along you were you were in the Shanahan McVeigh. Click, you could have had any of those guys, and you stuck with Joe Lombardi and then you switched to Kellen Moore at the last second, you know, like basically to save the whole ship from sinking. And so to me, it was just like a missed opportunity with the OC, Like there's a lot of good play callers that came and left that building and you're just like, yeah, you know, I'm gonna stick with that.
True. Also, like I don't know in retrospect, Anthony Lynn was he that bad? Was he? Well?
Yeah, Like I just think I think that all, like the Chargers are just always going to be like this always. I don't think, like I don't think that they have enough, Like I don't think that there's enough going on there. Maybe like maybe they need to like get a better chef or like you know some like some comfy or airplane seats or something like something. There's something beneath the surface there that causes generations of people to come up just short of a win, right, Like it has to be more than just like oh, this coach didn't work hard enough and slept too much while instead of game plan, it's like no, man, there's something. There's just a little thing in there that you're maybe doing wrong. Like maybe maybe you're serving like the the Tyson nugs and you can go out and get the Applegate Farms nuggets, you know what I mean, Like you can get something a little bit healthier than you do at least. Yeah, get some Purdue with the vet with the two thirds cups of veggies and every serving, and that way you're powering your players forward.
You know. It's interesting. I do think, even as someone who's a to a fan that's like very their agenda is very invested in justin Herbert's downfall, I do think that having him is still it's gonna be very attractive coaching destination. I think they can if they get the right mind in there. I do think that they're capable of taking off. I saw that they have. They're gonna be like thirty million over the cap next year, but if they cut like four players, they'll be twenty million under. But that includes Khalil Mack, that might include Joey Bosa. So it's gonna be interesting to see kind of how they reshuffle the deck. But I think it'll be an attractive coaching job. It is. It's wild though, man, I thought Staley was gonna do a really good job there. The downfall came quickly. But it's just baffling to see that Herbert is like a five hundred quarterback still at this point in his career. He should be The team should be better when you have a talent like him.
At QB, you were the ultimate LA guy, took us on the ultimate LA Taco Crawl. With that experience in mind, is Bill Belichick capable of being an LA guy? Do you think that Bill Belichick would be How do you think Bill Belichick would do in LA? Do you think you do all?
Right? I could? He could. I think he'd do great retiring in LA. You know. I think he'd just get a house on the beach somewhere and just kick it. You know. Coaching wise would be interesting because I think he would enjoy how little attention is paid to the Chargers. It's not a it's not like a cutthroat beat that I think maybe the Boston one can be in a good way. It's competitive, it's for sure, and so I think he'd enjoy that aspect of it. As you know, I'm on the record, Belichick's a bomb, He's a brady merchant. Andy Reid is better. Don't even put Bill Belichick's name in the same sentence as Gon Shula, the actual greatest NFL coach of all time. And I hope he goes there. In an ideal world, Belichick goes there and it's like this, he starts oh to eight and resigns, and it's like, oh, yeah, he lost it. And I'm not putting it out of the question, if only because you know what, look at the Belichick coaching tree. When has it worked outside of New England. It hasn't really, And I'm banking on that being the case because he's kind of had carte blanche to do whatever he wants in New England? Are the charges? The thing is, are the Chargers going to pay him twenty million dollars a year? Like maybe if he's gonna cost a lot of money for wherever he goes next.
Maybe if Robert Kraft fires him, then he gets twenty five million coming from Robert Craft and then the Chargers can pay him whatever they want.
Do you want to know the funniest thing that I to me, the funniest statistic from this NFL season, It's that the Patriots are paying Bill Belichick more this year than they ever paid Tom Brady in a single season, and they are trash. It's just this guy's a joke, dude. It's real easy to mean mug and you know, tell everyone to do their job. When they got the you know, the greatest quarterback of all time, circumventing the salary cap. We're definitely against some kind of NFL loss. But you know, his trainer makes like thirty eight million dollars a year, but Tom it's fifteen. That makes sense.
So, uh, we're exactly we're all just lying now, you know.
Do you think O's lying? Do you think Otani's lying? Do you think there's something shady going on there?
If someone were to offer you, if they're like Rohan, here's seven hundred million dollars, but you have to wait ten years before you start getting most of it, do you trust that? Like I don't know. Like I'm it's like whenever we play the lottery and it gets really high, and I.
Think you say this, we're all playing it all the time.
Do you play How often do you play the lottery?
Literally never?
Once in my life, you've never played the like power ball, I have not no, what I didn't.
Sorry, I'm not from this country, and maybe it's just something that I don't know.
So when the power ball gets really high, everyone in our entire neighborhood buys in, and then there's a collective. Some guy buys all the tickets, and then he says, okay.
You trust one guy to buy all the tickets.
One guy buys all the tickets. Fascinating, and then he sends us a print out, he scans them all at work, sends us all the sheets, and then if we win the the he takes off the top enough money to build like a new playground in our neighborhood for the kids, and then we all then you just divide it by twenty five you know, I think it's like I think it's usually four hundred families. You know, then you just hard divide by.
Four four hundred families.
Oh it's nuts. Yeah, he buys me.
Like four hundred you mean like four hundred million.
Like four hundred families in our community that.
Are four hundred people. What is going on here? What do you mean? What neighborhood do you live in that contains four are you? Are you staying on a cult somewhere like.
What well, it's like, you know, it's sort of like do you know all these people? We don't like the word cult, you know.
It's sort of like commune.
So you're like a gated friend's kid. No.
No, do you know all the other three hundred and ninety nine families.
No, No, for so we're.
Even taken home at that point, like a couple of mil.
Probably, like probably, I think we did the math. It was like four mil if we won the power ball at its height, but we have strength.
Honestly, that's not even worth it. That's not even worth it.
It's chump changed to you.
Yeah, I mean, just play by yourself. But you're not increasing your odds enough. Like some math persons figure this out, but by playing with four hundred families, you're not increasing your odds enough. Then it makes more sense for you to do that than go for the big money yourself. Some math person will will confirm this, but I'm pretty confident.
We have a great math list her base. There was one time where Gary and I were getting deep into my take that in family feud you should always pass, shouldn't play, especially if there's a certain number of clues on the board. Are you do you watch Family Feud?
Yeah?
Yeah, all right, you don't know the lot always.
I know, I'm aware of the power Ball. How much money have you spent on the power Ball.
In my life?
