Week 15 Recap: Jets Rock the World, Bears Get Back In It | NFL Deep Dive

Published Dec 21, 2020, 5:30 PM

Jenny and Gary run down the Week 15 action, including the stunner in L.A. as the Jets get the win but fall behind in the Trevor Lawrence sweepstakes. Plus, a battered Patrick Mahomes holds off the Saints, the Cardinals hang on to a playoff spot despite Jalen Hurts's star turn, the Bears are back in it behind a new offensive approach and Mitchell Trubisky, the Browns offense stays hot in East Rutherford, and much more.

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Hello, and welcome to the m m QB Monday Morning NFL Podcast. I'm your host, Gary Grantling. I am joined once again by Jenny Brentis of the week Side Podcast. And and Jenny, we look at these matchups sometimes and and when it's early in the season, like remember when the Jaguars knocked off the Colts week one and it was a surprise, but no one was like, oh, my goodness is the But you get late in the year and you see the win loss records and and you can really assign more quantitative value to each team, and uh, sometimes you forget that these are two professional football teams playing each other and uh, you know, the guys on on the other side get paid just as much as the guys on the team. That maybe is like playoff contention. But anyways, I that's my long and choppy and sloppy waves saying, Uh, the Jets beat the Ramps, and I guess we're all trying to come to grips with it right now. That was an unexpected finish and last week's Power Rankings, I said that it seemed unlikely the Jets would avoid Owen sixteen and that their game against the Rolling Rams was an inauspicious opportunity. So I certainly look silly, Gary, Perhaps I provided some bullets in boarder material. Just kidding, um, But you know, good for the Jets, Maybe not the franchise as a whole, but for the players and the coaches. I remember talking when we did a tanking story last year regarding the Dolphins. Gary, I remember talking to some players who were on the o N sixteen teams in Cleveland team in Cleveland, and the stain that that has on your career. You never live that down, is what they say. Um. And so I think just you have some happiness for players and coaches being able to avoid that everlasting stain being lumped into that o N sixteen category that no one wants to be a part of. And um, there were some remarkable plays that made that upen, including one from a punter. Yeah it was uh, look, Jets jump out to three lead. Ultimately they look, they stayed on the field, they controlled the ball for thirty four minutes. That that was the most they've ever done. Uh in an Adam Gaze game here. But yeah, you're right, a Brandon man that tackle on it was Simbowebster. The Rams had all this momentum going, it just felt like that game was going to get away. And I'm not sure this necessarily made you feel any differently, because it seemed like the Rams are going to go in and get points one way or another. But Simbawebster, you know, broke through in this punt return, and there was Brandon Man making the tackle at the Jets forty three yard line to prevent the go ahead touchdown and as we know in the end, keep the Rams from getting on the scoreboard. But you're right when it happened. Okay, he prevented the touchdown, and that would have been an easy way for the Rams to score automatically put them ahead. But the Rams had the ball in Jets territory, they were only trailing by three. It seemed inevitable that they would at least kick a field goal and probably get into the end zone. But that was what was most confounding, I think, Gary, is here's this playoffs bound team and they couldn't advance far enough from within the jets own territory to uh win the game or at least push it to overtime. Yeah, it was, like I said, it's twenty to three at at one point in the third quarter. Uh, the Rams did get it going. They they moved the ball with relative ease. In the second half, Quintin Williams went out with the concussion. That that was in. Quintin Williams was an absolute force in this game before he had to leave with the concussion. But Williams was out. Rams were moving the ball with again, just you know the way you would have expected them to move it in this game. In the second half they got into third and four and I I don't want to be the guy who sits here and talks on the podcast like he knows football better than Sean McVeigh, because that is it's nowhere near the truth. But um, you just kind of hated the low percentage throws that Jared Goff attempted on the on the final two snaps here for the Rams. Uh, the one had no chance. I mean that that wheel route for cam Akers coming out of the backfield that was well defended. It just wasn't gonna work out. Uh. The last one for Gerald Everett, Marcus may makes a great play on it. The ball is slightly underthrown. It was open. I mean, if if the ball gets out there, it's open. It's just not a it's it's not a high percentage play. Yeah, and there was plenty of time left on the clock at that point. You didn't have to worry about going to the sidelines or going for the end zone. All you needed was a slant or across or there are a lot of other options there. So it's hard to know exactly what the play design was. But I agree Gary, both of those plays in Marcus may as you said, made a fantastic bat away on that last one. But um, even still, that would be a difficult path to complete. Yeah, it's ah and and again, look if the ball is out one yard further and Gerald E. Wrick catches it and goes into the end zone. We're talking this morning about Sean mcveigh's, uh, you know, great call and Jared Goff's great throw to to you know, steal this win from the Jets here. But yeah, in the end, look the Rams defense, which this seemed like one of the biggest, uh, unit versus unit mismatches of the season, Rams defense going against Jets offense. Uh, they couldn't get off the field and and they needed to stop the Jets from getting two first downs on the final drive and they couldn't. The Jets got him and and that's how that's how it went down. That that bad away by Marcus May ended up being the final snap for the Rams offense. Yeah, it was just an unexpected turn and it, you know, shook up the order in the NFC West for the time being. The Seahawks would be the division champion, would would be in that that spot in the NFC playoff picture. Um. So it's just unusual to see, you know, a team get tripped up. No one else had lost to the Jets this season. That the Rams have been playing well, Um, but clearly they have some some issues with the offense to sort out a little bit. And I think the protection upfront is one of the reasons that things have gone a little bit awry. Um. Certainly they're they're missing Whitworth. They just have seemed a little bit off kilter in terms of that. Yeah, they've three these past four games. They've been really bad on third downs, which uh is kind of result of not saying ahead of the sticks like they usually they were in third and absurdly long a bunch of times in the first half of this game. Uh, And that's just kind of way it played out. The good news for the Rams is essentially they are playing in NFC West title game in Seattle, uh in Week sixteen. And if they win that, and we saw them handle the Seahawks with the relative ease earlier this year, Uh, they win that game, you know, we all forget about this one. We've been saying all all see in the two through seven seed in the playoffs this year really not a big difference. There's not a huge home field advantage for anyone, and not to mention, the two seed does not get to buy anymore, so uh, not a big deal in the larger picture of things. If they go to Seattle and win, we'll all kind of just you know, write this one off as as a bummer of a week and then they go into the postseason. Uh of course. Look, the other side of this is the Jets now get knocked out of the top spot for the time being, at least for the number one pick for the Trevor Lawrence sweepsakes Lawrence, who is uh again, no one's no one's a sure thing. Uh. Coming out of college and