Week 12 Recap: Mahomes-to-Tyreek in Tampa, Henry Dominates, Patriots Live | NFL Deep Dive

Published Nov 30, 2020, 6:14 PM

Jenny and Gary run down the Week 12 Sunday action, starting with the dominant performance of Patrick Mahomes and Tyreek Hill in Tampa. Plus, Derrick Henry's late-season dominance continues, the Patriots find the right plan against Kyler Murray, the Packers get back on track, Kyle Shanahan has the Rams' number again, the Lions clean house while Jacksonville fires their GM, and much more.

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Hello, and welcome to the m MQB Monday Morning NFL podcast. I'm your mo Scary Growling. I am joined by Jenny Brentis of the week Side podcast once again this week and uh and Jenny we had a uh I'm trying to sort out the playoff picture right now. That's that's kind of the project for the week, I guess, and it is uh is complete madness, but uh, yeah, I don't know. I don't know what's gonna happen with the seventh seed in the NFC, because like, the Vikings are still in it, the Bears are still in it. This is all Uh, I don't know. It's kind of upsetting to have this little clarity at this point. Yeah, and the seventh seed this year is really we're seeing the intrigue that that can create, and that's both good and bad. You know, it opens up the field and there are more teams in the conversation. But then you're also looking at some of the teams that are in the conversation and you're like, this doesn't look like a playoff team. So we may have to expand our minds a little bit in terms of what a playoff team looks like. Because someone's going to be there in the second seed. If I've written the Vikings off like three times this year, I can't deal with them being back in it. We will. We will get to the Vikings a little bit later. We'll also have an ever so brief segment on on the firings of Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn in Detroit and uh David Caldwell in Jacksonville. But we are starting with what the marquee game of the week was, and that was the Chiefs beating the Bucks down in Tampa. And I don't know, it might still be a Super Bowl preview when it's all said and done, but this was one where look, when you're playing the Chiefs, there's a very pick your poison type of thing going on when it comes to uh, you know Tyreek Hill and and Travis Kelsey and where are we going to devote the majority of our coverage? Uh, it was a lot of Tyreek Hill working against man coverage with not a whole lot of safety help and uh, I mean it was completely out of hand of the first quarter. He took this game over him and Mahomes were uh as good as they've been all season, and that was kind of the story of this one. Yeah, the picture poison is really accurate here because they let Tyreek Hill get open and get those long scores and rack up receiving yards in the first half, and then they obviously changed how they played in the second half, but the Chiefs were still able to win the game and still able to on third down when they needed a first down complete a shorter path to Hill to sinch the victory. That was that was very fitting to to seal the game play going to the guy who ends up with I mean it was he was over two hundred yards in the first quarter and he ends up thirteen for two D sixty nine and and the three touchdowns all twenty plus year. I mean, this is seventy five yard or forty four yard or twenty yard. Uh. And again it's you can't necessarily devote a double team to Tyreek Hill, but he was just it was almost like the safeties were unprepared for the fact that he was going to run past uh, you know what, whether it be Carlton Davis or wherever he's trying to cover him in in man coverage. And I mean, look like you said that they change up how they did it after the first quarter, and Travis Kelsey gets eight catches from from then on. Ind And I mean this was just kind of kind of reminder that if you are not going to be in Patrick Mahomes's face and and really bother him with pressure, Uh, there's not a whole lot you can do against this Chief's offense at this point, right, That's right, that's your best opportunity to disrupt the play is pressuring Mahomes and somehow throwing off the throw a little bit. Because the combination of the players that they have to make plays and the scheming that they have with Andy Reid and Eric the anime finding different ways to get players open every week. Um, there's just not really any way to stop that if you're not getting pressure and disrupting the play before it really gets off. And the as far as the Bucks go, i mean, look at they fall to seven and five. That is actually that's that's still pretty comfortably in the playoff picture here, even if the chance of an NFC South title are sort of slipping away from them at this point. But uh, they had their bye week coming up. They have that that weird week thirteen bye week, so uh, they have a chance to sort of short things out a little bit more. But uh, offensively they were they were better. I mean, look, Brady, you know he throws two interceptions, uh you know which, which obviously is not ideal. But uh, the story with him has been just the the lack of downfield accuracy this year. And he hit a couple of deep pass in this game. He hit Gronkowski up the scene, he hit Godwin on a on a deep post route. He hit Mike Evans on a fourth and three on like a nine route up the right sideline. He threw the ball, I thought, as well as he has this season, which uh, again you're not counting moral victories if you if you're the Tampa Bay Bucks and the roster they put together. But uh, I thought it was when stepping back in encouraging performance by the Bucks offense in this game. Yeah, I agree with you on how Brady threw the ball. What I thought was interesting was the efforts this week to point out on for multiple former players, some of whom are former teammates of Brady, to point out that the system isn't doing him any favors. It was like the narrative got out there right that Bruce Arian system is hard, you know. They pointed out during the broadcast that quarterbacks in their first year in Arian system throw more interceptions. Romo went to links to describe how when a deep pass is not completed, it may not be Brady's fault, and certainly we saw some examples of that. I think his timing with Evans hasn't been there, and there certainly there's the transition period to a new team was exacerbated by the lack of an off season this year. But I did think it was interesting that the messaging was getting out there, and that to me was more worry some than what we saw in the field, because I agree with you Gary, like he threw the ball better and some of the things that hadn't been working they found with work, they clawed back into the game. Um. Which raises some questions on the other side about the Chief's defense, but that's another topic. UM. But I was more alarmed by this narrative that got out there this week that maybe Arians isn't the right coach and maybe the system isn't doing enough to um accentuate Tom Brady. The the talking points are definitely getting around to UH to the people they're supposed to get to. Uh. Yeah, it's it's it's interesting. I mean it's too late now. I mean, you're not gonna you're not gonna bring in a new coach, you know Brady realistically, I know we joke that he's gonna play forever, but you know, how how much longer can this go on? Probably not a whole lot longer. So you're not gonna reset with a new coach at this point, and you're you know, we can sort of second guests and say, well, maybe they should have come back to uh, some sort of compromise between you know, the classic Brady Patriots of it, which is I mean, look, it's impossible to replicate that. I mean, we talked about the short offseason. Even with a full off seasons, it's possible. It's impossible to take what he did in New England and bring it to a new city. It's just years and years of, uh of building that thing out in Foxboro. So that wasn't necessarily an option. But was there a compromise there or they could have come a little bit more toward Brady uh than what they did this past offseason. But again, it's all it's done. Its offense is what it is. It's not changing. And uh, I mean, look, you just kind of hope that Brady sort of goes on a on a hot streak down the stretch here and if he does, yeah, certainly they can they can, they