Yeah?
Probably like a hundred.
Bucks, that's it. I'm so to believe it's only one hundred.
Two hundred. Anyway, the take was that you always pass because no no team ever sweeps the board unless it's a very easy four category, like you know what, wives hate it when their husbands do this, you know, and this is easy for like don't put the the seat down, you know, bam bah bah blah blah whatever. But if there's more than four categories and it's somewhat complex, that other team is not going to sweep the category, and then you're going to have like fifteen minutes to sit there and to come up with one answer, and then you steal the whole the whole thing. And so some one of our listeners actually did the math on it, and I was right, you pass, you don't play. When Steve Harvey asked what you want to do, you said, we're going to pass.
Steve, that's right, Yeah, I mean, I guess if you're a coward, that seems like a fun way to play family feud. I you know, I'm there for the feud. Brother, I'm not. I'm not there to pass there taking a back seat to anybody, exactly. I want the ball in my hands with the cooked with two minutes to go, you know.
But anyway, my wife and I, whenever the power ball gets big, we have a discussion and we're like, listen, this money could change our lives. We need to talk about what we're going to do if this somehow hits. And we always say we're gonna take the money up front, the lump sum, so you get about half with the taxes, instead of taking the annuities where you get more throughout the rest of your life, because I don't know how long this is gonna last, you know, well to tell you, like.
The real reason to take the sum is if you take the I believe the true reason to take the lump sum up front is because then you invest it right away and that's how you kind of beat inflation. So if you invested that two million in like an ETF, immediately, you're in a good shape. I don't know how we're talking about this.
I need to know what an etf is too, but we have to get back on track. Yeah, but uh.
Uh oh Tani, it's weird, but like doesn't he now like sorry, this is a complete sidetrack and we'll move on. I just want to say that I saw someone tweet something very interesting that like he kind of like technically owns a percentage of the Dodgers, like if they don't pay him the money, like you know what I mean, Like they're in debt to him. So like there's something weird going on there. But I have to believe he's gonna get his money.
That would be sick if you just started walking in and firing people.
You're right, exactly, Yeah.
Showing up a board meetings. But anyway, so this is a.
Long way, uh the long way possible of saying.
That Bill Belichick won't fit in LA. Let's get to let's get to the top of the show, which is the Bills just destroying the Cowboys and striking fear into the heart of our Dolphins. Super fan Rohan, So, I've been workshopping this take, and I'm curious what your thoughts are. The Bills are dangerous because they are no longer America's sweethearts. The Bills.
Were they America's sweethearts?
You don't think the Bills were ever America's sweethearts?
Oh I guess they? Okay, Sorry, I'm forgetting something kind of important that happened last year.
Right well, I think even pre even pre that moment, like the Bills were, you know, like right when that team started to get good with Josh Allen.
I've always blindly hated them so much that if you're telling me they were sweethearts at some point, I'll just have to believe you, because that's will have never been the case.
You have no room in your heart for any love for this.
I have a close friend whose husband works for the team, and he sits next to the offensive coordinator, so every now and then he's shown on TV. And even though it would be like hugely financially beneficial for them for the Bills to because Super Bowl Ron, even though you know, I don't want their coaching staff to get replaced in any way, I'm still kind of actively rooting for their downfall.
Wow.
Yeah, Okay, but I Thomas is a Dolphins legend basically.
So my take was that even before Josh Allen, like like right when Josh Allen started to get good. You notice the pr turn where the Bills went from like they were like the I mean you were a dead spin guy. The Bills were the team of dead Spin, like chronicling all the stuff going on in the parking lot, smashing each other through tables, covering each other in condiments. There was like cocaine in the stands, like that was fun.
While in the dildo's on the field.
Dildo's on the field. And then all of a sudden, Josh Allen got good. And then what happened. They became a LLC for Goodwill. Bill's Mafia's donating money to everybody, every player who Andy Dalton gets money for doing something to help them back into the playoff, Like everybody gets Tredavious White gets hurt, and so they give them one hundred thousand dollars like everybody. It's just force of goodwill after force of goodwill after force of goodwill. They're upending the Patriots, they're reshaping the division. The de mor Hamlin thing happens, obviously, and the fact that you know, you were able to come through that, I think that we were all collectively sympathetic for that. But I do think it's cast them a little bit as like, you know, they're a little bit of like a little bit now I think, like, I don't know.
We talked about this last time we did the show. Is backlash comes for everyone, Like I think we're starting to see it with the Chiefs. The Chiefs are like the most likable dominant team ever. You think about the quote unquote Dynasties, It's like the Warriors have a ton of haters in basketball. They okay, yeah, yeah, No one liked the Big Three heat all of America wanted that team to fail on the Patriots obviously widely reviled and hated by most of the country. The Chiefs, I think people love Andy Reid, they love Patrick Mahomes, they love Travis Kelce. They were you know, even as they were winning so much and basically beating everyone's favorite team, they were so likable. Mahomes was so fun to watch that I think it's one of the few times that the team could win that much and still be beloved by by most casual fans or fans of other teams. We're starting to see it a little bit with them, right. I wouldn't say they're a villain, but like the Homes, the thing with the officials ye two games ago. I think that really turned people off, you know, don't. We don't have time to unpack all the reasons, some of them like really terrible and unfair that the Kelsey Swift thing gets, you know, people riled up or people upset. But I think that's made some people just kind of like the combination of the overexposure. I mean, our old colleague Maggie Gray was talking about this. I wouldn't say the Chiefs are dislike. I still love Mahomes and like the idea of him as like an underdog is actually kind of fun. But I think it's more of just like the cycle, right, the backlash comes for everyone. The Bills were so good, they had that crazy game, but now the cycle comes back to, well, how come you haven't won anything yet? You know? So I think it's less like villain and more scrutiny, like, hey, we annointed you, guys, and now you haven't lived up to what we said you were going to be. What's wrong with yes?
And your coach is kind of weird.
And your coach coach dropped one of the mildest nine to eleven analogies of like guys, are cover three defense is not good enough, you know, like if you if you need help getting out to the flat, let me.
Boy do I have no?
Yeah? Yeah?