transitioning to the NFL, Lawrence is as close to a sure thing as we've seen I don't think there's a hot take. He's as close to a short thing as we've seen since Andrew Luck. Uh, it's just very difficult to imagine him not becoming a franchise quarterback. And then, of course you know your factor in working wage scale, on the fact that you'll you'll have him on the cheap deal for for three years, etcetera, etcetera. Um, the Jets, if they're in that two spot, there are three very good second tier quarterbacks. Very good is a very backhanded compliment to to make about these guys. Uh, they'd all be legitimate candidates to go number one overall if Lawrence was not in the draft. That's a Ohio States justin Fields, b y use Zack Wilson, and Trey Lance of North Dakota State, who of course only played the single game this year, but was very highly regarded coming into the season. So the Jets can settle on one of those guys and have them on the cheap deal for a couple of years. They can go back to donald and and maybe take a Penny Suwell type. I mean, if they had Seuel and Mackay Beckton as their book end tackles, that's a h that is automatically one of the best uh tandems in the league. Or you know, maybe they get a huge offer, maybe someone falls in lovel with one of the quarterbacks. But um, that's my long way of saying, they'll get to draft season, they'll get to assess those three quarterbacks and then they will get to measure them against Sam Arnold and make a decision. Yeah, it's a much more interesting conversation. Now. If you're in position to draft Trevor Lawrence, you draft Trevor Lawrence because, as you said, Gary, he's regarded as the surest thing since Luck, and it's it's a no brainer decision for a team that would be in a position to draft him. If you can't get Trevor Lawrence, then you do have a lot of different paths to go. And have you seen enough from Donald late in the season, Um, do you think that it's worth seeing if you can salvage and supplement other places on the roster as you described, So it's becomes suddenly this interesting conversation, Whereas for most of the season we've just been expecting, Okay, they'll take Trevor Lawrence. Sam Donald era is over and the Jets are you know, on a different path now. The Bengals are sweating out a little bit too, because they were penciling sewell as as the best non quarterback in this draft and exactly the type of guy they needed with the three pick. And now that all of a sudden that to that's maybe not locked in as much as as we thought. But um, uh yeah, I don't know that there are a lot of like, you know, uh, well, they still have to take a quarterback. Well, they can't take a quarter right, Well, they have to figure out if they like the quarterbacks or not. I mean, they're all they're all individuals. It's not just pencil in a quarterback like it's fantasy football. It's do you like one of the quarterbacks and if so, uh take him and if you don't like him, stick with Donald. That's the that's the that's the way it plays out in the end. Uh. Let's go to the other side of the standings here. This is the Chief Saints matchup, which was sort of the Marquis matchup, which which I don't know, it's just sort of our minds were blown by the Jets upset, which happened so early in that four o'clock window, and it was kind of like we were all like in a daze watching the end of Chief Saints here, but this was this was a difficult game for Patrick Mahomes, who really got knocked around in this one. And uh, that's kind of been something I feel like we've seen it more this year than in past years where Mahomes has just had some games where uh, he is just under heavy, heavy heat here and it's working. But I don't know, I don't know if you necessarily say, like, well, you worry about it, but you do kind of worry. Are are they going to get to January and get uh you know, maybe they get a Steelers team and that pass rush that that sort of takes over a game, which is what we've seen happen to the Chiefs. You can count it on one hand, but you've seen it happen to this Chief's offense a few times over the last three seasons. Yeah, And you see Mahomes make plays to escape that have a pressure at times, but there are situations where you just can't escape. The pressure gets there too quickly. And the line, as you mentioned, Gary, has been an issue the last few weeks. And I think that does cast some concern. I mean, the Chiefs are still winning games, so they're finding ways to overcome that. But if you get into a matchup or suddenly you can't rely on Mahomes to make magic on every single play, then maybe their outlook is not so rosy. Yeah, and it's uh for the Saints side of this, I'm mean their defense, I think played as well as you could have expected in this game. It's a really good defense. Uh. I thought they matched up with the Chiefs very well when it was all said and done. Drew Brees in his first game back from the thumb injury, though, just it was just kind of all out of sink here for the Saints offense. And again no Michael Thompson this one. We've seen Breeze play without Michael Thomas this year and they've been fine. They They've been averaging almost thirty points a game without Thomas and with Breeze in the lineup this year. But uh, this was again, you know, one one for eleven on on third down. I mean, that's just not gonna get it done against the Chiefs here, no matter how good your defense plays. Yeah, Breeze just looked a little bit uncomfortable or unsure of himself in several situations. And the Saints certainly made the right decision to sit Michael Thomas for the rest of the regular season, hoping he gets They put him on i R so he has to miss three games. Hopefully he gets healthy for the playoffs. Is what their projection is, and that's the right thing. But you can see the short term impact. Yes, Breeze has played well without Michael Thomas, but I do think when he's coming off of an injury and he's a little bit off, that's when it really does help to have a receiver like Michael Thomas who knows him so well, but who also has the ability to kind of make spectacular plays to sort of maybe offset that that slight margin of error that that Breezes showing. So um, I think that showed up, but they still made it interesting down the stretch. And you do wonder if if Cam Jordan didn't get ejected, Uh, how would things have played out? That was a soft dejection for Cam Jordan. That was that was I watched it several times. I think you could the replay angle was not great. I did think on the one angle you could see that he closed the fist, and depending on what view they had of that, they probably were thinking, Okay, there's a closed fist and that's an immediate ejection. But I agree, Gary, it wasn't something that happened like after the play. It was while being engaged with the lineman, which is like, you know, part of his job. So yeah, yeah, I'll keep an open mind about it. But that was that was tough. That's a tough way to lose her, your your defensive player of the year caliber pass rusher there. But you're right, look very good, very good. Uh. Drive to wrap this one up here for the Saints. Uh, maybe maybe you build off that a little bit going forward, a little bit of optimism going to the next game. This number one seed for them the NFC, and again that two through seven, it's a jumble, and it's it's no one really has an edge over anyone when it comes to that seating. Uh, they're probably gonna be in that. You know, packers. Did anyone ever say magic number in uh? In NFL terms? I guess like the magic number is eleven wins or something like that, like baseball. So in baseball, it's always like, you know, if your magic numbers five. It's like a combination of five wins of yours or or win your wins plus the team chasing use losses. That's the worst phrasing can possibly be. But when that combines to five, you you clinch that spot. So in other ways, like the Saints magic number is one right now, excuse me, the Packers match numbers one right now in the race for the number one seed. If they win one more game or the Saints lose win, lose