Two for the Win
Mike is a U.S. Navy Veteran and Bryan has more than a decade of civil service experience. Together, these blue collar guys dissect the latest sports headlines and events.
Two for the Win
Two For The Win - Episode 11
What if Ricky Henderson's legendary million-dollar check could talk? Join us for a heartfelt celebration of the iconic MLB figure who brought unparalleled speed and personality to the field. We share memorable stories that highlight Ricky's unique flair, from his third-person interviews to his lively interactions with teammates, remembering the joy he brought to the Oakland Athletics and the broader baseball community. As we reminisce about Ricky's life and legacy, our thoughts are with his family and friends during this time of loss.
Shifting gears to current MLB happenings, big-name moves like Walker Buehler signing with the Red Sox and Sean Minaya making his way to the Mets are shaking up the offseason. Explore the strategic roster adjustments as Andrew McCutcheon returns to the Pirates, and we speculate on Hall of Fame potentials such as David Wright and Troy Tulowitzki, emphasizing the nuanced voting process. We spotlight the impact of these players, heralding their contributions to the sport even if their names aren't always in the limelight.
In the world of football, the college playoffs are heating up with thrilling outcomes and unexpected twists. Revel in Penn State's commanding victory over SMU and Texas's triumph against Clemson, setting the stage for upcoming clashes. Meanwhile, in the NFL, backup quarterback Kenny Pickett's game-changing performance and Kirk Cousins' benching by the Falcons spark speculation about team strategies and draft maneuvers akin to slow bike racing. From college rankings to NFL quarterback gifts, this episode promises a mix of serious insights and lighthearted anecdotes, providing a fresh perspective on the current sports landscape.
Welcome back everybody. Thank you for joining us again here on December 26, 2024. We hope you've been able to have a happy holidays with your friends and loved ones. I'm Brian with an I and I'm Mike, and we are Two for the Win. What do we got today, mike?
Speaker 2:Well, we're going to talk about some MLB moves. We're going to discuss college football playoffs. We're going to recap NFL Week 15 and look into some of the playoff scenarios and pictures of the NFL.
Speaker 1:Oh my, the sports landscape is getting hot, especially in the NFL.
Speaker 2:Oh my, the sports landscape is getting hot, especially in the NFL. But where are we starting today? Unfortunately, we're going to have to open the show with some sad news. Mlb great Ricky Henderson passed away at the age of 65. And it's kind of a shocker to a lot of folks because, you know, ricky Henderson was always known for being a, you know, well-in-shape player but he was apparently battling some health issues that not a lot of folks knew about.
Speaker 2:He was there for the celebration of Oakland because he was an Oakland athletics player for a number of years. Off and on, he's got a special bond with that team and that city Fans loved him. He definitely left a mark on that team. He was there for their last game and celebrating them because they're moving away from Oakland. They're going to be moving to Vegas with a short stop in another town in California for a little while, I think it's, I want to say Santa Clara or San Jose, somewhere south of Oakland. They're going to be playing in a minor league park for a few years while they finish the ballpark in Vegas.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you know again. You know Ricky Henderson, you know. May he rest in peace, and our sincerest condolences to his family and loved ones.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, we definitely want to talk a little about Ricky because he was a player unlike any other. You know he's definitely. He always had great speed and he was always a player that you know he stood out. You know he had flair. He always talked in the third person so you know when Ricky would be talking about Ricky, you know he'd be like hey, it's Ricky here. Ricky got to do this. You know Ricky was a he had. You know he'd be out there in the outfield and he'd like snap a he had. You know he'd be out there in the outfield and he'd like snap a ball, like he'd go to catch it. He'd just kind of snap his glove and you know he had a little flare to the game. He did a home run and kind of do a little hop and pop his collar and had the chain.
Speaker 1:You know he was, he had flare and everything he did on the field oh yeah, but and certainly, and by today's standards, you know, 65 getting to be kind of a younger age Again that's why it's a surprise. Yeah, I agree man.
Speaker 2:His former teammate and friend, dave Stewart, was, you know, shocked that it happened. You know, because Ricky was a good friend of his and he was at the celebration too because he was an Oakland player as well. I mean, ricky made a lot of stops throughout the MLB and he man Ricky's stories are great, like there was. So Ricky got a signing bonus of a million dollars and when he got the million dollars, you know, he just got a check for a million dollars. I mean at that time it was kind of a big deal because nobody got a million-dollar check. So Ricky is sitting there with his million-dollar check and he frames the check. And so, you know, the team is like going and doing the books and they're like there's a million dollars missing. Well, wait a second, did Ricky? What happened to that check we gave Ricky? They call up ricky's like ricky, did you cash that check? What do you mean? He's like no, I got a frame down the wall.
Speaker 1:Like ricky, you got to cash the check. We can give you one to frame, but cash that one cash, the check or books.
Speaker 2:Look, you're messing our books up, bro, so you so you know, but you know, that's just how Ricky was.
Speaker 2:I mean, ricky, there was a story I don't know if it was true, but there was a player by the name of John Ulrood who played first base and he always wore a batting helmet when he was in the field because he had an issue where, as a child, he had, you know, had a skull issue and he couldn't deal with, you know, possibly being hit in the head because it could probably kill him. He caught a line drive the wrong way, so he wore a batting helmet when he would be out in the field and Ricky played with the Mets the same time he did, and then they both were in Seattle playing with the Mariners and Ricky had gone up, gone up to me, and he was like man, I played with a guy that wore a helmet out in the field, just like you do when I was with the Mets, and he goes yeah, it was me, ricky, not that, not that Ricky didn't know, didn't know him. You know it. Just. You know Ricky Didn't know him. You know, just, you know, ricky, he was one of a kind man, he was so funny.
Speaker 2:There was one year that Harold Reynolds won the stolen bass title and he had done it with like 62 steals or something like that. Yeah, and he calls up Ricky, calls up Harold Reynolds, and he goes Harold Ricky here, and he says, oh, what's up, rick? And he goes you should be ashamed of yourself. And he goes what do you mean, rick? He goes you won the stolen base title with 62 steals. Ricky would have had that at the half and hung up the phone on him. So Ricky was such a character man. There was, there was a, a player. Uh, I don't know if this is a true story, but I heard this one where ricky apparently had somebody on his team that quoted john 316 to him, yeah, and a bunch of other players. And uh, he said, I don't know who john is, I don't care, he's hitting't, care that he's hitting .316. Ricky's hitting .363.
Speaker 1:But like he sounds like my kind of guy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, ricky, definitely his teammates loved him. He was such a great spirit, like even when he was in the minors right towards the end of his career. He was trying to work his way back up. He was still playing in the minors and he had this guy hitting in front of him and I want to say it was Sean Casey, but it was a guy who eventually came up and he was doing.
Speaker 2:Well, it might not have been Sean Casey, I forget who it was, but I heard this story where the guy has Ricky hitting in front of him and Ricky would turn to him, be like four, and you know he'd get up and he's like I don't, I don't know what that meant, but next time he'd come up and he'd say seven, you know, like I, I don't know what that means. And so he's thinking well, I got Ricky in front of me, I gotta hit a bomb or do something to get Ricky around them bases. You know I gotta do something. And then he goes, he after a bomb or do something to get Ricky around them bases, I've got to do something.
Speaker 2:And then he goes after a while, he goes up to his coach and he's like man, why does Ricky keep telling me numbers every time. He goes up to it back and the coach goes to him and he says man, that's how many pitches he wants you to take so he can steal pace. So he's telling him, on the third pitch, I'm going to steal, so take the third pitch, I'm gonna steal, so take the third pitch. And so he's sitting here hitting deep fly balls and stuff and ricky's probably pissed at him because he's hitting the ball you know.