So where does it? How do you feel about this now? Because the Dolphins obviously demolished the Jets, will bundle these two games together and the Bills demolished the Cowboys. One win slightly more quality than the other. But I would argue that the Dolphins win is important because we had to a struggle a little bit when Tyreek Hill got hurt against the Titans. But you know, and I wrote at the time, I want that I wanted them to sit Tyreek Hill. Me toause me too, because after after like a couple of drives, Tua started to play really well without Tyreek Hill against the Titans. Not really well, but good. He played fine. And but then Tyreek kle comes back into the game and you see more clearly how much easier he makes life for his quarterback. Like every time he runs somewhere, he clears out a massive swath of space for you know, whether it's the tight end, whether it's wattle, whether it's somebody else underneath. Like he clear like he is as much a decoy as valuable a decoy as he is a receiver, but when he didn't have him, I did think like by the third drive, two has started to get into rhythm, started to play okay, started to move the ball, And so it's like, why wouldn't you want him to have to do this, Like you don't need that Jets game. You're up, like you're up two games on the Bills, you don't need to win that game. Why wouldn't you force him to try to work out the kinks against a good defense? And I think he did that, and I do like that, he said. I think it was after the set the big touchdown to Wattle. He pointed to the camera and he said too, like he had two touchdowns, but also like I threw two touchdowns without Tyreek Hill. Like that to me was like his body language was like people are saying, I can't do this and check this out, you know.
Well, so yeah, there's some kind of inside joke that he said that celebration refers to with the team. This is what I think is so fascinating about football and the way it's discussed, because there's this whole thing this year, right, like there's two of the MVP is Tyreek the MVP. I listen. I'm a huge to a fan. I'm a huge Dolphins fan. It's not controversial to say in this in the grand scheme of football, Tyreek Hill is a better player than to a tongue of ila, I think that he is. You know, there's no question the quarterback position is obviously way more important. But the one guy you haven't mentioned, and I see a lot of people talk about after the Titans game who returned Sunday was Tron Armstead? True who I think is you could argue equally as important. It's Tyreek in Tua to the success of the Dolphins offense. And one thing that got lost in that Titans game. Armstead didn't play. Robert Hunt, didn't play. Connor Williams tears his ACL in the middle of the game. You're down to four backup offensive lineman. Tua took a bunch of sacks in the Titans game. I think it was five total. That to me was a bigger issue than Tyreek being out was they couldn't protect him. He saw that on the last drive. He got sacked on the last play of the game. They have an offense that, you know, for better or worse. It needs certain things, Like I mean, obviously every quarterback needs good protection, but some are better working without it than others. I'd argue that's a bigger issue for Tua than the armstrend or anything else. It's the offensive line. And Armstead comes back on Sunday against the Jets. They have a whole week to game plan, and you could see they were like short passes. Tua had the fastest time to throw of the season on Sunday, under two point ten seconds, which is crazy. Clearly they made an effort. We're not even gonna get the offensive line involved in this game. It's gonna be quick passes. They took the one deep shot to Waddle and they connected. They set it up. But you know, I think the offensive line no one wants to hear. It's just as important to the Dolphins offense as Tyreek. Tyreek takes them to another level. He makes them elite, elite, elite when he's on the field. But they can score and they can play well without Tyreek if the protection is good. And Lee Eikenberg is like someone who no one really outside of Miami knows. He has kind of been the whipping boy on the offensive line. He's been a backup.
He's been playing like out of position, though he's been in exactly.
He played center on Sunday because the only other options at center were two guys they signed during the week who had practice with the team. So it just goes to show how many moving parts are. We should talk about the Bills really, because that game against the Cowboys was crazy and what Allen only accepted fifteen passes. I don't think anyone thought, I mean, what's the strength of the Cowboys. It's been their defense, their D line especially, but I mean the Bills just ran it down their throats, So you're right. I mean, statistically, whether it's EPA, per play, whatever you want to look at, if the Bills have been as good as any team in the AFC. I think they still have a top five point differential. It's gonna be fascinating watching the jockeying down the stretch here, Connor, because none of the Chiefs, Ravens or Dolphins are gonna want to play the Bills and that could be their their first playoff matchup.
Do you like, if you're as a Dolphins fan, do you want to avoid the Bills.
It's funny my brother and I were having this conversation yesterday and I was like, dude, we should They should want no part of them. I'm rooting for the Colts every week, the Bengals every week, the Steelers, all these AFC teams that are kind of jumbling up that in the Hunt graphic. The problem is, you know, unless the Dolphins win these next two games, that season finale is going to be for the AFCAST. That's what it's gonna come down to, which is crazy to think about after all this. I mean, unless the Bills somehow lose to the Chargers of the Patriots, I'd be shocked, But I think the season finale is gonna come down for AFCAST.
God that would be wild. But you're right, I think as much of an advance. As scared as I would be to play Buffalo in well, you wouldn't play them in Buffalo. You'd have to you'd have to take them on the road. I wouldn't want to play Buffalo in Buffalo right now at this point. But I also wouldn't want to play Miami in Miami when you know you're a team from the Northeast and then you come down to Florida and it's ball me, Like, it's not you know, the weather. You know, you're dealing with humidity again, and then you're dealing with a team that basically runs like a track meet, you know what I mean. Like, I do think that there's something intimidating about that when you flip it the other way, like you talk about physicality or the lack thereof whatever it is. I do think that there's sort of that the two sides to that coin. But I I it's crazy to me that Miami has done pretty much all it can do. Like, I do think that, like you know, they showed the graphic yesterday that oh, like they are whatever, zero and three against teams with uh, I think they've just lost to the the only teams they've lost their teams of the winning record, is that except the Titans?
But yes, yes, so the Chiefs, Egos and Bills all not in Miami.
Yeah, So it's it's two sided. But I do think Miami has won all Like, as a coach, you're gonna you're not gonna go undefeated, and they've won all the games that they were supposed to win to this point, and you've gotten yourself in a position where you can win the division, But I still would be like, if the Bills can get their momentum going in the right direction. They've got a different offensive coordinator. Now it seems like they're figuring things out in the running game, Like if James Cook obviously he's not gonna run for you know, he's not gonna log one hundred and seventy two all purpose yards in every game. But you know, at this point, I wonder if that is a team where you're like, oh, like, wouldn't it be weird if as the villains, now, this is how they make the run. This is when they say or is.