can go on a run here. I mean, they were six and two and we were all, you know, and that was a couple of weeks ago, and we were all kind of saying, uh, they're not quite playing their best yet. But there were six and two. That's pretty good. Let's uh, let's go out to Indianapolis where the the Tennessee Titans retake the a f C South lead and and do it in I mean, this was this was what we saw last year second half of the season. Derrick Henry just sort of takes over. Um. I will say the one difference in this game is we're used to seeing him sort of take over in the second half of games. This was he took over the first half. I mean he he ran up a hundred forty yards and three touchdowns by halftime. Uh, put the Titans up three touchdowns and they just sort of cruised to a win against the Colts team that had, uh, that had beaten them pretty good in their building on that Thursday night a couple of weeks ago. So I don't know, it's it's it's looking a lot like twenty nineteen right now for the Tennessee Titans. Yeah, And I think you really saw the impact of the Colts not having the Forest Buckner against Derrick Henry. I mean that really, when I saw that he was out for the game, Gary, I really wanted to take my pick back and switch it to the Titans, but at that point it was too late. Um. But it had a huge impact on the game. But regardless, I mean, Derrick Henry has picked up exactly where he left off last year, which, to be fair, I doubted. I didn't think you could continue to sustain this kind of workload and continue to be that productive. Um, And yet he has. And you know, I think he's a rare player. He a rare body type for that position, and so it was probably unfair for me to say that he couldn't continue to sustain this workload given the workload he's had over the course of his career, even dating back to high school, and he'd have like four hundred some touches in a season. Um. But he's been able to sustain it, and that's what got the Titans back on track and in a critical game for their season. Yeah, this is uh, if you go Week ten and later over the last two seasons, so that's twelve games including the playoffs, he's averaging a hundred forty six rushing yards in those games with the sixteen touchdowns, which is I mean that we just we we don't see that anymore in the NFL. And I don't know what he does conditioning wise to sort of be able to sustain this level of play through all this uh, all this contact he takes, but it's whatever he's doing, it's it's working at this point. As far as the Colts go, obviously still very much in the playoff picture and and look their game out after splitting with the with the Titans this season. Uh, the one thing besides the fact that they scored fewer points than and the the Titans in this game, the one thing that you really worry about is that Anthony Costans and the left tackle goes down with um what as of Monday morning, is being termed as not a major knee injury, but it seems like it is in m c l injury. And we will see how that plays out, because I mean we've seen it. They need to protect Philip Rivers. They need this offensive line fully intact. Rivers does not have the ability to sort of protect himself at this point in his career, so of Costanzo is gonna miss time. The Cults are suddenly looking like a team on the brink. Yeah, And I would say in combination with the defense not playing as it had the previous few weeks against the Titans, um, I'm feeling less sure about the Cults. I've kind of been unsure about the Colts all season. Um, but they really convinced me the last few weeks. And I probably swung too far to the other side and said, Okay, this this division is theirs. But the Titans really came in and reasserted themselves. That's what we do. We overreact on and then overreact the other way. I mean, that's that's that's the business. At this point. Uh, let's go out to Foxboro. This was this was sort of this was the game that sort of through the entire weekend to chaos here. Uh. Look, this Patriots defense has struggled so badly this year that they're obviously they're shorthanded. Uh, all their linebackers are gone from last year, all those important veteran linebackers. Stephan Gilmour has not played up to the level that he did a year ago when he was Defensive Player of the Year. Uh so you just kind of figured, Okay, well, Arizona is gonna go in there, that this prolific offense and uh, they're just gonna when are they're gonna put up their thirty five points and sort of cruise to a win here. Uh, they had the answers and and and Bill Belichick gave gave his son Steve a lot of credit, uh for putting together this game plan to sort of limit Kyler Murray as a runner in this one. And you could see they were very uh they were very conscientious in this pass rush. And I mean, look, they don't have much of a pass rush, but they were not running past Murray. They were staying in front of him. They were getting their hands up in front of him and blocking throwing lanes here and sort of keeping him from doing any of these sort of big play stuff that you've seen from him the first start of this year. But when it's all said and done, Cardinals end up with two yards of offense despite possessing the ball for for over three or four minutes in this one, and uh, that's how it ends up being kept close. You know, Patriots had a big goal line stand on fourth down on the final play of the first half to get out of there without giving points, and they just sort of hung around and eventually the Cardinals miss a field goal and the Patriots make a field goal and the Patriots win a game in which they had I mean they had a hundred seven nine yards of offense and and two turnovers in this one. I mean, this is this is not one that profiles as a game you normally win. Uh if you're the Patriots. Yeah, that's exactly right. Although, Gary, you should give yourself a little credit. You did pick the Patriots to win. You were the only one at the mmq B to do so. I was not shocked. I just wanted to sort of mindset of the rest of the as Yeah, uh, it does. It seems like this is one of those Patriot games. Okay, we're used to them winning more games than they do obviously than they have this year, but they come in with a really smart game plan for an up and coming quarterback, Like that seems to be right in the Patriots wheelhouse, right, Like we're going to devise a better game plan than other people have for Kyler Murray. And to your point about keeping him contained as a runner, that took all levels of the defense to do that. I mean there was one play where you saw Stephan Gilmore kind of come up and force Murray to go out to the sidelines. So there you have a corner participating in corralling Murray and blocking his ability to run. So they really did have a smart game plan. And the defense has been a disappointment this year, but played at such a high level last season and they're down players. Key players opted out before the year. As you mentioned Gilmore, which the reports that Belichick looked into trading him before the season started should have been a signal one that Belichick figured this season wouldn't go the way the past seasons had been. And also that he was kind of at that tipping point that Belichick seems to be very good at identifying with players, um where you know, maybe last season was the high point and wanted to get ahead of it with with a move. So those were all signals that we probably should have read more into at the time. Um, but this was you know, I always enjoy watching a smart Patriots defensive game plan, so this was a joy to watch in that regard. This was and and and I mean, look, you mentioned Gilmore as far as helping corral Kyla Murray. This one, Gilmore was locked up on deer Andre Hopkins and and again it's been a thiss wointing year for Gilmore this one. But he won this battle with Hopkins in this game. And Hopkins ends up five for fifty five. He drew one holding penalty, had one weird offsetting past interference penalty that was really it was a penalty on Hopkins. But they end up throwing the flag on Gilmore as well. But uh, he won this battle. I mean this, this was this was sort of just vintage Patriots and vintage Stephon Gilmore in this one. Uh. And I will say, I mean, look, I can't really picture of what it must be like to be a veteran on the Patriots, where you are playing for Super Bowl every