JB's Sports Podcast
JB's Sports Podcast
CFP Begins: Buckeyes are Back, Home Teams Dominate, and NFL Week 16 Recap
Are Indiana's playoff hopes built on a shaky foundation? Join us for a thrilling solo ride on the JB Sports Podcast as we dissect the recent college football playoff clash between Indiana and Notre Dame. With the festive season beckoning, I'm stepping up to the mic alone, bringing you a no-holds-barred analysis of Indiana's underwhelming performance and Notre Dame's strategic dominance, highlighted by Jeremiah Love's electrifying 98-yard touchdown. We’ll also scrutinize Kurt Cignetti’s risk-averse coaching style, questioning whether Indiana's inclusion in the playoffs was ever truly justified or just media-driven hype.
The conversation takes a deeper turn as we explore the nuances of playoff selections and the weight of a team’s losses in shaping their rankings. Through the lens of Penn State's commanding victory over SMU and Clemson’s gritty battle with Texas, we'll analyze how these matchups stack up in the broader playoff picture. Does Texas's exposed defense against Clemson hint at vulnerabilities against top-tier offenses? And what does Ohio State's relentless tempo against Tennessee reveal about their championship aspirations? It's a whirlwind of tactical breakdowns and game-changing moments that underscore the high-stakes world of college football.
Shifting gears to the NFL, prepare for a week of exhilarating recaps and bold predictions. From the Steelers’ playoff journey amidst a tough loss to the Ravens, to Bryce Young’s standout performance leading the Panthers past the Cardinals, we examine the key players who shone in their pivotal matchups. We’ll dissect the Bengals' dominant win over the Browns, the Falcons' exploitation of Giants’ mistakes, and the Lions’ relentless push for the top seed. As we look ahead, our game picks and predictions for upcoming clashes, including the Kansas City vs. Pittsburgh showdown, promise another weekend of gridiron excitement. Tune in to catch the pulse of both college and NFL football, through insights that blend strategy, skill, and suspense.
welcome back to the jb sports podcast. Today is when's tuesday? It's tuesday, tuesday, january 24th, and we're back for a new podcast. Uh, obviously I'm not the person that usually does the intros it's usually Jace but I told him, since it's the week of Christmas, obviously being tomorrow, and then we also have to do another podcast later on this week, I just gave him the option to go ahead and sit out for this one, be ready for the post Wednesday Thursday games than before this weekend's games. So I just gave him an option to go ahead and sit out for those.
Speaker 1:Let me go solo for this one and honestly, I don't want to drag on too long about that, because I not only have to record this podcast tonight, I also have to do a bunch of, because literally, I bought a bunch of Christmas presents and I have not wrapped not a single one of them. So a lot, lot for me to do tonight. So I just want to make sure I get everything done, talk about everything I want to talk about in this pod, do my wrapping and be ready to celebrate Christmas with the fandom fam tomorrow. So that's about it. So I don't want to go too much longer about that. Let's go ahead and talk about everything needs to be talked about, because, let me tell you, there is a lot to talk about from this past weekend. You had the college football playoff games, you had the NFL games. That all happened and I'm going to talk about all of it, hopefully not as long as I would usually like to. I'm trying to keep this a little bit more condensed, but again, I can't guarantee anything because once I go off on a tangent I definitely go off. So I'll try as best I can to keep things short and sweet, but again, I can't promise anything. All right, so starting with college football, I guess we may as well just do this in order that they came on. So we'll start with the Thursday night. Sorry, that makes that last Friday night.
Speaker 1:We'll start with the Friday night game college football playoff game between Indiana and Notre Dame, the fight for Indiana, because obviously both those teams reside in the state of Indiana, so that's what they were calling it coming into the game. Initial thoughts. So looking at the way that obviously it was a home game. Initial thoughts. So looking at the way that Obviously it was a home game for Notre Dame, right, you see the whole stadium. It's packed out to the gills. I thought Indiana fans would be more prevalent in that stadium than they were, but I think Notre Dame fans really did buy up those tickets and make sure Indiana fans didn't have as much of an opportunity to get in there. So all the credits under name fans that they managed to buy their tickets. Keep their tickets and don't hand them off to an Indiana fan that wants to get into this game to kind of see their one opportunity potentially to really make some noise in the playoff here. So that was initial and then the game started.
Speaker 1:It was a little I think it snowed the day before, but it wasn't snowing during the game, I think it's just some light flurries, but other than that it really wasn't nothing much. A little windy. But again, I just think you're in the state of indiana during in december, right before christmas, so it has to be expected a little bit there to be some wintery weather because it's wintertime. So so when it came to the game, game kind of started off slow. Uh, both. Obviously no name's not really known as a high-flying like like a team that can really nuke people offensively, and obviously neither is indiana. I think ind. Indiana is no more for that, but I don't think anybody had any type of illusion that Indiana would be able to come into this game and just offensively blow Notre Dame away. I thought Indiana would do better offensively. I just thought they'd be able to do a little more with their wide receivers and I thought that they'd be able to stop the run a little bit better, which would force Notre Dame to have to throw the football more. But that did not necessarily happen last night. So with that being the case, it was just a matter of time before Notre Dame really broke this game open. I think they ended up scoring their first touchdown with like 11 minutes left.
Speaker 1:In the first quarter there was a Jeremiah Love 98 yard run. It was a absolutely spectacular run. It was like one of those with Jeremiah Love's like known as like one of the better players on that fighting Irish team, but he just kind of broke out. They were obviously on the two yard line. He broke out of that line and he just kind of outran everybody on that Indiana defense and they had no opportunity to stop him.
Speaker 1:It almost felt like once they scored that first touchdown, indiana was playing so bad offensively. It was like, oh, is Indiana going to be able to do anything in this game. Could this seven points be enough to win this football game? And I think for the most part it was. But Notre Dame really did keep building upon that. They had a five, five yard pass from Ronnie Leonard for a touchdown later on in the game. Make it 14 nothing in the second quarter.
Speaker 1:Uh, indiana got a field goal there at late in the second quarter and then, uh, notre Dame was able to finish off the uh in at the end of the first half to get a 49 yard field goal to go up 17 to 3 and honestly, at this point it felt like the game was pretty much over it, like, because of the way that both these teams were playing, indiana could not move the ball to save their lives whatsoever. Uh, they couldn't run the football like they usually try to do, like. It just felt like whatever Indiana tried offensively, they really had no opportunity. And I'll give Notre Dame this credit. I didn't think that Notre Dame defensively would be able to totally dismantle Indiana in kind of the same way that Ohio State did. But credit to them, that's exactly what they did. Their secondary really kept Indiana under wraps. They really couldn't do anything. And then, once that couldn't happen. Indiana really couldn't run the football either. So I do have to give Notre Dame their credit. Defensively they definitely took care of them, indiana in this game, and I think it was kind of helped by Indiana because I think there were some opportunities that I felt like Kurt Cignetti, the head coach for Indiana, could have taken chances to try to get back into the game, stay competitive. There were multiple opportunities where they were on the Notre Dame side of the field and they had an opportunity to go for a fourth down, potentially keep drives going, potentially try to get touchdowns, and they would just kick it off. And this kind of goes back to my thoughts about Indiana when they played Ohio State earlier on this year.
Speaker 1:Before I get to that main point, let me go through the rest of the game. In the third quarter, the only score was Notre Dame getting a field goal with 4 minutes and 21 seconds left In the third quarter. That was after a 6-minute drive and then Notre Dame had a six-minute drive and then Notre Dame had a five-minute drive. In the fourth quarter it was a touchdown drive that was capped off by Riley Leonard getting a one-yard run. That ended up making it a 27-3 lead with about four minutes and 50 seconds left and then, with the remaining time that was left, indiana scored two touchdowns to kind of make the game look a little bit closer 27-17 to only lose by 10 instead of losing by. You know, at before that it was 27-3 and Notre Dame was cruising. They kind of let up off the gas a little bit. Indiana kind of did just enough at the end to make the game look a lot closer than what it should have been, and it's been Indiana's thing.
Speaker 1:You have Kurt Cignetti talking trash all year. Long Before the season started he was talking about Ohio State's trash and Michigan's trash and Penn State is. He has so much crap to talk about everybody else. He faces Ohio State, they get dummied. And he makes stupid moves there in the middle of the game at the end where he's like oh, we're just going to try to score a few points here to make the game look closer, to make it look better for the playoff. And that's exactly what he does, like he puts his tail between his legs and just tries to make the loss look closer.
Speaker 1:They weren't actually trying to win the football game and I think to a certain extent like once you get to this Notre Dame game in the playoff, why the heck are you there if you're not going in and trying to win the football game? I get it, maybe early on it. It is very apparent that you have no opportunity to win this football game. But why in the hell would you turtle up and just say, hey, we're gonna take this butt whooping, but we're just gonna make sure it's not that bad? And I felt like Indiana's plan with Kurt Cignetti was to make it look not that bad and by the time the end of the four, have your defense out there, because defense was playing decently well.
Speaker 1:It wasn't like Indiana's defense was getting dominated. I really do think they kind of kept Notre Dame from doing what they want to do. For the most part. It didn't let them be explosive, right. I think Notre Dame got what they wanted. They got, they were able to get some passing yards. They ran the football pretty effectively. Notre Dame had like 193 yards rushing total um again and you take out that 98 yard touchdown run, they have under 100 yards for the game and with 34 attempts. So it's not like Indiana got dominated when it comes to the numbers side. But you can just tell throughout this game that Indiana had no fight to actually go and try to win the game. They were just trying to survive and keep it close at the end.
Speaker 1:That's the part that makes this very annoying, especially when Game Day was at the site on that Friday and they talked to Kurt Signetic and he they taught, taught. He said something about facing the top 25 and he said we don't just beat the 25 weeks, we destroy them, or something like that. But the thing is is that the two best teams they played all year were Ohio state, who made them look stupid and made them look bad, um bad, earlier this year, and then they played Notre Dame and I'm not serious saying that I don't, and I'm not one that truly believes that Notre Dame is a juggernaut. I believe they're very good at what they do. They are not really great at throwing the football. Ryan Leonard is not something that you can really count on to really throw you into games or throw you out of them, but if they were able to get their running game going, their secondary, their defense, is very good. So if Notre Dame gets a lead, they are a very hard team to beat. But Notre Dame outclassed Indiana here, like it was very obvious that Notre Dame was the much better team.
Speaker 1:Indiana didn't have much of a chance and Indiana played not to lose as bad instead of trying to win the football game. And when Kurt Zignade talks all that trash about everybody, they go out and they thump everybody. They play that's not as good as them. They go and beat them by a lot. They don't hold back. They're not sitting there trying to just run out the clock, they're trying to run up the score against everybody that they're better than they go out and do that. But then when they are the team that is out-talented and out-bested on a football field, indiana tries to play. The little old me like hey, we just don't want to lose that bad, we want to keep this game close. You can't be both at the same time, especially when you're as loud as Kurt Cignetti about it.