Kind of like, now that the expectations have tanked, is really what it is now that now that people aren't put in them up there with the Chiefs. But it's funny that we're having that conversation about the Bills, because like, are you surprised the Ravens aren't being talked about? I mean they have It's gonna be a great game Ravens Niners, Because couldn't I make the argument to you that the Ravens are the forty nine ers of the AFC. I mean, they have a lot of impressive wins. They're high up there in point differential. I mean, I thought Jacksonville, I mean Jacksonville as a Dolphins fan who's rooting for the Ravens to lose. Last night infuriating watching Jacksonville trip over itself over and over and over again in they came. But that was an impressive win by the Raiders. I'd buy into the Lamar MVP conversation. I thought Collins where it said something on the broadcast that's so true, which is, like, how do you quantify the fact that it's impossible to sack Lamar Jackson right, and like that won't show up in a box score, it won't even necessarily show up analytically, but he just makes backbreaking play after backbreaking play. But yeah, I mean, I feel like the Ravens, the forty nine ers seem like a cut above everyone else. I don't know that I even put the Ravens in the category, and I guess we'll find out. But how can we talk about the AFC and not talk about them as kind of the pretty solid favorite right now?
That is, I mean, that's the super Bowl I want at this point. I know you want a Dolphins forty nine Ers super Bowl, which'd be kind of cool, be like red.
I don't. I don't want to see the Niners. I want like I need some Cinderella NFC. I want Dolphins, Buccaneers.
Yeah, you need Bake Dolph Field Dolphins commanders somehow.
Yeah, I need Baker to keep it rolling.
Yeah, so let's get to the Ravens. Uh, we'll put a bow in this Bill's Dolphins conversation by just you know, you're admitting that you're scared.
Terrifying, don't want to see them. And beyond that, it's like, I can't even participate in the Josh Allen through another stupid interception discourse because he owns the Dolphins. Okay, he owns the Dolph. I'm comfortable saying that. You know that's the truth. Those are the facts. So want no part of the Bills.
Ravens twenty three Jaguar seven. I mean, Lamar was just like it's so weird because if you were to teach an alien about football, and you would say that, okay, good quarterbacks, like he an alien's able to download all this data and be like, okay, good quarterbacks throw for like three hundred yards and three touchdowns and that's a good game. Like Lamar fourteen of twenty four one hundred and seventy one yards, a touchdown, a pick, ninety seven rushing yards. But it's the way in which all of this happens, like you mentioned before, and it's you know, I've said this a million times on the podcast, but he looks like a different quarterback. He looks so much more comfortable. He's throwing everything on schedule, on time. Like his release looks better, all of that looks better, but all and and it's leading him to be just such a more maddening player on third and eight. If you do well enough to get the Ravens into third and eight, that's like a third and four for every other team. Like he negates half of the distance. And it's crazy to me that, you know, he's just getting We all kind of projected Lamar as sort of like a you know, sort of star that's gonna burn out, kind of hot and bright and quick. But he's getting better and he's just like I think he's going to age really beautifully, you know, and it's it's awesome. It's why the Ravens cave during contract negotiations and handed him the bag, you know.
Yeah, and I'm happy, you know, he is from Florida. I wanted him to go to UM he did it, and I'm thrilled for his success.
Did you know about him in high school?
I just like recruiting, and I'm not someone who follows recruiting. But he was a big deal because you have missed out on him to go to Louisville.
Were you like dming his instagram when he was in high school and being like, no, you better go to Miami, dude.
I only learn about it when they like lose a recruit, and then I get upset for like twenty minutes and then forget about it. I'm proudly proud to admit I've never been on a recruiting message board and I never will in my entire life. And what's really funny to me about the Lamar successes here is, are you telling me no one went after this guy? You'll never convince me that the owners did not collude in the summer when it came to Lamar Jackson. You look at the Atlanta Falcons, who would be what running away with the NFC South if they had Lamar, But instead they made it a point to say we're not going to go after him.
That was the funniest part. Yes, like every team in succession like so quickly was like, yeah, I'm not going after Lamar. We don't want Lamar. It was it was the Falcons, it was the Commanders.
It was a joke. It was a joke.
You guys good with Desmond Ritter and Sam Howell.
It's also listen, it's not like Lamar doesn't have any advantages. I think he has one of the best head coaches in football. I think Mark Andrews is fantastic. Obviously he's hurt right now, but Isaiah likely stepped up and been great. But it's also we talk. There's been so much said about Mahomes and what the Chiefs have done to him this year, and you know, are they serious with Kadarius Tony That's been Jackson's entire career. Yeah, that's you know, it was a big deal that they signed Odell Beckham coming off his second acl tair and he had he didn't play all last year, Like that was their big free agent signing. And he's been good. But Lamar's asked to do so much with so little. And that's because and that's what's like part of the frustrating thing about the Lamar conversation is that people are like, well, we want them to be a passer, and it's like, well, then get them a proper.
Receiving get REI yeah.
So, you know, and Flowers has been good. Again. I'm not trying to insult the guys that they have, but he's asked to do so much with so little, and the way people whether it's Herbert or Mahomes are kind of like the receivers are letting them down. Lamar's asked to do so much for that team, and I think he delivers. So they're formidable. Man. We haven't even talked about their defense, which has been up historic numbers, you know, getting compared to the two thousand Ravens. In some ways, they've been really, really impressive.
I'm waiting for Mike McDonald, their defensive coordinator, to get hired so that every bad talk radio caller will call into his new city and call him Mike McDaniel and yeah, like this, Mike McDaniel, guy's gotta go. And it's like, no, Mike McDaniel, coach is a Dolphins, you know. But I was disappointed last night only because if you're the Jaguars, this is the game that you have at home Sunday night football, which I don't really make that much of the stage, but you have arguably the second or third best team in the league in your house, and you know, Trevor Lawrence, you have that, so you have right before the half, they did my least favorite NFL thing, which is you have no timeouts left, you complete a pass and okay, so let me set this up.
There is.
I sound like old while you set this up.
I just want to say how disgusted I was in the Jaguars performance last night as someone who needed them to win, just so infuriating to watch, and also Trevor Lawrence. I I was texting some friends. I was like, why is he bouncing every throw on this last drive? Like, I mean, he threw one pass over the middle of the field that was nowhere close was in tended target. And of course they announced after the game he's in concussion protocol. And I just want to say real quick, like the same thing happened to Zach Willson yesterday where they were like, he's dehydrated, he has a head injury. No he doesn't, Psyche has a concussion. What happened to like the all the rule changes they made after what happened to last year. Like I remember Teddy Bridgewater taking like a hit on the first play of the game in New York and they were like, oh, you're done. The spoder said, you stumbled a little.
