Week 17 Recap: Eagles Lay Down on Sunday Night, Tua's Future, Playoff Fever | NFL Deep Dive

Published Jan 4, 2021, 5:22 PM

Jenny and Gary analyze the final week of the regular season, including the Eagles' bizarre decision to play Nate Sudfeld in the fourth quarter and just who should be mad at who over it. Plus, the Browns get back to the playoffs in style, the Dolphins face another decision on Tua, how the Rams won with Wolford, the early Black Monday firings, the playoff matchups and more.

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Hello, and welcome to the mm QB Monday Morning NFL Podcast. I'm your host, Gary Grambling. I am joined by Jenny Brentis of the week Side Podcast and and uh, Jenny, I I think a lot of us have been sort of looking to scratch that hitch of preseason football, and we miss preseason football so much this year, and and we just never really got that satisfaction of watching just terrible fool and we got it Sunday night, and it was just a wonderful way to to kind of wrap up the season here. It was an unexpected and to the season. Although maybe Gary, this was fitting, maybe it was a fitting into a strange season. It was it was I don't know, Maybe maybe it was just me. Maybe the game just struck me the right way. In Week seventeen year, I thought it was a really thrilling week. I was really uh captivated by the games here. And then we got Sunday Night and just kind of like the rug got pulled out from under us, and look, you get a Sunday Night done sometimes. But uh, it was kind of at least shaping up to be an interesting end, and I guess in a way it was, but not really as far as the on the field stuff goes. But that's that's where we're gonna start the show. And uh, I mean, my lord, we we have plenty of stuff to get to, including some of the Black Monday firings and and we'll get to it there, but uh, we're starting Sunday night with the football team's NFC East clinching victory over the Eagles in Philadelphia. And uh and and look, I don't know we we talked about this a little bit pre show. I don't know if either of us have the kind of uh incredulous, uh sort of sort of rage on behalf of the Giants, or or are begging the league to get involved here. But it was just sort of a confusing night for the Eagles, and they're both short and long term plans. Yeah, I think it was confusing because the Eagles did not seem to provide a sufficient answer. I was among the millions of viewers who heard the name Sudfeld, and I thought, did I miss an injury? What happened to Hurts? Seems like you're just starting to get a sense for how Hurts might fit into this offense and this team, and you would want as much of a full evaluation on him as possible. But I think a lot of weird things happen in Week seventeen teams are out of the playoffs. The biggest fault I think lies for the with the NFL placing this game on Sunday Night Football. They set up this dramatic finish that ended up just being a total whimper um. Had this been a one pm game, had it been played concurrently with Giants Cowboys, there wouldn't have been this drama where everyone was hanging on every play waiting to see what happened. This wasn't a game that was befitting of a Week seventeen finale Sunday night finale, and perhaps some of that gary to go a little bit broader. It relates to this new playoff format where a lot of the contests in Week seventeen didn't have the same juice this year for a lot of different reasons. Um, without the number two seed getting a playoff by there's sort of less to play for with the two seed, uh, since only one team gets a bye. But overall, the NFL should not have put this game in the Sunday night window, and because it did, it made it seem a lot worse than perhaps it really was. I agree, we don't have a lot of good answers from the Eagles, but at the same time, I haven't mustered the same level of outrage that we saw on Twitter on Sunday night. Yeah it was. And look we we because we are so smart. We talked about this last week and how this is a very curious game to flex into the spot concerned just the quality of the teams is not very good. I mean, Washington was I'm sorry. That offense is just brutal to to watch, and they look the most interesting thing about the fourth quarter is they kept on trying to give the game game back to the Eagles, and the Eagles just kept up putting Nate Sudfeld back on the field to to not take the game. And it was just a battle of two teams who seemed to have very little interest in in in winning. Uh. And that's kind of a problem. And it's a obviously a terrible look for the league in a game that a lot of people were paying attention to. But uh, you know, you just kind of wonder if you could have back channeled this if you're the NFL and just gone to the Eagles and said like, listen, are you gonna are you going to perhaps play night Nate Sudfeld in the fourth quarter, like, are are you guys going out to try and win this game? And there are plenty of teams. I don't think anyone would blame the Eagles if they said, like, uh, you know, let's say Jalen Hurts hadn't started a game to this point. If they ran out Jalen Hurts and they ran out a bunch of young guys and wanted to sort of get a little bit of a test run on some of those guys. I don't think anyone's getting upset about that. I think it's just the fact that it was a game with playoff implications for uh one of the major market teams. And then on top of that, it's it was a winnable game and they just uh didn't show a whole lot of interest in winning it once they made the quarterback switch. Right exactly when they made the quarterback switch, it was very winnable and Hurts clearly gave them the best chance to win that game over Suidfeld. But this is the risk you have when you put a team in the Sunday night Week seventeen slot that is already eliminated from the playoffs. Ideally, you want a game in that slot where both teams have something to play for, and because the Eagles did not have anything to play for, it set up all these potential other scenarios. Now, the Eagles said during the week, you know, there was the line about the no hat game. They didn't want another team to win the division on their own field, is what defensive coordinator Jim Schwortz said. Jason Kelsey had given an impassioned statement about how you always play to win games. It's not about developing or evaluating players. Um, But obviously the Eagles saw that differently. What I don't think needs to happen Gary is the league getting involved in some way. I don't think anyone in the league wants more league involvement. I don't think anyone wants more league discipline. It was a really bad look because of the quarterback change, because there was not a sufficient explanation because the Eagles were not doing everything in their power to win the game. But it was also exacerbated because it was in prime time. Yeah, it's it's just like, I don't know if any legitimate criticism of the league offices that they are too light handed when it comes to discipline. I don't I don't know if they need to weigh in on this one. I mean, look, I'd like to see them do something with the draft. I've written this, and I know it's not feasible in the next decade, but I would love to see them get away from the draft and come up with a new system for UH, for first year players that would frankly be more fair and also just sort of dissuade team from doing this. I mean, you could argue that Jacksonville Jaguars haven't played a competitive game in in UH in the last three months here. UH, and they're going to be rewarded with a generational player who will play on a deflated, artificially restricted contract for the first three years of his career. But UH, I won't get too deep into that so early in this celebratory Monday morning show. UH. The weirdest thing for the Eagles. I mean, look, number one, Nate Sudfeld, and I got the sense that maybe there, you know, Doug Peterson is trying to do a favor for his young quarterback and let him get some reps and let him put some tape out there. Uh, he is a free agent this upcoming off season. Nate Sudfeld is, I mean, I don't think he was gonna get any offers anyway. He's certainly not gonna get any offers after that. I don't know if the Eagles end up resigning him or what, but that was that was unfortunate. His tape was no good. On top of that, he just sort of became a punchline, which is not really fair to him. But that's kind of what the consequence ended up being. The other thing is, we we know what's going on with Carson Wentz. Will they be able to move that contract? Will see, But you know all all reports that Carson Wentz is kind of done with Doug Peterson. Jalen hurts Is, I don't think