Speaker 1:So in Indiana it was a point of contention, for this was that a lot of people were looking at Indiana as to why they were in the playoff in the first place, citing that Indiana only played Ohio State in their schedule. Being 11-1 shouldn't matter when you didn't really play anybody and you lost to the one team that you had in your schedule. That was good. Here's my thing. I think two things can be true at the same time. Is Indiana a top 12 team when it comes to talent? No, they're not, for sure they're not, but I think with the year that they had, they went 11-1 on their schedule. And I think you have to.
Speaker 1:When people say what's the point of the playoff, think first off, when it comes to ESPN and the in the committee, they're just trying to get the best TV product out there possible, like nobody sits like. That is the truth, as truth of the matter is they're just trying to get the best TV product out there possible. And I think, while trying to do that, both with having good teams good, like actual talented teams and then also being able to be able to say that they deserved it based on how their season went and I don't think it's really being helped by every time that they do like a rankings for like literally the last, like seven or eight weeks of the season the whoever does the espn show pretty much every tuesday tries to nail the committee down on what is your, what's your criteria, and I get it. Everybody would love for the for there to be a set criteria to be able to make the playoff because it makes it easier. No one complains about the NFL when, like I know, there's sometimes people weren't people complain about, hey, how, like the NFC South get has a team that gets into the playoffs, that they have seven or eight wins, but other than that, nobody complains. Because, guess what? It's a set of rules. You win your division, you get into the playoffs and then it's record based off of that and there's a few other different qualifiers after that if things are ties. So, with all that being the case, like everybody would love for there to be a set thing.
Speaker 1:But the thing with the college football playoff is is that it's very subjective. It's. You have a committee in there making decisions and as much as they would love to sit there and tell you we want to get the best teams in, that isn't always going to be the case, because that devalues the regular season and I think with maybe did they get all the 12 best teams and no, but even in the in the 14 playoff, did they always get the four best teams? And they definitely did not. You were just trying to find the best balance that you possibly can and there was always going to be somebody that's butthurt, because that's just how this whole thing goes. So so did like so okay, so Indiana did deserve to be in. Did they play well once they got there? No, do I guarantee that a team like Bama or, uh, bama, south Carolina or Ole Miss play much better than what Indiana did against a team like Notre Dame? I can't guarantee that, because guess what All those are at are warm weather teams that then have to come up to play in the north in a play in a like cold weather environment, in a hostile environment, because that stadium was absolutely packed. So like there's. There's no guarantee that those teams, if they would have gotten in, would be much better than Indiana. And I think people were talking about SMU as well, who also got blown out out. But again, I don't think it would be that much different.
Speaker 1:And here's the problem with the whole Kirk Herbstreit talking about who did you win against. It's your wins, not the amount of wins. It's who you beat. I think it also should be who you lost to, and I've been saying this for the longest now. Bama's losses are not good. They have a loss to a middle-tier Oklahoma team. I think they were barely over 500, if not 500 right there. They lost to Vanderbilt. They lost to Tennessee, who just got destroyed by Ohio State. They lost those games. South Carolina lost to some bad teams, ole Miss lost to Kentucky and they lost to bad teams. Ole Miss lost to Kentucky and they lost to. Well, say lose to. I think they lost to Vandy. I think, right, I forget they lost to, but they had three losses that they shouldn't have had. So, with all that being the case, that that's that's the way it is. It should be who you lost to too, and I think your losses should count just as much your wins do. And that's how it is, because the regular season should matter what you did throughout that season. You had your opportunities to put your best out, your best self out there, and if you have too many marks on your schedule, then you're out. It is what. It is. All right, that's all about it, that I have, on the whole, those three SEC teams versus an Indiana or an SMU.
Speaker 1:Let me go on to the next game. First game on Saturday Penn State dominates SMU 38-10. This game was an absolute nuke of a game. You know what Nuke is probably going too far. I think this game was dominated by Penn State. Penn State's defense absolutely controlled this whole game by a landslide right. I think the defense for Penn State really set the tone. Heck, there were two pick sixes in the first half of this game that put Penn State 14 up. So with that being the case, I almost feel like this game was over before it even really started. Even after those 14 points go up, they put up another 14 before halftime, with two touchdown runs by Katron Allen and Nicholas Singleton. So it's 28-0 at halftime and I think everybody that was watching this game before that pretty much said hey, this thing is over, this thing isn't competitive. And I think it really wasn't.
Speaker 1:Smu their offense, was not able to do anything against this Penn State Lions defense Penn State Nittany Lions, not Penn State Lions. They weren't able to do against that defense and I think they did a little bit more in the second half, where they got a field goal and a touchdown there in the third and fourth quarter. But this game was dominated by Penn State. Smu not only did are they a team from Texas that wasn't ready to play in the cold. I think this was like the probably the coldest game or the second coldest game of all the four games that happened this past weekend. I think that their fans really didn't show up in this game like they. Their fans really didn't show out like you would say Tennessee did or even Indiana did. So like their fans really didn't show out like you would say Tennessee did or even Indiana did. So their fans really didn't show up. The players weren't ready to play in the weather that they had to deal with and I just think Penn State was a much better team and all of that.
Speaker 1:I think, even with Penn State not playing all that great, it's not like they destroyed them offensively. Drew Allen went 13-22 for 127 yards. They did not throw it all over the field, they ran the football effectively, I think they had. Nicholas Singleton had 14 carries, 90 yards and a touchdown. Katron Allen had 70 yards and two touchdowns. They had 189 total rushing yards in this game. That was what they did the most in this game, but it wasn't like offensively Penn State was all that clean and perfect. They had an okay game, but the problem was that SMU wasn't able to do anything offensively. Their quarterback Jennings looked like he didn't belong on the football field. He looked that bad. He was throwing the guys that like he had three interceptions this game and some of those were just to just straight to Penn State defenders, like his wide receiver was nowhere near the area and he was just throwing some really bad passes.
Speaker 1:So, all that being the case, I think SMU, as much as they had a good season and then they're let win 11 and 3, did they play a lot of great teams on schedule? No, they played in the ACC, where the ACC has been pretty much bad all season. But again, I just think, in this game. I think this game was a little bit harder to uh to give an excuse for, especially since they lost their ACC championship game. But again, the committee wasn't going to make the championship game attendees suffer a consequence for losing it. So again, it sucks to see that the game went that way. But Penn State just showed they were a much better football team and that was pretty much the beginning and end of it. Um, let's see.
Speaker 1:Next game we got it was the game at four o'clock was the Clemson Texas game Texas. Let me see here. Um, clemson fights hard behind Club Nick. Club Nick had an awesome game. I think he had over 300 yards passing. He went 26-43 for 336 yards, three touchdowns and a pick. He put the team on his back In this game. Without him this game wasn't nearly as close as it was, but the defense gets destroyed. I think the defensive lines really didn't have much of an opportunity, didn't have any chances to succeed against this Texas offensive line and I think they had two offensive linemen that were hurt in this game and it did not matter whatsoever. The Clemson defensive line had no chance to stop the running game. For Texas. Quinn Ewers didn't have a great game. He had 17 to 24, 202 yards, one touchdown, one pick.
Speaker 1:Do you know what carried the game for Texas in this game? They were at home, perfect weather, it's in Texas, so they didn't have to worry about the elements, but their passing game has not been good for a good long while. Now Quinn Ewers has been struggling. Maybe he's a little bit injured in a way that nobody would like to admit. Maybe he's regressed a bit since he since in this season, who knows? But you could tell that offense is limited by the past game, but in this game it doesn't matter, because they ran for close to 300 yards in this game. For close to 300 yards in this game 48 carries, 292 yards and four touchdowns. That was the game. Like Jayden Blue running back for them 14 carries, 146 yards, two touchdowns. Quinn Travion Wisner 15 carries, 110 yards and two touchdowns. Like this that was the game.
Speaker 1:Was that Clemson's defensive line could not keep Texas from being able to run the football effectively and they destroyed him that way. They kept Quinn Ewers from having to do anything too special. He was just there being the point guard running the offense as they needed him to. He did not have to do more than he wanted to and I think, because of that run game, this was all possible and with Clemson, even with Cade Klubnick playing as well as he did, that run game, this was all possible and with Clemson, even with Cade Klubnick playing as well as he did, it was just they just could not stop Texas offensively running the football and I think, with that being the case, it takes all the time off the clock, because I think Texas was able to shorten this game by a lot and I think that every time Clemson felt like they were like I think they had an opportunity there in the fourth quarter, I think they had a first and goal and they had four plays trying to get into the end zone and they couldn't To get at least within seven points. They're close to the end of the game so they couldn't have made it to the seven-point game there at the end. But I just think with that they just could not get over the hump there with their defense having the struggles that they did. But all the credit to Cade Klubnick and that passing attack for really keeping them in there.
Speaker 1:Tj Moore, the wide receiver for them, nine receptions, 116 yards and a touchdown. Bryant Wesco had a couple catches. You have Jake Briningstool I think that's a—who knows who that guy is. Guy is four or seven, 69 yards and no touchdowns. Antonio williams at 66 yards, four catches in a touchdown.
Speaker 1:Uh, like it wasn't like this, like tj moore and like it's not like clemson has an elite wide receiver group and it is like this texas defense could not stop kateppek from that passing offense from getting what they want. They really got up and down the field at will for the most part and Kate Kluppek played well. He didn't make a lot of bad decisions. It was a great game by him in that passing offense and I think it means something that Texas couldn't do anything to stop it whatsoever. Again, it didn't matter, because Texas already had the lead with that 21-point barrage in the second quarter. So all they had to do was keep the lead and, with their offense running the football as well as they did, I think that was going to happen no matter what, but I do think it reveals a weakness for that Texas defense.
Speaker 1:I think everybody's been calling this Texas defense one of the better defenses in college football this whole season, but I think with that game, with Clemson not necessarily being an elite passing offense and Cade Klubnick having the great output of a day that he had, the teams that Texas is going to have to potentially face later on or you're looking at either Ohio State or Oregon, and both of those teams can pass the football very well and if Texas is letting Clemson and Cade Klubnick with not necessarily the greatest receivers out there be able to throw the football like they did, what are they going to do against Jeremiah Smith and Ohio State? What are they going to do against Tez Johnson in Oregon and with those quarterbacks being able to throw the football over the field? I think that is the problem that Texas is going to have, even with the win that they had in this game. That's about it. But again, 38, 24, like they, they took care of business in this game and again their offense still just, they're missing something. Maybe it's like maybe we're giving quinn you were too much credit by saying it's just an, it's an injury and not necessarily he's potentially limited and just not just injury wise. Maybe it's something else that's limiting him from being able to kind of like do, but again he's played well in other spots. It makes you think that like something has to be wrong because he's played better in many other spots. But I don't know, maybe he can tap into that and do it for later on in this playoff. But it's just, it's been so long since he's had that signature game that people were calling Quinn Ewers a top five pick potentially for that. It's starting to seep into my brain that maybe he's not that, maybe he'll never be that, but who knows. But again, texas took care of business. Clemson played valiantly but you could just tell the defense was just not there for Clemson to be able to really have a chance to win this game.