year and then all of a sudden, you're you're just out there and here and also ran and uh, you know, they're on the fringe of the a f c playoff picture, but they're they're realistic that they're they're probably not going to make it to the postseason. Uh, so to go out there and give a performance like this and again that that fourth and that fourth and goal stop at the end of the first half, which is sort of a uh you know, just sort of reminder that, uh, whether it's symbolic or not, that you know, this team is they're still going to compete and they're still gonna go out there, that there's still a certain amount of pride being put into it. And when frankly, I don't know if anyone would blame them if they just sort of mailed it in for the last month of the season. You're right, that is a very interesting psychological quiet. And when you've been so good for so long and so dominant and then you have a down year, it would be easy to just chalk it up, Okay, this year is kind of a wash, let's strike next year. But they haven't done that. And you know, they have young players that are still proving themselves. And here they have a one of the top teams in the NFL coming into their home stadium and they make a stand against them. All Right, we will have a little bit more on the NFC Wildcard picture. But hang on one second, Jenny, because right now it is time for the SI Fantasy segment presented by Draft Kings, and I am joined as always by Michael Fabriano as we as we trudge into the stretch run here in the UH fantasy playoffs upcoming in some leagues on the week thirteen. Some people start around then, but uh, this is kind of this is this is crunch time here. Uh, no matter whether your postseason is starting or not. So as we need some early waiver wire help here this week, and and there's there's gotta be someone somewhere out there. Start start with the start with the running backs. Yeah, there's plenty, man, there's plenty. I'm not guaranteeing they're gonna leave you a title, but there's plenty of options. So uh at running back, Cam Akers is a guy that I like. Uh nine carries eighty four yards, had a sixty one yard run against San Francisco. He's the best back the Rams have right now. I don't think Darren Henderson's healthy. He just hasn't been right since he's had that quad issue. Uh Acres has had a touchdown in two straight games. I don't know that that he's more than a flex play against the Cardinals coming up, but I feel like he's an ad in stash because maybe he ends up taking over the job during the fantasy playoffs. We talked about James White last week. He's still available in about fifty leagues. He had six touches, which is not a lot, but he had two touchdowns and he's now giving a twenty nine Fantasy points in the last two weeks with no Rex Burkhead Chargers coming up next could be a high scoring game, so White should be added Atlanta's backfield. I'll tell you right now, I don't know. Brian Hill played more snaps, Edo Smith had more touches and it was the better option. Does that mean it's gonna happen again next week? I don't. I don't know. I really don't know. So both guys are worth a look. I think Brian Hill has probably been added in a lot of leagues because get Todd Gurley went down, but it might not even matter. If Girly doesn't play, then you know, then these guys are probably flex starters at best. If Girl's back, this is much to do about nothing. And regardless, they got the Saints next week. That defense is nasty good against running back. So, uh, it's desperation. Edo Smith, Brian Hill, Uh, Frank Gore, who was gonna be here long after the rest of us are dead. He'll probably still be playing football and Adam Gates will probably still be his head coach. But he had a fifty three percent of touch share against the Dolphins and he's had a forty eight percent touch show the last two weeks. He's got the Raiders coming up. Raiders aren't good against the run, so listen. I know he's four years old, but he's getting touches man a couple of other backs. DeVante Booker, so Josh Jacobs got hurt in the Atlanta game, and I don't know how badly it is, how bad he's hurt, But if he's out, Bookers are really good. Play next week against the Jets, and then Alexander Madison like Dalvin Cook, Dalvin Cook, and I love the guy. He's supremely talented, right, but every time he gets hurt, doesn't it seem like his career is over? Like he can't walk off the field on his own power, and he is in excruciating pain and then he came back into the game. But I don't know how bad his injury is. So as as a reminder, folks, he got a handcuff those stud running backs. So Alexander Madison should be owned just in case you get the sense on that Alvin cook injury was maybe a little bit of wounded pride after the uh, after the lost fumble, after the year. Yeah, it could be. It could be. Yeah, I don't It's weird, right because like we've seen that a couple of times, what was it against Chicago? Was against Chicago also where he got a little bit dinged up and then we're like, oh no. And then he came back to addle on the side day night where he didn't come back, but he did. I mean, he he didn't miss any time after that. So I don't know, man. All I know is that as someone who has Dalvin Cook all over the place, I was scared and I thought, God darn it, I'm gonna lose him again. And I'm thinking I'm never drafting him again. He can never stay healthy. And then he came back in again. But regardless, I mean, if you've got Dalvin Cook, you have to have Alexander Madison and if and if yesterday didn't prove that, then you'll you'll never pick him up before it just it's just insurance for the sake of your blood pressure. Go get alex Yeah, how about wide receivers. So you're gonna think I'm crazy here, and maybe I am, but it we're in we thirteen, folks. There ain't much out there. T Y Hilton got dropped in a lot of leaves. Now, yesterday played fifty three snaps. He had eighty one yards in the touchdown against Tennessee. He's seeing five or more targets. This is about every game this season. He's got the Texans this week. You know, as a as a intelligent NFL fan, t Y owns Houston. He has scored fifteen plus fantasy points against him and three of his last four games. He has scored twenty six plus points against them five times in his career. So I'm not saying you go out and pick up t Y Hilton, start him. But if you're in a deeper league, maybe you have multiple flexes. Maybe you've got one of the Tampa Bay wide receivers, maybe one of the Panthers wide receivers, and you need somebody for the week. I mean, you could do worse. You could do worse. That's all I'm saying. It's not a it's not a glowing uh you know, review of t Y. I'm just telling you that he's had success against Houston and he's coming off a pretty good game. Uh. Some otherwide receivers, Gabriel Davis played fifty nine steps and had a touchdown. By the way, Cole Beasley throw that touchdown pass against the Chargers, John Brown's on injured reserve. Uh, so Davis is going to see more work moving forward. They got the Niners coming up. Not a great matchup, but again, not somebody you necessarily have to start. We're just talking about adding. Uh. Colin Johnson was the best Jaguars wide receiver. No one started him, no one picked him up. He played fifty one snaps, he had ninety six yards and nearly twenty Fantasy points. He was Mike Glennon's favorite target. I will say this, if d J. Chark and Chris Connley can't go again next week and they've got the Vikings, it's a really good matchup. I'd still rather have Keelan Cole and or Levisca alt but Johnson's clearly on the radar. A couple of other players. Basha Paraman has had double digit fantasy points in three straight games. I know it's a Jet, but whatever. And then Al Lazard had a touchdown against the Bears. And Aaron Rodgers is playing at it Banana's level at this point. So it's nice to have shares of some Packers wide receivers. So, uh, they've got the Eagles coming up in their next game. How about the how did the quarterback scene here? This one's loath thin, it's low thin if you can get Rightan Fitzpatrick. Oh get him? Uh, I hated when they replaced him. Hated it because he's so good and he makes everybody around him better. And uh yeah, that's right Fitzpatrick. I'm talking about not Dan Marino, but he had two touchdowns and nearly twenty fantasy points against the Jets. To