one more game, then the Packers clinch. That was the worst description of magic number you could possibly have, but uh, there you go. I like it. There's a little clunky, but the point got across. A little clunky, A little clunky is is a very nice way of putting it, Jenny, I thank you for that. But yes, the long story short is the Packers are on the verge of clinching. If they win one more game, or if the Saints lose one more game, that that oh so valuable number one seed in the NFC. So uh, Saints have some have some work to do in January. Now, all right, hang on one second, Jenny, because it is time for the s I Fantasy Second presented by Draft Kings. As always, every Monday, we are joined by Michael Fabiano at cop Smash Fantasy and the s I Fantasy podcasting FABS. We Are, we Are. We're going into championship week for most leagues, and uh, I imagine those of you who got to face people who may be picked up and started Jared Goff for feeling pretty good on Monday. Jared Goff's a bum. He's a bob. I hate Jared Goff right, not as a human being. I'm sure he's great. I said it in the preseason that didn't exist. He was the player that I disliked the most because he's He's Jared Goff. He had that one big year and outside of that, he's been mediocre. When you're at home against the Jets, this team, I don't want a game all year, all year. A lot of people think, well, they're taking for Trevor at home. You're the freaking Rams, you're contending for your division title, you're going to the play offs, and you laid down and show your belly to the freaking Jets. How do you score fifteen points against the Jets? I mean, honestly, going going third and twenty threes in that game. I had Golf as my QB twelve, so in the twelve team league, I advised people to start him and I hate golf. I hate him, And against my better judgment, I said, it's the Jets. You Golf, You stink, you a You are awful, Okay, I mean, how bad do you have to be? You got held at two D nine yards through the air by the Jets. You're an embarrassment. Oh my goodness, gracious. And it wasn't just him, Cooper Cup. What the hell was that? Jesus, at least if you had Robert Woods or Tyler Higbee, you know, or cam Akers okay, you know? And what about the Rams defense? There was not a better play ever ever among to see defenses in this year. Then the Rams at home against the j t S. They scored three points. I couldn't get a stop, could note? How was that? That's bad coaching. Sean McVeigh should be ashamed himself. I'm sure he is. But this is why never again, never again, never, I will never. I don't care who he's playing. I will never he's playing Seattle this week they suck against I don't care. I will never tell anybody to draft or start Jared Golf again. Never it's not gonna happen ever, Nope, not doing it. Don't care. So if he has three huge games in a row, it doesn't I'm saying, said him, I don't care. Screw Jared Golf. Sorry, I know it's the holiday season, but he was a god dark grinch. Man? Is he your holiday card? Was? It was? It was very profane having to deal with jaredy Golf. This here, he's not getting anything. I wouldn't even get that guy a fruitcake. Well, let's let's start with the quarterbacks. With plenty of plenty of teams out there stream quarterbacks. One's if you're looking at Week sixteen, you're in the championship. What what are you looking at here? I said Jalen Hurts last week? Pick him up? He went, But you have those thirty eight points against Arizona, right, Remember I was saying. I was like, this is gonna be a fun matchup between him and Kyler. It was, man, I mean, absolute fantasy bonanza. Hurts scored almost sixty points in his last two games, his first two NFL starts. You got the Cowboys coming up next. Why the Cowboys keep winning games? Stop stop, I want to eye draft pick. I don't wanna, I don't want this. I think we had what we got the Eagles, and I think we got the Giants the next two games, so right, so whatever, Yeah, I'm a little bit bummed out that that we won that game, but I mean, whatever it is. What it is, Hurts is a very very good ad to a Tonglona, like, how can you like the matchup last week and through the area did nothing? He had a hundred forty five yards, but he rush for two touchdowns and and that's big. Now he's got the Raiders. The Raiders stink their defense is terrible at home. It's actually they've been giving it up to quarterbacks at home. I mean, look at Herbert last week. So to is worth in that Baker Mayfield. Now Baker, he had been hard to trust earlier on in the season, hadn't been a good quarterback from a fantasy perspective. Last four games eleven total touchdowns, twenty plus points three times, and he's got the j A t S this week. Baker could be a top twelve play. Mitche Trobiski also has got the Jaguars this week, and then Marcus Mariota. The matchup is not great against Miami, but in two QB and super flexed leagues, I mean he's he's certainly worth a look. All right, how about the uh? How about the running backs? Here? Anyone out there? There are now Levian Bells available and about forty plus percent of leagues on ESPN and about fifty on Yahoo. If you're in a competitive league, he might not be out there, but look like when I looked at the ownership percentages, I was like, Wow, he's available on a bunch of leagues. Uh. He had fourteen point six points against the Saints, which is pretty good because the Saints defen is really good against the run. Uh and and the glide Clyde Edwards Hilaire is out for the rest of the regular season. Bell's got the Falcons coming up, which is not the best matchup in the world, but they just gave up two touchdowns to Leonard for net so Bell is on the and then Tony Pollo I told you, I said, I said a month and a half ago. Tony Pollard is gonna make an impact at some point and just in time. And if I'm the Cowboys, well, if I'm a fantasy manager, Please put him on. Put Zeke ONR. Please just put him please. Tony Pollard is a better back right now, he is. He's a better back. Explosive. I mean, the guy went bananas. He had a hundred three or two yards and two times. That was better. That was a better performance. And Zeke's had a long time to keep him out. Cowboys, keep Zeke out. I don't care how much you're paying him. Rest of him up for next year. He'll be good next year and right now, don't do it. Uh, keep him off the field. Uh. Salvan ak meg huge game a D seven yards over one fantasy points against the Patriots. He played forty three staffs. So it's Myles Gaskin remains on the COVID nineteen list. Matt's got the Raiders coming up next. It's a hell of a matchup. Uh. Jeff Wilson Jr. Who we told you to pick up last week. He had a pretty good game. I mean he mostly can't stand healthy. Uh. And Sonny Michelle is also worth an ad assuming Damian Harris is out. He's got the Bills next week. Kind of an unexciting, you know, like he's not very inspiring, but I mean it's Week sixteen, folks. How about the how about the receiver group here? Yeah, we got some good ones. Right, So Russell Gauge, who's about who's available all over the place. He had ten targets, almost eighteen points against the Bucks. He has scored thirty five plus combined points in his last two games. And as long as Julio is out, Gauge is worth a look. And they've got Kansas City coming up next. Ummannuel Sanders, Right, he didn't have a huge stat line, but he had five targets almost twelve points against the Chiefs. And Michael Thomas is on injured reserve, So Sanders is the number one wide receiver now, and Drew Brees is back, and briefly, I mean he didn't look great. He's still had a good fantasy game, right, That's one thing I've learned. Don't doubt Drew Brews uh and Sayers in in the saint side of five gigs and their past defenses. Garden uh k qt. I've been talking about him for a couple of weeks. He's still available in a lot of leagues. Uh nineteen targets, He's average over fifteen points this week thirteen he's got the Bengals coming up, and they stick some other guys, Tyron Johnson. I don't know if Keenan Allen's gonna play. Damn you Keenan Allen. Um, But Tyron has