Speaker 1:Last but not least, we have the Saturday night game with Ohio State and Tennessee, obviously this one being a little bit closer to home because obviously I'm a big Ohio State fan, and all that if you just now listened to the pod. So what do I think about this game? I was so freaking nervous going into this game. My stomach was in knots. I don't think I've been this nervous about a game in so long and I was nervous for the Michigan game but, like it's, it was a different type of nervousness coming into this one because everything in my brain told me we should win this game. And it's just after what I had seen against Michigan. I had lost all confidence and I think the Ohio State fan base had lost all confidence and I think the Ohio State fan base had lost all confidence. I get that Ryan Day and that coaching staff did that to the fans and they did that to where fans are questioning the whole team, even though I was I think I was potentially on the outside where I was truly, really only questioning the coaching staff, and I think there were a lot of people that were like amongst the Buckeye faithful, that were really just questioning coaching. So I think everybody can understand that the team was good enough to win that game, but it was just they weren't put in the right positions to win and I think the big question was was Ryan Day and Chip Kelly offensively going to be able to make the changes necessary for Ohio State to come to this game and play their best ball? And that exactly happened in this game. Ohio State came out swinging.
Speaker 1:Well, let me get before I get to that. Before the game even started, tennessee fans were absolutely awesome. I think as much as I'm going to make fun of them throughout the rest of my life talk about how they felt like they were going to take over the shoe and Ohio State isn't ready for the SEC. And all of that being the case, the, the fans that showed up to tennis at at Ohio Stadium I think they were. They were saying like 70 30 that Ohio State fans to Tennessee fans, so they got 30,000 people to be in that stadium. I think that's usually that's a lot more than any other visiting team has done in Ohio, in Ohio Stadium, so I do have to give them credit for that. They showed out and they were before the game. They showed up early, they were allowed and you could tell that they were there because they were wearing the orange. It was very obvious, but once that game started, it didn't matter.
Speaker 1:Well, and also I have to give this thing this is stupid for Tennessee is that their players came out before with pregame warm ups and he had a bunch of players come out with no shirts on and it's like 20 something degrees it feels like it's under 20 and they had players going out there, coming out shirtless and doing their, doing their warm-ups and all that. And as soon as I saw that, I'm like this team is not serious, that was my thought. Like this is stupid. Like they saw everything that was going on online and they wanted to prove a point. And I'm sitting there like there's no way this team really means business coming into here, like when that's on their mind. And I think again, I think some people that were at the game were saying how they only did that for a few minutes and they had people come in with the sweatshirts pretty quickly after they got their social media posts that they could put online and put out there for everybody to see. So like this team, when I was looking, I wasn't serious. So like that gave me a little bit of solace and I'm like this team is not here for business. They're here to for narratives and all that. And I think Ohio state came in ready to take care of business and that's exactly what happened in this game. So again, I came into this game very nervous. I was like, is the coaching staff going to kind of get out of their own way and kind of play to what this Ohio State team really is? And they absolutely did in this game. I think all the credits, I think, give the. So let me get the. Let me do the recap of the game first and then I'll give the credit to where credits do.
Speaker 1:Ohio State offensively came out firing, I think in the first court in the first drive. I think Tennessee got the ball first. No, no, no, ohio State got the ball first. Actually, I think Ohio State won the toss and took the ball first. They wanted to set the tempo in this game. That's exactly what they did. They ran more tempo offensively. I think Ohio State was one of the slowest teams in all of college football this year because I do think they were trying to keep the amount of snaps low for this playoff run here, because you have to potentially win 16 games to go win a national title. And I think they did that deliberately and I think in this game they said, hey, we need to use tempo. This will keep the defense off balance. And this is exactly what they did. They came out running tempo right away.
Speaker 1:There was a point there where, like it could have gone three and out, with will howard taking a sack, but I think tennessee got a face mask penalty. That then extended the drive and ohio took advantage of it and capping it off with a jeremiah smith 37 yard um strike for a touchdown. Like it was one of the and it was a beautiful ball by will howard, one of his best all year. Uh, jeremiah Smith, being the freak of nature that he is, what goes and gets the ball, keeps it, keeps it as he goes to the ground. And that was a a huge sigh of relief for myself, because I was like now I can breathe. I felt like I can now breathe. We're in the game. Our offense comes out, plays aggressively, doesn't just run the football down the middle of the line, in the middle, and I think this could be something here. Right, I'm like we're cooking. We give the ball back to Tennessee. They can't do anything. This Tennessee offense, for the most part, was totally dismantled. In this game. Tennessee cannot do anything that they wanted.
Speaker 1:I think that their offensive line could not keep Ohio State's defensive line from not only stopping the run game but getting after Nico Iamaliava and, I think, the secondary. Because of that, the secondary was able to stay back, play a lot of zone, do a fight for the most part and then keep Nico guessing and then make him have to make a quick, decisive throw. And that's exactly what he really couldn't do all night. He went 14 of 31, 104 yards. Nico really did bring his feet in this game so he did do some good things using his legs. I think he had 47 yards off 20 carries and two touchdowns. There Was it? Two touchdowns? Yeah, he did have two touchdowns. So like he brought that to the table. And Peyton Lewis, their running back, had 77 yards. Dylan Sampson, their star running back, didn't really. He only had two carries in this game. Early on he got hurt and they kept them out for most of the game. It's like the fourth quarter when the game was already in hand, but I don't know. But that it really didn't matter. If they would have had him it would have been all the same.
Speaker 1:I think this Ohio State defense came out wanting to prove a point and they did that. They kept Tennessee from doing anything that they wanted. I think their wide receivers really weren't scaring Ohio State so they really left their corners on islands a lot of the time and they played a lot of zone. They were like, hey, go ahead, nico, if you're going to go out here and throw the football and win your team this game, we'll let you do it and we'll dare you to run the football. And that's exactly what they did. They ran a lot of zone. Tennessee tried to run the football and I think the defensive line for Ohio State absolutely mauled in this game. Jack Sawyer had an awesome game. Jt Tui Malala had an awesome game. He had a sack, he had a good game and our defensive line kept them from being able to run the football like they usually want to. And as much as Tennessee has a spread attack, that makes you think they want to throw the football over the field. But I think all season this year they've been running the football. I think their running back, dylan Sampson, was the player of the year in the SEC because of how dominant he was running the football and Ohio State kept Tennessee from wanting to do that and Tennessee's offensive line just could not stop the defensive line for Ohio State from wreaking havoc on this whole game and the wide receivers for Tennessee. A few got hurt, but again that wouldn't have mattered anyway because they didn't have any wide receivers that really scared Ohio State defensively. Their wide receivers weren't all that scary. They really didn't have a lot of great guys out there and they have a talent disadvantage there. I think Ohio State treated them that way. I feel like Ohio State really came in with all the confidence in the world and they took advantage of that.
Speaker 1:Now get back to the offense. Here Ohio State comes out with a barrage Early on. They scored 21 points in the first quarter, which I think hasn't happened in so long. Ohio State usually is a first quarter keep it, play it slow type of team. They kind of get into it and then they kind of heat up as the game goes along. Ryan Day, chip Kelly and that offense made sure that wasn't the case. On Saturday they came out with a barrage of points. You have that touchdown, jeremiah Smith, like I told you about, and then you have the let me see here. And then you have a Quinshawn Judkins one-yard run after Will Howard throws a beautiful ball to Emeka Ibuka to get to the one-yard line and you have the Quinch on Judkins' play and then you have another touchdown by Travion Henderson, a 29-yard run with three minutes left in the first quarter Put it up 21-0. It's pure jubilation. I'm like oh, this is 21-0. At this point it looks like Ohio State's going to route this Tennessee team. There's really not much of an issue.
Speaker 1:But in that second quarter Tennessee kind of made some adjustments. I think Ohio State let off the gas just a tad bit and Tennessee went and scored 10 points there in the second quarter. They had like seven minutes. They took seven minutes up of that quarter. I think the referees gave Tennessee a lot of options in this, like a lot of opportunities in this game, because they were just kept. They barely ever threw any flags against Tennessee whatsoever and they gave Tennessee a stupid rough in the passer penalty they were giving them like they weren't like holding all night long. Tennessee was and they weren't calling it on them whatsoever. There were a lot of calls that were being made for Tennessee that they just weren't making for Ohio State and that's the part that sucked and heck.
Speaker 1:In the middle of that second quarter too, will Howard tried to throw a deep ball to Jeremiah Smith and Jeremiah Smith almost had it. It was right in the back of the end zone. Jeremiah Smith had one hand on it. His hand got hit. The ball comes out and then Tennessee ends up taking that ball and then they manage to go down the field and score a touchdown on that drive. But it wasn't a bad ball. I think Jeremiah Smith almost caught it. That's how talented he is. It was a one-on-one. Will Howard gave it to him, tried to give him an opportunity and it almost worked out. But again, even on that is that it came out the Tennessee defender got the ball, but I don't think he got a foot inbounds at all when he got that ball and they managed to uphold that and keep that on, even though I think there wasn't any true evidence that really showed that he got a foot down and got the interception there in the back of the end zone before he went out of bounds. So there was a lot of plays that kind of went towards Tennessee's way to kind of extend this game.
Speaker 1:I think without those two calls I think Ohio State scores even more points and Tennessee doesn't have the 17 that they have. But again, it doesn't matter. I think Ohio State had really proven that they were going to destroy that night anyway. So that second quarter Tennessee got 10 points going into the halving. There's 20 seconds left. Ohio State did, with that 20 seconds, did try to go down the field. I think they managed to attempt like a 40, it was like a 56-yard field goal. It was a miss.
Speaker 1:Jaden Fielding has not been good for us at all this year. It's been a problem. I will say but again, again, if you don't have to. I think it was ryan day giving her an opportunity to go out there and win it, to not win it but go out there and hit it without the pressure of like it being for the game. We already have a nice lead. Like this is just to try to get there with 20 seconds left. Try to give an opportunity. He misses it. It's fine, cool. But I will give, even though I truly believe after that 21 point, barraza, we were going to win this game.