you're you're etching Jalen hurts in Stone as your here quarterback of the future. He struggled badly in the Dallas game. He struggled really badly in this in this loss in this game. Uh, I think it's perfectly reasonable to go into with him as your Week one starter. But this is not something where, uh, this guy has really sewn it up. I mean I would have been at the at least quite curious to see how he reacted against a good defense when he needed a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Yeah, and I think that's where the most puzzling part comes in is what were the Eagles doing? And that's what we were saying at the beginning, Garreas. They haven't given a satisfying answer, and it's hard to kind of understand their thinking. They're also if you have any idea that Hurts might be in your plans moving forward, I mean, he was just drafted last year, so he's in your plans on some level, then I think this decision making does create a problem in the locker room, creates a problem with Hurts. All you have to do is look at the sideline shots of his face. He was totally bewildered, it seemed. I don't know if the players were let in on the plan or not. That's what I'm most curious about. Where did the decision come from, why did they do it, and how is it being explained to the players. Because you have a guy like Jalen Hurts who played for top college programs when a lot through a lot in his college career. You know, benched at halftime of a national championship game played for another top program. UM was really this picture of you know, doing what was best for the team and also being an ultimate competitor. And now you're you're pulling him from a game that he still has a chance to win. UM. And So in terms of what's next in Philadelphia, which is it's already a messy situation. You don't know what wentz this future is Peterson won a super Bowl but hasn't had a good year. There's a lot of questions about what's next for this team, and this only makes those questions more Um, I don't know, it just makes them more pressing for the locker room. If you're a player on that team, you have to be wondering, do I want to be a part of this organization when there isn't a clear plan? Yeah, I mean I think there might even a sense in like November where you could kind of say, Okay, well they're gonna get healthy next year and they'll be back to the old Eagles. It really doesn't feel like that right now, and I can't imagine what the feeling is within that locker room. UM. As far as season goes the the football team, the team without a name, has won the NFC East. They will host Tampa on Saturday night. It's again, the offense is unwatchable. Uh, the defense can play and they're gonna be on that that mucky field on on on on a Saturday night against the Bucks. And we'll see if something wacky happens. But you know, they've they've scored multiple defensive touchdowns in the past. That's probably their path to victory. You over the Bucks, and uh, we'll see. It's it's going to be an organized football game on Saturday night. I think that's what we can say about it. It'll be interesting. And we saw Chase Young was videotaped leaving the field saying I want Brady um. I believe that's when it was that clip was filmed. That's making the rounds. So that should be interesting to see. How about matchup plays out? All right, Well, let's let's get a little more optimistic here with the with with the Brown's victory over the Steelers. Brown snapped the ridiculous playoff route here first times. It's two thousand two. They will be going back and I know, I mean, look, I I'm ah as you know, Jenny, as anyone who listens to the show knows, I'm just sort of a cynical jerk, and I am not moved emotionally in a positive way by anything that happens in football. Baker Mayfield on the clinching run in this game on on the third and short where the Browns had to have it to to uh, to seal the big I mean, it is just kind of a perfect way to end it for a Brown team that's just been through a lot of difficult situations due to the COVID protocols over the last couple of weeks. And uh, it was just a really nice moment, it really was. And Mayfield has been through a lot in his career, his young career, so many coaching changes, different offenses, different play callers. Ah, he looked amazing his first year, then he looked like he regressed, and you know, it's just been a non linear path for him. And so for him to make that play one week after, you know, they have the chance to beat the Jets on the fourth and one um and they can't, and now he makes the run that seals the game. I think that was pretty satisfying for him and kind of a perfect moment for the fan base. It was. It was very cool. It would have been nice to see that on on on Sunday Night football or something like that. Exactly. The Mason Rudolph kept him in this game, kept the Steelers in this game. He was I mean, he wasn't fantastic, but I think he's sort of overachieved for what we expected from from Mason Rudolph in this performance here. Uh, they did pull to within two and missed a two point version. Maybe should have drawn a flag, but we won't get too uh bogged out in that. But uh, look, the big thing is we're gonna have a playoff rematch here. They're gonna meet for the third time in Pittsburgh on Sunday Night. The big question is gonna be ken Baker. Mayfield sort of handled the the full fledged Steelers defense that puts a lot of pressure on quarterbacks, and Mayfield has not had very good uh statistics when pressured in even if he had a nice second after the season here. Yeah, it's an interesting matchup for that reason. And also you know this, it's just always funny to me when teams play in Week seventeen and then they play the next week, although this will be a different matchup. Roethlisberger was at home in Pittsburgh resting. I think the Steelers have the upper hand in the matchup, even despite some of their stumbles late in the season, just because Mayfield has has not done well when facing constant pressure. Um, and you know the Browns themselves have had some some bombs late in the season. Yeah, that'll uh, that'll be a real interesting one on on Sunday night. There are a lot of really intriguing matchups here. I'm still sort of not sold on playoff expansion, but uh, and as you mentioned, Jenny, it's sort of took some of the drama out of Week sevent team, but the matchups are are pretty good year coming up next weekend. Uh, let's let's go to a team that's going to host a playoff game on on Saturday, the the Buffalo Bills. And they didn't have a ton to play for in this game. They did have to clinch the two seed, though, with the Steelers resting Roethloisburger, it seemed like that was sort of a foregone conclusion even if they didn't win this game over Miami. Big implications for Miami though, who needed to win to get in And uh, look the Dolphins, excuse the Bills played Josh Allen in the first half and then benj I mean, this was a complete mismatch. This was a complete smashing by this by this Bills team. And uh, I don't know. I mean it's one game sample sizes once you get to the postseason. But uh, this Buffalo team looks as good as anyone in the NFL right now. They really do. It was impressive that they continued to roll over the Dolphins even when Josh Allen was taken out of the game. I think McDermott had a really good plan. The number two seed, even though you don't get the by this year, was still valuable. He still wanted his team to go into the postseason with momentum, which I think is smart because we've seen a lot of teams kind of struggle when they have that layoff. You know, if you rest starters and then have a by or in past years, a lot of times that has not worked out well for teams. Um, So he wanted them to keep up the momentum. And there is no team that has more momentum entering the playoffs right now. Than the Bills. Yeah, and as far as the two se goes, look, they're gonna have some some fans in the in the seats at bill Stadium on Saturday when they host the Colts. Uh. If they win that game and it plays out as chalk as far as the Wild Car Round in the n FC goes, then they end up getting to host the Steelers in Round two here, which is probably a pretty nice thing. Um. As far as the Dolphins go, they get to ten wins this year. It was absolutely a successful season and and certainly, uh, something they can they can more than than hold their heads up high with. Uh. It just it fell apart so badly in this game. And you try not to draw broad conclusions off a week seventeen, but uh, when it comes to to a tongue of ioloa, he has every opportunity to become a quality quarterback the NFL. The thing that complicates it here