had two good games in a row. Richard Higgins for the Browns, Greg Ward for the Eagles, and in some deeper leagues maybe Darnell Mooney against Jacksonville this week. All right, And we talked about it every week, even though we don't like to tight ends. Anything out there for tight end it's wicked thing. Okay, the guys that I'm gonna suggest are fifty percent owned or less. Logan Thomas. I was wrong about Thomas last week. Seattle had been really good against tight ends. Thomas at thirteen targets hundred one yards over twenty three points. He's got thirty targets in he's average nineteen points since week thirteen. He's got the Panthers next. So I mean, geez, luise I, that's the Ron rivera revenge game, by the way. Um. Then Tyler Hagbee, who I said last week he's a good streamer Jets. He was one of the rams who actually helped you. Right, he had over sixteen points. Uh, he's scored twelve plus and two of his last three. He's got the Seahawks coming out next. And then Austin Hooper had a nice game against the Giants. Now Cleveland goes back to New York to face the Jets and they're the worst team in the league against tight end. So Austin Hooper, he's out there in about fifty percent of the leagues. And then if you're looking deep, Tyler Eiffert, who has been uh involved in a lot of fantasy football team names. Yeah, and you know, and you know, you know, you know the joke, right, you know you know the joke. You know joke? No, but can you can you say it? Is it clean? Yeah? Basically it's c I want. One year one of my team was called it hurts when effort. Okay, all right, yeah that's a good one, man. I'm going to allow it. Yep, yep. Ah. He's got the Bears and they are terrible against tight ends. Who's Tyler Conklin, by the way, whoever he is. He had a good game and er Smith Jr. Dropped the touchdown, But whatever, So Tyler ifort i furt you know what I'm talking about um, yeah, that's that's a good matchup against you. Oh by the way, and by the way, by the way, Tyler Bass big game. Oh yeah, oh yeah, young way too big game. Greg's are lying big game, just saying, just saying. I'm just saying. Kickers has perfect from fifty perfect. He's a good beast man. That guy's been. Yeah, he's been very good, very good. This too, This show took a very sophomork turn. I'm glad good. It's it's the time of the season to get your night jokes out there, which I had never It opened my mind and and the crap on golf, yes to something else. I'm gonna do it my serious sex tim show tonight. Uh serious x M Fantasy Sports Radio eight E Stern, Me and Mike Dempsey on Monday. I am going to go off on Jared golf Off. I'm gonna go I've got a rant in me, man. I started it a little bit this morning. It's like seven o'clock on the on the left coast. It's gonna be fun. It's gonna be fun. And uh, we'll also have fun with the Jets too, because only the New York Jets when they win, they lose m. Do you think that shot Khan has has gone into the uh you know, gone into the coaching staff and the players and said, hey, folks, listen, guys play football, make a lot of money. Let's not give maximum effort. The lost two weeks. I was gonna say, and look back at them. They'll look back and be like, yeah, I remember when we almost made the super Bowl in twenty seventeen, and and now nobody's here anymore. Like you don't worry about it. You want you want the stadium to be full next year. It's it's it's it's not time. Yeah, it's just you're good. You're good. It's all good. You're still gonna get paid, you know, just just not you know, not maximum effort. It's all good. Bringing bringing Greg Williams a consult on the Tunue defense and we'll we'll be good. The Jets who were lined up to have the franchise quarter and they've had several guys that they thought could be like Donald bite Sanchez, you don't. You don't make USC quarterbacks your franchise quarterback. They typically don't pan out um, but this kid's I mean, geez, Louise, he's good and now, the Jets likely aren't gonna get them. They'll probably keep Donald, they'll pick up his fifth year option. They'll suck again, and the Jaguars will start ascending in the I wonder, I wonder if the NFL could put Jacksonville Jets on the schedule next year, assuming the Jags get Trevor Lawrence, that would be freaking got No, they'll they'll definitely play because they'll both be last place. So I don't know. Yeah, I don't even know what the division rotation is, but they'll they'll play head to head. D That's gonna be great. Trevor Lawrence goes into the MetLife Stadium against Sam Donald and just lights the Jets on fire. Oh god, it's gonna be so funny. It's it's it's one to circle schedule. Oh man, all right, tabs, everyone other say, say a prayer for Jared Golf. He's he's he's got him. Man, he's the great dude. But listen, listen, listen. I want to I want to make a couple of things clear here. Uh fabs, you're gonna be back for Week seventeen. For for the weirdos out there who do Week seventeen leagues or Week seventeen championships or rubber it might be. But you'll also be here through Super Bowl. We're gonna have a playoff stuff. I I play in playoff leagues. That that's when my leagues do their postseason. So uh, still plenty of stuff to talk about year in the SI Fandies segment presented by Draft Kings as always Michael Fabian. Catch them on the s I Fantasy Podcast, catch them at SI dot com Slash Fantasy Fabs. Have a wonderful Christmas here and we'll talk to you next week. Merry Christmas, Happy holidays everybody out there. It's been a pleasure being on and looking forward to, uh keeping fantasy football alive after most people have already stopped playing. Hey man, that's why we have games still pay plenty to do in January. That right, alright, we welcome back Jenny Rerentis and and Jenny, we're getting into the uh, really getting into the guts of this playoff race here in the in the NFC, which is kind of delightful. I don't know, it's it's not good, but it's certainly competitive. And we'll start out in Arizona for the Cardinals. Eagles, and this one ended up being Look, this is this was an all out shootout. This was this was some fun football. Here the two former Oklahoma quarterbacks going head to head. Uh, Cardinals shop out to a sixteen nothing lead, and it looked like, Okay, well maybe this is just gonna be a blowout. Maybe the Cardinals will just um outclass Jalen Hurts and the Eagles in this one. Uh, Kyler Murray and and Deanre Hopkins were clicking for it's I mean, they've been clicking all year, but it was especially impressive in this game. But uh, I guess kind of the story of this one end up being Jalen Hurts takes another step and uh the Eagles were right there in the end. Yeah, I was impressed by Hurts his play. He led the team back from a deficit um. There are a lot of plays that he thought might go nowhere, but he made something happen. And you know, I heard some comments like, well, all of a sudden, the other players around him are playing better. But I do think there's something too. When a player like Hurts is in there bringing a spark to the team that kind of elevates the level of the rest of the offense. UM, and I think you're seeing that. I. Uh, we'll get into Wentz in a little bit, but UM, I mean, look, you just kind of get the sense that the other Eagles players, based on their comments and based on their play, maybe are just enjoying this run a little bit more with Jalen Hurts than than they were with Wentz. Uh. And again, you know, winning a game and being competitive another game certainly helps it out and and and all that. But uh, this is turning into you know, we talked about it last week and it was kind of like, well, if you were to end the season right now and head into you uh, you know, next summer, you'd probably have a pre legitimate quarterback competition here. And I don't know if Hurts strings together two more games like this, I don't even know if there's a quarterback competition. I think it's just time to talk to Carson Wentz about restructuring his deal so you can trade him somewhere else if he doesn't want to be a backup and uh and going