Speaker 1:There was one spot where things could have turned on its head if things didn't go well in this one. At this one point coming to the second half, coming out of halftime, tennessee gets the ball first after scoring those 10 points there at the end of the second quarter. This was a spot where if Tennessee would have gotten the ball and been able to go on a touchdown drive and then make it 21-17. This was a spot where it could have turned the whole stadium off and it would have started making people question Like, hey, are we going to do this again? We have have a lead. Are we going to give this lead up to Tennessee? That was a time where it could have turned the whole stadium off on Ryan Day and this team and like that. There was a spot where Tennessee had a chance to change over the momentum really to their side.
Speaker 1:But I don't think the Ohio State didn't let that happen. Their defense defense came out to play and they stopped them pretty quickly, got the ball back and then Ohio State went on with two touchdown drives there in the third quarter to go up 35-10, pretty much capping off this game. I feel like once that happened, I feel like fans started leaving and I think it was the last little bit that we needed to pretty much guarantee ourselves the win here and it was peaches and rainbows from there. Um, jeremiah smith had another, had the other touchdown catch that he had in this game in that third quarter with a beautiful ball by will howard absolutely awesome. I feel like in the middle of that jeremiah smith didn't even see the ball and it's kind of at the last moment kind of looked his head up and saw the ball and he managed to catch it. It Very good. Quinchon Jenkins had another one-yard touchdown run, so that was a good one.
Speaker 1:That was a nine-play, 81-yard drive that took four minutes and then going into that fourth quarter, we got one more touchdown early on with Travion Henderson having a nice 24-yard run. He ran right into the offensive line where it looked like it was going to be stuffed and then he kind of took a few steps back, found a hole and then ran it up for another like it was like a 24-yard run, like I already said, and it was 42-10. This game was over After that point. Ohio State was putting in second and third strings. This game was pretty much it.
Speaker 1:I was just very it was like a party out there and watching on the state at the stadium. It was a party, I feel like it was a lot of jubilation, a lot of people that showed their support and they got rewarded and this ohio state team played like we've been looking for them to play all year long and we made tennessee look stupid. Um, nico in tennessee did looks stupid. Nico in Tennessee did get a touchdown with like a minute and 16 left minute 56 left in this game to kind of make it a little bit closer than what it was. But again, 42-17 is a nice win for Ohio State. I think the spread was only seven points so he blew that out of the water. And even with the score being what it was, I think everybody understands that Ohio State won this game by even more than that. The score was too close for what this game truly was. I think Ohio State beat them from top to bottom offensively, defensively, special teams not so much, but in the end that really didn't matter in this game because of how effective Ohio State was in other areas. And I think Ohio State made a statement, I think, of this weekend. I think Ohio State made the biggest statement of all the teams that played.
Speaker 1:I think Ohio State showed that when, offensively Ryan Day oh, by the way, I have to give the offensive line their credit In this game the week coming into this game, ryan Day was talking about how they're going to be doing a rotation at guard and with all the offensive issues we had losing Seth McLaughlin, our center and losing Simmons, our left tackle throughout the season we were like, hey, this is starting to feel a little iffy. Is this going to be an issue? The fact that you're rotating guards? That usually never happens, even at the college level. Usually you pick your five and you kind of leave them in there unless an injury happens. So the fact that he was making that the case, that what he was going to do, people were starting to feel nervous. I felt nervous as to whether this offensive line was going to be able to stop Tennessee's very good defensive line. I think I knew Tennessee's defense line was good, like they're not necessarily as good in the middle as like a team like Michigan. I think their defense line is more built like Penn State's, where they have very good defensive ends, and like their defense, their defensive tackles are OK but they're not necessarily as strong as what Michigan has. So like that was an issue that potentially I saw as an Ohio State win.
Speaker 1:What people really questioned for Ohio State's offensive line? They answered the bell man, luke Montgomery, his what is he? Richard? Sophomore season. He got his first true time in playing and he played very well. Tegra Shabola had a bad first half. In the second half he came out firing and he played very well. And Austin Saraville, the other guard, they all three played well. I think with all that our tackles played, played great. We kept Tennessee from really getting after something. Only had one sack in this game or was it no sacks? Now I gotta check to make sure. Um, yeah, there's no sack. So like with that being the case, uh, like Ohio State's offensive line did their job.
Speaker 1:We ran the football effectively. We had 156 yards. Travion had 80 yards rushing. Will Howard had 37 yards rushing. Quinshawn had 34 yards rushing. Travion had two touchdowns. Judkins had two touchdowns. So we ran the football effectively. We kept Will Howard upright. Sorry, we ran the ball effectively. We kept Will Howard upright. He managed to play very well. Did I mention he went 24-29 for 311 yards, two touchdowns and a pick. I already mentioned the pick, but that really wasn't on him. It was a good ball, just didn't go our way there. But our offensive line did absolutely amazing. They played well, they dominated Tennessee and, I think, in a way that even I didn't see coming. I really didn't see us being able to do that, even though I truly believe the Ohio State was going to win this game and cover the spread they destroyed in every single way possible.
Speaker 1:And I have to give all the credit to the offensive line. Have to give credit to the offensive line coach. Uh well, I'm forgetting his name. Oh no, this isn't good. I think his name is. Oh no, this is bad. Oh no, I gotta get his name because I've talked about him enough Justin Fry. I have to give him this credit. I've talked trash about his recruiting. I've talked trash about his recruiting. Everybody's talked trash about his recruiting because he hasn't recruited well enough. That's, that's the case. It's still the case.
Speaker 1:But I think people were questioning whether he could coach the offensive line to play well and I think he's absolutely done that all year long. When we had our top off top guys, he, he coached them up well. We were playing well before they got hurt and I think, coming into this game, we were questioning well before they got hurt, and I think, coming into this game, we were questioning everything and they came out and that offensive line played very well and I have to give him his credit for that. But I also think to a certain degree, even with the offensive line playing very well played, nasty had a lot of blocks, pancake blocks all over the place. I think Ryan Day and Chip Kelly got out of their own butt. I feel like in that Michigan game they wanted to out-tough them so much. I think Ohio State, ryan Day and Chip Kelly chose that they wanted to run the football and try to do it that way.
Speaker 1:I feel like the little bit that was affected by I think this game showed more than anything. It was cold, it wasn't necessarily as windy as it was when we played Michigan, but like when Will Howard got that injury there, when it came to the concussion he came back. Was it a? Was it an issue? And like maybe he shouldn't have been playing in that game because he could not play football at all after that. And I think like in comparison what how he played today it's night and day like it's not even close in the way that Will Howard played from that Michigan game to what he played like on Saturday against Tennessee. So like was he not really able to go out there and play as well as he probably could have with that injury? Who knows, we'll never actually get the true answer to that, but that is a question I do have to question. That is a question I do have to question. That is a question I do have to bring up.
Speaker 1:But Ryan Day and Chip Kelly chose they wanted to run the football into the teeth of that defense over and over and over again and not play to the strengths of what our team had against that Michigan team. Not going to relitigate that, but that is what happened. They came into this Tennessee game not wanting to do that. They played into their strengths. They gave the ball to their great wide receivers, that playing in space, and they played very well. We got the football to our running backs in space. We got. We threw them the football. So, like we played to Ohio State, ryan Day, chip Kelly played to the strengths of the team and they were rewarded for it. They destroyed Tennessee. They took their souls, and that was it. And because of how they played, they were not only able to. They destroyed Tennessee. They took their souls and that was it. And because of how they played, they were not only able to throw the football, they ran the football well too.
Speaker 1:And that's what everybody's been asking for all year long and I think in that Michigan game they decided to do something different and they had to pay the ultimate price for it. But I think they have now learned from it and I hope they can only take this lesson and keep doing this throughout the rest of the playoff. Because if they play how they played on Saturday, for the next three to four games what is it? Three games, one, two, that'll be three games right. Next three games they're going to win a national title.
Speaker 1:If they play this way, if they run the football, if they give it to Jeremiah Smith and Emeka and Cardale Tate and G Scott, this tight end, if they keep doing this and they're off the line, keeps Will Howard upright. Will Howard keeps hitting these deep. We went four or five on deep balls on Saturday. If he could play anywhere near this in our offense, in our defense and defense has been playing well pretty much the whole season since the Oregon game, where that was our last bad game the defense had, but ever since then the defense has been great. So if our offense and our defense keeps playing like this, there is not a team in the country that can beat Ohio State, especially not in the rest of what this playoff is.
Speaker 1:I truly think if Ohio State gets past Oregon, that's the toughest mountain left and I think Ohio State, if they stay on this track and if the coaching staff keeps putting their players in the best position to win, ohio State will win. Ryan Day will be a national championship head coach. That's what this game showed. When they're playing right and they have the right game plan and their players are playing well, they look like the best team in the country, which is what everybody was saying they were before the season even started. The best team in the country, which is what everybody was saying they were before the season even started. So I'm very happy the Ohio State fan base is very happy that we finally got a glimpse as to what this team looks like when they're firing at all cylinders. And they absolutely made tennis. They torched Tennessee that night and it was a very wonderful sight to see. And one last thing I say before I go on to the NFL stuff is that I don't think Ryan Day is getting fired now.
Speaker 1:After this game. You have a bunch of players in the transfer portal that are now committing to Ohio State. There's a lot of momentum coming from that win. I think it has only helped Ryan Day. He's probably gonna keep his job. He's definitely gonna keep his job, um, and I think I think he's the right guy for the job. I I really do. I think again, the issue with Michigan notwithstanding, he's won 90% of his games. The guys on that team love him. Everybody comes to that program. They recruit at a high level and I think that Ryan Day, once he gets past the Michigan thing because I think he will Like I kept saying Harbaugh had seven chances at Ohio State before he finally won one I think Ryan Day is having his moment, but I do feel like he will fix that and he will get back to having Ohio State on the right side of things and I think you need to give him a little bit more time and I think he will pay off. And he may pay off with a national championship this year with the way that they played that day if they keep that going for the rest of this playoff run. So that's about it that I have for Ohio State. That's it for that half of the playoff.
Speaker 1:We'll talk about the rest of the next round of games next week, because those games aren't going to be Actually, we might talk about them this coming, the next pod, because the games for next week are probably going to happen. When are those games happening? Now I've got to check the 1st, the 1st, the 31st? When's the 31st? Now I've got to check, is that Tuesday? Let me see here Calendar the 31st on Tuesday. So I think we'll podcast again before that. Actually, we just talk about that on the next pod, so we'll get into those games. Talk about that second round, uh, set of games. So I don't want to keep going all by myself here on college football. I think it's almost an hour already, so that kind of that's crazy. But it was that big, we had to talk about it. I was deaf, I, I was all into it all weekend even. It was a lot of blowouts. I think it was a worthwhile games to watch. Um, some issues need to be fixed, for sure, but uh, we've talked about that already. But again, I think, especially the ohio state game, that was the game for me. But you know, first round playoffs. We're going to get into the second round there on the next couple episodes of the pod.