a tongue of alow, it could be out a few weeks according to reports. Uh fits has giving your nineteen plus fantasy points in five of seven games. He's been really good. And he's got the Bengals coming up next revenge game. I know they're all revenge games for Pitts Kirk Cousins, and again, not the sexy is doing in the world. I didn't love the matchup against Carolina. I thought they were going to run them all with a lot of success, and he wasn't gonna have to throw it. Only threw it forty five times. What do I know? Had three touchdowns and over twenty six Fantasy points. He's now scored twenty plus points and three of his last four games. And he's got Jacksonville next, and they stink, uh three other quarterbacks. You're gonna yell at me here, Derek Carr, I get it. He sucked. He had six tenths of a point against Atlanta. Okay, I understand the NFL is a week to weekly. He's got the Jets next. I'm not saying he's a top ten starter, but he's got the Jets. Been hegst Okay, Philip Rivers has got Houston. That's a good matchup. And then for those who are desperate, those in two QB or super flight leagues, Mike Glennon did look terrible. It wasn't bad. Okay. I'm not saying he's a superstar. I'm just saying desperation, and then Colt McCoy could get to start for the Giants again. Desperation, Okay, And they've got I believe Seattle next on the schedule, and I understand that it's Colt McCoy. I get it, I understand, But um, you know, this is this is sort of where we're at right now, folks. This is this is deeper too. QB or super flex leagues, traditional leagues. Neither one of these guys is being touched. But I try to cover all my angles here. That's uh well, I mean that's why we bring you on. But we're not gonna let you go yet because you still gotta give us some some tight ends here. Yeah, we can do that. Um. The number one guy is, of course, the player that you should be starting during the holiday season, and that's Rudolph. Rudolph right eight targets, seven catches, sixty eight yards over almost fourteen Fantasy points against the Panthers. So Adam Feeling is out with COVID nineteen. I don't know if he's gonna come back next week. If he does, then you know, Kyle loses some of his luster for sure. But er Smith Jr. Is also dealing with injuries too, so and it's the Jaguars next week. So it is what it is. Dalton Chilts. I feel like I've been talking about Dalton ChEls, firm weaves and no one's picking him up. Maybe they just don't want Dalton Schalts. I don't know, twenty six targets in his last four games, Like that's a lot in Dalton, Like really trust this guy and Andy Dalton. You know he's a mediorocal quarterback at best. Here's the thing. I don't know if they're gonna play next week because he got the Ravens going up in Week three. I don't know what's going on with that game. So, but but Schultz is worth a look. It's always Trey Burton, who he had a fourteen percent target share against the Titans, forty two yards in a touchdown. He's giving me a ten plus points in two straight games and four of his last six. And I mean, if you can get ten from your tight end like right now, I mean, you're feeling pretty good about yourself and you know the matchup against the Texans is favorable. And then Logan Thomas, who was one of my favorite DFS players last week because I know, the Cowboys suck and he had a very good matchup sixteen point seven percent target chair. I had a touchdown, thirteen point four fantasy points. They actually remember they he threw a pass and then they also used him kind of as a as a quarterback too. I wonder if ESPN will give him a quarterback. Probably not, But they have the Steelers coming up, which is not the greatest matchup, but it's week their team, folks, and we're talking about desperation here. And Logan Thomas, he's played you know, more snaps and run, more routs, just about it in any tight end and the leaves, so he's always on the field. There you go, thin position. I mean, you can't beggars, can't be choosers at this point. Look at Thomas. Nothing wrong with that. And by the way, Tyler Bass had another big game, damn it. And how about young Waiku? Young Wayku was better than all than I think five quarterbacks he's folks. Yeah, and and look he played through injury too. He got rolled up on on an offside attempted block. There. He had twenty one points. Okay, so he scored more points than Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Tannehill Baker Mayfield, Philip Rivers, Taysom Hill, Justin Herbert, Matthew Stafford, Josh Allen, Matt Ryan. You get my points. That's that's what I mean. I have. I have a few leagues where I have young Way Coup. I still I'm so like literal with like pronunciation and h O E does not spell way to me, so I always have it in the back of my mind. I think it's young Way Coup. Dude. He was a league winner or he was a he was a matchup winner this week with those points, yep, So I had to get my kickers in there. Man. Tyler Bass was pretty good too, always always with the kickers. No fabs. We appreciate it every week. Look, he's here every Monday. He is on the SI Fantasy podcast all the time. If you hate podcasts, and I don't know how you got this far into the show if you do. But if you hate podcasts, SI dot Com slash Fantasy, get all his stuff in written form. Uh fabs. Always a pleasure. We will talk to you next Monday. You got him, man, all right? A welcome back to Jenny Brentis and we have lots more from us Sunday's actual to get to. But uh, we are gonna start with some of the off field action before we get to it. And that was a couple of a couple of firings. Always always a bummers Thanksgiving weekend. No one, no one should be fired Thanksgiving weekend. But but here we are. We'll starting Detroit. Jenny, Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn are out and and looked at they had what seemed like a playoff mandate this year from uh, from ownership. They're not going to get there, and so this was all just kind of uh, I guess kind of expected. Yeah, And the way that the team has been playing the last few weeks especially just look entirely checked out. What we described earlier about the Patriots is what the Lions are not doing. They're not still in games, even if the season might be slipping away. And I just think the biggest thing is that Patricia is supposed to be a defensive coach, and his defenses have been horrendous. I mean, obviously the win loss record is the biggest thing, but here he has a specialty and they haven't even bien good at his specialty and they haven't shown any signs of progress or building. So I think when you're valuating a coach and you just see that this is going nowhere. There hasn't been any advancement forward, there would be nothing to build off of next season. Uh. And so you make the move now so you can hire a search firm or whatever direction you decide to go in and begin the search because there's a lot of other teams now that I have a jump on the process. Connor Or has the week off, but he has h he has so many thoughts about search firm, how much he does not like search terms. But no, you're absolutely right. And look, Mampiaturchi was Bob Queen's guy that they got rid of a lot of talented players who maybe weren't fit in in Patricia's locker room. And then they brought in their own guys and it's year three and it's it's clearly not working. Like you said, defensive side of the ball, I mean they are, They're just terrible. Uh. You can't you can't live with it that way. If if Mapaturch is your coach and and Day called well out in Jacksonville, the the sort of long tenure GM there who Uh, it's just sort of I don't want to say I forgot about Dave called well, but it's like when they brought in Coughlin, it was kind of like he was you know, you sort of set aside a little bit and you sort of maybe forgot he was. He was there quite frankly, and uh, but now he is, he's no longer going to be there as as the Jaguars. You wonder if this is is this going to be it for Doug Maron? Uh, you know, you wonder if this is sort of going to lead to even more of a regime change in in Jacksonville. Yeah, it was a little surprising they didn't make the move with both the GM and the coach at the same time. UM, but it's possible that they just thought Maron let him finish out this season. He would be the best option to finish out the season. It's hard to imagine they don't change