for the Dolphins is normally you would be picking in the middle of the first round. You would not be looking at this and saying, uh, well, maybe we'll get a new franchise quarterback with a seventeen pick or whatever it might be. They they own the Texans pick, they will pick number three in the upcoming draft. Uh, there are four very good quarterbacks, four quarterbacks who who Quite frankly, I don't think this is a unanimous opinion, but I think most people would say all four of the guys coming out this year certainly rate higher than two A does right now, and probably raised higher than two it did coming into the draft. Uh So, if you are looking at this as the Dolphins, you have a guy into a who you pulled from two competitive games in favor of Ryan Fitzpatrick. Uh, there were a lot of complications this season, no no off season on top of that, you you you know, had some injuries to the receiving corps, and you had some questions with with what this Porning cast is. But seeing as you're a team that was willing to basically throw way the entire twenty nineteen season to get your quarterback, I don't think you can really say with confidence you found that quarterback and now you are sitting there with a number three pick with a chance to sort of get a guy who at the very least is more physically talented than to Uh, the Dolphins are in a really difficult conundrum right now. Gary, I think you laid it out very well. I think back to what Jimmy Johnson said. I talked to him a year ago and I did a story about the Dolphins tanking, and you know, of course he was the Dolphins head coach at one point, but also more importantly the leverage of the herschel Walker trade uh into the roster that helped the Cowboys win three Super Bowls. Uh. He said, it's getting picks is not the answer. Picking the right players that's the answer. Right. So the Dolphins did everything they could to get this hall of draft picks, but you then have to turn those draft picks into the right players, and most important to that is getting the right quarterback. And this is a difficult evaluation onto U because he was coming off off season hip surgery, did not have a normal off season. I think rookie quarterbacks coming into the NFL anyway have a shortened off season, but this year there wasn't even in person O ti as Mini Rookie Rookie Minicamp or Jue Minicamp, so you miss a lot of that valuable time. But there were certainly indications that you know, he has a long way to go this season, and we have seen quarterbacks make big jumps. Notably in the last two years, Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen have done what sometimes we forget. It's possible that you can improve as a passer, and you can get better from one year to the next. I mean, it sounds crazy, but you know, there is a perception sometimes him that players can't grow that much in certain areas. But Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen both grew in those areas. They became more accurate, better passers. H So, as you said, it wouldn't be as much of an issue if they didn't have this number three pick again, and they don't have enough information to make a complete evaluation on two. But do you have enough to say, maybe we should just take a quarterback again and take advantage of the fact that we have this high pick and give ourselves options at the position. Um, because they certainly used all of the quarterbacks are they certainly use multiple options beyond toa This year, they used Ryan Fitzpatrick as a closer, So the idea that you would want another option at the position isn't totally absurd. It's uh. The thing that's really interesting to me is, and look, this is Ah, this is a debate as old as time, the old traits versus production UH conversation when it comes to uh, when it comes to college prospects. Uh, the traits guys are really winning out over the last couple of off seasons here. I mean, look again, it's gonna play out over like fifteen years. So you don't want to make any conclusions. Now if you were to offer the Dolphins a time machine to go back to last April and give them the decision between Justin Herbert and to a that they that they had now, I mean, you take Justin Herbert to uh is by all accounts great, great locker room guy, a sharp guy, and and certainly accomplished a lot at the college level. But uh, you would take Justin Herbert that that's that's no doubt. So you know, if you're in Miami and again you you threw away the twenty nineteen season to get the guy. Uh, boy, are you gonna pass on Herbert and then pass on to at least two of the three guys who are who are considered better, better prospects in terms of their traits. Certainly, and again it's it's individuals and and it's gonna play out of fifteen years. And now I'm just sort of like hemming and hang here because I'm kind of glad I don't have to make the decision, but I would. I I would take one of these guys. And it's gonna come down to how they evaluate each individual quarterback. You don't just take a quarterback for the sake of taking a quarterback. But I mean, goodness, I I certainly Zack Wilson, certainly justin fields, I'd take Trey Lance over to UH. I might be very wrong about that, but I just don't think the Dolphins can miss this opportunity again, because it's not going to come around again. If this front office ends up picking in the top five in the future draft after they stuck with Tua uh, they are they are probably not going to it's something disastrous happened. I don't know if they're going to keep their jobs for that. I mean, it's it's it's it's a very difficult spot to be in. And I do kind of wonder if they were watching that Texans uh Titans game that ended up going out to the wire and being like, huh, maybe maybe it's not too bad. If the Texans winness and we end up picking down at eight and then we don't have to Now we don't have to have this conversation. Yeah, it does make it a really difficult conversation and difficult decision to make. You can't fault them for taking to a last year. But at the same time, it's very hard not to compare Herbert and to a who entered under very similar circumstances, except for the fact that too, I was recovering from an offseason surgery. Um, But comparing Herbert's success this season, um, he was able to just and turn immediately have that impact that you would want your top pick at quarterback to have. So I would be interested to see to a develop I would be interested to see, you know, maybe a different system or you know, continued work in the off season and having a little bit more time. But can you put all of your eggs in that basket? And there are people always say in the NFL, you know, one mistake is taking the wrong quarterback, but even worse is holding onto the wrong quarterback for too long. And it's kind of crazy to say. And I'm not saying that if they continue with two after one weird NFL season, that they're holding onto him for too long that that sounds crazy to say, but you do have to assess, like do we have enough to not use that number three pick on another option at the position? All right, Jenny, hang on for one second. It is time for the SI Fantasy Segment, presented by DraftKings, as we are every Monday. We are joined by Michael Fabriano of the SI Fantasy Podcast and SI dot com slash Fantasy Fabs. We are. We are through a a weird and wacky year, and we are going to briefly in a moment, look ahead to two next season, because that's just it's the new year. It's what you do. But I just wanted to to sort of hit uh, kind of kind of awards and honors for the season. Now that we officially wrapped up all the weirdos who played weeks seventeen, your season is over to uh when we look back at who are sort of the guys who stand out as the best and and uh, and look, we also have to do the worst. So but but let's start. Let's be optimist. Let's start with with sort of the best of here. Yeah, so the m v P for me was Albun Kmaro, who you know missed missed Week sevent team due to COVID. Thank goodness, there's not a lot of Weeks seventeen championship games because that would have been just an absolute nightmare. But you know, he led all running backs in fantasy points. He averaged over five game. He scored fifty six in the championship week on Christmas Day, So in that respect, he was there when you needed him the most. He let a lot of people do a Fantasy championship my breakout player, and I know the season didn't end well for him, but DK Metcalfe in the fantasy season was the wide receiver six. He scored eight teen plus points eight times. Uh. He had ten touchdown catches going into Week seventeen, He's going to be a top twenty pick across the board in draft. My