Speaker 1:So let's go ahead and go on to the NFL stuff. Take a drink, okay, off of college football. Get to the NFL stuff. We had a lot of games last week. College football. Get into the NFL stuff. We had a lot of games last week. I just want to kind of give some general, some general recap of all the games, talk about them, give them, give them my thoughts, and then we'll pretty much go into. I'll give the third, the Wednesday and Thursday picks for this week, cause we have game, two games tomorrow and then we have a game on Thursday. Give the picks for those week, because we have two games tomorrow and then we have a game on Thursday. Get the picks for those and that'll be it for the podcast. So let's go ahead and get on to things. Hopefully don't take another hour to do this. That would suck to do that.
Speaker 1:So let's start with the games here. Let's start with the Saturday games. That happened on the same day as the Couch Bowl games. It's crazy for me Again, I mentioned this in the last spot this day really had a chance to really ruin everything, because not only did the Steelers play, then they ran right into the Buckeyes playing. So two of my favorite teams going and playing games on Saturday. That definitely could have been a very bad day for me, but again, I think, with Ohio State winning, it made me feel a lot better. Did not start well, though, but we'll start with the Texans and Chiefs game first.
Speaker 1:Texans and chiefs game First Texans, chiefs, chiefs one 27, 19. Uh, this was in the chief's house, so it's definitely given some credit there. They played very well at home, I think Houston, like they came to play CDA Stroud 23 or 39, 244 yards, two touchdowns, two picks though Two picks weren't great, but they came to play offensively defensive. Um cedar shroud came out. He had a little bit more like usually he's been like really struggling to kind of make some big plays down the field, stuff like that. I think he did a little bit better with that. Um, his offensive line still isn't protecting him at all, though that's the part that kind of sucks. Um, he's still not getting air protection. I picked against uh houston of exactly this, and I think more often than not, when they definitely needed to have some plays happen, the offensive line just could not protect Cedar Shroud enough, and I think they really paid the ultimate price for it.
Speaker 1:Joe Mixon, 57 yards, really didn't run all that well in this game. Again, he's a very good Kansas City Chiefs defense. So it's kind of hard to expect that to happen. But they were able to run the football as effectively as they have been. But I think the passing game did come out to play a little bit better than what they have been in recent weeks. So that did supplement that a little bit.
Speaker 1:Tank Dell, even though he had a gruesome injury I think he had a really bad knee injury. He had pretty much bones sticking out, not of the actual skin, but it was like in the wrong spot. You can tell he had a knee injury. He had to get pretty much taken to the hospital that day so that was bad. But before that injury he had six receptions, 98 yards and a touchdown. It was awesome with the injury coming on that touchdown catch. Nico Collins had 60 yards off seven catches. Dalton Schultz had 45 yards off, five catches and a touchdown. Houston came to play and they played well. It's just the Chiefs just always have a little bit more in the tank than you do.
Speaker 1:Mahomes had a decent day 28-41, 260 yards and a touchdown. It wasn't necessarily explosive but again he did enough when they needed to to win. They ran the football effectively. Kareem Hunt had 55 yards off, 11 carries and a touchdown. Pacheco a 26-yard. Patrick Mahomes had a touchdown run five carries, 33 yards. Xavier Worthy was a monster for them in this game. He had seven receptions, 65 yards and a touchdown. He also had a few carries as well, had a few rushing yards. Samaj P Ryan got involved, hollywood Brown got involved, hopkins, kelsey they just have so many. Maybe Kansas City doesn't have the superstar pass catcher anymore. I don't think Kelsey's even close to what he has been in the past, but maybe they don't have the superstar, but they have so many guys they've got to go to when necessary that it supplements that. And then some, um, defensively, they made the plays when they needed to.
Speaker 1:I think let's see here there in the second half, like it just felt like Houston was right there on this cusp. I think there was a point in the at the first was a point in the third quarter. Houston got a touchdown pretty quickly in the third quarter to go ahead and make it to where it was the tank-dell touchdown. It managed to be 17-16. Houston wasn't able to get the extra point in that one, so they were down by one point. So that was as close as they got to this game. They were right there. It felt like they were down by one point. So that was as close they got this game like they were right there. It felt like they were ready to kind of take over this game. And it's just Kansas City gets a touchdown and now Houston's down pretty quick.
Speaker 1:Kansas City gets two touchdowns, touchdown the field goal, uh, to go up 27 to 17, 27, with Houston only getting a field goal. It just felt like as soon as they got a chance, kansas City kind of just got some quick 10 points and they managed to go up by just that much more. Houston just didn't have the little extra gear to kind of go ahead and finish the game at the end. It didn't help with some of the interceptions that Stroud had and with the injuries that they had in the offensive line. But it's just the Chiefs, every time they just have a little bit more of a tank than you do as a team and they manage to pull out the game at the end. This is how it goes.
Speaker 1:I think this is less about Patrick Mahomes I feel like he had made some good plays but it was more about they just had the right play in the right situation and they made it work and a lot of credit to the Chiefs man 14-1. A lot of teams have had opportunities to finish them off and nobody can other than Buffalo. So with that being the case, a lot of credit to Kansas City. I hope Texans can kind of get past this tank delidry, because when that happened you could see CJ on the sideline absolutely destroyed emotionally, that team destroyed emotionally, but they did come back up. They tried to play it out by the end of the game. Uh weren't able to get the final, uh push past a little final hurdle there to win it, but again they made the game very close. They played valiantly.
Speaker 1:Next game, the other saturday game I don't want to talk about this one too much steelers, ravens, ravens won the game 34 to 17. Uh, pittsburgh again did not have Pickens and I felt like that was the huge difference because without a guy of his stature at the wide receiver position they you're really not scared of anybody else in the wide receiver room and I think with that it only keeps the defense for the Ravens getting closer and closer and closer to line of scrimmage in daring Pittsburgh and Russell Wilson to kind of hit some deep plays down the field. And they weren't able to do that enough, making them have to get chunks, I mean have to try to nickel and dime their way down the field, and that's too much to ask from this offense without a guy of George Pickens' stature. And with that the Ravens just kind of had their way with us. I think defensively the Steelers did lose Joey Porter Jr to the corner and once that happened we really didn't have anybody to stop those wide receivers from doing what they wanted to do. Zay Flowers had 100 yards off five receptions. Mark Andrews had a touchdown in well 37 yards. Isaiah Likely had a touchdown in this game. Derrick Henry had a catch in like 27 yards. Isaiah likely had a touchdown in this game. Derrick Henry had a catch in like 27 yards. Rashad Bateman had a touchdown in this game Once it became clear that the Pittsburgh offense could not generate enough to get into the end zone and score points, like Russell Wilson 22 of 33, like he was efficient but it wasn't enough in this game Like the Ravens were just scoring at such a high clip that the Steelers had no opportunity to really kind of take over in this game.
Speaker 1:I think in the first quarter there was two fumbles that happened that the Steelers weren't able to get on top of and like that. Those are the plays that allows the Steelers to win a game like this, especially when they're kind of undermanned without a guy like George Pickens and they weren't able to take advantage of him and that was the game, man, I feel like it was. The Ravens just kind of destroyed us and Pittsburgh just had no opportunity to really fight back. We didn't really run the football that effectively. We had 117 yards but Russell Wilson had to run for 27 yards, najee Harris had 42 yards yards Najee Harris at 42 yards. Jalen Warren had 48, so he didn't run the football effectively. But again, the Ravens didn't have to worry about getting beat deep.
Speaker 1:So if their secondary was able to play closer and closer to the line of scrimmage and it kind of kept a running game from being able to really blossom in this game and then receiving wise, calvin Onsen was a reading receiver but again, a guy of his size and his stature and his, his talent, it's very hard for him to be the number one receiver on your team. Jalen Warren was the second leading receiver on the scene with five receptions for 44 yards. Like that just tells you how, how, uh, deficient this team is when it comes to pass catches when George Pickens isn't in there, and that's played out that way for the last two games or so. So I'm very happy that the Steelers are. George Pickens isn't in there, and that's played out that way for the last two games or so. So I'm very happy that the Steelers are getting Pickens back for this game against Kansas City tomorrow.
Speaker 1:But other than that, the Steelers really did not have any opportunity to really they didn't have a real shot to go and win this game against the Ravens. The Ravens were just too good offensively. The Steelers' defense was staying on the field too much because the offense wasn't able to sustain very good long drives. And with all that being the case, this is a game where the Steelers just did not have an opportunity to really get that win. But again, steelers already have the playoffs. They're already in the playoffs right away. They haven't won the division yet. So that's the part that may go into the last week in order for that to be handled.
Speaker 1:But you know, seal. But again, this is. The game went how I wanted. I didn't think the sealers were going to wipe out um baltimore in both games they played this season. I had to play, pick them because it is what it is. You pick pittsburgh because I'm a steelers fan, but uh, it's a tough one for sure. But yeah, that's about it for that game.
Speaker 1:Let's go ahead and go on to the next one, falcons-giants. Falcons win 34-7. The Giants go up in the second quarter 7-0. I feel like this game was going to be a slogfest and then the Falcons score 34 straight unanswered points. I think there was a pick-six in there somewhere. Let me see here interception to yeah, falcons had a pick six. Actually, yeah, there was two. There was two pick six in this game. That kind of helped fuel this. The giants offense kind of just crumbled and weren't able to do too much more.
Speaker 1:Michael pennix Jr in his first start for the Falcons 18-27, 202 yards, zero touchdowns, one pick. But they didn't need him to throw a lot of touchdown passes because they were able to run the football effectively. Bijan Robinson had two touchdowns rushing the football 94 yards off 22 carries. They went up and down the field. Darnell Mooney had 82 yards off five catches. Drake London had 59 yards off five catches. Ray McLeod that one's hard to say fast. 19 yards off three catches. Like you could tell there were flashes. Michael Penix made some good plays. There were some mistakes in there but again, they just did not need him to kind of shoulder that burden because this was a whole team win. This Giants team is bad and they've been bad and they just did not put up much, especially after that first pick six happened. It was off to the races and the Giants really had no chance to win against this Falcons team.
Speaker 1:Next game Lions-Bears. Lions win the game 34-17. Lions just kind of destroy the Bears. Man, let's see the Detroit gets up to like a 20-0 lead early on in this game. I think that was in the second quarter. They got to a 20-0 lead and the Lions just really never looked back. The Bears did score a couple touchdowns there at the end of the second quarter to make it 27-14, to make the game a little bit closer, but I think after that the Bears only scored three points in the second half.