Speaker 2:So you know he did, he just didn't know.
Speaker 2:But you know ricky's during his career he 3,055 hits, 297 home runs, 1,115 RBIs and is still the career run scored leader at 2,295 runs scored and the stolen base leader with 1,406 stolen bases. With 1,406 stolen bases, the next closest guy only has like 938 in Lou Brock. So when Ricky beat the stolen base record, he actually stole third base against the Yankees and he pulled up the base and he was holding it above his head and they stopped the game and let him have a speech and whatnot. He thanked his mom and thanked the fans and, you know, had a really, really good speech.
Speaker 2:But you know, ricky one of a kind, you know, just one of a kind, and he was definitely beloved by those who appreciated him and he was definitely one that if you, if you got to watch play, you're just like man. Because he was. He was one of those what they call an all-around player. Like he didn't start out that way, he always had the speed, but like he became a good hitter, he became a power guy and he actually has, I think, career Because he was a leadoff guy.
Speaker 2:I think he has 39 career home runs in the leadoff spot, which is impressive Because most of the time they want the leadoff guy to get on base and steal bases, which he still did, he still did, but he still had some pop.
Speaker 1:He still knocked them out, though.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he was definitely a player that was fun and fascinating. You definitely wanted to see him play, if you were an MLB fan.
Speaker 1:Generational talent for sure.
Speaker 2:Well, definitely somebody that you could argue, you know, top five of all time.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So, and if you don't know much or didn't get a chance to see him play, I strongly encourage you to go look up some of his highlights and look at how some of his former teammates talked about him and you know he's definitely one of those that. Go ahead, take the time, brush up on him.
Speaker 2:He was a good player. He'll be sorely missed. So, moving past that, MLB has had some other things going on a lot of moves, a lot of shaking happening, because this is the time of year where teams are trying to load up the movers and the shakers.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, this is how you kind of fill up your roster a little bit. You kind of get your free agents, you get your Rule 5 draft picks in, you get some trades happening and people try to round out their team. So like, for instance, walker Buehler he signed a contract with the Red Sox for one year, so he's not going to be a Dodger next year. He just won the World Series with the Dodgers. That's a good pickup for them. Sean Minaya signed a three-year deal with the Mets, so he's going to be back with the Mets again, going back to town. The Rangers got a two-year deal with Jack Peterson. That'll give him a good DH. He's a really good player. That's another one Swings a good bet. Andrew McCutcheon re-signed with the Pirates, so he's going to be a Pirate again, a beloved Pirates player. Good news, which is definitely a good thing.
Speaker 1:Always love to see the hometown heroes stay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, he did bounce around for a little bit, but then he came back, which adds a lot of hope for the team. But yeah, this is like I said. This is the time of year that you're going to start seeing a lot of possibly under-the-radar moves that help round out some lineups and you're going to see a lot of players move around. We're also getting the players that are up for possible Hall of Fame nominations, and that's always a fun thing to see the former players you used to love that are, you know, getting their crack at the Hall of Fame for the first time.
Speaker 1:Anybody of note on the table.
Speaker 2:There's a few. I mean David Wright, former. He's a Hampton Roads native, you know from Chesapeake. He's getting a crack at it. I don't know how strong his chances might be because injuries kind of derailed his career a little bit. You're going to get Troy Tulewitzki. He's going to get his first crack at it. You're also going to have other players like Chase Utley. He's got a well actually. No, I think Chase Utley, dustin Pedroia, I already said Troy Tulewitzki.
Speaker 2:Ben Zobris is going to get a look. I don't know that Ben will get in there or not, but he was a good player. Hanley Ramirez is going to get a chance, although he's not exactly somebody I think will get in. My hope is that Andrew Jones gets in because he's had a couple looks already and he's been multi-time gold glove and all-star and definitely was a great player in his time. So I really hope he gets in. But he's getting the votes. You have to hit a threshold in order to make it in and as long as you're seeing every year you're getting more votes and more points towards getting in, you can eventually make it in. So we'll see how that shakes out.
Speaker 1:Ava, you feel like getting snubbed or has been snubbed snubbed or has been snubbed.
Speaker 2:Uh well, I mean, there's, there's definitely players that that warrant a good look. But um, they, they have it. They have a good process in place. I mean, you get, you get so many years of being on the ballot and then, once you're beyond that because if you have too many people on the ballot, it takes away votes from other players. So allowing players to kind of I don't want to say age out, but get past their point, doesn't mean they're not going to get in, because eventually they have. I forget what they call it. It's like a player's vote or a deserving vote, where they basically pick players that their window's over but they deserve to be in because baseball as a whole recognizes them as they need to be in.
Speaker 1:They were what you call game changers. They helped change the world.
Speaker 2:They were the guys that kind of. They might not have been the biggest name on the team, necessarily, but they were the guy that came up clutch. You know they were the guy that you know you ask a fan and they're like, oh yeah, I love that player, yeah, that was one of my favorites. You know those kinds of players, but you know it's one of those things that you hope that every player gets their due and they get.
Speaker 2:They get their, their spotlight, because you know absolutely there's too many good players and in professional sports that kind of disappear, yeah oh, man, it's, and that's the way it is now.
Speaker 1:Can you imagine, even 20 years from now, how many, how many, much more players will be in the retirement pool?
Speaker 2:so imagine, you know some of these players playing now or coming up could be waiting even longer well, I mean you got five years to from the point where you retire in baseball before you're eligible for the hall of fame yeah and then from there you have, like I think it's 10 or 11 years that you can be on the ballot and then beyond that you can't be on the ballot anymore, and the reason they do that is so players won't be eating up the vote. Gotcha, yeah, and that's why they have the additional voting that sets them up.
Speaker 1:I guess they figure if you don't get it after 10 to 15 years, you're probably just not going to be in the running.
Speaker 2:Yeah, after a certain amount of time, you're just not going to get in.
Speaker 1:A classic example of that is Dale Murphy?
Speaker 2:Dale Murphy's not in the Hall of Fame, even though he was a great player during the 80s and was there for a lot of the lean years of the Braves, where he was probably the only good player on the 80s and, you know, was there for a lot of the lean years of the Braves where he was probably the only good player on the team yeah he, he, he has those borderline numbers, like he has good numbers, but it's not like you it.
Speaker 2:Your eyes don't go. Oh man, that's, that's look he. He lead, he has the most home runs, or he has the most RBIs, or he has the most hits, or he has right like he. He's just solid in all of them. You know, it's kind of like you know being you know a c and b student.
Speaker 1:You don't really have the a's but you're not a bad student oh, yeah, yeah, I agree, and I mean I guess it does make some sense, right, you can't go back 30 years like, oh, you know what that guy should be, hall of Fame too, you know, like it wouldn't, work like that I mean it depends.
Speaker 2:It depends If the player you know, if there's a player out there that you know has the numbers and just hasn't made the boat.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know there are some players out there that aren't going to make it because of steroids. Yeah, it's a thing, and you know it is what it is. Well, I don't disagree with that either, but it is. It is. I have mixed feelings about it because some of the players I remember seeing them play and they were great at their time, but you know they were juicing. They were great at their time, but they were juicing. So it's kind of like ah, I have mixed feelings on do we let them in when they were cheating?
Speaker 1:No, I don't disagree there, some of these guys, they made their bed, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, like Alex Rodriguez, multiple time popped positive and I still can't believe mlb. Lets him be an analyst. But that's just me. But moving on, uh, we'll talk some college football playoffs. Man, we finally got our first round of playoff action and for the most part, we got what we expected. You know, we expected that Penn State was going to win and they did. They won 38-10. They kind of SMU. They tried, but they just never really were in the game at all. And you know, smu, what a great season they had. They just couldn't pull it off. But they shouldn't feel bad. They really did a really good job this past season.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, 38-10. And where are you at? You're on Clemson.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm looking at other notes here. Yeah, Texas 38-24.