sleeper of the year, I'm going with Justin Jefferson. There are so many different ways you could go, but Jefferson was was cut after two weeks. In a lot of leagues, he had six targets. It looked like the Vikings who are going to kind of just not use him in a prominent role. From Week three to Week sixteen, he was a wider seever four that's bananas. And this is a guy whose ADP was like one. So that's the definition of sleeper, a super sleeper. Justin Herbert. Again, I could have gone many different ways here, but nobody was drafting Herbert. Nobody was talking about Herbert. He ended up having the greatest rookie season of all time among quarterbacks, best of all time. And it's not close, right, broke like every record just about so. Herbert average like over twenty points a game. He was phenomenal, and no one was talking about him. No, it was all Tyrod Taylor and even heck, even even scouts didn't think he was going to make an impact as a rookie, and and and many scouts didn't think he was going to be a solid NFL quarterback. He was more than solid as a rookie. Tremendous, tremendous season. Uh, Rookie of the Year. I'm going James Robinson and I you could have gone a million different ways that you could have gone Jefferson, you could have gone Herbert. I mean, there were so many help I mean John and Taylor was great at the end of the season. J K. Dobds was great at the end of the season. But James Robinson was not drafted in fantasy leagues. He wasn't drafted in the NFL. Yeah, he ended up as the RB four during the fantasy season. And I mean he gave you twenty plus points five times. He scored thirty plus points a couple of times, and like he filled the hardest position in fantasy football the film either with a late round flyer or picking him up off the wire. So Robinson was just just amazing. And now he's gonna have Charter Lawrence in the backfield with him next season, so that's gonna be fun to watch. Uh. Draft Day value of the Year I went with Aaron Rodgers. How can you not? Even though there were a lot Aaron Rodgers is a DP was one in the Fantasy Football World Championship. This guy, this guy just finished up I mean, unbelievable season. You know, fifty touchdown. I mean, like, if you've got Aaron Rodgers late in your draft, there's a good chance you went to the playoffs and maybe one. Um. The waiver wire pickup of the year was Mike Davis For me. Christian McCaffrey missed all but three games Davis, who, like you know, people weren't really drafting, ended up as the RB eleven this year. And and keep in mind, like McCaffrey did play three games where David is really new anything, so he was and he had more more points in nick jobb than you know, Kenny Drake than Clyde Edwards a lair and if you were able to get him, either as a McCaffrey owner or otherwise, he helped you get to the playoffs, no doubt about it. Uh, comeback Player of the Year. This one had nothing to do with injury because like who there wasn't one. Like I'm not giving it to Ben Roethlisberger. Okay, David Montgomery came back from being crappy. He was a winner, I mean, and the first half of the year it went really all that good either. Second half of the year went bananas. Matchups were great. So I gave it to Montgomery based on what he did in the second half and based on the fact that last year is rookie was disappointment. Um, now we'll get into the performance of the year was Kimara and that's a no bringer on Christmas Day. Now, now we'll go negative. Okay, we'll be a little negative bust of the year. It's got to be Michael Thomas and I and like, I get it, he missed time due to injuries, but your best ability is availability, and he wasn't available for most of the season, and even when he played, he wasn't good. Listening to these numbers for Michael Thomas, he finishes the wide receiver eight okay in total points at the position, and when he was active, he averaged eleven point nine points per game. That ranked thirty eight among wide receivers during the fantasy season. That's crap. It's it's your first round pick. And who knows what's going to happen with the Saints next year. We're already hearing reports that Drew Brees is not gonna come back. Who's gonna be their quarterback? Michael Thomas maybe on the way down in fantasy rather than back on the way up in And then my fantasy staker of the year, and I'm a Cowboys fan, and I got the jersey right over my shoulder. You could see it. It's Zeke. He averaged twenty two points a game in the four games where Dac was the quarterback. After that, I went to hell in a handbasket. Okay, in the fantasy season, he averaged twelve points a game without Dak so oh, I mean he was ten points worse per game. He really had one big game that was against Minnesota. That was it. He failed to score double digits in five of his last eight games of the fantasy season. And now he's gonna be much better in twenty Obviously he'll be a first round pick. But like every week, you didn't know what you're gonna get from Zeke, and more than likely it was not going to be good. The offensive line was banged up, it was a mess. So I went with Zeke as my stinker. It had. Zeke kind of had the year that James Robinson should have had. I mean Zeke, Zeke was on pace to be better James Robinson an average right around like eight teen points a game. I mean, Zeke was averaging twenty two with that. But yeah, yeah, Zeke would Zeke ultimately I mean should have had, you know, should have been a top fight back. Yeah, he was the third overall pick consensus. No, I'm just looking at his game on it. This is just like high volume, no real, no real punch to a thing. I mean Tony Pollard was better than Tony Pollard. I mean had that thirty seven point game, and that was legitimately like two or three games of Zeke production without that. I mean there's a nine week span here where he only has one touchdown. That's it was terrible. He I believe in the fantasy season he had I want to say, five touchdowns and Alvin Camara had more than that one game. Yeah. Yeah, oh well, let's uh, let's do a quick look ahead one here. I mean there's there's one guy I want to uh uh sort of sort of pick your brain about here. But if I had to, uh put you on the spot, say give me the the way too early. Top five drafts who're looking at right now? Al Right, So I'll start a five. I'm gonna go with Davanta Adams, and I'm only going with Davanta Adams because well, number one, he was far and away the best wide receiver in Fantasy fall this year the average six game. Uh, he's he scored twenty two touchdowns in his last twenty five game. Aaron Rodgers is his quarterback. I don't like to take wide receivers in the first round. I don't I just don't. But going into running back is going to be deeper at the top. You're gonna get. The rookie class is not great, but there's still some guys that could potentially come in and make an impact, So you can you can get Adams in round one and still get two pretty good running backs in two and three. So I've got Atoms at five. I've got Derrick Henry at four. One of the rushing title over two thousand yards is is workload over the last two years a concern? I mean, yeah, kinda. He's still you know, he's still in the prime of his career though, so he'll be four. Camara is three right now. And I gotta be honest with you, if the Saints start Taysom Hill, I mean Camara might drop out of my top five. Yeah, he wasn't good without He wasn't good in the games with with with Taysom Hill. So we'll see. Dalvin Cook is too, and uh, prayers up Dobbin and his family after the loss of his father. But he scored nearly three points in the fantasy season, the average over twenty four points per game. He stayed relatively healthy, right, I mean, he had a couple of knicks and and and you know, uh, bumps and bruises, but he was fine. The Vikings were six and run percentage, so they're gonna run the football. He's the centerpiece of the offense. Uh. He'll be just twenty six on August tenth, which also is my birthday. So I have a soft spot there for for Dalvin. So he's two and number one, And people might disagree with this, I'm going with McCaffrey still here. Here's what. Here's why. In the three games that he played, he averaged over thirty points a game. Okay, and and this season was kind of flukey, right, He had four three touches last year. He kept getting banged up, So I'm not surprised that he missed time. I'm surprised he missed so much time. But he only had seventy six touches this season. You think he's gonna be fresh. He's only twenty five going into next season. He's he still amazingly talented. That didn't change. And I mean, unless you're afraid of his durability, he's the number one guy for me. He still