Speaker 1:The Detroit lions offense was just able to run the football effectively. They uh made a lot of good plays. Jared golf 23 at 32, 336 yards, three touchdowns. Jameer Gibbs had 109 yards and a touchdown. Uh, you had Jamison Williams. Five receptions, 143 yards and a touchdown. You had Jamison Williams five receptions, 143 yards and a touchdown. St Brown, omar. St Brown had six receptions and 70 yards and a touchdown. Jameer Gibbs had another 45 yards, rushing off four receptions. Sam Laporta had a touchdown at 43 yards off four catches.
Speaker 1:Everybody possible produced in this Lions game and it just felt like offensively for the Bears they just could not get enough done in this. Caleb played okay 26 of 40, 334 yards, two touchdowns, zero picks Not a bad stat line at all. But I felt like he was not putting the ball in harm's way whatsoever, he was nickel and diming down the field. He had some good flash throws, which looks very good for him, but they just weren't able to do enough to win this football game. Caleb was the leading rusher in this game. They weren't able to run the football effectively at all. Keenan Allen had a great day Nine receptions, 141 yards and a touchdown. Roma Dunze had 77 yards receiving. Dj Moore 68 yards. Cole Komet had a touchdown Only had nine yards receiving.
Speaker 1:Though it's just this Lions team just kind of built up a lead and just kind of poured it on and Chicago just could not get enough points, could not get it into the red zone enough to score points in the second half to really make this game much closer. But the Lions are a much better team. That's how this game should have went and they played very well for it. All credit to them. I think they have. They're 13-2. They're still trying to fight off Minnesota for that number one overall seed. So they're still playing very well. They have a lot of games. They had to win the rest of their games because they're worried about Minnesota. So this is definitely a win they needed.
Speaker 1:Next game Bengals-Browns Bengals win 24-6. Joe Burrow is awesome 23-30, 252 yards, three touchdowns. Jamar Chase had 97 yards and a touchdown off six receptions. They ran the football for over 116 yards total. Chase Brown had 91 yards, of those off 18 carries. T Higgins had a touchdown 58 yards and eight receptions. Uh, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it it. Three catches.
Speaker 1:So, like this bangles team absolutely destroyed, uh, the browns especially offensively. Uh, there's this offensively, the browns were not able to do enough in this game. They didn't run the football really all that effectively. Uh, actually nope. Jerome ford 11 carries, 92 yards and a touchdown. So he ran the ball well. Um dtr. The quarterback for them had 49 yards rushing, but again it wasn't like he was able to do that all that much.
Speaker 1:Passing DTR. Dorian Thompson Robinson 20 of 34, 157 yards, zero touchdowns, two picks. He did not have a good day whatsoever. He was running for his life all day, did not make a lot of plays other than using his feet, but that was pretty much it. Man, these could not do enough offensively to kind of challenge the Bengals in this game and the Bengals just got up offensively and they just kind of stayed up and got the touchdown there at the end to kind of put the cap on it. But the Bengals need this game. They need to win the rest of their games to potentially get into the playoffs. So this is definitely a game they needed. They took control of this game and beat a 3-12 Browns team like they should have, and that was very good for them. Sorry, let's see Colts Titans. This game was way too close. Way too close for no reason. Colts win the game 38-30. Mason Rudolph Well, let me talk about the Colts win the game 38-30. Mason Rudolph Well, let me talk about the Colts first.
Speaker 1:Anthony Richardson had another Anthony Richardson-type game 7 of 11, 131 yards, one touchdown, one pick. He did not have a great day. This game was led by Jonathan Taylor and Jonathan Taylor alone, not alone. Anthony Richardson did have 70 yards and a touchdown. But Jonathan Taylor was the big guy in this game 29 carries, 218 yards and three touchdowns. He had an average of 7.5 yards a carry. He had a 70-yard touchdown run in this game. So he was an absolute monster for them in this game and without that they probably don't win, because Tennessee was so effective offensively, even with some of the mistakes that Mason Rudolph made at the quarterback position for Tennessee. But with Jonathan Taylor playing like that and this Colts team is a very hard team to beat that one touchdown pass Anthony Richardson did make. It was to Josh Downs. He had a touchdown catch 61 yards, three catches, 16. But again, it was just Jonathan Taylor was the monster for them in this game.
Speaker 1:Let's not take any credit away from Tennessee. They played valiantly in this game, did not get the win. But Mason Rudolph 23 of 34, 252 yards, two touchdowns and three picks. Three picks were definitely a big one. That was probably the difference in this game. But again, will Levis would have done so much worse than that. So I have to give Mason Rudolph a little bit of credit there for playing as well as he did in this game, even with the mistakes.
Speaker 1:Tony Pollard 35 yards rushing. Tajay Spears 27 yards rushing in two touchdowns. Okonkwo had 81 yards receiving. Calvin Ridley had 78 yards receiving in a touchdown off three receptions, nick Westbrook and Kene another touchdown catch for him. He has like 11 or 12 touchdown catches this year Like he just catches touchdowns all year long for them. That's pretty much all he does. But the Tennessee Titans played well, like they played well, even at a loss. They played valiantly. It's just their defense isn't all that great and they just really didn't have any opportunity to beat this colts team again, especially with jonathan taylor playing as lights out as he did in this game.
Speaker 1:Rams jets rams won this game 19 to 9. Uh, this game was way, it was a gross game. Be totally honest with you. Um, it took the rams to get 13 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to really take control of this game, because before that the Jets were winning 9-6. But Matthew Stafford 14-19, 110 yards, a touchdown and a pick. He didn't play all that well. Kyron Williams 122 yards and a touchdown. He played very well for the Rams in this game Pukunuku, 56 yards, cooper Cup 24.
Speaker 1:This game was all about who was going to make the mistakes, and Aaron Rodgers, like Aaron Rodgers, didn't play, he went 28-42, 256 yards and a touchdown. Not necessarily an Aaron Rodgers vintage game whatsoever. They didn't run the football that effectively. They really. This is the problem. The Jets could not, in the red zone, go in there and score touchdowns in this game. They had one touchdown they had here. They had the one touchdown to Devontae Adams, but then after that they did absolutely nothing else. That's it. Devontae Adams had seven receptions, 68 yards and a touchdown. But outside of that this Jets offense could not get into the red zone and score touchdowns whatsoever. And with that being the case, it only took the LA Rams to kind of get back into things and finally break the barrier and get a lot of points. And in that fourth quarter, that 13-point barrage, the Jets just really didn't have much of a recourse for when that happened, because they just weren't able to be effective in the red zone like they needed to be. Uh, and they weren't really getting the going up and down the football field either. So with that, especially against the Rams defense, it isn't all that amazing, but it's just again. Aaron Rogers was back in the cold again, so it's kind of hard to expect him to play awesome Like he did in the last two games when he was in Florida.
Speaker 1:Probably the game of the day Eagles commanders commanders won the game of the day Eagles commanders commanders won the game 36 to 33. Uh, I think the biggest problem this game was Jalen Hurts ended up leaving this game, uh, pretty early on. He ended up getting a concussion and then he was pretty much out for the rest of the game. Kenny Pickett had to come in for him. They he went 14-24, a touchdown and a pick. I felt like if they had Jalen Hurts in this game instead. There was a time where they got into the red zone and had to try to get a touchdown and they managed to get a field goal out of it. They just were not as effective as they usually are when they were able to use Jalen Hurts and be a hit meal and run the football with his legs and without that Kenny Pickett's, you know. That's why he's a backup. He has one very bad pick that put them in a very bad spot in this game, but he played okay.
Speaker 1:He got the ball to his playmakers. He got the ball to AJ Brown, who had a good game Eight receptions, 97 yards and a touchdown. Devontae Smith six receptionss of 51 yards. Saquon Barkley ran the football well. Like they really did lean on Saquon in this game. 29 carries, 150 yards, two touchdowns.
Speaker 1:Like with and even with all that, philly had a chance to win this game. All they had to do was get one more first down and like they really can milk the clock down. But Washington just kind of stuck with it. They didn't get, so he ended up. Kenny Pickettett ended up throwing it to Devontae Smith. He was an open pass, like it was a corner route. All Devontae Smith had to do was catch it, go down and the Eagles would have salted that game away without Washington having the chance to like get those last few points. But was this in overtime? No, it wasn't. It was in the fourth quarter. Like they had an opportunity to finish this game off with a win, but it's just they weren't able to do so and it kind of the Washington was able to kind of cap off a 22-point fourth quarter and manage to win this game by three points. Jane Daniels 24-39, five touchdowns, two picks. They also had Brian Robinson Jr had like two or three fumbles in this game. Brian Robinson Jr had two fumbles. De'ami Brown had a fumble in this game.
Speaker 1:I think this Washington Mariners team had five turnovers in this game and they still managed to win. Absolutely insane, they ran the football effectively. Jaden Daniels had 81 yards rushing. I think they had 113 yards rushing overall, so it was mostly powered by Jaden. Daniels had 81 yards rushing. I think they had 113 yards rushing overall, so it was mostly powered by Jaden. Terry McLaurin had a touchdown in this game. Five receptions, 60 yards. Olamide Zaccheaus had two touchdowns five receptions 70 yards. Jamison Crowder had two touchdowns off of two receptions for 15 yards.
Speaker 1:But that Eagles defense was just not able to get enough stops in this game to really win. Um, like I said, offensively the Eagles played well and even with Kenny Pickett, um, they played well enough to win, but they just weren't able to kind of get the last little bit. They needed to go ahead and finish this Washington team off and I think Washington took advantage of that. They played well. Even with all those uh, all those turnovers, they were able to play well enough offensively to win this game, that 22-point barrage in the fourth quarter was absolutely insane. They just kept getting points. Man Washington's getting to a point now where if you give them a chance at the end of the game, they will take it. They're very explosive. They make a lot of good plays. If Jands is playing well and he's able to run the football with his legs and is not injured, they're a very hard team to stop and the Eagles took.
Speaker 1:Eagles did not salt this game away like they needed to. Commanders win and the Eagles are pretty much out of getting that, potentially getting that number one overall seed in the NFC Again. They're still making the playoffs. That's not going to be an issue for them, but they would have liked to have that bye in that first seed overall to have home field advantage throughout the playoffs Next game. We don't have that many Hopefully we don't have that many games left.
Speaker 1:We got Cardinals-Panthers. Panthers win 36-30. This Arizona team played absolutely awful in this game. They had opportunity to come back and win, though, even with as bad as they played. Let's start with the winners though.