Speaker 2:Yeah, texas beat Clemson 38-24. I mean Clemson, they snuck in with the 12 spot. Yeah and kudos to them, though I mean they were not really mentioned almost all season long as not even having a shot to get in for the playoffs. They played their way in and got in there. Unfortunately, they had to meet up with number five Texas.
Speaker 1:Hey, the luck of the draw. You fall where you fall. You know it's your job to win, don't matter who it is.
Speaker 2:This is true, but we did have a lot of upsets this season. So just because you were a, lower-ranked team didn't mean you didn't have a shot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I agree. I mean they put up 24 points to Texas 38. I mean, on paper it seemed like they would put on a fight.
Speaker 2:I didn't see the game myself, but I mean it's one of those that if you don't have, if you're not in the playoffs, you don't have it, you don't have a chance. But if you're in the playoffs and you have a game, you have a chance. I mean you, if you just have a great setup you know the coaches have a great scheme for that team yeah, you could upset them. I mean, I said there was only one team undefeated this year and that was Oregon. Everybody else had losses and some of those losses were kind of embarrassing. Some people during the season lost to unranked opponents or opponents that were way down in the rankings.
Speaker 2:The one game that I thought was very disappointing was that Ohio and Tennessee game. I thought Tennessee was going to show up a little bit better than they did, because the final score was 42-17. And Ohio State just they had it from jump. It didn't look like Tennessee was going to have anything going at all and they didn't. They couldn't seem to piece together enough to really be competitive in that game, and Ohio State had great performances by their receivers and it was not a game for them. Tennessee just didn't show up, so that was kind of a disappointment.
Speaker 1:The volunteers did not volunteer.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then the other game from Friday, notre Dame and Indiana. Final score was 27-17. I did watch some of this game, I mean Indiana. There was a little bit of a turnover battle there where they kept exchanging back and forth some turnovers, but I mean it just didn't look like Indiana, despite the score, didn't look like Indiana had much going on because they looked a little flat. I mean, notre Dame just seemed to be the better team all game long. There was no point where you just felt like Indiana was going to come back.
Speaker 1:And, honestly, that went a little less surprising, given the school that Notre Dame is and where they had to be placed in the rankings.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, they've been kind of. There's been some games with them where their passing game will look not so great and then you know, they'll lean on the run and the run will look good and their running game looked pretty good that game, but they did some things in the passing game. But they did some things in the passing game. They looked like the more complete team in that game to me. I mean, that's just how I felt.
Speaker 2:I mean, when I was watching I was like, oh, this is over, because Indiana just didn't seem like they were. Like things would work one play and then the next play. They would have an awful play where, you know, negative yards on the running game, or they'd go to throw it and the pass would be behind the receiver, you know, or it would be late and, you know, tipped up in the air and it just was not a good performance by Indiana. I mean, they tried, they did what they could and it just didn't shake out for them. But they shouldn't feel ashamed. They made it into playoffs and there's plenty of other teams that couldn't say that.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But with those wins we're going to get Notre Dame now playing number two Georgia. Well, we don't know if their quarterback for Georgia is going to be playing in Carson Beck, so this might be leaning more favorable to Notre Dame. And they're playing Wednesday at 845 Eastern on ESPN.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's going to be an interesting one to watch.
Speaker 2:So that's New Year's Day. That will be the evening game. It's going to be an interesting one to watch. So that's New Year's Day. That will be the evening game. Penn State will be playing number three, boise State. That will be a Tuesday evening game at 7.30 pm Eastern and that will be on ESPN. So I think that will be a Penn State game all the way. Even though Boise is ranked ahead of them, penn State has definitely been, you know, the better team all year. They're just not in, they're not ranked higher in the in the spots, but I I feel like they they have the team to beat Boise.
Speaker 2:Uh, moving on to the other games, we got Texas who's going to go against Arizona State, and that's a Texas game all the way to me. But that'll be a 1 o'clock game, 1 pm Eastern, wednesday on ESPN. Actually, that one's going to be the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Yeah, peach Bowl, yeah. So, and actually the Penn State game will be the Verbo Fiesta Bowl and the Notre Dame game will be the All-State Sugar Bowl and the Ohio game will be against Oregon. That'll be a 5 o'clock game on Wednesday on ESPN. That's going to be the Rose Bowl. I don't think Ohio State's going to beat Oregon. Just my opinion.
Speaker 1:I think something that's funny and sad at the same time the Texas-Arizona State Chick-fil-A Bowl. They've banned Bevo for that game. You know what I'm talking about, right? Their mascot, their mascot. Yeah, I think it's sad and funny at the same time. Sad because their mascot can't be there. That's kind of a tradition for their school and their team.
Speaker 2:I think it would have been funnier if they let him be there and then have the Chick-fil-A mascot running around next to me.
Speaker 1:Eat more chicken.
Speaker 2:Yeah, eat more chicken next to the Texas Longhorn mascot.
Speaker 1:That would have been funny I saw a meme saying that this was the perfect eat more chicken ad when they banned Bevo from the Chick-fil-A bowl Ridiculous.
Speaker 2:That's funny.
Speaker 1:I got another interesting curveball for you. I've heard some chatter I forgot which analyst it may have been one or more Talking about the college football rankings. Still, I heard somebody say that it should be based more on and I thought this was kind of how it was done before, where it's based more on quote who you beat rather than what your record is. But isn't it kind of how it's done in the pros, like if you play in a bad division and you win, you still get the playoffs right?
Speaker 2:college has always been different. I mean, you got to figure. You know, before there was this playoff picture, it was always about the conference. You play in the teams. You've played the record and a lot of times it was the name power. If you were an SEC team, you were almost guaranteed to be in a bowl game and if you were a Pac-12 school you probably were not going to see a bowl game unless you won. You know some you know had a tremendous season playing some good opponents. So I mean there's a lot of. You see that was the problem that college football had was you had all these you know strength of your actual division that would eat up everything.
Speaker 2:So a lot of the people that were, you know, middle of the country west just started tuning college out because it was always Bama Clemson.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was the same schools.
Speaker 2:It was the same teams. You know the Georgias, the Clemsons, the. You know southeast teams, or you know teams on the east coast that we're getting in these games and you'd think that somebody in New Mexico or you know, in Nevada or Washington State is going to care about that. No, so they would lose a lot of viewership.
Speaker 1:They're not even interested if their team wasn't even in contention. A lot of times, if your team had some contention, you can still keep some viewership.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I mean, try to get somebody in the West Coast interested in your Alabama game.
Speaker 1:Nobody's going to care?
Speaker 2:No, it's not going to happen and actually a lot of people are just getting tired of seeing Bama every year because Bama's getting all the top recruits. No wonder Nick Saban said I'm calling it a career because now I actually have to. You know, get guys based on the fact that I have to be likable. I have to, you know, I can't just go to them and be like, hey, if you want to get in the NFL, you got to come here.
Speaker 1:If you don't go somewhere else. How do you think Belichick's going to handle that? He doesn't?
Speaker 2:have to, I heard. So here's the thing. I'll let you take it real quick the way it works now or the way it's seemingly working now. If you're paying the player don't come. It doesn't matter what school you're in. Look at how the schools were this year. There was only one team that was undefeated. The rest of the teams were pretty evenly matched. For the most part you couldn't look at one team and say that the entire team had no talent. There were some teams that they had a great running back, or they had a good quarterback and had no receivers, or they had great receivers and no quarterback.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you even had some NIL disputes. I mean, it was all about the money.