Bit, yeah the sky.
That hasn't happened since. And uh, I'm not saying this is like they're out to get the Dolphins. I just I genuinely thought these rules had changed. And it's kind of scary that two qbs yesterday seemingly continue to play with a concussion.
You're right, and it's one of those things where you know, you fix it in the moment because everyone's like, ah, they got to stop this. In the NFL is like yeah, we're stopping it, and then like and then they're like, okay, all right, we're fine. Now we're good.
You know, but anyway you wanted to you wanted to set up a Jaguars.
So yeah, about thirty seconds left, they complete the ass that gets them into first and goal, and Trevor Lawrence is doing the thing where he slaps on the helmet and at that moment, I'm sitting there on my couch and I'm thinking, oh my god, he's not gonna spike it, right, you.
Can't believe they didn't swa it. I got up and walked away for a second or so, they're gonna spike it. Let me grab a drink real quick, like like the half.
So for the universal sign for spiking, it is always just like you're pantomiming throwing something at the ground and I'm like, okay, And then but he's bat he's patting himself in the helmet. I was like, oh my god, he's not gonna spike it. He's really not gonna spike it. And you know, I applaud them the fortitude.
But if you're gonna do that, the pass has to be into the end zone and it has to be either incomplete or caught in the end zone.
Yes, and instead I mean just a quick and it was funny, like like a quick out in bounds and like the Ravens. I couldn't believe it. They were just like they were just standing there like, oh my god, like this is the play and you know, like everyone was covered, you know, and it's not like you had necessary and don't get Doug Peterson.
I thought, you know, our our good friend Mitch Golditch aka Philadelphia Man, Mitch, you know, spent years telling me Doug Peterson big balls, Doug blah blah blah. Look at what Doug ep is gonna do. Fake a quarterback past the quarterback in the end zone. Philly Special down two scores in the fourth quarter, and he punted. What are we doing? What are we doing?
Like the lack of earth Like it's like, well, this is the right thing to do, but it's you know, just to reference the Chargers game to back on Thursday Night football, when you're down forty two to nothing and you score, like I think the first you know, whatever the first score was, it was, you know, fifty six to seven. Whenever you hit that long pass to Josh Palmer in that quiet stadium, you have to like you can't kick off, you have to on side kick, Like what why do you try.
To win the game. There's like there's a window. No, so it's like if the games within three scores, like you do if it's like if it's over, there's a there's like a there's a it's like the valley or some kind of window. But like after a certain point it goes back to it doesn't matter. No, Yeah, I'm I'm, I'm pro giving up if you're down fifty points basically.
So you're covering an NBA team and you're just cool. Like I hate I watch I watch real basketball, which is college basketball, and no, oh my god, like like Purdue men's hoops. Yeah no, but it drives me nuts when and I feel like this is less true of the NBA though, I watched. I watched a Knicks Wizards game this year, and that was the end of a Knicks Wizard's game, and that was the first live NBA action that I'd caught probably since like the like the Calves Warriors Finals. I watched them in Buffalo Wild Wings, like back when that was the thing and back when I used to like go out and do things. And but I hate when you're down like eight and you just take a layup. It's like, no, man, you gotta launch threes. If it's there's like fifty seconds left and you're down eight, you're you launch threes. Or if you're like you just constantly have to be launching threes. You have to go for it. You have to convince me that you care.
That is frustrating. I like, I'll like go that one fair enough.
Yeah, But yeah, so I you know, I just think a massive missed opportunity for the Jaguars who convinced everybody that they were this trendy super Bowl favorite. Me not you, not me.
You know what.
A lot of if you talk to.
They were sprinkling a lot of masala on Trevor Lawrence this year. And as you know, I am praying for the downfall every non to a quarterback because of the disrespect they put on my sweet sweet throw and samoe in and you know, not impressed by Trevor Lawrence just dropping the ball on the ground yesterday for the Ravens to pick up.
I know that was the other thing, you know, costly turnover the issues before the half, and now you sit at eight and six, and you know, at one point I was I went along with people saying that they were a trendy Super Bowl pick because if you talk to a lot of gambling experts, they will say that this is the year to bet on someone like Trevor Lawrence to go. It's a quarter it's a guy in his rookie deal, and the team basically has a very high ceiling, Like what if Trayvon Walkers.
Listen, they got to Josh Allen Trayvon Walker. What if all these guys last night.
And they still could get hot in the tournament. You don't know, you know, but anyway, I just thought that was it was very disappointing. I wish that they would have scored more and and just you know, made it interesting. That's all. Speaking of a team that did make it super interesting, the Browns beating the Bears. I said last week on the show The Face, I'm wondering if you what you think of my take. So I grew up a Browns fan. I renounced my Browns fandom. You didn't know that, No, Okay, So I didn't have a favorite team, and then every I grew up in northeastern Pennsylvania, so I hated the Steelers and I hated the Eagles. Was never going to do that, and they I had a friend who was a Giants fan who was really annoying about it, and like proximity wise was probably the closest to the Giants, just based on Giants of the Eagles, and that whole thing just bothered me. Didn't like it. And so I said, the only fair way to do this is to just pick the next team that comes into existence, right and at that point, there was the Jaguars and the Panthers, and so we were going through like a fun expansion period of the NFL, and I was like, Okay, there's gonna be another expansion team. I'll just hang out until then. So it was the Browns and so I jumped on board, bought it. My mom bought me a Tim Couch jersey. Like I was ready to go, and I was excited about it, enjoyed my time being a Browns fan. Had a little party at my house to you that they lost in the playoffs to the Steelers in two thousand.
Derek Anderson season.
Yeah, uh huh in Kelly Holcombe hmm, yeah, yeah, it was Kelly Holcomb against the Steelers. He was playing with like a broken leg and Bruce Arians was the offensive coordinator. It was a wild time, but Davis was the head coach. Yes, So yeah, I I renounced my Browns fandom upon the upon the decision to bring in their franchise quarterback via trade, and so I'm out. I'm happy being out. I let my kids pick a new team. We did a whole podcast about it where Bengals fans now very exciting. We enjoy the life of Bengals fans, Jake Browning has been very fun for our.
House, fantastic.
But I will say this, I said if I would go back, because my kids have like some brown stuff that they don't want to get rid of that they like that like stuffed animals, and you know what I mean, Like, I'm not just gonna be like a weird dad and like chop the heads off of the stuffed animals and throw them away because I don't like a personnel move that they made. But I did say that if the brown.