Speaker 1:Bryce Young playing with a lot of joy. Man, I didn't pick them to win this game. He went 17-26, 158 yards, 2 touchdowns. He played well. He's playing with a lot of joy. He's making a lot of anticipatory throws, he's showing flashes as to why he can be an NFL guy and he's playing very well for it and I have to give him a lot of credit. He's played a lot better, especially based on what he was earlier this year and going into last year, so got to give him a lot of credit. He's played well Even last year, so gotta give him a lot of credit. He's played well Even with that bad game last week. He came back, bounced back and played well.
Speaker 1:They ran the football effectively in this game. The Carolina Panthers did. Chuba Hubbard had 25 carries, 152 yards and two touchdowns. Bryce Young had five carries, 68 yards and a touchdown. They ran the ball for almost 250 yards in this game. I think with that, this Carolina Panthers offense was able to stay on the field, managed to get a lot of points and they just managed to play very well. Adam Thielen had a touchdown in this game. David Moore had a touchdown in this game. It's just, it was that rushing, it was that running game that really kept the Carolina Panthers in this.
Speaker 1:I think they had the lead for a good portion of this game. Right, let's see here. Touchdown for Carolina. Yeah, they had the lead for most of the game. There was one point where they had a 20-3 lead there. What was that? In the second quarter, yeah, with nine minutes left in the second quarter they were up 20 to 3. They kind of did let Arizona get back into this game. They managed to score. What was that? It was 20 to 3. They managed to score like 14 unanswered points there before the end of the half. So they managed to. It was 20 to 17 at halftime. But then in the second half man, it was just some of the uh, carolina panthers kept playing well, kept bringing the football well. They managed to score enough points.
Speaker 1:I think in the second half the carolina scored 13 points to arizona's 10. It didn't help that the cardinals had a few bad mistakes, including an interception by Kyler Murray, and it's just Arizona. And they did lose James Conner in this game. So it definitely was a guy that they were missing later on as this game went along. He was probably their most effective offensive weapon in this game and once they lost him, their offense really did kind of lose a little bit of a spark there. And with all that being the case, even with Arizona being able to get the last second field goal. I think it was like a minute 47 left. They managed to get a field goal to tie the game up and to go into overtime. But then, once overtime hit, both teams were kind of not able to do all that much and then Carolina just got the ball. Got the ball late in actually not late in late overtime, it was like with four minutes left in overtime, carolina got the ball, made the last few plays to win the game and that was about it. Man. They ended up winning the game 30 to 6 to 30, scored that touchdown, managed to win this game.
Speaker 1:Have to give them a lot of credit. They played very well, especially coming off of last week when they had a pretty bad loss. They came out, played, beat an Arizona squad that still had a chance to the playoffs. Like that's the part that sucks about this is that now the Arizona's out of playoff contention, but the Panthers just keep playing good football. Chuba Hubbard was the superstar for them in this game. Bryce Young played very well as well. I have to give him his credit there. Have to give him all the credit. They managed to come out there and they're just playing better football. Even though they're a 4-11 team, they're playing good ball. Bryce Young's playing better. That's all you can ask for offensively, at least. Defensively they're still a little shaky, but offensively they're just playing a lot better ball.
Speaker 1:What are the other better games of the day? Vikings, seahawks, vikings managed to win the game 27-24. This game was back and forth, came down to like I think it was the final. Let's see. It did come back down to the final, let's see. The last touchdown was scored with like three minutes left, but this was back and forth. Man Minnesota was able to score pretty effectively in this game. Seahawks were definitely too. They saw night. They were being stopped really in this game at all.
Speaker 1:What's to say, sam Darnold played very well 22 of 35, 246 yards and three touchdowns. Aaron Jones six, seven yards rushing. Justin Jefferson had a vintage Justin Jefferson type of day. He had 10 receptions, 144 yards and two touchdowns, and especially with that big touchdown late in the game to kind of get them to win. They were just very explosive. Justin Jefferson came to play and heck on the one big touchdown at the end he was double covered. There was no reason why he should have ever been able to catch that football. But Sam Darnold threw it up to him, gave him an opportunity. He went up there and made the play.
Speaker 1:But when you have those guys playing as effectively as they are, I think Sam Darnold has played very well this year. I've been looking for him to kind of take steps back, but he has showed up and played very well every single time. But you just have to give credit to him, man. There's been times where he's looked very bad in his career. He's in a good spot in Minnesota. He's playing with a good coaching staff that knows how to put him in the best situations to win and he's taking advantage of that. He has very good wide receivers to throw to, very good weapons overall.
Speaker 1:Aaron jones also a very good weapon at the running back position and he's just making plays. He got hurt. He did get an angle injury. He stayed out there, played well, made some big plays especially not the way in order to win this game and those zero picks was definitely a huge deal. Geno smith 31 to 40, 43, 314 yards, three touchdowns two was definitely a huge deal. Geno Smith 31-43, 314 yards, three touchdowns, two picks Definitely a big difference in this game.
Speaker 1:The team that made the more mistakes lost the game. Geno Smith's two picks didn't help towards that. The Seahawks were not able to run the football effectively at all in this game. They had 59 yards total rushing. So that's definitely not good, especially when they had Kenneth Walker back in this game. So they weren't able to run the football whatsoever. But again, passing the football they did well. Jsn 95 yards and a touchdown. He's still he's the number one guy. Now. They're using him that way and he is paying them off for it. Dk Metcalf had a touchdown in this game. Uh, aj Barner, tight end, had a touchdown in this game.
Speaker 1:So it was just the team that made the more mistakes lost the game and the Seahawks made more mistakes with those Geno Smith interceptions and the Vikings took advantage of it. Sam Darnold played a cleaner game, played an explosive game, especially with Justin Jefferson playing the way he did, and they won the game for it. And they're still in line to potentially win that number one overall seed if the Vikings sorry, if the Lions kind of stumble anymore. So I think they're only one game behind. What is it? The Vikings are 13-2. Oh, they're both 13-2, but I think the Lions have the tiebreaker, right? No, they have the last game of the season where they play each other, so they still have to play each other a second time. So if both teams keep winning, they'll play that last week of the season for the pretty much number one overall seed. So that should be an absolute banger when that happens.
Speaker 1:Week 17 um next game bills patriots 24-21. This game was a lot closer than it probably should have been. The Patriots did show up to play though. Drake May 22-36, 261 yards, two touchdowns and a pick. Again, nobody's really saying that Buffalo Bill's defense is all that great. They haven't been for a good portion of the year. You really can get after them if you're able to pass the football around, and that's exactly what Drake May did. Ramondre Stevenson had 12 carries, 60 yards and a touchdown. They ran the football for like 126 yards total in this game.
Speaker 1:Keyshawn Boutte was the leading receiver for this Patriots team Five receptions, 95 yards and a touchdown. Hunter Hevery had a touchdown in this game, but it's the fumbles that were probably the biggest deal in this game. Drake May had a fumble loss in this game. Ronnie Searson had a fumble loss in this game. Those were probably the biggest deals, and Drake May also threw an interception. So with those three turnovers it really gave the Buffalo Bills life, especially when the game was pretty close, and it put the Buffalo Bills in scoring situations and they took advantage of it when they had the opportunities.
Speaker 1:Josh Allen didn't necessarily play all that great 16-29, 154 yards, a touchdown and a pick. James Cook played well. Levin carries 100 yards and a touchdown. James Cook also had the other touchdown reception as well. He was the leading receiver in this game three receptions, 26 yards and a touchdown.
Speaker 1:So it wasn't like this team did not necessarily play great. It is just the team that made more mistakes. Turning the football over was the team that lost and the buffalo bills took advantage of that. I will say even like there were a lot of guys that managed to make plays, be able to receive the football in this game. There was 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. There was like 8 guys that caught the football for Josh Allen on this game. So it wasn't like anybody that was a superstar, but they all contributed, they all did their part. They managed to win this football game, even if it was a slugfest and it probably shouldn't have been as close as it was, with all the turnovers that they had. But again, you're going to have games like this sometimes, where you don't bring your best and you have to manage to pull out the game anyway, and that's exactly what the Buffalo Bills and Josh Allen did.
Speaker 1:Four games left and then we'll be doing the games for tomorrow and Thursday. So help me get through this here. Well, keep going with me here. Raiders Jags. Raiders win 19-14. Aiden O'Connell 24-38. 257. No touchdowns, no picks.
Speaker 1:Amir Abdullah had a rushing touchdown in this game. Alexander Madison had a rushing touchdown in this game and Brock Bowers awesome 11 receptionsions, 99 yards, zero touchdowns, though doesn't really matter. I think Brock Bowers might be the best tight end in the league right now, like I, that's not really a new take or anything. It's not a hot take at all, but he's been awesome and they've been using him like it and he's been, and probably the best offensive player that they have for this football team is. Imagine if they actually get a real quarterback, they might be in a pretty good spot. Again, they'll be in a spot to potentially draft one in this upcoming draft class, so hopefully they'll be able to get one. Help Brock Bowers out. Amir Abdullah had 47 yards, receiving off five catches. Jacoby Myers had 41 yards, trey Tucker 41. Madison also had a few catches for 29 yards.
Speaker 1:The Raiders these are two bad teams, football teams. Raiders did enough to win. I will say Mac Jones didn't play the worst 25-39, 247 yards and a touchdown wasn't able to do enough to win the game but again, did not necessarily make a lot of bad plays to lose, I guess, which is all you can ask for if Mac Jones is your starter. Tank Bigsby 50 yards rushing and a touchdown. Brian Thomas Jr was like the superstar for them in this game. He had nine receptions, 132 yards and a touchdown, including a long 62-yard reception touchdown I don't know why I said it that way. A 62-yard touchdown reception. He was wide open in the backfield, I don't know how I said it that way. A 62-yard touchdown reception. He was wide open in the backfield. I don't know how that ever really happened, but he managed to get free, wide open out there. Mack Jones threw the ball to him, managed to get a nice big touchdown strike, so he was probably the best player for them that day. But again, these are two very bad football teams facing off and the Vikings I mean sorry, the Raiders off and the Vikings I mean sorry, the Raiders did enough to pull off the game.
Speaker 1:Dolphins beat the Niners 29-17. I just think the offense for San Fran, the offense for San Fran, didn't necessarily play terrible. Brock Perry 26-40, 300 yards, two touchdowns and a pick. They couldn't run the football as well as they probably wanted to. They only had 81 yards total rushing in this game. Uh, kittle was a monster. He had eight receptions, 160 yards in this game. Debo Samuel had a little bit of a resurgence seven receptions, 96 yards and a touchdown. Uh, eric. Uh Saubert had a touchdown reception. Uh, it was just.
Speaker 1:The Dolphins were just able to make a lot more plays, especially and get more points, especially in the second half. The Dolphins scored 16 points to the San Fran's 7 points. So in the second half they were able to get a lot more points on the board. Tua 22-34, a touchdown, 215 yards passing. Devon Achan 17 carries, 120 yards and a touchdown. He was big for them. Achan also was the leading receiver in this game 70 yards off, six receptions. Tyreek Hill had a touchdown reception this game 29 yards and three receptions.