from there, and that's kind of how it plays out. Uh. I will say that the two warning flags I sort of put up here is UH number one look at the Eagles were playing from behind for most of this game. I always, you know, people get worked up over sort of the cumulative stats when it comes to that, and you know, you do put up numbers when your team is playing from behind. You have to play quickly, You have to throw it a lot uh fifty something drop backs for hurts in this game. So, uh, it was a game that was made to put up numbers. But the you know, the the quality was there too. He sailed a couple of passes that could have turned into interceptions, uh and and didn't. And if you know, if that happens and maybe this game ends up being uh twenty eight nothing type of game in the first quarter, then things play out differently. But again, the actual performance was good. Alshon Jeffrey, I don't know, I don't know what was going on with the Cardinals defensive backs that they couldn't cover Alshon Jeffrey, But they couldn't cover Alshon Jeffrey, and it felt like it felt again Yeah, And I thought there were some issues in the Cardinals secondary that I keep to leave on. The broadcast did a really good job of pointing out he would diagnose the coverage and say they were supposed to be in trail and that they were supposed to be under the receiver um And you know, it's hard for for anyone from the outside watching to determine the defensive play call. But I think I keep the Leap has as good insight into that as anyone having played for as long as he did. And it just seemed like there were some situations in which the way that Cardinals defensive backs were playing gave a distinct advantage to the Eagles receivers, and in many cases the Eagles took advantage of that. So the Cardinals sitting at are what are the now eight and six exactly where we are eight and six right now? So they are, uh, they are in that seventh seed in the NFC, and right now they are trying to hold off the red hot Chicago Bears. The the Mitchell Drubisky revival tour continues, and look, we talked about this, I think after that first start back when he lost to the Packers, and we kind of wonder like, yeah, down the line and in a couple of years, if you had Drubisky in one of these highly schemed offenses like you see in in in Cleveland, or Tennessee or Minnesota, and you know, could he be one of those guys? Could he be a Kirk Cousins or or maybe even a Ryan Tannehill type guy later in his career. And the offense that the Bears have run out the last couple weeks has trended more and more into that style. And it was I mean, if you were to I don't know if you were a color blind or something or or couldn't tell which team was which. Uh, the Bears offense looked almost exactly like the Vikings offense in this game. It looked like Gary Kubiak Kevin Stefanski type attack they were going with and it was extremely effective. Yeah, So here you kind of get into the situation where you didn't have confidence in Trabisky heading into the season. You went out and get Folds. Then you go back to Trabinsky and he's playing better down the stretch. So does this change your ultimate evaluation of him in the long term? And similar to kind of what we're saying with Donald too, like how much should you weigh some good games down the stretch against opponents that have pretty decent defenses? It's uh, it's fine, It's so Kalin Kaylor, a former colleague who's now Bleacher Report. Uh, we were we were texting about this a little bit last night, and she was like, I think Trubisky has come back to Chicago and just knee jerk reaction is just like, no, no, it's it's over. It can't happen again. But UM, I don't know. The the alternatives aren't probably great for the Bears right now. You could certainly get Trubisky on a you know that they declined the figure option. I don't know if there's gonna be a huge market from Mitchurs. I mean I shouldn't say I don't know. There will not be a huge market from Mitchurch. Troubisky, so you could get him on the cheap. He saw the type of deals that you know, Marcus Mariota signed or Jamis Winston signed. Uh, if you get him on a deal like that, maybe, uh, maybe it's it's something that works out. I think ultimately, when you step back and look, this was a game where David Montgomery was was great. This might have been his best game of his career so far. He had thirty two carries for six If you get into these scenarios where you get a lead, and you can protect a lead, and you stay ahead of the sticks, and that play action stays in it. They ran ESPN Stats and Info have the number sixty of of Trubisky's drop backs for play action, which is the highest rate of of of any team ever, according to ESPN Stats and Info. Uh, when you can do that constantly, it's it's it's fine. The question is, okay, what happens in these scenarios where you're down fourteen nothing in the second quarter, or uh, you know, a day where the run game just doesn't get it going and you end up in a bunch of third and eight scenarios where play actually is no longer factor. Then you run into some problems, right, And I'm just kind of looking at the situation for the Bears. In one, they're committed to foals. In one, they gave up a lot to get him, and so that is true. Maybe they're troubisky of their limited options to have another quarterback in addition to falls Tropisky maybe the best of their limited options. Scary boy, that is something. It really is good for him. And look, I honestly I thought Trubisky would get another shot at some point down the line. I just thought would be like three or four years from now, after serving as a backup for a while and maybe be a bridge guy somewhere. But um, maybe he gets another crack of this thing. I don't know. If I don't know how Bears fans feel about that, I will say this that we all wrote off the Bears a couple of weeks ago. They have now one two straight. Uh. They have the tiebreaker with the Cardinals, so they are essentially one game out of the playoffs. If if they end up getting that game of the Cardinals, they'll they'll be in and the Bears get Jacksonville next week. They go to Jacksonville, they get the Packers week seventeen. The Packers can clinch the number one seed in week sixteen, so the Packers might be starting Tim Boyle in that Week seventeen game. Uh. So you feel suddenly pretty good about the Bears winning out here and getting to nine and seven and then the Cardinals. Uh, they host the forty niners and then they go to La to play the Rams, and uh, that might be a must win for the Rams as far as winning the NFC West and and hosting a playoff game and all that so um, you know, again, if the Packers get knocked off by the Titans next week and have to win Week seventeen, that changes a lot out of that calculus. But um, there is a there's a very realistic scenario of the Bears grabbing this seventh seed in the NFC after after all that, after this roller coaster of a year. What a time Gary, really is it really is And we haven't even gotten to the NFC East race. Uh we'll we'll start with a Sunday nighter and look that the flex in Sunday Night game. I think the NBC folks were maybe hoping for a little more Daniel Jones, a little more, a little less Colte McCoy in this matchup here, but uh, you know, the Browns offense stays hot in this one. Baker Mayfield another impressive performance. He's had a really good December after that sort of rain soaked uh November he had to play through. So the Browns are doing it offensively and the Giants just really didn't have the ability to keep up in this one. Yeah, and certainly they tried. You could maybe understand some of the risks that they took early on saying okay, we don't have our starting quarterback. You know, from the first kick return right, you could tell that they were going to be I don't know how they schemed up that first kick return, but it was a very good kick return. It made me think, like Joe Judge probably had some just made me think of the old Jets days where Mike west Off would be like, I schemed up Miami left, and this is going to be a