Speaker 2:And rightfully so. I mean, if you're think about it this way, if you're an 18-year-old kid getting ready to go to college, getting ready to play some college ball, and you get a school that comes up to you and says we'll give you $100,000 to come play for our school I didn't tell you what school it is, but're I'm going to give you a hundred thousand dollars do you think they're going to question much about the school? The smart, really, I think the money.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, nine times out of ten I think they say, yeah, I'll take the money. I think there would be a few saying you know, that would be a little more based on passion. But overall, yeah, I think you make your point. I think you're right, it would be yeah.
Speaker 2:So in Belichick's standpoint, he doesn't really have to go around and sell himself. He just has to sell that. The school is going to give them the money and he also, by being Belichick, he might get players that go. Okay, he's going to have a pro style system. He's going to pay me X amount of money. I'm going to be in Carolina where, oh, they have one of the best basketball schools in the country and they always seem to be in March Madness. So not only do you get to go and be a part of possibly a pro-style system that will set you up for the NFL and they have sent players to the NFL but you'll also be in a school where, when your season's not going on, you can go and attend games for basketball things that are interesting, and you might even be running into players that will be going to the NBA.
Speaker 2:So now you're rubbing elbows with NBA talent.
Speaker 1:Yep.
Speaker 2:So if you're an 18-year-old kid and you're going over there and you're rubbing elbows with somebody who's going to the NBA and you're going to the NFL, now all of a sudden you're friends with people in the NBA, friends with people in the NFL. Yep man, your party life is going to be crazy.
Speaker 1:Well, I know I heard some interesting tidbits about Belichick. Not really bad things either. Number one the reason he took the job at UNC, apart from taking a job elsewhere in the NFL, was Was he really getting offers, though?
Speaker 2:I mean, Atlanta was really the only team that brought him in.
Speaker 1:Well, no, a lot of teams shied away from him because he does become the de facto GM along, and teams especially I hate to say it along with his age teams are not sure that they're ready for that long-term commitment and to give up that much control for that short, possibly short, amount of time, and so that was another thing why he went to UNC as a football head coach. That is a big part of their job is recruitment, yeah, but he doesn't have to do the recruiting.
Speaker 2:He doesn't have to.
Speaker 1:Well, he doesn't have to, and he had people do it for him, but he largely had control over it, but I'm glad you brought up his age.
Speaker 2:Imagine being the coach at UNC, which, for those of you that don't know, the former coach was 73 years old. So if they fired him and said you know, we're going to go for a younger coach and they just bring in a 72-year, it's got to be like what well, this is getting.
Speaker 1:This is getting to my next point. Actually, I'm glad you mentioned that about the previous coach, because there's an interesting thing about belichick's contract that makes me wonder how long is he going to be in unc. How long are they mutually interested?
Speaker 2:because he's interested. As far as you know, he has a five-year deal, but he has the ability to opt out every year but this june.
Speaker 1:So his opt-out price is 10 million until june 2025. It drops down to 1 million. Yeah, so he could buy out with his own pocket change.
Speaker 2:I honestly feel like what he's doing is he's doing this coaching in college to show that he is still a good coach, that he does have some personality and that he's not this ogre.
Speaker 1:I mean, he's dating a young girl, he's got to have some personality bro he has money yeah, but yeah uh, you gotta have beyond beyond, beyond that uh I also think that what he's doing because he has brought his son in to be part of his coaching staff.
Speaker 2:I think that he might be trying to hand this off to his son at some point so he can then go off and do what he wants, which is probably go back to the NFL. I mean, even if he doesn't go back to the NFL, you can't really dispute that. He's been one of the best coaches of all time.
Speaker 1:I could see him, I mean he's so close to Don Shula's record.
Speaker 2:I think he needed 15 more wins.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean I could see him taking on like a John Gruden role or like a John Madden role, where he eventually becomes like a consultant right, scott McLuhan? You know, he becomes a consultant to teams about personnel and talent or about system.
Speaker 2:I think he wants to coach in the NFL, but right now he's not getting one. He's not getting the place he wants to go. He's not getting what he wants, and he's coming to the harsh reality that NFL teams don't want to give him control over the team as much as they want him to just coach. So if he shows that he can coach in college and that he has changed a little bit in his personality and what he wants, he then could probably make his way back into the NFL.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, look at Pete Carroll. Pete Carroll is what? 76, 77 years old, 78, somewhere up there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, around the same age as I think he's a consultant.
Speaker 1:He moved out of the head coaching role voluntarily into a front office position. I don't know how voluntary that was, it might not have been as voluntary as it makes it sound, I think that was more of a we're done with your stuff.
Speaker 2:Pete, time to go.
Speaker 1:It could be, it's possible.
Speaker 2:I mean, when you do like what Pete did with you know, trading so many draft picks and going after, you know Adams for your strong safety and he really wasn't much of a strong safety and he really wasn't much of a middle linebacker, he was somewhere in between. He didn't provide much strength or safety. The amount of talent he gave up in, you know draft pick-wise to get him and for him to kind of no-show. It did not look good on Pete Carroll.
Speaker 1:It was like a weak unsafety. He didn't provide any strength or safety.
Speaker 2:Well now, he's been bouncing around the league ever since. So I don't wish ill of anybody and I don't wish for a player to have a bad career. But it doesn't look good on Pete Carroll when you stamp your feet and say I want this player, he's the player I need and he doesn't do well. So it is what it is. But, moving on from the college game, we'll definitely catch up on that.
Speaker 1:Since we kind of smoothed on into the NFL there with the introduction of Pete Carroll, let's talk about a team that has nothing to do with Pete Carroll.
Speaker 2:Which team is that?
Speaker 1:It's not the Arizona Cardinals. This thing's messing up, my bad. Give me just a moment, sorry all.
Speaker 2:We are so you start messing with things and you screw it up.
Speaker 1:This is whack, okay, anyway, anyway. So Last week's schedule we start with the. I know it was the Broncos.
Speaker 2:Oh, you're talking about the Broncos-Chargers game. Yeah, the Broncos-Chargers game.
Speaker 1:Let's start with number one, thursday night game.
Speaker 2:Actually, if you didn't catch that game, that was actually a really fun game to watch. That was rather interesting.
Speaker 1:And the Chargers go ahead. My bad.
Speaker 2:Well, the Broncos, they came out strong and it was kind of looking like in the first half it looked like man, the Broncos are going to take this game from the Chargers. But you know you go into halftime and you know, come second half you're kind of relying on your talent, you're kind of relying on the players to be able to make a play. And that was Chargers all day long. In the second half they they made a comeback in that game and they actually had that, that weird scenario where they did that fair catch, caught a penalty on the fair catch for interfering with the fair catch. That put them into field goal range where they could go for a free kick.
Speaker 1:It looked like a kickoff but it's not a kickoff yeah it, it was like 57, 58 yards, by the way, dicker, the Chargers kicker that was the first fair catch field goal since 1976, 48 years and it was the longest converted field goal in history in NFL history. So two marks set there Back then.
Speaker 2:I mean the longest field goal right now is is not held by him, it's held held by Tucker. Tucker hit like a 63 or 64 yarder a couple years ago fair catch field goal oh, the fair catch field goal.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, you're, you're giving a difference between field goal and fair catch.
Speaker 2:This is the longest converted fair catch field goal, okay, okay, and the last one was 48 years. I follow what you're saying now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, my apologies. The last one was 48 years ago, so there's two stats there. They're tracking kickers on. It is fair catch kicks and kicks.
Speaker 2:I know a lot of people were confused when they were watching that it's just like what are they doing? What is this? Thankfully like, what are they doing? What is this? Yeah, thankfully we, you know, got some clarification both on our side and on the telecast about what. What was going on. But I mean kudos to dicker, because that's not an easy kick no, it's not.