is. Say after after the defense only draft for the Panthers last year, they're probably actually going to address the offensive line. They're going to be better, uh, the one guy. So I mean, look, Derrick Henry two yards yesterday, John and the Taylor just went up and then put toft three. Got to be a first round pick next year, right, and and and I look, I wouldn't be surprised he was knocked on the door at the at top five, depending on how that backfield shakes out this offseason. I don't know about top five, but I mean certainly end of the first round at the latest. Yeah, that's that's where I that's where I would see him coming off the board, because so you know, Camara is gonna go, Cook's gonna go, Henry is gonna go. You're gonna see uh, Davante Adams go, Zeke is going to ago, say, Kwan is gonna go. Right coming off of injury, se Quence still gonna be a top top eight overall pick. You gotta throw Nick Chubb in the mix there. You've got to throw James Robinson in the mix, right. So I'd say probably end of the first round somewhere. So if you're in like a ten team league or a twelve team league, he's probably end of the first round. That's that's why I would That's why would position him. And I'm always curious about it because a monster week seventeen one obviously, you know, and no one, no one's gonna remember that for for fantasy standpoint and to I don't know when you when you only have the totals like he finished third in the in the league and rushing, which is what's crazy. He didn't he didn't do anything in the first half of the year. He was so unreliable, right, I mean there was weeks where he was a sinnamon my cobum. I mean not not in the second half of the year, dude, I mean he was bananas, good man. I was trying to get him, like on the Chief because I saw the schedule. But no, he's he's he's gonna be a first round pick. He'll be he'll be a leader first round pick. But also keep this in mind too, Travis Kelsey is gonna be a first round pick next season. A lot of people are gonna be on Travis Kelsey. I won't not because he's not great. I just I can't go there. I wouldn't draft Grondkowski in the first round, even in the saladays, I can't do it. I I can't draft the tight end and the frost. I can't. It's against my DNA. I can't. It's like I can't do it. It's not my DNA to do it. So but but Kelsey is gonna be a first round pick in a lot of leaks too, I mean no doubt about it. So um, but but Taylor certainly is worth uh that late first round pick. And he was I mean he was in Fuego and if he went in the top five would I think it's crazy? Honestly, no, I wouldn't Marlon Max a free agent if they don't go running back shopping, which I don't know why they would. Just Taylor and Eimes boom, you got done and done. But you know there are some people out there that all will say, well, Frank Wreik never likes to use a feature back. Okay, well, I mean he kind of did in the second half of this season, so maybe that changed. Alright, fabs, we will have you every Monday here and uh if you want more stuff one uh you know, uh playoffs stuff coming up here, SI dot Com, Slash Fantasy, the s I Fantasy Podcast. Get him there all week. You don't just have to wait for Monday. He's there all week. Uh fabs half new year to you and we'll talk to you Monday. Happy New Year, my brother. We'll talk to you soon. Alright, A welcome back to Jenny Brentis. Before we hit the rest of the games. Let's just real quick hit what to this point and and things are still happening, but to this point has been a a pretty quiet, uh black Monday news cycle here. Uh and again you know you've you've mentioned in the past, Jenny that a lot of teams already made moves, So I don't know how many more teams are going to make moves. Uh. The ones that have happened so far before our taping, Adam Gaze and Doug Morone. Uh, the the two coaches who oversaw the the two uh worst teams in football in are both out and neither of those are really a surprise. Yeah, those were the two expected decisions. Over the last couple of years, Black Monday has become a little bit less of a thing because once the first coach firing happens, you often see a bunch happen in rapid succession. Teams want the search to begin and they don't want others to be ahead of them in the search. So it's been a different dynamic on Black Monday. But those two, uh, were the two that have been fired so far. And as you said, Gary, not a surprise. They both were kind of just finishing out a season, disappointing season that became a Trevor Lawrence type sweepstakes, and both teams will move in a different direction. The Jaguars now in position to take Trevor Lawrence and they have that chip when they hire a future head coach, and the Jets do not. And they have a decision to make on Donald versus one of the other quarterbacks in the draft class. And the Jets are have their GM in place and Joe Douglas. The Jaguars will be hiring both of those spots. So uh, we will see how that goes over the next month or so. Uh. Back to the games, though, we are going to go to the the NFC. Racism will start out west. Uh. John Walford gets the start for the Rams in place of Jared Golf and this one started as badly as it could have started. He threw a eight just Uh, it's mean to say, but it was a very amateurish interception he threw on his first career past attempt. It was just as easy and interception as a defense will ever have. Uh. And it's set up in early Cardinals touchdown. It was kind of like, oh boy, this this might go quite poorly, but the Rams end up bouncing back. They do it on the backs of their defense, which was just tremendous. Again, and uh, I'm not gonna ye know. I'm not gonna say John Walford the world on fire after that first interception. He was good enough though. And uh, look, head coaching coach in the NFL, it is about problem solving and Sean mc they found a way to solve the problems. He made things simplistic for Walford. Uh. And really, I mean, this is a game the Rams lad for most of it, and Walford ended up dropping back more than forty times in this game, so it's not like fully protecting a guy and leaning on the run game. Uh. They found a way to make it work with with John Walford. Yeah, I think McVeigh did a good job having a week to prepare Walford to come into the game, did a good job to have him in position to win the game for the team. Different situation than the Cardinals found themselves in who Kyler gets hurts and then they have to put it back up in So you can see the benefits of having the whole week to prepare Walford for the starting opportunity versus Chris Traveler who comes in and the pick six that he threw really swung the game in the Rams favor. Yeah, that was that was huge And and look again, if you watch the Sunday night game, Uh, and it sort of felt like the only way the Eagles were going to get back into it was if they took one of those turnovers and actually scored points directly off of it and ran it back. That's how the Rams got sort of the touchdown that that turned the game. Here. Uh, it was an eighty four yard run back by Troy Hill off interception at the end of the first half. Uh. If he just catches that ball and falls down or whatever it might be, they probably don't get points at the end of the first half and they're they're trailing by two and a half time and maybe they went in anyway that they did. Uh outperform the Cardinals pretty significantly in this game, but uh, it certainly becomes a much more interesting game. Uh. Look, the Cardinals had to they turned to Chris Traveler for a little bit. It just wasn't really working the former Winnipeg Blue Bomber star. Uh it made some place with his legs, but you know, the passing game was just not gonna get it done here. So Kyler goes out there on basically one leg and uh, that also wasn't getting it done. So, Um, Cardinals just didn't find the kind of answers the Rams found. And uh they finished eight and eight and their their season is over. They are on the outside looking in and that NFC race for the seven seed. Yeah, I was a disappointing finish for the Cardinals, who provided some of the most thrilling moments this season. Certainly that the Hail Mary passed against the Bills was a fantastic moment of optimism for the Cardinals franchise. But clearly Murray was not at full strength when he came back in. He said he basically had to let some things kick in, which I'm assuming is a a painkiller injection. Um, and his He's been banged up a lot that has really impacted the Cardinals, and so you know, this seemed like a year when they could really make a big leap forward, um, and it ended up not being that. So they're kind of a team with an uncertain future as well. They are. And