both by the time UM season is over, because it's always hard to go in with the GM and a head coach on different timelines. And this doesn't make sense. You won't get your best pick of GMS if you already have a head coach in place. And uh, the results have have been disappointing at Jacksonville. You have well, let's uh, let's go on to uh to the to the action here. Uh, Packers Bears the Sunday night game, and here's a here's a GM and a coach who are on different timelines in Chicago, and we'll see what happens with them down the stretch here. But uh, this was we'll start optimistically and talk about the Packers and what they did in this one. This was definitely the best game they played since that Thursday night blowout in San Francisco. Uh. They had forty one points in this game. And look, whatever you think about this Packers Bears matchup and the fact that the Packers, obviously you have have very much gotten the better of the Bears during the Aaron Rodgers years. Uh, Packers scored a total of thirty one points in the two meetings a year ago, and they had I mean they had twenty seven and a half. Time they end up hanging forty one on on a good Bears defense in this one. It was just for anyone sort of wringing their hands about the Packers. Maybe you're not completely out of the woods, but this certainly makes you feel very good about this team going forward. Yeah, there's just have been some inconsistencies with the Packers, and but nights like this remind you that they are really good and they give you hope that they could have some long postseason run. Because I think we're trying to, as you talked about at the top of the show, sort out the NFC picture and try to determine like who's actually good. It's different from the a f C. I think the a f C is really crowded. The NFC. We're trying to say, like, who's actually good in this conference and it's really hard to tell. Um, But despite some hiccups, the Packers are very good. The uh So the Bears end up turning to back to Mitchell Drubisky in this one, Nick Foles out, I mean, look, I I know everyone sort of queued up their their Mitchell Droubisky tweets. Uh, you know, got got the drafts ready for when Sunday night rolled around. I'm not gonna say he was good in this game, but he was. He was Okay. You could live with this performance if if the defense was not so non competitive in this one. If you're the Bears, this was I thought, this is the best their offense has looked in a very long time. And you know, he threw two interceptions. One was one was forced, one was a really bad read that he will he will, I don't know. I'll have to all have to live with that, I guess. And then he of course had you know, he lost a fumble that was scooped and scored quite frankly, if if if he was Aaron Rodgers, he probably would have gotten a face mask flag on that play. But that's neither here nor there. But uh, I mean they were aggressive. They you have to be aggressive with him. They put him on the move a little bit. They they used his legs a little bit. I don't want to overstate it, but this was a this was above the baseline of uh of acceptable quarterback play, which is something the Bears just haven't been at in a long time. You know, that's a really good way to put it, Gary. And it's a difficult situation in Chicago because they make the playoffs that first season and they make the trade for Khalil Mack and so everybody thinks they're trying to win now, and it's you know, this team is primed and it's just the quarterback that's holding them back. And by virtue of being in the draft class with Mahomes and Watson, that comparison is just hanging over to Whisky. And I just wonder if he had been in a different draft class and there wasn't always that ready comparison to be made, if um, maybe things would be a little bit different. I think about Ryan Tannehill a lot. Yes, Gary, I was just going to make that comparison go ahead. No, it's because Tannehill, because Tannell was the first Trump pick. He was he was he was like seventeenth overall that year. Um, when Tannehill sort of washed out in Miami and he was out there when the Titans signed Tannehill, it was not like a like, oh, here's our guy. Tannehill's o our saver. He was kind of like, Okay, well, this is a guy who now has no pressure on him. Uh. And that there's something just sort of liberating in that for Ryan Tannil. And obviously he found the right system. And I'm not necessarily saying true Whisky goes out there and becomes Annale, but you know, true Wisky is more like in the Blake Bortles category where no better where he lands, he's just kind of it's mean to say, but he's just kind of a punchline. And it's because he was the number two pick in front of Watson and uh and ma Homes and and had he gone late first round that year or something like that. It's just it's a different narrative and there's probably a different kind of pressure being put on him because I know he always says like, I don't do social media, I don't look at what they're they're saying about me in the media. But you can't avoid that. Yeah, Tannehill was eighth that year, but he was after Luck and r G three, so you just don't You didn't really think about it, right because Luck was supposed to be this generational prospect, which he was, but obviously injuries and the combination of circumstances um made his career go a different or action before he decided to walk away. And then r G three, there was always, you know, so much discussion about RG three, so they dominated the conversation. And then Kannahill's in Miami and you know, teams are kind of mediocre and it but it just wasn't the same level of scrutiny that Trabinsky has gone. He was the third guy who was taken after the other two guys, whereas Trabisky should have been the third guy, but he was taken first, and so the narrative gets flipped. Yeah, I mean the alternate universe where like, uh, I don't know, the Browns take Watson, and then the I don't know that the Bears take Mahomes and and Trabinsky just don't know Texans or whatever and just sort of hangs out as a Kirk Cousins type dude. And it's a much different life, probably a much happier life for him. He'll get a shot somewhere after the season. Obviously it won't be as a starter, but uh, we'll see if we'll see if he could be a successful reclamation project somewhere. But like I said, when like the Titans signed Tanna, no one, no one thought anything of it. He was just going to be a back up there and then all of a sudden, uh, you know, everything sort of worked out for him. But ah, poor Mitch um Let's let's go out to forty Rams and look have now beaten the Rams in four straight and uh both games this year we're upset victories for the forty Niners and and I mean, look, Sean McVeigh can coach Kyle Shanahan KA coach, and Shanahan has just gotten the better of him repeatedly including I mean this is, this is. We'll get into the playoff picture in a second. But um, Nick Mullins game, Deebo Samuels back, Deebo Samuel was great in this game for the forty and uh they just they have the answers, they just find the answers offensively. Yeah, I mean it was a good testimonial to Kyle Shannon's ability to coach. Their roster has just been ravaged across the board, and they've still come up with creative ways. And Robert Sala, you know, he's kind of been forgotten a little bit this year because the team's record isn't very good, but you would be very appealing head coaching candidate. And look at the game plan they put together for the Rams, especially in the first half of that game. The uh so, I don't know, we all kind of waited for the Rams to get back into this one. And and I shouldn't say of all people, but he does play defense, so you wouldn't expect that to necessarily be the case. But Aaron Donald just sort of took this game over in the third quarter and early in the fourth, uh, including a you know, a forced fumble of of Rahee Moster that end up being scoop and score. Uh. That sort of got the Rams back into and the Rams retook the lead after trailing promotes the second half, and it was just kind of like, Okay, this is going to this is going to play out as we thought it would play out. And then you just get to forty Niners end up hanging on defensively, they get too late field goals, um, and that's ah, that's it. Uh. As far as the playoff picture, you goes, look, if we're talking about