Speaker 1:I know there's a lot of questions about what the chargers defense was doing, especially in the first half of that game I'll tell you, in the second half of that game they showed up and they lost gus edwards in this one as well man, this is not a good year for running backs going down.
Speaker 2:I mean there's been. Well, let me tell you that there's two running backs that have been great all year in derrick henry and, uh, saquon barkley, which giants have to feel just completely dumb for letting him walk out the door.
Speaker 1:And also paying Daniel Jones, doubling down on that move.
Speaker 2:Oh, you mean the guy that cut yeah, yeah, and I'm pretty sure a lot of that contract.
Speaker 1:I don't have the details. A lot of that contract was guaranteed, so they took one to the mouth. Yeah, Such dumb moves, yeah.
Speaker 2:Rephrase it somehow Such dumb moves, yeah, but anyway. So then you know, we had a couple slate of Saturday games. Back on the 21st we had Houston playing the Kansas City Chiefs, which KC? They did what they had to do. They came out with the win 27-19. Houston had chances in that game.
Speaker 2:They just I honestly they were like okay, let's say for what it was. Kansas City had no answer for Tank Dell. And then they finally hit him in the leg and dislocate his kneecap and tear his ACL, which I don't know if anybody's noticed or not. This ain't the first time they've knocked a player out by hitting him in the leg. They did the same thing to Brandon Ayuk earlier in the year, where they hit him in the leg, destroying all of the ligaments in his knee leg, destroying all of the ligaments in his knee. So, huh, kind of funny how another player, another star player, goes down against the kansas city chiefs.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that might, uh, that might deserve some looking at I thought houston played relatively well in this game and I know we'll get to it here shortly, because there's this huge night and day difference from what happened last night.
Speaker 2:We'll get to yesterday's games.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we'll get to that momentarily here in a little while.
Speaker 2:But that Kansas City game you know they came out the win. Houston was playing well, they still tried to manage without Tank Dell. It just did not look the same, they weren't getting the same kind of ball movement and you know Kansas City came back and won that game. The other Saturday game from the 21st was the Ravens and the Steelers. Which the Steelers went into that game not having Pickens at wide receiver and they knew that was going to kind of be an uphill battle.
Speaker 1:They were feeling that. You could see, they were feeling that.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, pickens is a good player and you know, not having that guy to at least pull the defense away from you know openings and gaps to give the running backs a little more. I mean, really I don't know whether you want to say it was had more to do with their offense not showing up or their defense not showing up, but the ravens, they just look all game long like they had it well, I think, and again I know, we'll get to it a little bit, especially after watching, you know, yesterday games, I think the Steelers are in a little bit of trouble.
Speaker 1:I know the score is 34-17. Make no mistake, the Ravens were in complete control of that game.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean they definitely were the better team that day and in their house. So you know it definitely helps to be in your stadium. I mean, the hometown factor does come into play because, let's face it, most of these stadiums they get real loud when your fans are, you know, cheering against the other team.
Speaker 1:The good ones. Yeah, all right, and to our Sunday's matchups.
Speaker 2:All right, all right, I got to own something To our Sunday's matchups. All right, all right, I got to own something. I was 100, totally percent or totally 100% wrong against this whole Kirk Cousins and Michael Pennix. I figured with the amount of money they were paying Kirk Cousins that they weren't going to move on from him. But man, was I wrong, they did. They moved on. I mean literally after we had got done recording last week's episode.
Speaker 1:Honestly, it's a thing of gold. You should go listen to it. I made a statement and my guy literally said no, bro, you should have seen the hand.
Speaker 2:And I was wrong.
Speaker 1:Not even an hour later, this man is calling me. They benched Cubs. Look, look, look.
Speaker 2:All right, I am 100% somebody who will own up when I'm wrong, and I was so wrong on that. So Pennix came out and this was a game against the Giants. So you're figuring layup. And it was because Atlanta won 34-7 against the Lonely Giants, which I guess if you wanted a soft landing for him you would put him out against this team.
Speaker 1:They're not stopping anybody.
Speaker 2:I kind of get why they did it. But I just figured, when you give a guy a big contract you kind of want to put him on the field. So I just felt like why would you pay all that money and pull him off?
Speaker 1:Well, you look at his performance. He's thrown what like seven interceptions over the last four or five games. Only one touchdown, one touchdown. So he wasn't doing particularly well, and this you know, are they? Gonna cut him I think they cut him before. I think they cut up before that 10 million dollars is due this spring oh, he has 10 million dollars out this spring he has a $10 million roster bonus due in March, march 17th to be exact.
Speaker 2:So they've got to cut him before March 17th. From what I'm understanding, Well, do they cut him or do they trade him, in your opinion?
Speaker 1:Who wants him?
Speaker 2:I mean, there are desperate teams out there.
Speaker 1:There are desperate teams out there.
Speaker 2:Well, think about it, think about it. But after a performance like this, right, wait, wait, wait, okay, wait, let's play a game.
Speaker 1:We love games.
Speaker 2:Do you want Kirk Cousins or Drew Locke?
Speaker 1:Listen.
Speaker 2:Do you want Tommy DeVito or Kirk Cousins?
Speaker 1:Honestly, you're talking. Age plays a factor here, okay.
Speaker 2:I'm not saying he's your future, but I'm saying do you want to?
Speaker 1:Okay Also notably, how many playoff wins does Cousins have? How many times has Cousins been to the playoffs? By the way, Does he have any real veteran experience?
Speaker 2:At this point in his career he could be a bridge starter. He could be the guy you bring in. You have him for a year or two to have your rookie sit behind him, learn, and then you put the rookie in. That's probably where he is in his career now. I mean okay.
Speaker 1:It only took Atlanta 16 weeks. What about?
Speaker 2:Tennessee.
Speaker 1:Atlanta is still in playoff contention.
Speaker 2:He could go play for Tennessee. They don't have anybody for quarterback.
Speaker 1:I mean, they did take Ryan Tannehill at his lowest.
Speaker 2:But I mean Tannehill's not even in the league right now. I'm just saying there are teams out there that you could put him in. That are desperate teams.
Speaker 1:I agree, I don't necessarily think he's done. There's worse players in the NFL. I don't think he's done.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean.
Speaker 1:Whether or not he's a. I don't know if a starting job is in his future after Atlanta.
Speaker 2:It's hard to come back from getting benched it depends on the team, in my opinion, but we've seen my opinion could be wrong I mean I just was.
Speaker 1:I'm on a roll here because I also called the stealers getting punched in the mouth last week, so I I thought you know yeah, you're definitely better with your predictions right now.
Speaker 1:I'm not, i'm'm not 100%, I don't hit all the time, but you know that was two good hits. And then the Cousins thing. I mean I'm a Washington fan and I'm not saying you didn't see it because you're not a Washington fan, but you know we'll keep on rolling here with the sub, you know. Moving on, let's talk about another budding quarterback coming up and Bryce Young. This guy has turned it on the last couple weeks and the end of the season, man.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he seems like I don't know if it's addition by subtraction because they got rid of some players and the team seems to be playing better after getting rid of them. But the Panthers have been playing a little better ball these last few weeks and this overtime win against the Cardinals 36-30, just kind of. I mean Chupo Hubbert was playing well. They had some great throws by Bryce.
Speaker 1:It just seemed to be like he's showing up Speaking of Deontay Johnson, since we already covered the Ravens, he is no longer part of the Ravens. They parted ways with him, so he's not even on an NFL team right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he is. He got claimed off of waivers by Houston.
Speaker 1:Oh well, I'm sorry, houston.
Speaker 2:Anyway, we'll see what he does there.