and I mean, look that they moved on from Steve Wilkes after a year, and you kind of thought, with the investments that they made on offense, this offense would at least carry him through and maybe the defense would be the question mark. It ended up being the opposite. The defense ended up really overachieving this year. Events Joseph did a did a tremendous job with that unit after losing Chandler Jones, and the offense just really was was disappointing in the second half of the year. Uh. And if you look back on the first half of the year, a lot of what they did was sort of sparked by Kyler and these sort of incredible scrambles and these big plays with his legs out of structure. And when that stuff went away, Uh, you just saw a completely different offense and one that just in the end, despite all the big names involved, just just wasn't good enough when it was all said and done. Uh, that's exactly right when he has these injuries to his lower body, which he's had this year, that all of a sudden, the offense just crumbles. The the Seahawks go out and uh and beat the forty Niners to wrap up their season. They had already clinched the NFC West, so not not a ton to play for. They they were still in the running for the one seed when they were playing this game. But it ends up not not really mattering here. Kind of another rough day for the Seahawks offense. So they did heat up with three touchdown drives on the fourth quarter to put away the forty Niners, who again, I mean forty Niners were competitive with everyone here and uh they were right in this one. Um. I will say that the neat moment in this game was and it was very confusing to see play out. Uh the second last snap, instead of taking kneel down, Russell Wilson threw a short pass to David Moore. Uh and it turns out is because more needed one more catch to have a hundred thousand dollar incentive kick in on his contract to get to thirty five catches here. So that was that was a nice moment. That was a nice end to the holiday season. I guess it was good looking out by Wilson, quarterback looking out for his teammates. He was aware of the incentive. I will say, Gary, I hate the idea of these incentives and player contracts. I think any sort of quotas are metrics just as a labor practice, very opposed those two. I think it creates unfair situations where you are being judged by things. Your compensation is tied to things that are often out of your control. I understand it's a way to potentially earn more money. If a team isn't going to give a player more money, you say, well let's put it in performance incentive to bump up the salaries. But instead of looking at them as cute and fun, I do think we should look at them as what they are is a team trying to devote less resources to the people who win games for them, and um putting them in situations that are really unfair as a labor practice. We sometimes hear on some of these where it's like, oh, you know, he missed it by one, but they paid him anyway, or something like that. I don't know if that happens to David Moore I don't know if David Moore is is a big enough fame. I don't know if there's enough of a stink about this. If he finishes with thirty four catches to the Seal bother, it's a dred dollars. So the Seahawks, the Seahawks have it lying around. They can afford it. But uh, it's it's it just seems I'm with you. It just seems kind of kind of a silly way to do business in exactly Gary, because, like you said, the teams can afford it, right. The teams are worth billions of dollars. They can afford it um. And the players are the ones that are put in a situation where they might not get all the money despite you know, does one catch make you less worthy of earning it? No? Yeah, David Moore was not having a good season until that three fifth catch, and uh, now he can really hold his head up high here. Uh, this is my favorite match. If Jared Golf is back and Andrew might also be back, my favorite matchup of the wild Card weekend is going to be the uh the Saturday late afternoon game, the rematch round three with the Rams and Seahawks. They always play such good games, and I'm just glad they're they're playing again here. Yeah, that will be a good one. Titans Ravens will also be a good one. So many good ones. Uh, Packers Bears on on on Sunday Week seventeen. This ends up not being a a do or die game for the Bears, so they get in once the Cardinals lose, but obviously they were. They were trying to win this one, and the Packers also need to win to clinch the number one seed in the NFC. Uh. And look, Aaron Rodgers is just great again in this one. And this one might have gotten out of hand had it not been for a markets Valdes scantling drop on what had been it would have been a long touchdown in the third quarter, But the Packers were kind of in control of the Bears hung around and and probably kicked too many field goals to uh to beat Aaron Rodgers. But uh, I don't know, kind of kind of I guess the way you would have expected this one to play out. Yeah, Aaron Rodgers face after that Valdes scantling drop just said it all. As a person who also has little ability to control my facial expressions. I always enjoy a person that just can't mask it at all, so that this pleasure is very clear after that drop. But after seventeen weeks that Rogers will likely be the m v P. He deserves it. He's had a fantastic season and all the way through the end um and now they have home field advantage through the playoffs, which is significant at lambeau Field and um they have a good chance to to make it to the super Bowl and try to get Rogers another ring and the Bears this roller coaster season. They do get in, they will go to New Orleans eight night, Bears facing the Saints round one, and uh, yeah, it's that's that's an accompliment. That was that was really falling apart for the Bears in November and for them to bounce back that is that is something they get a thumbs up for that. Yeah, that is a uh. We would not have said that they would be in the playoffs at multiple points this season, so that is an accomplishment. The Saints by the way they they they they had a big day against the Panthers. Here five interceptions of Panthers quarterbacks to of Bridgewater. Three of p J. Walker when he came on uh and the Saints they lost their running backs due to UH COVID protocols uh, and they still ran for one sings a game time Mountgomery his first hundred yard rushing games since. So again, this one played out how I think you would expect it to play out in The Saints seem like they are. They're clicking pretty well going into the postseason here. Yeah, and it'll be interesting kind of to see when those running backs are able to come back. Clearly Camara is a huge part of their offense, certainly a candidate for Offensive Player of the Year. He won't win it, but he is in the next at least UM and another game where the whole position group is wiped out, which is always surprising to see, always always surprising to move forward with that exactly in despite of it. Uh. The the Bucks and the Falcon is in the FC South here Bucks wrap up with a with a win Brady third rate three yard game. Bucks top thirty points for the third rate game. And I'm about to say nice things about the Ravens later in the show and how they finished, so I don't want to be too dismissive of the Bucks here. Uh. It was the Falcons twice, and it was the Lions. So I guess the question is, you know, it's it's a it's an offense that was sort of up and down this year. Did they just light up a couple of bad defenses or are we ready to see uh, sort sort of the Bucks at their peak in January. Yeah, And I think that's a really unknown question at this point in time. They got back on track. There was kind of that mid season law that was all this chatter about if Arians was maximizing Brady, and they certainly finished the season strong. But now you're going to face some good defenses, some top opponents. Washington is not a good team overall, but they have a very strong defense. In the first round of the play US uh, that will be an interesting match up with that front against Tom Brady. But good news that Mike Evans he does not have ligament damage. That was a weird looking injury. The niece kind of hyper extended. It looked like there was a slippery spot in the turf. That's certainly what Bruce Arians attributed it to. Um But you know, we'll see if he's able to go this week or not. He's clearly an important part of that offense. Yep. And the as far as the Falcons go, they end up with the number four pick. Uh, and I guess they'll have a whoever is coming in there as a GM and head coach will have a decision to make on on Matt Ryan, whether they