alternate universes and and and I love to do that. If the Cardinals don't get that Hail Mary to beat the Bills. Right now, it is a thousand team tie for the seventh seed in the NFC at at five and six, and the Vikings are in on that, the Bears are in on that, the Cardinals would would be five and six at that point, and the forty Niners are sitting at five and six right now. So there again, kind of like the Vikings, who you know, they've been written off repeatedly this year, and yet they're still just kind of hanging around here. Yeah, they're hanging around with some of these surprising winds. And it was interesting to hear Sean McVeigh kind of publicly call out golf. I thought his comments were pretty strong in terms of we just have to do a better job of not turning over the ball. Uh. Sounded like he was sending a little bit of a message to his quarterback, whose turnover woes have really creeped up the last few weeks and have resulted in some of these bad losses for the Rams, certainly against the forty niners and then the memorable game against the Dolphins were not so memorable for golf, quite memorable for for many of us who sat through that first half. Yeah, it's uh, I mean, look, that's that's the prisoner of golf. When they get off schedule, whether it be whether it be getting into a bunch of third lungs, or whether it be a game where they fall behind. He just hasn't been good enough at this point. You kind of, uh, we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. Golf has done a very good job in a very good system over the years, but you kind of wonder if at some point, uh, they'll just kind of be looking for more, especially considering what what you have to pay a top flight quarterback uh at this point, and you know the kind of contract that Golf ended up getting. But this was Look, the Rams and Seahawks are obviously sort of battling it out for the the NFC West here. Uh, this was one that you kind of chalked up as as a as a win here for the Rams and expected win. They still they get Arizona twice. Uh, they get the Patriots at home, and they still have to go to Seattle. Seahawks have been much easier scheduled down the stretch. Obviously, we don't know what happened in Monday night yet uh in Philadelphia, But um, this was this was a tough one to get away from the Rams if they are going to end up beating the Seahawks this year in that division race. But we'll we'll see how it plays out. Um. The Vikings, Okay, so the Vikings, who again we've all given up on them multiple times this year. We probably gave up on them multiple times during this game against the Panthers on Sunday afternoon. That was just completely um, it was completely wild. And I guess we'll start with Jeremy Chin. I don't know what else you say about Jeremy Chen. He had to fummal return touchdowns. Uh. This is the Panthers rookie safety to funmal return touchdowns and a ten seconds span in the third quarter to uh to give the Panthers an eleven point lead. And it was just, I don't know, it was just kind of that sort of game, just wild, sloppy, and just a lot of just kind of stupid stuff happening in this game. Yeah, And I also feel like that sort of is how the Panthers play, that they're just kind of scrappy like that, and they come up with plays when you might not expect them. They weren't expect supposed to be very good this year, but they've come up with a lot of surprising performances. I guess plucky would be the word. And like, so that's the kind of thing, like they just come up with these plays that just seemed totally wild, but they make them happen. This was I mean, look, the Panthers are four and eight this year. I think a lot of us didn't think they win four games all season. I thought this was like a two and fourteen type of roster they put together and what is a full rebuild in Matt rules first year? But uh, they were right there in this one they end up giving up. Uh. I mean, look credit Kirk Cousins of this one. Uh they are the Vikings are down six points. Uh, they get the ball back with the minute fifty one left and and Cousins brings them seventy five yards and seven plays. Chad Beebe, who had this just crushing um muffed punt to uh to allow the Panthers to take a six point lead. Uh. He ends up catching the game when he touchdown this game where Adam Field was out because of COVID calls. It was a game the the Vikings acolutely had to have to stay in the playoff picture. And uh, and they got it. And they just got in such an unlikely series of ways. And then of course the Panthers come right back. They end up with a fifty yard fifty four yard try to potentially win it on the final play, and Joey Sly just just missing Every Panthers game ends with Joey sly Um missing a very very long field goal. That's that's a tradition at this point. Yeah. Well, and I would say for the Panthers, because the expectations were low this year, this kind of game is meaningful because it shows that, you know, you can deliver these kinds of performances. Even though they ultimately came up short. Um, that was a well played game, and you know, they they almost came out with a win against an opponent that's been well, you know, the Vikings have been up and down. As you said, Gary, I don't know exactly what to make of them, But I don't know. I I took away a lot of positives for the Panthers from that game. Yeah. Yeah, it's been a really nice season. And again and it's their professional football players. They didn't want to emphasize the moral victories too much, but this has been a really nice year for the Panthers. Uh, to just be competitive weekend a week out for the most part. Uh, let's let's go out to Denver. And this was I don't even know what else to say about the actual game. At this point. The Broncos all three quarterbacks uh ineligible to play because of COVID protocol. So they end up starting Kendall Hint in a practice squad right wide receiver who early in his career at Wake Forest played some quarterback and uh, I mean it was I mean, I don't know. They weren't going to be competitive, and um, you know Connor kind of wrote about this on on Sunday. There was something of a fascination of like, Oh, what's this gonna be. You know, they got this this dual threat guy who you know, they're throwing him in there the last minute. This might be really interesting. It wasn't very interesting. It was just they didn't have an offense. They completed one pass, they converted one third down. Uh, they scored three points that was directly off a turnover. They had one yard on that scoring drive. It was just it was just kind of stupid to to watch this game be played. Yeah, and when you are that depleted at the most important position on the field, you do worry about the safety of playing the game. I mean this came. This comes up and taking conversations all the time when you deplete your roster, are you putting your players at some risk by putting them out there, and certainly when you have an entirely depleted quarterback depth chart, you worry about that going into the game. Now I understand why it was played. I mean, the NFL is saying you essentially flouted our protocols and so you can't play. And I did think that that was a strong step to take, and they you know, but I think there's also risks that the players are exposed to as a result of that. So it just wasn't a good situation overall. And um, yeah, I agreed with what Connor wrote. I mean, I thought it was kind of hard to watch. It was super cringe e. It didn't really enjoy it at all. I do remember when I was in a beat Gary, one of the things that you would always do is go around the locker room and ask who the emergency quarterback is. Like you would try to like ferret out that information, and sometimes teams kept it very close to the vest. But I remember on the Giant Speed at one point in time it was Jeff Fiagels, the punter, he was the emergency quarterback, which was kind of a funny picture. Um, And then when I covered the Jets, I mean there was always a former college quarterback type around. I mean, Brad Smith was there for a while, so he could easily step in. I think Jeremy Curley was the emergency quarterback, so you always, you know, a lot of teams kind of have this someone around that takes emergency snaps to be prepared for a situation. But that the idea is sort of like at the end of the game, if there's a bunch of injuries