Do you know a good speech you could give your kids if you're trying to motivate them one.
Day to be Bengals fans or no, just.
In general, if you're looking to like a motivational speech to get rid of the animals, it could be anything, all right, let me hear it, anything that calls for organization.
Let me hear it.
You're not picking up the joke trying to.
Make Oh okay, yes, yes, yes, well well let me start here.
What do your kids know about nine to eleven?
I just got it.
I'm like, no, no, it was a reach by.
No, no, no, it's good nor your comic prowess is just it outpaces me just.
A little bit.
But that's why I have you on him trying to learn. I'm trying to get better. But I told Albert last week that if the Browns were to cut Deshaun Watson and then to give Joe Flaco a five year, two hundred and thirty million dollar contract, I would become a Browns fan again, because I think that that would be great. And there's part of me in here. I wrote at the beginning of the year, Dorian Thompson Robinson had a really good Hall of Fame game, and I was writing that, like, God, wouldn't it be funny if like he ends up just like crushing it, you know, and then DeShawn is not that good and you paid all this money for this controversial human who was accused of all these horrible things, just to have the fifth round pick out of UCLA be better than him. But it's even funnier if it's Joe Flacco, who it's much funny, just like hanging out in South Jersey, like doing nothing, like hoping that somebody would.
Joe Flacco is the guy you see in the Madden Free Agents and you're like that guy still in the game. Yeah, I'll sign him just so he gets a Super Bowl ring.
You know.
Yeah, I didn't realize he was still in the game. It's pretty cool that they left him in there. That's Flacco. The Browns have had a wild season. What are they have? Five wins in one score games or three points or less? Didn't they beat Seattle on the road? They beat the forty nine ers with p J. Walker. Yes, you know, even if the Niners were missing Debo and Trent Williams in that game, that's a fantastic win. That's an impressive coaching job. I don't know how sustainable it is, but that's not the point. Like, you just got to win the games on your schedule and win him anyway you can. They've done that. I obviously I'm with you. I didn't want the Dolphins to trade for Deshaun Watson. I you know, after everything came out, and it was very disconcerting the way the Browns handled all that, with the guarantees in his contract, et cetera. And they somehow managed to become likable again. And it's almost entirely due to Joe Flacco.
It's so funny because like the fans, like I wrote yesterday, that because we're taking this some Monday morning. I wrote on Sunday night that you know, everyone talks about like every organization likes to come out and beat their chest and be like it's it's the entire organization, Like, no, this is the head coach. Because your your group of your brain trust air Quotes has been together since the end of the Hugh Jackson era and so during that time, you've had like kind of three or four different gms, but Paul Deepadest has always been there. And like, you did some really good things, like take Miles Garrett even though everybody wanted Bitch Trubisky. Imagine if they took mitchter Bisky over Miles Garrett, by the way, and you know, Miles Garrett is one of the five best players in the NFL this year. Okay, that was great. But he also took Baker Mayfield and then you cut him, and you know, there's all these weird you know, most of the things that you did were good. Some of the things that you did were bad or ill advised or whatever.
Hey, they did make the playoffs and win a playoff game with Baker though, so they have that.
And they did. Yeah, but all along it's been the boat started going in the right direction when they hired Kevin Stefanski, and like, yeah, they're just being like, okay, figure this out. Here's p J. Walker. Oh, I guess's not playing this.
One's it's been a real mcguiver. Yeah. So here's a pencil chewing gum and six feet yarn and he's like, all right, beat the Seahawks on the road.
Yeah, next, Yeah, And then now you've got Joe Flacco, who you know.
He was making He was throwing some throws yesterday, man.
And even and even some of the picks. One of the picks was bad, I think if I can remember correctly, and one was like a receiver dropped at the dw Yes, So like his stats are not bad, and he's throwing dimes like he is.
The throw it in Djoku, the throw Amari Cooper those yes, big time throws.
Bananas, and so it's I'm just at this point, I'm loving this completely bizarre world fantasy.
This is insane. Could I talk you into a Cleveland Super Bowl run?
No, yes you could.
I mean Flacco's got the experience that that is, the Browns have the perfect defense to just ruin a playoff game. Yes, it's like you get two turnovers and immediately it's like, oh man, we're on our heels. We're down ten zero, but it feels like thirty to zero because Garrett is destroying our left tackle or right tackle today. That's gonna be an interesting team to watch.
Yeah, it's like, and what happens if you're if you have that that defense and then the same thing happens to the Browns like it did in their playoff win over Pittsburgh, which is, you know, first snap goes over the quarterbacks head. You know, you get a quick score and then all of a sudden, you know, and then you get a good sustained drive with Flacco. It's ten to nothing, thirteen to nothing. That game's over. It's done. And you know, who's to say that they can't do that a couple of times in a row.
But the funny part to see the Chiefs offense going into that Browns defense, that would be interesting.
I just want my goal in life is to be a Browns beat reporter. The day after they win the Super Bowl and they're at the parade is about to start, and you raise your hand and you ask for the microphone and you say, Okay, who is the starting quarterback Week one of twenty twenty four, And you know everyone could say, oh, I'm ridiculous, You're ridiculous, ridiculous, you know, But same thing, you know, I mean, this happens in life, you know. I mean, it happened with the Eagles and Carson Wentz was never the same after that, and Joe or uh Nick Foles came back I think the year after that and backed them into the playoffs again, yeah, and almost won them a play game. If I'm not mistake, I think.
They won a playoff game that we playoff that year.
Yeah, yeah, And so I don't know, like I I just love chaos, and yeah, I would love for the Browns to somehow try to sell me on like a Joe Flacco Deshonte Watt.
Flacco making the AFC Championship game is like what I'm actively rooting for Browns Dolphins AFC Championship.
You know what you'd have to do if you're the Browns. I just thought of this. If Joe Flacco took you to the super Bowl and won it, you would have to take him into like a back alley somewhere and you would have to hand him a briefcase with like fifty million dollars in it, and you'd just be like, you need to retire, like you have to.
You have to think he would. Or what if what if you pull the jamis and say you hand him a briefcase with nothing in it and say this is the only thing standing between you and another Super Bowl win? And you know what, that's not even the weirdest motivational story we've talked.
But you'd have to, like, you know, and I.