Speaker 1:I'm excited for Bryce Young, kyler Murray. He's holding it down, he's doing his thing. I'd like to see more Marvin Harrison Jr.
Speaker 2:They just need so much more on that team.
Speaker 1:They have talent, they're right there.
Speaker 2:They need some offensive line and defensive line help and the defense. They have some good players for the Cardinals and Buda Baker, and they have a I forget the password for his name. They traded for him from the Broncos but they've been trying to make things work by adding in a piece here and there and it's just not gelling. So they have some work to do.
Speaker 1:I think they'll do all right.
Speaker 2:I mean Cardinals in their own division. They seem to always play everybody tough in their division and they're not a pushover team.
Speaker 1:And, honestly, their running game is honestly set up because they have James Conner and, yeah, he can retire whenever he wants, because Trey Benson's right behind him.
Speaker 2:Well, trey Benson's been hurt and Conner is a little banged up, but they have some other players. They have some other players that you know are going to have to step up and fill the role. Yeah, but you know we're going to move on to the Lions, this one divisional Chicago game yeah divisional matchup.
Speaker 1:Just want to say real quick. Sources say Mike Vrabel is the favorite for the next Bears head coaching job. I'd like to see how that plays out here.
Speaker 2:Well, lions owned that game the entire way. They did have a play in there. It was a fake fumble, so it looked like Jarrett Goff had screwed up the snap and he's kind of like stumbling.
Speaker 2:and then they had Gibbs kind of dive, like he's going to dive on the ball and then he turns around and throws it to Laporta in the end zone for a touchdown and it's like, oh my God, I mean, if you were watching it real time and you didn't know it looked like a botched play because they executed it quite well. But later on they said, oh yeah, that was a, that was a total, total fake play that we just put in there, you know, but they had that game the whole way.
Speaker 2:I mean, the bears, just they're just not looking good on either side of the ball and they, they really this offseason is going to be huge for them they're, they're just trying they need to have a great draft and they need to get a really good coach to build, like you were saying, a culture, and a variable is a culture builder kind of coach. Um, but I I really think if they don't get the coach right, that's going to really hurt Caleb Williams, because Caleb Williams needs somebody to help bring out his talent.
Speaker 1:No, I agree with you there. I was just about to say the same exact thing and honestly, that Bears roster is loaded man. They came into the season with the assumption that they were going to be the favorites. You know to come out and ball out, but you know it. Just, it didn't happen like that. You see flashes here and there, but you know they do have a ton of talent. They have a lot of young talent. So, uh, I think you're right, they need to get the coaching right on the next round.
Speaker 2:Uh, and hopefully they keep a lot of that nucleus talent there well, there's been some chatter about maybe them trying to trade for a coach. There's been chatter about them trying to trade for Shanahan. Not that that's a for-sure thing, but we have seen coaches trade it before. I don't know that it will happen, because I don't know that the Niners are looking to trade away their coach.
Speaker 1:Who would the Niners hire for coach?
Speaker 2:I don't know, but that's kind of where we are, bill Belichick.
Speaker 1:It's in the cards Come June he's going to buy out with pocket change for a million dollars and come coach the 49ers.
Speaker 2:Why don't you put that bad juju out there? All right, so moving on, we had the colts and titans. The colts come out with the win 38 to 30, and taylor came out looking like his old self man jonathan taylor had over 200 yards rushing and three touchdowns whatever they did, they must have shifted the offensive line.
Speaker 1:Or maybe they took steroids, I don't know they were just playing a bad defense I believe that as well, but their defense was obviously equally as bad. If you let the titans put up 30 points on you, one of the league's worst right now yeah, and that's so strange because the, the cults, have some good defensive players.
Speaker 2:You know it, just they've.
Speaker 1:But but it's a divisional game. It's a divisional game.
Speaker 2:You see these teams over and over again each year, so I mean you know, honestly, you know these teams.
Speaker 1:I know it was the highest scoring game, but I thought this game sucked like but well, if, if you were somebody that had taylor on your fantasy team for your playoffs? You probably didn't you probably loved it, but that was probably the only thing you loved about it. Yeah, go down here, the Jets and the Rams. Okay, the Rams came to town, handled business.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it wasn't much of a flashy game, it was just a 19-9 win.
Speaker 1:This was just another day at the office for the Rams.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean you kind of expected more out of the Jets after their previous week, but they just look flat.
Speaker 1:Bro, we're talking about week 16 right now. Is Aaron Rodgers still the savior here? What is going on, bro?
Speaker 2:Look, if you thought he was going to come in and be the savior, you're fooling yourself.
Speaker 1:I thought he should have been the first one fired.
Speaker 2:Look Aaron Rodgers, he still has something in the tank. But you can't let this man come in and dictate how you build your team and how things are supposed to go for your offense. They've been wrong moves the whole way. I mean, all right, it's the same shit that happened in Green Bay.
Speaker 1:it's the same shit that happened in Green Bay. It's the same shit that happened in Green Bay.
Speaker 2:Look, Excuse my language, it's the same stuff that happened in Green Bay. Look, this doesn't have to do with Aaron Rodgers. This has everything to do with from the top down Ownership. Look when the ownership Woody.
Speaker 2:Johnson. Okay, when Woody Johnson is getting advice on what to do about players from his sons, and his sons are going to Madden to look for the ratings which, mind you, they had a chance to trade for, Jerry Judy and his sons told him what his Madden rating was in the game NFL Madden and they decided to nix the trade after that. No, you can't look at the overall.
Speaker 1:You can't look at the overall.
Speaker 2:You've got to look at the subcategories. Jerry Judy has had over 1,000 receiving yards this season on a team that doesn't know who their quarterback is.
Speaker 1:Exactly.
Speaker 2:They've gone from two quarterbacks that haven't played well to their third quarterback and he still manages 1,000 yards. What would he do with a good quarterback?
Speaker 1:I agree with you. I think that they should have pulled the trigger on that. They got Garrett Wilson, garrett Wilson and Jerry Judy on the same field.
Speaker 2:I know they would have had Devontae Adams, jerry Judy and Devontae Adams on the same field.
Speaker 1:Would they have gone after Adams?
Speaker 2:Who do you?
Speaker 1:double cover. But would they have gone after Adams if they had gotten Judy?
Speaker 2:Yes, because Roger would have won on them. Yes, they gave him a bag of chips for Adams. I mean, come on, dude. Yeah, they didn't give up much.
Speaker 1:That's true too. I mean, adams just wanted out of where he was at, but bottom line the Jets.
Speaker 2:they need to get their act together from the top down, otherwise they're just going to keep repeating. Being the Jets, I mean their team is becoming a verb.
Speaker 1:Look, jetting it up. You know your team is bad when we don't even talk about the winning team in your matchup. Yeah Well, when you garner enough conversation to talk about your losing game.
Speaker 2:I've said this multiple times that the Jets is an acronym, not a name. It's an acronym for just in the season.
Speaker 1:The Redskins never had an acronym.
Speaker 2:No, they just had to change their name. Yeah well, the Commanders still don't have an acronym, but I'm glad you brought them up because that's the next team we're going to talk about.
Speaker 1:We're going to talk about their game against the Eagles. Let me tell you what everybody as a Washington fan.
Speaker 2:Which I've got to say thank you to your team for knocking out the opposing quarterback in my fantasy league this past weekend, helping me win some money.
Speaker 1:So thank you to Washington, yeah, and you're welcome. I agree, we never money. So first of all, thank you to washington, yeah, and you're welcome.
Speaker 2:I agree, we never phrase injury, but I, I, yeah, we're not. We're not okay for people. You know, taking people out on purpose.