and you need a couple of snaps, it's not to play an entire game. Yeah it was, and and and look, Taysom Hill ends up leading the Saints offense again, and this one they end up running forty four times for two yards in a game that again was just uh it wasn't competitive. And you're right, any look at the n f fell certainly put their foot down on this one with with the with the Broncos sort of asking to have this game uh postponed or or or whatever it might be. Uh, you just kind of wonder, I mean, I don't know, I I realized the sentiment of like, okay, absolutely, it sounds like the quarterbacks room did flout the protocols. Uh, and you want to sort of have some sort of punitive action against that. But I don't know. Maybe it's maybe it's fines, maybe it's draft picks something like that instead of like the actual game. You could have pushed this game back to Monday or Tuesday and had one of the Broncos quarterbacks participate in it. Uh, but I don't know. I mean that's yeah, yeah, and uh I do want to mention this real quick. Uh. Well, will ever so briefly open up the mail bag because Simon from Australia who is a friend of the show, and uh, Jenny, I don't know if you if you know this, but this show is very big in Australia. Um, Simon Simon, want to ask U, So Kendall Hinton had a zero point zero rating as a one for nine for thirteen yards two interceptions. That is a zero point zero rating. Uh. You want to know if there have been other zero points here? There have been a lot of zero point zeros, uh Simon over the years. Um, I have the one of my thousands of tabs. I have the list up. Actually, Um there was last week Ryan Finley in relief of Joe Burrow put up a zero point zero. Nathan Peterman in the opener um, but some good All the Mannings, Peyton, Eli and Archie each had zero point zero games. Terry bradhoe I had three of them, Warren Moon had two of them. So I don't think this is the start of Kendall Hinton's uh Hall of Fame quarterback career. But um, we have seen ugly games, whether it be weather or just just sort of horrific games by a otherwise good quarterback. Uh. That's the way. That's the way it goes sometimes, so good company evidently with yes there they're uh, they're been a lot um but but maybe none of them quite like quite like this one played out. Let's let's go to the Giants Bengals. The NFC East says, the NFCS turns here. Uh. So the Giants end up scraping this win out against a Bengal scene that I mean, look, Joe Judge, special teams coordinator become head coach. Uh. The Bengal special teams kind of kept them in this one. They get the long kickoff return, they get a fake punt conversion, they got a long punt return at the end of this one that almost with them in field goal range for a game winner before Uh it was Gibal Shear got the strip sack of Brandon Allen to seal this one for the Giant. So uh, the Giants who got the win. But the story and this one, Daniel Jones suffers a hamstring injury. Obviously, we don't know exactly what it's going to be going forward. Uh, it seems like it's significant though. And this I mean, if Daniel Jones is healthy, I I think it's it's it's not even a take anymore. I think it's just a factual statement. Say, the Giants are the favorites in the NFC East. If Daniel Jones is out in Colte McCoy is going to be the quarterback for the next couple of weeks or even just a game or two. Uh, this already chaotic division gets thrown into more chaos. Yeah, and the Giants are just getting some momentum. I mean again, this game could have gone either way, and that was not a great sign for of the overall quality of the team. But the NFC East race is its own thing, and the Giants were gaining some momentum. This was their first win outside of the NFC East. So um, and you know I would have said that the Giants were looking like a favorite at this point in time to win the division, but now the hamstring injury certainly complicates that. Oh man, that division. I mean you kind of we'll sue the Eagles to go forward and if they can, they can right the ships. Certainly they are very talented roster. Uh you kind of right out the right right off the Cowboys a little bit after that Thursday night game, although I suppose you shouldn't do that with anyone in this division at this point, but uh, Washington is again Washington just they have like no interest in scoring points, and it just seems like they were willing to just sort of sit down and be like, uh, all right, well we'll take the rest of the season off, and then all of a sudden, it's like just doing nothing is going to move them into the lead in this division somehow, like by not running the race there somehow going to win the race potentially. Is how this is going to play out, which I guess is it's the way it should end in the NFC East. Well, you mentioned some reader or listener mail earlier, and I got a d M from one of the weeks side loyal listeners, Anthony Brown, and he points out anyone who wins the NFC East is just going to be doing more harm than good because the season is a wash anyway, and you're losing draft positions, So if you get to the playoffs, you're automatically picking in the late teens. And wouldn't you be better off just you know, giving up on the year, Which is true, I mean ultimately, I mean ultimately, a playoff performance appearance rather, uh, isn't going to meet a lot for these NFC East teams. But if you're a head coach, if you're a TM, you're measured on how many times you made to the playoffs, and if you go to the playoffs, it's something to build off of. So of course that is going to be the goal, and somebody is going to win this division. But um, but yes, ultimately, in the long run, what comes of it probably not very much. Yeah, it's uh, it's I don't know. I I will say this, you're gonna get to host a playoff game if you hosted like Tom Brady in the Bucks. If you're the Giants and you get to host Tom Brady in the Bucks on playoff game, that game feels like a Super Bowl. That. I mean, that's a that's a big deal. If I were a Giants fan, I would be up for that game. I'd becumbed if they lost, but that would be something to look forward to for for a week. But but you're right, you're you're gonna jump down a bunch of spots in the draft order if uh, if that's the way it plays out, and I don't know, we'll we'll see someone's they're gonna make someone win this division and play a playoff game. We'll see who it ends up being. Uh, let's let's go up to Orchard Park where it look this Josh Allen justin Herbert matchup, that was uh, you know, you thought you're gonna see all these big plays and and all these uh fireworks here. It just didn't. It didn't happen. Both defenses did a nice job, the Bill's defense, which has been rocky this year. You know, a year ago, everyone would have said, well, Bill's defenses are strength. The quarterbacks of the problem. It's been the it's been the reverse this year. But it was kind of a throwback to that in this game. Or Josh Allen was a little bit shaky um put a couple of passes in danger, ends up only throwing one inception, but uh, there were just there were no big plays for him and this one. Uh. But on the other side, look, Justin Herbert has been the most prolific big play passer in the league since he since he gained gained the starting job here and uh, they did not get any big but I think eight team was their longest pass of the day until a hail area an other Bills opponent hail Mary here got them down near the goal line and sort of a meetingless final drive there. So, uh, nice job by the Bill's defense. Yeah, it was definitely one of those mixed bag performances for the Bills, because while Alan has taken several steps forward this year, the defense had taken a step back, and so this was a nice performance to sort of maybe get the defense trending back towards where it was last season, or at least to say, hey, we shut down a really good promising on quarterback that a lot of other teams have had trouble with. But on the flip side, it wasn't a great day for Josh Allen. Yeah, Josh Allen is streaky. That's what we're going to see down the h down, the stretcher Cole Beasley end up throwing a throwing a touchdown on a trick play, and uh, that's the way this one went. I mean, Bill's led for most of it, but it just was kind of more interesting than, uh, than they probably would have hoped at this point. But uh, let's