Know, I think he'd go out on top. I don't even think they'd have to worry if he would retire if they won the Super Bowl.
Come on, if he won the Super Bowl, he'd retire and then it would totally uncomplicate things and then he would come back the next year when Deshaun was like three and four.
Or just to do what the Patriots and pay one of his close associates, put them on the payroll, and then you don't have to pay your quarterback what he's actually worth and you can continue to it. Super Bowl is that way.
Could win for the Browns. I thought the Bears to me are establishing themselves at least as a quality defense. You know, they beat them. The good Fields has looked really good. I mean, gosh, I we talked about this last week too, but he's getting to the point where, like I might be able to talk myself into keeping him again.
I think. I think, just based on the value of the rookie contract alone, you draft Caleb Williams and you trade Fields for I mean, he's also putting his trade value way up. I mean the Falcons with Fields, I mean the commander with him. I think that I think there'd be somewhat of a bidding war, right.
You could get another.
First right now, and then it's like you'd have three really good first round picks gen presumably new coach. Possibly.
That's what it's all about. The Saturday games are just messing me up, Like, so we'll just run through. I mean, so the Lions demolished the the Broncos forty two to seventeen. The Colts beat the Steelers thirty to thirteen, and then there was the Bengals. That's you know, the Bengals beating the Vikings game. Dude, I know he's a he's just a boss.
I've been playing out of his mind, man.
I remember watching when Joe Burrow hurt himself in the preseason and got the calf injury. And then you had Jake Browning play a couple of games and you're like, oh, you know, this guy can get rid of the ball pretty quickly, you know, like he's doing okay, And all of a sudden you're like, all right, what's gonna happen? Because now no teams I mean, okay, the Chiefs have a quarterback, but almost no one has a quarterback anymore, and so why not you know, it's it's just, you know, I don't know, I think the Bengals could.
Is that? Is that to a disrespect?
I guess it's sort of backhanded, to a respect a little bit, do a disrespect a little bit.
So here here the quarter even though you didn't see what he did without Tyreek put up thirty on one of the best passing defenses in the NFL. That's all right, all right?
So we got the AFC quarterbacks are lamar elite. Patrick Mahomes elite to uh.
I mean, look too, is not elite, but he can you know, he can be in charge of an elite offense.
He can be in charge. I like that he can be in charge of an elite offense, Trevor Lawrence, and then from there you're just like the rest of the quarterbacks of the playoffs are gonna be Joe Flacco, Jake Brown and Gardner Minshew, possibly Josh Allen, possibly Josh Allen, Matt Stafford.
I think anyone can get anyone in the AFC. I think the Ravens are slightly better than everyone, but with how bad the Chiefs offense has been, I think anyone can get anyone in the AFC. Yes, think of the coaches too. I mean, the Bengals are really well coached defensively, have shown in the playoffs that can come up with good game plans. The Browns obviously have a fantastic defense. That's what's I mean, it's it's a one game sample. Anything can happen, and I think any of these teams are capable of knocking the other one off if they can get a couple of things to go their way.
What do you did you watch the Saturday games? Are you a Saturday game guy?
Or yeah? I mean, I don't mind it. It's now it's like next week. It's like there's three Monday Christmas games. There's a bunch of Sunday games, I'm like, I didn't even know there are this many NFL teams. I was like, how did they be up? Man, It's just spread this out between Thursday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. I didn't mind it. You know, the matchup weren't very good. That Bengals Vikings game ended up being by far the most entertaining it was. Whatever. Our colleague Jimmy Traino is like, you know, made it his life mission now to complain about the primetime games. Although I am our good buddy Philadelphia man Mitch makes a good point that there's just like not enough good teams to make There's not every primetime game a good one. So I mean, I don't mind it. It's something to have on and you can. For me, at least, I can check out pretty easily if the games are bad.
So yeah, but big comeback for the Bengals. They were down seventeen to three in the third quarter and that game ends up twenty seven to twenty four. But you know, so we have a lot of like anonymous gun slingers.
Real quick, I just want to ask you, talking for so long about so many things, what did you make of the the Eagles coaching change? I mean, we're not gonna maybe we'll get some answers tonight, but I'm just curious what you made of what's going on there with the Matt Patricia becoming the defensive play caller but not the coordinator apparently. Yeah.
So I just think it's really hard when you're not a rocket scientist or you're not an aster. What did he major in? Uh uh, let me see, Matt Patricia rocket scientist. He majored an aeronautical engineering at Rensal Polytechnic Institute. Okay, So I think when there's a when there's a guy like that in the building, it's hard to be the other guy, you know what I mean? And yeah, because you know, no matter what, if you're if you're calling plays and then there's someone like hyper intelligent and potentially manipulative, I don't know, behind you talking.
Players.
Yeah, being able to like talk to the head coach and be like, well, you know I would have done this, you know.
In space school. You know, you know what you should do is you.
Should you know, eliminate gravity.
And I was gonna say, anyone anyone told this guy about gravity.
You know, if I if you, if I were him, I would just like have a separate channel with the coach, and I would just I would just start reciting different formulas in physics, just like, well, you know, what he should have done is try to find the velocity of this, and this is how you do that, based in based in physics. But so I probably you know, coaching staffs are notoriously a mess right everywhere. And you know, people had told me before the season that they liked Sean Desize a potential head coaching candidate. One day, I think I still believe that. I do think it's.
Just a weird move to make this point the season. I get the defense has been slipping, but they're acting like a team that's like six and eight, not you know, yeah, at the top of their conference.
And uh, you know, but you have to remember too that Nick Siriani very quietly like benched himself as a play caller and handed it over to Shane Steichen And.
But and also how much of this has to do with the fact that Jalen Hurt has been one hundred percent Yeah, you know, he's on the injury report finally, but they're saying illness, like I don't know, that seems to go a long way here.
Too. I know I'm looking forward to Uh, I'm looking forward to the Eagles game tonight because.
This is a very love birds and it's in the Seahawk.
I do love bird teams. My one fantasy league that I care about, we backed into the playoffs due to a tie breaking regulation that was instituted to punish us for backing into the playoffs the year before due to an even more archaic tie breaking.
I see, and if you win this fantasy league, you share the money with four hundred families.
Right, everybody gets peace. And so tonight, like we just played it really well and we have we have an eighty nine percent chance of winning according to that stupid arbitrary tracker thing, right.
The New York Times pole meter, you a CBS.