Speaker 1:I understand your excitement because you're it kept you alive in the championship race here. But for me as a washington fan look, let's all be honest and down to earth here okay, the universe did everything it could to hand us this game and we still almost didn't get it. Okay, I mean, like we, realistically, how many?
Speaker 2:picks. Did your boy throw we?
Speaker 1:should not have won this game. This was.
Speaker 2:How many picks did your quarterback throw?
Speaker 1:I don't know. I don't keep track of things. I don't keep track of things. I don't keep track of things. I only know the good things.
Speaker 2:Look, all I'm saying is your quarterback, jaden Daniels, threw five touchdown passes, showed up when it mattered and took that team to a win.
Speaker 1:Five touchdown passes in the fourth quarter Now.
Speaker 2:Granted, we've got to at least give a little bit of due to the backup quarterback, kenny Pickett. He came in, he played okay, he kept it rolling. He kept things close.
Speaker 1:Once he got warmed up, he kept it rolling. He just couldn't pull it together, though.
Speaker 2:He couldn't pull it together at the end and Washington came away with the win.
Speaker 1:It was a very good game for Washington. Let me tell you what, even just watching on TV, when Hurts went out and Pichette came in, I think at first the defense was confused. Nobody was ready for this, and then, when they realized Pichette was staying in, I think that's because they didn't know what was going on.
Speaker 2:You see, jalen go off and you're like, is he hurt?
Speaker 1:Is he?
Speaker 2:coming back, because at one point he put his helmet on and he was standing there on the sidelines and the team's looking there going. Is that dude coming in?
Speaker 1:Yeah, Well, the play calling changed and once they realized Pickett was staying in, you could just see the D-line just licking their chops.
Speaker 2:Because he's not the same player. He's not the same player. He's not the same player like and they didn't protect him the same way either. So well, I mean the play scheme changes and the and the, the play style matters, because you scheme all week for one quarterback and then it changes and it's like oh man, we can get to this guy, he doesn't run yeah, and they were already playing.
Speaker 1:A ton of qb contain already so even though hertz was still burning them up. But, um yeah, good win for washington. It was a, in my opinion, was a must win.
Speaker 2:This was a needed game oh yeah, especially if you want to stay a lot of in the division and and in the playoff race and in the wild card. So it was a win that, for washington, definitely helps them out with both yeah, so moving on for them.
Speaker 1:Our thousand yard jury judy just couldn't help cleveland get past the cincinnati fangles yeah, so a divisional matchup where the Bengals come out 24-6.
Speaker 2:And actually, which is crazy to say, for as bad as they've been, the Bengals are still in the hunt, which we'll get into the playoff pictures. But the Bengals with this win, they're still in contention to possibly get a wild card.
Speaker 1:I've got to give it to them for trying still because Joe Burrow's got some adversity here in in the public eye right now his house gets broken into and then you find out the girl that was there the housemate is actually the girl you've been dating which he already has a girlfriend well, they broke up. They've been well, of course, of course they, of course.
Speaker 1:They broke up, especially after that well, I think they, I think that they had been, I think they hadn't been together for like seen together for like seven or eight months or something like that, but either way, it obviously was still in the ending stages of whatever it was obviously he's not hurting because he wasn't, yeah, his swimsuit models showing up at his house.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and his house got broken into, ironically, baby ironically at the same time that the secret girl was there. But the other thing is he gave his offensive line katanas Okay, real katanas, by the way, on the surface.
Speaker 2:This is cool. Yeah, made in Japan. Real katanas made the way that they're supposed to be made.
Speaker 1:By the way, I think this is awesome. I think this is great. He caught a lot of flack, especially from his own fan base.
Speaker 2:By the way, offensive linemen love the gifts. Well, I don't think he gave the best gift.
Speaker 1:Well, he asked apparently his office, he asked the offensive line and apparently they unanimously were like we want guns. Of course every American wants guns. I want guns too, I love guns. But he was like I don't know about guns guys, and I respect where his mindset is, because I don't think it was about, I don't think it was political at all. But they're trying, people are making it political, right?
Speaker 2:We're not going to worry about that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're not going to worry about that either.
Speaker 2:A katana is a cool gift. If you're getting a real japanese katana yeah, you know from japan that was made in the ancient ways that they made these swords. That is a cool gift that's.
Speaker 1:That's a cool gift, and if somebody gave me one. I'd be like, oh man, this is sweet and it speaks to the art behind your athleticism as well. Okay, because you, you know it's just a cool gift. It takes a lot of time to learn to use a katana. It takes a lot of time to learn to play football or any sport right.
Speaker 2:Honestly, I don't think it's something that you're going to use. I think it's something that you're going to display and be proud of. Yeah, but the coolest gift for offensive linemen has to be the one quarterback who's not making that much money Brock Purdy. He's probably the least paid quarterback and he sits there and buys all of his offensive linemen even the backups new Toyota pickups and SUVs. So you either got a pickup or you got an SUV, full-size SUV, not like a tiny midsize because you're not fitting an offensive lineman in one of those, but brand new. And I gotta think that this was kind of a a deal of deals, where he goes in and says look, man, do you want to sell 10 cars right now? Give me a deal.
Speaker 1:and that's probably what happened, yeah you know, and he probably got a good, probably got some kind of deal. It probably wasn't huge, we probably did get a deal, but he probably got some kind of deal.
Speaker 2:It probably wasn't huge, but he probably did get a deal. But think about the offensive linemen when you're thinking, oh, I just saw Joe Burrow gave out katanas, and then you're like we got what, we got a truck.
Speaker 1:I think it's ironic that he bought trucks and SUVs because he's probably like look.
Speaker 2:I need you to be this truck or SUV I just bought you, yeah, be the guy that doesn't block this time and be like bro, I got you a truck. Can't you keep that guy off my back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, don't try to be the Supra or the Celica or any of that other nut. I need you to be the truck or the SUV.
Speaker 2:Look, offensive linemen can't fit in those vehicles.
Speaker 1:Have you ever seen replacements? I need you to be like that.
Speaker 2:Offensive linemen can't fit in those vehicles. Have you ever seen the replacements? I need you to be like that. Offensive linemen can't fit in them. Tiny vehicles, they need a big truck or an SUV.
Speaker 1:Listen, sir, I knew a man that weighed 350 pounds, that drove a Geo Metro, okay, and we first of all. I'm sure he weighed more. We called him 350 as a nickname, so I'm sure he weighed well more than that.
Speaker 2:That poor car.
Speaker 1:Anyway, yeah, moving on it was quite a good sight, so the Vikings played the Seattle Seahawks.
Speaker 2:And it was a close battle but unfortunately for Seattle, geno threw a late pick and then their chance of a comeback and the Vikings go into Seattle and win that 27-24 win where you know Vikings just keep rolling. I mean they're trying to keep up with the Detroit Lions where, if they can keep winning, and at the end of the year, if they can keep winning, and at the end of the year, we're gonna have vikings and lions for the last game of the year and that may come down to be whoever wins that game wins the division and the other team will get the five spot in the playoff picture yeah, I think that's probably what's likely to happen.
Speaker 1:Um, I think at this point even the sixth spot in the nfc is locked up look nfc pictures, we'll get to that.
Speaker 2:But so, moving on to buffalo and the patriots, with buffalo squeaking out the win 24 to 21, which is very, very odd because of the fact that, you know, buffalo's been putting up 40 points, 40 points, 40 points. They've been putting up 40 points, 40 points, 40 points. They've been putting up points, but they play a divisional battle against the Patriots and they wind up squeaking out a win with a field goal.
Speaker 1:I mean. The Patriots, honestly, are playing remarkably well for having a first-year head coach.
Speaker 2:And trying to piece together a roster.
Speaker 1:Yeah, trying to piece together a roster dealing with other issues injuries, whatnot To walk into into buffalo, put up three touchdowns. You know, only lose by three to an mvp player and the number two seed in the afc.