big return for Brad Smith. Okay, so you open up with a big return. Then they have a fourth down. Instead of going for the field goal, they try the fake. Um. But I do think sometimes you try too hard, right, You try to overcompensate too much, and you say, we know we're going to have to score a lot of points, so let's try all of these things. But at the same time, you get out of what might be the most successful thing to do in that situation. So if they had just kicked those two field goals instead of going for the fake and then going for it in the second fourth down in the red zone, um, the game would have looked a little bit different. I mean, I still think the Browns would have run away with it. But um, the deficit, it's a little bit less. You know, maybe there's a different energy, there's a different dynamic to the game. I just think you when you try so hard to overcompensate for a deficit, sometimes you get yourself out of what might be the best approach to win the game. I do want to and I agree with you fully. Um. I do want to, though, compliment that that fake field goal design, because there's nothing better than the center becoming an eligible receiver. So it's so it's like touch football in the backyard where the guy snaps the ball and that goes after a pass um. They you know, they they they shifted in a way that made Nick Gates the center eligible. Uh. The issue though, was I feel like they didn't really use a whole lot of sleight of hand to sort of sneak the center out. It's kind of like he just ran straight out into the middle of the of the defense. And yeah, you know, it causes confusion. But if you are back there on defense and a dude is like, you know, standing right next to you, it's it's not like you're not like looking at his number and being like, well, it is he eligible? Do I have to cover him or not? Like once he's out there. It's like you're covering him, there's no sort of Okay, he snaps the ball and then there's like a beat or two and then he sneaks out. It was I don't know, I I love the uh, the way they got to that. But then sort of the execution where he just again he just runs in the middle of the defense and a bunch of dudes are like, okay, you're you're a receiver. I guess yeah. Execution fell short in a lot of ways for the Giants. So Giants Giant stroup this one. There's still a game out in the NFC East as the football team. Uh, they host Seattle and this was one where they kind of were around in the end. Uh. Seahawks took a seventeen nothing lead in this one. And again, you know, stylistically, this is this is the way Washington is is built to compete. They want to play these these sort of ugly, low scoring games. Uh. And this is another one. You know, thirty five points in this one. Um, Dwayne Haskins got to start on this one. And and look, Dwayne Haskins just stylistically he he played like Alex Smith and I guess it's a question of I don't know, I just I think you can get more out of Dwayne Haskins. I was kind of bummed out to see him just checking down frequently in this one, and and I know some folks were I think Jonathan Vilmo was doing this game. He was kind of like, you know, good, he's checking out and checking out, and just like, well, when you're down seventy points, you gotta you gotta at some point not checked down anymore. Right. I was thinking while watching this game too at this point, which of these teams do you want to see in the playoffs? And a few weeks ago, I was excited about seeing the way that Washington defense would match up perhaps with n FC opponent, But now I really just kind of want to see Jalen Hurts in the playoffs. I mean, obviously the loss of the Cardinals was a blow, but um, you know, the Washington football team offense is not very exciting to watch. Um, so you're really hoping that there is some kind of interesting defensive you know, intrigue that they create against the opponents. Other than that, there's there's not a lot of excitement. It's fun when the defense scores multiple touchdowns. Uh, and if they don't do that, it's not fun at all. Um, Dwayne has it. Look Dwayne Haskins through two interceptions in this game. One was a bad interception, the other one was was sort of a deflected pass that that got picked off. And I know a lot of people are are circling that and saying, well, this is the first multi turnover game and forever. Um. Look, Alex Smith through a couple of ugly interceptions during the stretch. Uh. The one weird thing with Washington and that has sort of kept their their giveaway total down is they they haven't lost a fumble in five weeks, which is just just sort of a weird thing. So, um, I don't I don't want to get two into uh you know, like, oh, Haskins didn't take care of the ball, Like, yeah, on one throw he didn't. But you've seen that from Alex Smith as well in these other games. And that's just that's the way it goes sometimes, especially when you're trailing. But that's that's the that's that's a long way of saying, I don't know, they just they don't try to score points, and that's that's a problem when you fall behind. Yeah, yeah, it's a problem to to close deficits. And like you said, unless the defense scores touchdowns, it's it's more difficult to make keep things interesting. So we have the Seahawks hosting the Rams next week in in what is sort of a de facto NFC West title game. Uh, as far as Washington goes, they are a game ahead of the Giants. The Giants own the tie breaker there. Washington will host Carolina Ron rivera revenge game here and uh, and then they go to Philadelphia Jalen hurts. In week seventeen, the Giants will go to Baltimore and then they will host Dallas to wrap up the season. And if the Giants are gonna catch Washington, they have to make up a game there some way. So uh, let's uh, let's go down to Miami where the Patriots they're they're out. It's it's over for them. They are out of the playoffs. They will not play in the postseason for the first time since the nineteen forties or so. Uh. The Dolphins had like no wide receivers in this game. DeVante Parker ended up tweaking his hamstring did not play in this game. Jachee Grant was out no present Williams, etcetera. Uh so they just end up running the ball. They ran it down. The Patriots store two d fifty yards over thirty seven minutes of possession. The Patriots had not allowed this many rushing yards since So, um, we'll start with the good side of it, the Dolphins. The Dolphins found a way in this one with such a shortage of weapons. Yeah, and they stay in good position to earn a playoff bid, a wildcard bid. Uh. You know, it was not always a pretty game, but it was. It was a good game plan against the Patriots. And you know, big win for Brian Flores against his former mentor. Yeah, and this was uh, look at they went out to Foxborough and a set the Patriots and we seventeen last year. They get him late in the season this year. Uh. As far as the Patriots go again, that they allowed to fifty on the ground, which you just you know, you would not expect to happen to a Bill Belichick defense here. So they I think it's sort of safe stay at this point. Cam Newton is not a long term solution at quarterback. Maybe he ends up being a bridge guy if they um, if they feel they can develop Stidham or if they can get their hands on on a quarterback this offseason. But beyond quarterback, which is for obvious reasons, what we what we focus on so much. Uh, they have some issues defensively here, and they also have a lack of passing game weapons on offense. But they have some defensive issues here. Uh. You know, Dante hid Tower is coming back, but Kyle van Noi is not. And and you know all these other guy Jamie Collins, these guys who are sort of key members that lineback and corps are not coming back. Uh, you have an aging secondary. I mean, they have some things to address on that side of the ball as well. I still think back to the fact that reported la or Our Albert brew reported that the Patriots were investigating shopping around Stefan Gilmore before the season, and that should have been the signal. That should have been