Speaker 1:Again, they did not have. Why am I forgetting his name now? This kind of sucks that. I'm forgetting it. It's oh no, jalen Waddell. They did not have him in this game. So it's definitely a wide receiver they probably could have used. But again, it didn't really matter. They were just able to do enough offensively to be able to win this game. Dolphins are able to stay in playoff contention, definitely, definitely when they need it, especially when San Fran earlier on in the day were told that they were kind of knocked out of playoff contention. So San Fran did play well, even with not really having a lot to play for. Dolphins had a little bit more of the tank. They needed this game. They got it. Two more games Cowboys-Buccaneers. Cowboys win the game 26-24.
Speaker 1:This game was a weird one. I'm not going to lie. That Sunday night game, baker Mayfield didn't necessarily play terrible. He did have a bad pick but he went 31-43, 303 yards, two touchdowns in that pick. Like I mentioned, bucky Irving played well 16 carries, 68 yards and a touchdown. Baker also another 42 yards rushing in this game. Mike Evans five receptions, 69 yards and a touch and no touchdowns. Jalen McMillan had a touchdown 57 yards, five catches. Ryan Miller had a touchdown reception in this game.
Speaker 1:This game really was kind of like a back and forth affair. Dallas scored 23 points in the first half to Tampa Bay's 14 and, with that being the case, I just kind of feel like Tampa Bay was playing catch up in that second half and they just weren't able to do enough to come back and win the game. And I think it was mostly because that Dallas Cowboys defense was able to play very well. I think because was mostly because that Dallas Cowboys defense was able to play very well. I think because of the lack of Tampa Bay really able to really assert themselves running the football. It kept the Dallas Cowboys defense a little bit more fresh because, again, the book on beating the Dallas Cowboys is being able to run the football effectively down their throat, make them have to play on their heels. It keeps their pass rush at bay when they're not able to play as fresh, because you have to worry about having to stop the run all the time. But that wasn't the case. Dallas Cowboys defense was able to get after Baker and make a lot of plays. Doing so, they caused a couple of turnovers and, with all that, it's heck at the end of the game where Tampa Bay had an opportunity to come back and he hit the field will win the game. It was a forced fumble that managed to get the Cowboys to win here. So, all that being the case, the defense came up big. Cooper Rush played well 26 to 35, 292 yards and a touchdown. Didn't make any huge mistakes to lose the game, so it's definitely a big one for them. The Cowboys didn't even run the football effectively. They only ran the football for 31 yards total in this game. So it really was the Cowboys defense that really empowered them to win this game. Even with Tim maybe able to score all those points, they just weren't able to score enough. Uh, ceedee Lamb played well though seven receptions, 105 yards, uh, but it was just. Jalen Tolbert had a touchdown in this game, touchdown reception, but that's pretty much it, man. This dallas cowboys team didn't necessarily play all that great, but it was just their offensively. But defensively they played well. Micah parsons made a lot of big plays and they were just able to get a few turnovers, which is the difference in the difference for them this game. That's why they got the win.
Speaker 1:Uh, the last but not least, monday, the game that happened last night, not much to talk about. Packers beat the saints 34 to nothing. This game was an absolute snooze fest. Jordan love 16 and 28, 182 yards and a touchdown. Uh, josh jacobs ran the ball effectively carry, 69 yards and a touchdown. This Green Bay team had 188 yards total rushing in this game Three total rushing touchdowns. Dontavion Wicks had a touchdown catch.
Speaker 1:Like this Green Bay Packers team did not need to do all that much to win this game because of how inept this Saints offense was. Spencer Rattler was running for his life and if not, when he wasn't, it was making some really bad like some bad passes. That didn't look all that great, but again, it's not like they have a lot of great pass catchers and guys out there that you're really scared of. Spencer Rattler 15 to 30, 153 yards and a pick. They couldn't run the football effectively because they just again, the screen by Packers defense is actually pretty good, especially they don't have to worry about getting beat over the top and it's just. The Saints offense was not able to do anything in this game to really challenge the Packers and once that happened, the Packers just kind of got a lead, sat on it, built upon it and they managed to win this game pretty easily 34 to nothing. So very bad game on monday night but, uh, a win nonetheless. The packers needed not really needed because they're going to make the playoffs, but they're 11 to 4 playing very good football. This saints team just really couldn't put up much of a fight whatsoever.
Speaker 1:And that's it for the recap of all the nfl games. I know I've been going on for a while now, so I know not only if you're listening this far, in which I definitely would appreciate I'm definitely ready for this podcast to end too. So, last but not least, I will give our predictions as to the games that are going to happen both tomorrow and Thursday, which is going to be three games total, with two games being tomorrow and then one being on Thursday. So last week. Let me see the records here. Let me do the quick math on this right quick. I know we're already an hour and a half in, so I'm not going to go too much longer here.
Speaker 1:I went 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 2, 3. I, joe, I went 10 and 5. Jace went 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Jace went 11-4. Both had decent weeks last week. We've been pretty hot all year long, so our pick's been pretty good. We're just doing straight up no spread. We'll probably start doing the spread stuff next year, now that Jace can kind of do some betting. But our picks went very well last week. Let's hope our picks go well here. We'll start with these three games here. So I'll just give our picks, give my general statement as to how the game should go, and that'll be about it.
Speaker 1:So Kansas City goes to Pittsburgh tomorrow. This is their early game on Christmas Day. I pick Pittsburgh because obviously I'm picking Pittsburgh every time because they're my team. Do I really think Pittsburgh is going to win this game? No, I think Kansas City is going to win this game. I don't think they're going to destroy us because I do think we're getting Pickens back so we're going to be able to be a little more explosive on offense. But with that being the case, I just think Kansas City offensively, defensively, has a little bit more than what Pittsburgh is able to do. But I do think Pittsburgh is going to make this game close, especially being at home. Definitely a big deal.
Speaker 1:I pick Pittsburgh, jace picked Kansas City. I just think if let me see here, let me see if my boy is back, if Joey Porter Jr is back, I feel a little bit better, but he's going to be out, so he's not going to be. I feel a little bit better, but he's going to be out, so he's not going to be playing for a little bit here. With him being out, I don't think we have anybody at the corner position that really can stop these Kansas City receivers. So, with that being the case, I'm not feeling great about it. Again, I think Pittsburgh will make the game close. I think Kansas City will probably win, but I'm going to pick Pittsburgh no matter what, because that is what I do. It's not looking great for us guys, but I just hope they don't get destroyed by too much and ruin my Christmas, because that would suck.
Speaker 1:Next game Baltimore at Houston. I picked Baltimore, jace picked Houston. I just think Houston, with their offensive line issues, I don't think they're going to be able to stop baltimore. I think the defense for houston is actually gonna play well. I think they're gonna make some plays, keep them pretty close. I think they could. They could easily manage to pull the upset here, because I think houston is an underdog in this game. Houston, yeah, baltimore's a five and a half point favorite, even at houston's. So imagine if this game was in Baltimore, they'd be eight-and-a-half-point favorites. So, with that being the case, I just think that Houston's defense should play well. But I just think the Ravens are just going to have too many options. They're going to run the football effectively and I think Lamar is just playing lights out right now, being able to throw the football around. So I just think Houston just won't have enough offensively to challenge Baltimore to really be able to win this game. But again, that was just my thoughts. I think Houston could pull off the upside. I think CJ Stroud has enough in him. I think losing Tank Dell definitely is a big deal and I'm not I'm not sure where they're going to replace that type of production from, but with Nico, nico Collins, anything's possible. Maybe they could pull off the upset. I don't think so. I think Baltimore is going to be able to do enough to win this game. Jace picked Houston, by the way, if I didn't already mention.
Speaker 1:And then the Thursday night game, seattle going to Chicago. Jace and I both picked Seattle. I think it's just Seattle's playing a lot better ball. I think Geno Smith's going to be able to make a few more plays, be able to throw the ball effectively, and I think Chicago's defense is not all that great. And I think when they have to face JSN, why am I forgetting his name? They have to face JSN. They have to face oh no, this is bad, let's see here, I'm crazy, why am I forgetting their names? When they have to face JSN, they have to face Kenneth Walker. They have to face DK Matt Caff and Tyler Tyler Lockett. I just think they have way too many weapons for Chicago to be able to stop and I just think, as long as Geno can stay upright, make some good decisions back there, I do think they're going to win this football game.
Speaker 1:Pretty pretty I'm not going to say handily, but I just think Caleb Williams not going to be able to make enough plays, especially early on in the game. They're going to kind of go, they're going to get down early and then try to come back late and try to make the game a little bit closer. But I think Seattle's playing a lot better football right now and I think Seattle's going to win the game. And uh, yeah, seattle should win this game, but again crazier things have happened. Uh, so we'll see how that goes. But those are the three games and that's about it. We'll be coming back and recording on either thursday or friday. So we'll be doing the recaps of all those games and, uh, making our picks for the rest of the rest of the slate for this is week 17, so that's about it. We'll get jace back on the next pod. We'll be ready to go, so from here I'll go ahead and end the podcast.
Speaker 1:So if you're just now joining on, hopefully uh, thank you very much. I mean sorry if you are listening for a while. We appreciate you and thank you for listening along. You're just now joining on. Hopefully you like and enjoy the content we're putting out. Hopefully you're not just listening to this spot with me. Hopefully, listen to another pod when you have both me and jace here.
Speaker 1:Kind of get a better idea of what we do on a week-in, week-out basis. Talk about sports. He brings a little more funny when it's just me around. I just kind of sit here and ramble on about all the sports that I've been watching. So you'll get a better idea as to what we do when we have both of us on the pod. So I hope you listen to one of those Kind of get a better, accurate representation of.
Speaker 1:But if you would just now join on, hopefully you like us and join our content enough to kind of stick around and listen to us talk about sports in the dumbest way possible. If you like us and enjoy what we do, if we would appreciate if you could like the pod, subscribe to the podcast, rate the podcast five stars wherever you listen to us, make sure you share the podcast. Friends, family, anybody, anybody you feel like could enjoy the content we put out a couple times a week, pretty much every week during the football season. We would definitely love if you could do that. And then, last but not least, if you could follow us on Twitter and or X, whatever you'd like to call it. At JBSportsPod is the podcast handle. At JavanteBoozer is my handle. At JaceBoozer1 is Jace's handle and there's nobody to hand it over to to finish off the pod, so it's just me. So thank you guys for listening. Thank you guys for always listening. Have a great day, have a great night, have a great Christmas and we will see you on the next pod. Bye y'all.