want to stay the course here or or maybe hit a harder reset than uh maybe you would have thought they would have in the past couple of years. Uh. Let's uh, let's wrap up the NFC side of it with a game that was very meaningful when it was played. It ends up not being meaningful with when we all look back. But uh, the Giants beat the Cowboys to put themselves in position to possibly win the division if the Eagles had one Sunday Night obviously didn't happen. But uh, this game was it just you know, it was. It was a very NFC East game, A lot a lot of comic relief in this game to uh, sort of wrap up the season here for the Giants and the and the Cowboys and the Giants and the pulling on. Yeah, it was pretty ugly game, but it looked like either team kind of tried to give it away at certain points in time, not trying to give it away. We're already talking about that too much in the nfcast. Sorry, but it was very fit into the division race this season where it just looked like nobody was fit to win. And I think while this game was meaningless, I do think there are questions about McCarthy with the team. I mean, this was his first year and he's not going anywhere. But why did he not challenge the catch that's set up the field goal that made it so that the Cowboy had to score a touchdown at the end. Yeah, it was a whole lot of a lot of Dante Pettis highlights in this game, wearing O'Dell's old number. That's always a little bit jarring to see. But uh yeah, he uh probably did not catch that ball that set up the fifty yard field goal that stretched the lead to four. Uh. The Cowboys, for whatever reason, they don't communicate to get the challenge flag out, and that's that's the way it went. And so the Cowboys did drive, uh that they were inside the Giants ten, but obviously needed the touchdown instead of the field goal to win at that point, and they don't get it in part because uh, and look that this was not Leonard Williams's greatest play of the season. It was a blown protection that led to the sack on first and goal that sort of led to this sort of comedy of errors for the Cowboys to wrap up their last offensive possession. But Leonard Williams had three sacks in this game. He was he was tremendous again. And I mean, look, Dave Gettleman took a lot of heat for that trade. Dave Edleman takes a lot of heat for a lot of stuff. But it looks like when it's all said and done, this Leonard Williams trade looks looks really good for the Giants. Yeah, and I think overall, Joe Judge did a good job coaching this year. This roster has a lot of flaws. They have a lot of things to fix this offseason. But I think you could say at the end of the year, despite the NFC East race, despite how every team in the division faltered at times, I think you could say that Joe Judge showed signs that he's building something that could be taking the Giants in a better direction than they have since their last Super Bowl. I am I'm very skeptical that Wayne Goldman recovered that fumble on I am I am glad he did. The Wayne Goldman has had a really nice season filling in for say Klon Barkley, and uh, he would have just he's I mean lucky. He would have been forever a punchline. I mean, I I just I don't know how that happened. I need to do is fall down and the game was won, and somehow he just gig forgot he was carrying a football. I'm not sure what. I'm not sure how we lost that fumble. There's no one near him, and then he sat on it and we all got to have sort of a nice laugh out of it. Yeah, jokes about that method of securing the football. I suppose, uh a little bit, a little bit more of a a I don't know, fitting coronation for running back here, Uh Titans Texans game. Derrick Henry runs for two fifty in this one, and we've been sort of wondering when he gets two thousands year and the answer is yes, he gets to two thousand, twenty seven yards on the year. That is fifth most all time, which is again it's it's an accomplishment no matter when you do it. But to do it in this era where uh, nobody really builds up the run game. That is that's pretty neat. So huge accomplishment here for Derrick Henry, who was probably going to be Offensive Player of the Year in the NFL. Uh. This game was probably a little too close for comfort for the Titans, who needed it to clinch the FC South. They had already clinched their uh their playoff spot when he's being played, but uh, they end up going back and forth. The Shawn Watson again was fantastic in this one. Uh, probably as good a performance you will ever see from a quarterback whose team loses twelve games in the season. But the Titans end up having to resort to a late bomb to a J. Brown just set up Sam Sloman, former Rams kicker with again. Sam Sloman's kicks are I'm glad he made it, but his kicks are always interesting. Uh. He banks it off the the left, upright, and the Titans when the an FC South, Yeah that kick. I am shocked that it went in, but it did, and it was a thrilling finish for the Titans. Back to your point about Derrick Henry, I think this is why the offensive Player of the Year award exists. It is a strange award. A lot of seasons, it doesn't make seem to make sense because if the quarterback is winning the m v P, shouldn't he also win the Offensive Player of the Year award. But I do think this is a year when you can make a distinction. You could say Aaron Rodgers wins the m v P and then vote for Derrick Henry as the Offensive Player of the Year because he accomplished something that is difficult. As you pointed out, it's hard to get that many rushing yards in this era. He has a throwback player um, and this is a way for that achievement to be recognized. That's different from the m v P awards. So I like that there's this category for a season like the one that Henry had. And as for the way the Titans finished that game, it was uh much more down to the wire than they expected. But that late past to a d Brown was fantastic, and he just really out muscled the defender on that play and he just was going to come down for that come down without football, and that's why he's one of the best receivers in the NFL. Yeah, he is absolutely special and and we'll see what they do in the in the playoffs here because they'll probably have to swere a lot of points. They just haven't stopped teams this year, and they are going to They're going to host the Ravens. This will be the third time they played the Ravens in the last calendar year. Uh, they'll host Baltimore. The Ravens are on fire here. And again I mentioned earlier, you know, the Bucks sort of are putting up big numbers against maybe not great defenses. The Ravens did not play world beaters down the stretch here, and we kind of knew this was coming in their schedule. But uh, they've won five straight average marginal victory nineteen point four points. Uh. You know, we all kind of wondered, how's the offense gonna recover after losing Ronnie Stanley, after uh, you know, sort of having their struggles mid season. Uh, they've gone over four hundred yards four or five five on Sunday against the Bengals. I mean, it just seems like they've gotten right. Yeah. Earlier in the year, Mark Ingram said they didn't really know what their identity was, and I think they had a lot to work through. As you pointed out the Stanley loss, they had the COVID outbreak among the team and they really sorted things out after that and became dominant. And the performance the connection between Jackson and Marks Brown. I drafted Markus Brown and fantasy thinking that we would see that all season. We didn't until the end. And it's a very good time for that connection to come alive because Lamar Jackson needs that kind of relationship with the top receiver for them to contend in the playoffs, and they certainly have it. Yeah, that's that's gonna be again that that's a that's a very good matchup. That is the early Sunday game Ravens at Titans. And and by the way, as far as the Bengals go, Zach Taylor is going to stay there. He will be there in one. They are not making a move at head coach, So you can, I know you can cross that one off your list, I guess. Uh. And last one before we sort of lightning round the games that maybe didn't have as many playoff implications. Uh, the Colts do end up beating the Jaguars get their their vengeance on the Jaguars who beat them in the season opener. Uh, Jaguars end up losing fifteen straight and and go into the off season with Trevor Lawrence and a new head coach and a new GM ready to come in. But uh, you know, Derrick Hennry ran for two fifty and Jonathan Taylor just just topped him, totally overshadowed him to fifty three. For Jonathan Taylor, the rookie runner in this game, I was just I was shocked when I