Sports line predictor whatever it is. But so he has Jalen Hurts and I have a j Brown and we're up by twenty five points. Right, So Jalen Hurts would have to have an otherworldly game, which is possible. Jalen Hurts loves Michael Jordan. I could totally see him channeling a flu game and being that person coming out and ruining my fantasy season. I'm all for it. I like a good football game, but there is something like there is a haughtiness to when you think you're about to win and import fantasy matchup watching the game play out, and you're just like swirling your you know, swirling your brandy, and you're just like your wife who doesn't care about it at all, and you're just like, this is see, this is why we uh, this is why we made the move to go with you know, aj Brown, you know he was our keeper and you know we really liked him, and you know, in other weeks, I'm just totally melting down because we're in the middle of a four game losing streak. But so I will enjoy the Eagles game regardless tonight. I think I'm very much looking forward to that. Before we go, Let's do a quick little lightning round. I just want one line from you or me on each of the teams that we didn't get to yet. So, okay, forty nine Ers destroy the Cardinals forty five to twenty nine. Christian McCaffrey had three touchdowns. He just looks like a boss. Brock Perty had four touchdowns. They're just awesome. I don't know what's what's.
Your didn't look ahead that's impressive. Didn't look at to that Ravens matchup at all. They're by far the super Bowl favorite. That's it. That's all you can say about.
Yeah, Rams Commanders twenty eight to twenty Rams finally do it. I said before the season, the safest bet was that Sean McVay was going to hit the over on the six point five win total that the Rams got out of Vegas Boom.
The way people have talked about Stafford this year, I thought they'd be a little bit better than seven and seven. I know that he has been dealing with some injuries, but I hope they get in the playoffs. To me, it's fun when they're good.
I agree, I want the Rams in. I just think that their coaching brain trust is so smart and they're able to just outthink people. And then you have pukin Akia who's a lot of fun, Cooper Cup like, I just I love that team. I think that they're only going to get better and next year they have cap space again. Just fun, fun, fun all the way. I hope they trade their first round pick. I never want them to make a first round pick again. Panthers nine, Falcon seven, I mean, what can we be.
Sure that game happened, was anyone there to witness it?
I mean, if you're Arthur Smith, like, how do you let that happen?
Joke? Absolute joke. I mean, I've have no respect for that franchise after what they said and did regarding Lamar this year. And I know that some people like Arthur Smith, but what they're doing with Kyle Pitts and Jon Robinson, although he's getting the ball a little bit more lately, what a joke. I mean, what a joke. I think Heinike's better than Ritter. I guess that he started one game and got her.
But you know, I mean the funny part is that, I mean the Flacco things. So I live in New York, and everybody's like freaking out right now. They're like, how do you let someone like Flacco just sit around and not pick them up? In Zach Wilson blah blah blah blah blah. But that conversation is probably happening everywhere. Like Flacco probably has the Falcons at like ten, and you know, the Falcons probably have nine wins if they have Jill Flacco right now? Yeah golly, but yeah, what an awful game?
Ye?
I mean, I when Quarterell Patterson scored on that end around like at the beginning, it was like the second quarter, with like four minutes left, I was like, well, that's it. I mean, there's no more, that's all. But Chris Taber interim coach manufacturing some wins. Good for them. Texans nineteen Titan sixteen case keenum do. I would love I would love for CJ. Stroud to come back and get hot with the Texans and the playoffs. That's like, that's very fun to me.
Yeah, yeah, without a doubt. Shout out to the Titans who keep battling. Will Levis took a nasty hit. I wonder if Tannehill starts next week. But that was a fun game. There's some real ridiculousness at the end too.
Yeah, you know, it's fun. Like some of these games are good, and I think like we have to step back and just appreciate them for what they are, you know, yeah, and not like that these teams are all butt and and just stop worrying about it, you know what I mean? Sure, last, but not least, Gosh, how did they get shoved into the final window here? Because this is Baker Mayfield just on fire. The Buccaneers and the Packers. I think I said this before, I'll say it again. I think that the Buccaneers are just that one team that could get weirdly hot in the plays.
Because Mike Evans is incredible. Yeah, they have they have an experienced coaching staff. The Packers. After that, Chiefs win to lose to the Giants and Bucks back back the box. One is less is more forgivable, I should say, But man, that was everyone will just penciled them in for winning out the rest of the season. They're going to finish eleven and six brutal back to back losses for the Packers. I know everyone i'd see tweeting them out and wants them to fire their defensive coordinator.
But like, that's good. You know it's week fifteen. Yeah, you know you should have done that already, unless you're the Eagles and then you just covert taps. You have your exactly, you have your band security guard, go into every room and just start firing people. Well, thanks, Ron, this has been a lot of fun.
My pleasure.
Are you so? NBA is on Christmas? Everyone, but the NFL is now taking that over. That's ours now, that's our day. What are you going to do on Christmas now that the NFL has taken over your end.
I'll be watching basketball all day. We got I still think that they we need to get into the particular the schedule. They could have done better. But I love whyching five basketball games in a row? I really do. So.
Is wem beyond Christmas?
No, he's not.
Why is he? He's like the worst player in the NBA right now?
Right, he's not, But he's on one of the worst teams.
I was, I was, I was on some deep stat NBA blogs. Did you know this hard hardwood paroxyism?
Do you know that I know Matt Moore?
Yes, yes, And I read the headline of an article that said that the Spurs were the worst team in the NBA.
So that has very little to do with Wenby. But it's true.
It's because he has no meat on his bones.
And well, this doesn't this doesn't work because chet Holmgren's have been fantastic in the Thunder are one of the best teams in the NBA.
So true, All right, Well, before you proved me wrong, let's get out of here. Thank you so much for coming. As always, go Dolphins. We'll have Rohan on when they when they make the Super Bowl. You're coming to Vegas if they make it the Super.
Bowl, right, Oh, without a doubt. We need to talk about me getting in crenancial for some of these home playoff games, but we'll discuss all.
Right, Thanks buddy, see Carnor Thursday, guys, we have the Matt and Gilberto Show. Be sure to check that out as always, and we're gonna talk to you probably a little bit later during the week. Albert and I are probably gonna chill out a little bit for Christmas. We'll come back and we'll recap those Christmas weekend games, probably on Tuesdays, so look for a later podcast that week. Please take some time with your family during the holidays to just enjoy to chill out and yeah, thanks as always for listening.