let's stay in the a f C East Dolphins du heat pays still a game back of the Bills in the division. Ryan Fitzpatrick back in starting line up for the injured ta uh and he was he was fine. I mean, look at running backs, lost two fumbles in this one. It was sort of just sloppy game for Miami, but obviously you have a certain margin for error when you're going up against the Jets. Yeah. Now, I guess the question is when will to be able to return? And Dolphins needed a win like this to stay on track to to potentially be in play for They're still in play for the f C East, but perhaps more likely a wild card. Um. But yeah, I'm just curious to see what happens with two of the rest of the season. That still is the big question, you know, when will he be able to return from the thumb injury, and how will he play when he does. I like Brian Floor is playing the word game a little bit the the when he's healthy, he'll he'll be back in the lineup and we'll see. I mean, if if Ryan Fitzpatrick strings together a bunch of wins here, I mean, does does that thumb linger a little bit longer than uh maybe people expect did for a for Tuah, but I don't know. I mean, look, Dolphins are are collecting wins here, and that's a good thing. And I think there's no doubt that going forward. If you're looking at one and beyond, it's it's to his team and and they'll get there eventually. Just see how urgently they they switch back to it. Uh as far as Jets go, I mean they look at still leading the Trevor Lawrence Derby, Sam Donald returned to the lineup, was was just again not good. Dolphins defense is a tough match for young quarterback, but Donald just I mean it's it's he's not doing anything to uh prevent the Jets from taking a quarterback at the top of the draft, and uh, that's just that's the way it's going to be there. I mean, it's so strange. Gary, I was reflecting a little bit on that draft and Donald was supposed to be the safest selection. And it's not all his fault. I mean, he's been in a tough situation New York, and um, he hasn't had a lot of support around him. If you look at the players that he's been throwing too, it's uh not an imposing cast of characters. They let Robbie Anderson go to Carolina. Um, and the gaze pairing hasn't been what they had hoped. But you know, he was supposed to be the safest one with the highest floor, and um, the Jets felt really good about being able to get him where they did. Yeah. Yeah, well we'll see. I mean he'll he'll probably have to to sit for a year or two wherever he goes next. But um, I've been saying, Pittsburgh, Go go to Pittsburgh. The weird thing about Sam Donald and so many quarterbacks are succeeding in these highly schemed offense that involved a lot of play action. Donald has never been a very good play action quarterback. Um, which is unusual, but not to Ben Roethlisberger is not a play action quarterback. Aaron Rodgers for the longest time was not a play action quarterback. I think there's room in the league for those guys, even if it's not sort of the trendy thing to to be. So I've been saying, send Donald to Pittsburgh and let him learn behind Ben for a year or two and then see if he can sort of recapture this thing. But it's not. It's not working. The Frothford and I did want to mention before we move on. Uh, Jason Sanders two for two from beyond fifty yards Again, the Dolphins kicker has made ten straight from beyond fifty. That's a uh, that's very good. That's a very good story. Wow. Yeah, let's go to Brown's. Browns finally don't have to play in a monsoon. They go down to Jacksonville and just play a normal game against the Jaguars, even if it was a little bit dicey and um overall, I mean, look, the game was too close for comfort, and I I don't think any Browns fans are going to be upset about hearing that assessment. Uh, Mike Glennan is under you know, under center for the Jaguars here in this one, and uh, if the Jaguars got to stop the Browns end up converting a screen pass on third and twelve to seal the game. But if if the Jaguars could have gotten off the field there, they would have gotten the ball back with a chance to come back, come down and kick a field goal to win it. But the Browns, who hang on Nick Chubb another big day Baker Mayfield was everyone will point to the really bad and he had a couple of really bad misses in the end zone. Just just gimme throws that he just missed on. Uh. But other than that, he was I mean, he was good. He was he was accurate for the most part, he was he was efficient. I thought it was an encouraging step forward for for sort of a young quarterback having again kind of a rocky season this year. Yeah, I mean this game was definitely a little bit more dramatic than maybe the Browns had hoped for going into it. But they end up coming out with a win while the Raiders, which I know we're getting to next lose and all of this is important as it comes to the a f C playoff picture. Yeah, and the Raiders go down to Atlanta. I I just look, I have so many nice things to say about the Las Vegas Raiders and and how they've sort of I mean, look, they're not terribly talented, and they have one game and the games, and they haven't won games like Flukey means. They've just they just sort of won games. They played better than they uh that than to some of their parts. And I mean this was a complete meltdown in Atlanta, a game that you thought they get and I mean, I don't know, I know if it's just a letdown after you almost upset the Chiefs and and all that stuff, but I mean, this was this fell apart. They end up, they end up with five turnovers for them, lost fumbles, Josh Jacobs left with an injury, although that might have been sort of the result of just the game not being competitive and not putting a slightly banged up player back in, but uh, this was this felt like kind of a death knell here for for the Raiders. Yeah. I did have the feeling of a letdown game, but it is a little reministion of last year where they really sputtered toward the finish and they've been in good position to make the playoffs here and you know it'll be interesting to see what happens in the coming weeks if if they sputter again, but I think they have the next so hopefully that is a hopefully for the Raiders. That will, you know, be an easy way to get back on track, a nice way to get right there. All right, Jenny, you will be on the week Side podcast coming out Tuesday. If if y'all out there don't already subscribe to it, you should. Uh Connors out this week, but uh man, I am can you say the special guest? I? I yes, I love I love Rohan Uh, a NBA writer at at the s dot com and uh huge Dolphins fan. And I used to sit right behind them and we talked Dolphins all the time, and I would try to convince him that Adam Gaze was was overachieving with his terrible roster and he wasn't really hearing it. He wanted to was so bad and now he's gotten to it. But he lives in l A now, so we never talked about it anymore. Yeah. Yeah, and the office is closed, but regardless, very excited. We will have a lot of Dolphins talk on this show. Even comparing for this for a while. Connor Or is out on paternity leave, so we've been having Rohan lined up for a few weeks as the special guests whenever the baby came. Um. Now, we didn't think it would be after a week where Ryan Fitzpatrick was starting again, but this is the chaotic Dolphins season, so there's just lots to unpack. It's fitting, it's very fitting. I'm very much looking forward to that show and uh and Jenny, thanks again for joining us. We will see you next week. Yes, always fun. The mm QB Monday Morning NFL Podcast is Jenny Brentsis and me Gary Gramling. We are produced by Shelby Royson s Eys. Executive producer of podcast is Scott Brody. Ben Eagle is director of Editorial Projects and product Mark Rabick is Emeritus editor of the MMQB and Andy Benoit is the founder of the MQB NFL Podcast. Be sure to subscribe to this feed, as well as all the feeds for the m m QB shows, The weak Side Podcast featuring Jenny and Connor, the Albert Brier Show featuring Albert Breer. They're all for free on Apple podcast and once you do subscribe, please leave a rating and review for all of it. Really does help other people find the shows, which are also available on Spotify, radio dot com, Sitcher, s dot com, and wherever else you listen to podcasts.

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