the sign that Belichick knew they weren't going to be that good this season and was just kind of punting on the year. Uh. You never punt on a year. Obviously, you play all sixteen games, players want to win, You do not want anyone to get injured. All of those things, but the fact that they were considering, reportedly trading Gilmore before the season started, indicated that he knew they weren't going to be that good, and maybe you thought, okay, Cam Newton, Um, there's some potential there. Let's let's see if this could be a long term solution that didn't work out. Um, the best possible way, right. You know, there's a uh, a range of potential outcomes, and it was not the highest potential outcome of that ACTU position. But overall, you probably looked at the roster, looked at the opt out, looked at the years of draft picks, some of which did not work out, and said, we're going to need a rebuild. But the question is, now, to your point, Gary, even when they get some of these pieces back next year, uh, and they still have to address the quarterback situation in one and you know, um, the aging secondary. How much of a rebuild do they need and how long will that take? And there's up and coming teams in the rest of the Division. Two we see the Bills when the division title for the first time since the nineties. The Dolphins are coming together. They've got a lot of really good pieces that indicate that this could be an interesting team. For years to come. So it's a it's a position that we didn't expect to see the Patriots in at this point now. And you like the coaching staff and you you you're optimistic that they can maybe turn it around faster than you'd expect. But uh, yeah, they they they have some they have some major questions to address this offseason. Steven Gilmore, by the way, injured in this game. It sounds like he's out for the year, though it looks like it looked like it hit a bad patch of turf and it sort of came out from him. Maybe uh uh maybe a more minor knee injury. Uh, it seems to be less serious than uh they first thought. But Gilmore is you know, he he's he's thirty. Uh. This seemed to be sort of contract year for him, and uh, we'll see what's next for him. And and you know, whether it's New England or or somewhere else, he's one of the fascinating guys to keep an eye on, uh this upcoming off season. Uh, let's let's go down to Atlanta where uh Tom Brady gets a deficit against the Falcons and then comes back and and wins the game. Uh. And that was kind of the that was kind of the story, and this one it was all it was all very it was just very on the nose. I don't know, I don't know what to say about it. Brady throws for three ninety in this one. I mean, look the Bucks at halftime. They look terrible in the first half, and it looked like it was going to be another long week for the offense. Buck Brady ends up throwing for three ninety. That's the most he's thrown for since the Super Bowl fifty two lost to the Eagles. Uh So, I don't know, is this now The Bucks are are good now? Offensively, we've seen them. They carved up the Panthers a couple weeks ago, and then they had a couple of rough weeks. Now they carve up the Falcons, they get to they get to play Detroit and and the Falcons in week sixteen and seventeen. So you figure that's I don't know, a nice, a nice tune up going into the postseason. That's true, Gary, It's hard to know exactly what to make of where they're at. You don't want to make too much out of a slow start. Um. The important thing for the Bucks is that they overcame it. They found a way to get back into the game with a fantastic second half. UM. But you also don't want to put too much weight into that performance either, because the Falcons are team that all season has let opponents back in in the second half. So I'm not sure what to make up the Bucks. I don't think they're the dominant team that we thought they might be at some points this season. They've definitely wavered from that, and they've shown some cracks. But you're right, they have a good final stretch to get into position for the playoffs, and you know they're certainly going to be a tough opponent in the playoffs. Um. And the NFC picture is muddled, so perhaps there is an opportunity for them there. Let's uh, let's go out to Baltimore, where the Ravens just smashed the Jaguars. This game was as it was not a competitive game. UM, but uh, you know, the Ravens are another team we wondered about. I've been bullish on the Ravens and and I thought they were playing better than their record would indicate. Uh, they could get to eleven five, They're probably going to get to eleven five, they host the Giants, and then they go to Cincinnati weeks seventeen, and they still helped get into the postseason. It's just kind of funny. Look, they might finish eleven and five as one of the best teams in the NFL, and even in a year of playoff expansion, they might still miss the postseason. So what you're saying, Gary, is that in this case, eleven might not be the magic number for the Ravens. This is the different use of this is this is the magic number that I thought you meant early on. But yes, and and somehow despite my flawless explanation, uh, perhaps you did not pick up on what the magic number actually is. The magic number is four? No, three, three. I'm sorry, I'm getting tested with my math on thee They need. They need to wins. Yeah, they need two wins and then a loss from someone else. So the magic number is three. So they can't get to three by themselves. I don't know, Gary, I don't I don't know if that counts as a magic number if you can't do it on your own. But yes, but yes, but that is that is the correct concept. They need They need three a combination of wins or losses about the teams are competently Yeah, I mean, I just really would like to see the Ravens been playoffs. I am with you, Gary. You know, they had a rough stretch with COVID cases, um, which is a strange thing to be saying. I just want to acknowledge that that we're talking about COVID cases in the context of someone's playoff chances. Um. So that's just a weird sentence, and I don't really like how that sounds. But they did have a rough stretch, and um, I think if they were to get into the playoffs, they would be a team that people would not want to play. Yeah. That's uh, it's it's going to be funny watching the uh the seeding situation the a f C. And and see how I mean, like, I would not want to play Baltimore or Indianapolis, who is probably going to be playing a first round road game. Uh. And we'll we'll see who ends up drawing them, because it's probably gonna be one of the two or three seed, like a Pittsburgh or Buffalo type. Uh. Yeah. As far as the Ravens, so they need a law loss, they need to win those last two games they get lost to come from the Colts who play at Pittsburgh and host the Jaguars, the Dolphins who go to Vegas and go to Buffalo, or the Browns who hosts the Jets and then or excuse me, go to play the Jets on the road and then host the Steelers. So that's how it goes. And uh, I am sure, uh you guys will will cover some of this on the week Side podcast. But I do disagree with Connor or that the Jaguars are a better landing spot for Trevor, for Trevor Lawrence than the Jets. Where I think the I think I think Jacksonville is a nightmare scenario for a young quarterback based on their UH roster building and player not so friendly approach to the last couple of seasons here. But I rarely disagree with Connor, but I do in this case and agree with you Garry. Yeah, yep, uh. Let's let's talk about the Colts and mom that let's talk about the Texans a little bit in this game, who, for the second time in three weeks get two within two yards of of of well in this case, tying the Colts, and uh, and watch to slip away and lose it on a on on a mishap at the goal line. That was brutal. And you could see the camera zoomed in on Deshaun Watson watching the replay on the big screen and just like the bewilderment in his face because from his point of view where he was on the field, it looked like it was a clear touchdown. I