saw the graphic that Jonathan Taylor, who we kind of were talking about mid season, like, oh, you know, they don't quite trust him, he doesn't have a big role in the offense, and he finished third in the league and rushing. Yeah, he really came on at the end of the season, which is exactly what you want you're young running back to come on strong. We talked about that a little bit last week, and looking back Gary that week one defeats by the Jaguars over the Colts is probably the most perplexing outcome of the season. Well, I guess Jets over the Rams that probably ranks one, But I don't know Jaguars over the Colts. I remember I said on the week Side podcast at the time. That game said more about the Colts than the Jaguars, and I just don't know that it said anything at all about anything. No, it's just it just said that, like I don't know, sometimes teams just don't show up. Uh yeah, the I mean the Rams Jets thing. The Rams are kind of stylistically, you know, not gonna blow people around. Not that the Colts too. I don't know. I mean, we're we're reading too much into it, but it is still just it's wild to think that the I mean, look, the Jaguars and the Jets combined for three wins this year, and they were all over playoff teams. So you know, that's that's football, I guess and shrug emoji and uh as far as the cults go, look, I love the Colts, uh, just not quite as much as I love the Bills. But that's that's still The Colts are theoretically built to win on the road in January, and they they'll go to Buffalo to open the playoffs Saturday afternoon, and uh, I don't know, I think that's a that's kind of a tough matchup. You got a young back with fresh legs and and they're gonna lean on the run game, and obviously the defense is really good, so maybe you hang around or or maybe you don't because the Bills haven't really lent any want to hang around recently. Yeah. Absolutely, they have just demolished opponents. So that will be an interesting one. And let's let's wrap it up with the lightning round. Four games to go here. Uh, we'll start with Patriots Jets. This may or may not have been the camp finale that there were some reports that were Belichick now sort of bristle that that said, not necessarily, but this was one of the Patriots better performances this year as far as the offense goes the top four hundred yards. They scored three touchdowns in the last twenty minutes to avoid the upset. And uh, I don't know if if this was it for Cam and it was just such a weird year for him and for that team with with all the guys opting out in the fact that they just were sort of unfinished on offense. Anyway, Uh, this is kind of a nice way to wrap it up. Yeah, it was a good performance. It was kind of what we thought at times we might see all season from Cam and the Patriots. It didn't work out that way. But ultimately, in terms of the Patriots at this millennium, this is just kind of one of those seasons you'll forget about. The Chargers beat the Chiefs. It was it was justin Herbert versus Chad Henny. The Chiefs obviously had already locked up the number one seed. Herbert throws for three or two and three touchdowns, and at the moment that we're taping, we're we're waiting for word on Anthony Lynn. Obviously their west coast, and they're three hours behind where we are on the east. Uh. I don't know. I mean, we we've we've talked about this. It seems like all the tea leaves are that they are going to move on from Lynn. I don't know if that's the right move for them. I I I don't think it's necessarily fair at this point, But we'll see what they do. They finished seven and nine, uh in the year where they just let a lot of games slip away at the end against very quality opponents. Yeah, Gary, I think some of those games that slipped away in the final minutes, which could have changed the team's fortunes, those will certainly be a factor in the charges evaluation of Lynn. But what I also think should be waited strongly, and we talked a little bit about this last week on the show, is just how well Herbert played. He came into the NFL. He wasn't billed as a sure thing. He's played significantly better in the NFL than he did at Oregon, and I think Lynn should get credit for how quickly he came along in a season when he wasn't expected to start as soon as he did. The Raiders and the Broncos played a played a really fun game. I don't don't know if anyone bother watching it, but it was a really exciting ending. UH Raiders getting touchdown in a two point a version in the final thirty seconds to UH to win it here and they block Brandon McManus UH and his sixty three yard or at the end of the game. Raiders, obviously they're bummed out they didn't make the playoffs. I think there was some growth there. I think there's a lot of work to do with that defense, and maybe I mean, look, maybe you get one impact pass rusher and that sort of changes what you do. I think it is easier to build up your pass rush with a single signing that it is to sort of solidify your your secondary with a single signing, and they've invested a bunch in the secondary anyway. But uh, the on the other end of this, Drew Lock throws for a career high three thirty nine, his best games certainly this year, maybe maybe first career. And I don't know. The Broncos are going to be in an interesting spot again with their quarterback where you know, will they or won't they? Yeah, they are definitely an interesting spot. I will say that we did get a showcase for this entertaining game because it moved so much more slowly than the rest of these four PM games that it was the only one on red zone at the end for a very interesting finish. I wonder sort of big picture speaking league wide, and the Raiders have been in a bunch of games like this, so it comes to mind talking about them. But there have been just so many late game defensive breakdowns. I don't know if there have been more this year than other years, but qualitatively it feels like there have been that that just the teams are not stopping and there's this flurry of scores in the final minutes of a game. And uh, I just wonder if that's something that's defensive coordinators look to address in the off season. The Raiders have a whole to issues to address on defense, But just the idea that there has been so many breakdowns late in the game of defenses, what the heck has contributed to that? Gary, I know, I know, it seemed like defenses were sort of like, you know, getting it together mid season this year and then we just had some really spectacular low lights late in the year. Uh, and a lot of them came from the Detroit lines who did wrap up with a with a loss of the Vikings. This end up being a shootout. Nodalmond Cook at this one with the Vikings. They still put up five dred eight yards of offense and thirty seven points. And uh, if this was it for Matthews, Afford and Detroit, and again, if he wants to stay in Detroit, that's that's absolutely his decision. He should play there as long as he wants to play there. I just think it would be really nice to see him, uh play for maybe maybe more of a functional organization for the remainder of his prime. But uh, if this was the end, it was a very fitting end in which he puts up thirty five points and they lose. Anyway, Yeah, I mean he should have had the opportunity to have success. He's played well enough to He's done a lot to try to advance that franchise forward, but it just could never get things together around him. All right, Jenny, we have a very busy week coming up here at the MMQB. We're gonna have tons on anymore moves as far as as coach firings or or GM firings. Uh. If you don't already, please do go out there and subscribe to the week Side podcast. Jenny Connor will have planning for you. Albert Brier as well on his show. Get both those feeds or you're just gonna You're gonna miss out. And Jenny, we have we have playoffs stuff too. I mean, we're we're we are probably going to discuss the NFL playoffs. The NFL made it through the regular season and now there's some interesting playoff matches to talk about, all right, and we will talk next week. The MMQB Monday Morning NFL Podcast is Jenny Brentis and me Gary Grambling. We are produced by Shelby Royson s I's Executive producer of podcasts is Scott Brody. Ben Eagle is director of Editory of Projects and Products, Mark Ravick is Emeritus editor of the MPV, and Andy Benoit is the founder of the mmqb NFL podcast. Be sure to subscribe to this feed, as well as the feeds for The weak Side Podcast and the Albert Brier Show. They're all for free on Apple Podcasts, and once you do, please leave a rating and review for all of them. 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