mean from the viewers point of view, it looked like it was a clear touchdown. And that was a just remarkable defensive play to punch the ball out and save the game there. I know, I always wonder, like, Okay, how much of a skill is that you did the piece on on T J. Watt and how he sort of has has honed that. But um, I mean, look, Darius Leonard is is you know, one of the top three you could probably argue, even the best linebacker in football right now. And the bag that is Darius Leonard is the guy making that play, just making you know, we sort of chuck up these these fumbles to sort of like these these bad luck types of things. But I don't know, when the best players are always the ones doing them. Maybe there's a little more skill than than than you would think. I mean, I think that's true. Gary, you can practice it. I mean T. J. Watts says he would spend a period in practice every week trying this. You know, he would practice punching out the ball so often in practice that the running backs would get annoyed because um as his position coach said, he would get some other balls. So you know, he would punch too often in practice cause a little bit discomfort for his own teammates. Uh. And I do think there's something to studying which players are more vulnerable to it, or how to time it. But there is still an element of luck even if you study out of time, and if you even if you study which you know approach to take. Even if you study you know when a player is most vulnerable, you still have to a lot of things have to line up to be able to get the ball out, which is why it doesn't happen all that often. And the uh, the Titans on the other side of this AFC South Race, they uh, they were forty six points and beat the hapless Lions. Here. If you are into the Derrick Henry two thousand yard watch here, he's three twenty one shy. He has had three hundred forty touches. That includes some uh uh some pass catches here at this point, so uh, that tops his uh nineteen regular season total. Obviously he had the postseason run as well, but three forties a lot. And I don't know, do you do you do you do you really care if he gets to two thousand or not, if they like go one and done in the playoffs. I don't know. I guess I I don't. I I don't. I don't care about the numbers. Yeah, I mean, I'm not a big numbers person either, although I suppose it is an important milestone and an impressive one. He is really good and he deserves a lot of credit. And uh, the fact that they are building that that offense primarily around a running back in that's a that's something to be a sort of sort of praised. Uh. Matthew Stafford did play in this one despite the torn cartilage in his ribs and and played well and sort of had them hanging around for a while until the defense gave up all those points. And that's just that's Matthew Stafford's life at this point. I guess that's a that's a great point, Gary, that is kind of what his career has been. It's you know, playing tough through injuries and through challenging circumstances around him and then being like, hey, I put up almost thirty points, Like oh no, we gave up forty six, uh Cowboys forty Niners in the last Sunday game. And we'll quick hit the Saturday games, which you've probably already heard plenty about. But yeah, Cowboys and forty ninty Niners roll up four yards of offense but turn it over four times. They they lose a couple of fumbles here, and I don't know, it's it's just Nick Mullins has had a nice run here for the forty Niners, but he is, uh, he is dangerously turnover prone in a lot of these games. It's really shown up in just brutal ways for the forty Niners. And there was some early promise. I remember when there was conversation, hey, maybe they should stick with Mullins instead of Garoppolo, and the turnover woes have just really really, uh put the forty Niners in some difficult positions. That happened the other week against Washington as well. Tony Pollard in this one gets the gets sort of surprised start as Ezekiel Elliott ends up sitting this one out. He put up a hundred thirty two scrimmy yards also had a game clinching touchdown run on a second down when when the cowards are trying to run the clock out on the other side of the I should say the the uh, the the more than two minutes side before the two minute morning. I don't know if that's the the other side or what people would consider that the good side the bad side. It wasn't a garbage time run, I guess at the point I'm trying to make and it sealed the game here, but the neatst part of this game, and I suppose nobody cares unless they were playing Fantasy FOOTBA all because it was just sort of funny to watch both teams scored completely meaningless touchdowns in the final thirty seconds, yet Ceedee Lamb do the uh. He snagged the on side kick attempt and ran it back for a touchdown to sort of uh stretch the lead even further. And then Kendrick Bourne caught a hail mary on the last play of the game uh to to make the game slightly uh closer. And I don't know. It probably was not as exciting as forty three suggests as a final score, but um it was kind of funny. Yeah, and finished with a flourish. There you go, there you go, and we will finish with a flourish with the Saturday games. We'll kind of quick hit these though. I mean, look, Buffalo Bills are a f C S champs and then hasn't happen and that is a big deal. And they very much did it in style in Denver with Josh Allen just absolutely demolishing this Broncos defense that's been pretty good over the last couple of weeks. And the defense looked solid again after sort of rocky first half the season for them. Yeah, and just the connection between him and Dig's I just marvel at it every week. I Mean, they are so in sync for two players that did not have an off season together. And uh, in the late game here, the Packers uh were very sloppy. Aaron Rodgers was super bummed out about their performance. But they do hang on and beat the Panthers kind of like they did last year around this time year with the Panthers went out there with Kyle Allen and almost stole one uh in Lambeau. But the Packers get the win and that's what matters. And now their magic number is one if they win one of their final two games or if the Saints um lose a game. The Packers clinched this top seed in the FC. I'm just glad we got to end the show Gary with the proper use of the magic number. Although I said a f C and they're in the NFC, so I even put with that. And and also we should mention Marty Hernie is out in Carolina now. They they have fired longtime general manager Marty Hernie, who, Uh, this is very rude to say, but I had forgotten he was still the general manager because it feels such a new regime there. And I would have assumed that when Matt Rule came in, they may be made the change then. But um, it sounds like Matt Rule is going to have his hand in helping select a new general manager. And that seems like it's I don't know, it seems like that's kind of the the way to go in this day and age. Yeah, it's a little surprising they didn't do that last year, but they clearly had Matt Rule. Confidence in Matt rule to give him the contract that they did so. I think reading Tepper's statement about how important alignment is the only surprise there is that they didn't do it last year, but they're doing it now. And I agree, Gary, I mean it should be an alliance between the head coach and general manager. It's the only way to have success. That is how we finish with a flourish Jenny, you will, you will have the weak Side podcast on its on its own feed coming on Tuesday. You and Connor and uh I hope you have a great, great holiday here and we'll talk you on Monday. You too, Gary. The MMQB Monday Morning NFL podcast is Jenny Brentis and me Gary Grant. We are produced by Shelby Royson. S i's executive producer of podcasts is Scott Brody. Ben Eagle is director of Editorial Projects and product Mark Ravick 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 the feeds for The weak Side podcast and The Albert Brier Show. 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