Speaker 2:It was good for them. I mean they did. They did a good job yeah but you know, this just shows, you know, when you can play competitive against top talent, top teams and you're still a team building that looks good. Hopefully that means they're trending in the right direction and if they can get some more players along the way and keep showing growth, they'll be in contention again. But speaking of teams that need some growth and contention, we have the Raiders winning over the Jacksonville Jaguars 19-14. And not much of a scoring battle.
Speaker 2:Really a lackluster game here. Really it is. But I think the main thing you can take away from this game is the Raiders don't even know how to lose, right, because they're winning games at the end of the year and if they were trying to be at the top spot to draft a quarterback, they're doing a bad job of it. You know not that teams want to lose, but you know, you know that Shador, who, who's been flirting with the Raiders because he's, you know, driving past the, the stadium doing Instagrams where he's like be a nice place to play, you know, like Jacksonville doing 14, Las Vegas doing 19.
Speaker 1:This is like have you ever seen slow bike racing? Yeah, typically when you're bike racing typically, when you're racing, the idea is to finish first and go fast. Well, motorcycles are supposed to call slow bike races. It's usually like 10, 10 to 15 yards. Oh, the goal is to go as slow as you can and stay balanced oh don't fall over, don't fall over, but stay on two wheels.
Speaker 1:But still got to finish the race right. But you got to be the last one, the last one to finish his wins. This is, this is this matchup here. They're both, they both are, they both want that number one pick right, they both, I don't know that jacksonville wants the number one pick.
Speaker 1:Oh, I love some kind of new offensive way or just trade value right, like possibly. I'm sure they'd love to get up there. They're in the running anyway. Why not try it? So this is like a slow bike race to me. They both just trying to stay functional and stay on two wheels.
Speaker 2:That's such a ridiculous way to compare it, but it so fits.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So moving on Unfortunately we've got to talk about the Dolphins and Niners game, but it so fits.
Speaker 2:So, moving on, unfortunately we've got to talk about the Dolphins and Niners game. Sir, do you need a hug? This has been a season to forget for the Niners. But I think it could be summed up in what Kyle Shanahan said after the game we don't deserve to win that game. And he's right, Because literally in this game you have, you know, players lining up offsides on one play and then the very next play lining up offsides, or, my bad, not offsides, but a lining wrong, causing an illegal formation twice, one of which took away a 16-yard play. So, and not only that, having guys line up with their helmet in the well, having their helmet be off sides In the neutral zone, In the neutral zone, thank you, you know. Just bonehead play after bonehead play and then our team just not finding any kind of rhythm. It just, man, it's been a year to forget.
Speaker 2:And with that the Niners. They're not making playoffs. They had a 1% chance anyway, so it's done.
Speaker 1:I think the Dolphins thought they were going to have a forgettable season too. They kind of are, but you know, san Fran was expected to. They're still in contention.
Speaker 2:believe it or not, I know.
Speaker 1:They're still in contention. San Fran was expected. These two teams are at crossroads right here, San Fran. They're both going the opposite directions of where they anticipated they were going to be going at the beginning of this year well, being being down to like your fifth running back is not exactly a good recipe for winning.
Speaker 2:But no, you know, I I'm tired of. I'm not gonna make any more excuses. They just, like shanahan, said we didn't play well enough to win that game period you don't owe this team anything. I know you can I know switch sides right now sir, you don't do that.
Speaker 1:I'm not a fair-weather as I talk to this man wearing a bright red 49ers hoodie.
Speaker 2:I am not a fair-weather jumping from team to team fan. I stick with my team, even when they were only winning two games a year.
Speaker 1:I love fair-weather.
Speaker 2:So, speaking of teams not doing well, the Cowboys were playing Tampa, but on this day the Cowboys were playing tampa. But on this day the cowboys showed up. They won 26 to 24, which I don't think anybody saw that happening, because tampa's been playing great ball. They're on their way to the playoffs. Even with this loss, they're still still in good shape.
Speaker 1:They've had tough run of the mill, cowboys, I think. I think they thought if we lost, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 2:They're out regardless. Are they out regardless? They're out regardless. Even with this win, it doesn't mean anything. They're out. Cowboys are done, so they're going into the offseason. They're not even in the playoffs. They don't have a shot.
Speaker 1:Sandwiches for the couch. It's weird they won 26-24, though we don't have to dwell too much on it. But Cowboys are trying to play spoiler here at the end of the season.
Speaker 2:But speaking of a game that you know, not much has come out of it. That means anything the Packers playing the Saints on Monday night, where the Packers, just they owned it.
Speaker 1:They owned that game from start to finish Is that our first shutout of the season?
Speaker 2:No, there's been a couple others, but I mean Packers. They're going to be a wild card team. They're not going to catch up to the Vikings. Yeah they're not trying to slow down, but they're going to be in the playoffs because they're playing good ball. Jacobs has been great for them because he's he's that running back they needed. I mean, unfortunately, aaron jones he's. He was beloved player and a good back, but jacobs has been way better yeah, all year long.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what's their? Where are they sitting at right now? Let me get this thing here. I just want to see what the likelihood so they sitting at right now. Let me get this thing here. I just want to see what the likelihood. They're at 11-4. The Vikings are 13-2, and the Lions are 13-2.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that's where, if both of those teams went out, the last game for them is against each other. Whoever, I mean, if they keep playing like this, they're going to face each other to see who wins the division.
Speaker 1:All three of these teams are pretty much.
Speaker 2:And then whoever loses will be the fifth spot.
Speaker 1:All three of these teams are pretty much in the playoffs. It seems like.
Speaker 2:Oh, they are. All three of them are going to get in, you know, barring any craziness.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, that's right, because they got the fifth and sixth. I keep thinking seven-playoff team, I playoff team, I'm still getting used to that, there's still. Yeah, there would be a seventh spot, but that's going to be, which would be occupied by Washington at the moment.
Speaker 2:Unless they see the Eagles lose some more games because Hertz is out with a concussion.
Speaker 1:Then we would move up.
Speaker 2:Thank you for pointing that out. So, optimistic. We had some Christmas Day games. You know it used to be NBA owned Christmas. They would have Christmas Day games.
Speaker 1:They used to.
Speaker 2:But the NFL is like nah, we're good, we're going to take over Christmas too.
Speaker 1:Do we want to visit the playoff picture before this, or do we want to do this right now?
Speaker 2:Because I know we're two games into the following week. Well, we could visit the Christmas games after some playoff.
Speaker 1:I mean we can go ahead and talk about them right now and then get into the playoff picture, because I think we have something interesting going on here with the Houston Ravens match. But we'll start with Kansas City and Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2:Where Pittsburgh takes another L.
Speaker 1:Take another L two in a row.
Speaker 2:And in that, losing their hold on being atop the division. So now they're in a play out, they're in a wild card seed instead of being the leader in the division and russell wilson got sacked five times this game, by the way yeah, well, I mean when you don't have much to throw to yeah and when I say much to throw to, I mean've got to have pickings in there to draw coverage.
Speaker 1:The Chiefs just seem like they shut this down, and I love Kelsey's tribute to Tony Gonzalez. They took a penalty for the tribute, but he goes up.
Speaker 2:You know, Tony Gonzalez said, if he did that he would pay his fine.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:Tony Gonzalez is going to be true to his word, he's going to pay his fine for that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, good man, good job, and I think that was a good call too. Obviously it wasn't a problem because they won 29-10. So they weren't worried about it. They went in there to have fun.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they handled business in that game and, let's face it, there's nothing that's going to really keep them from being in the playoffs and nothing that's going to keep them from being a top seed, because I mean, they're pulling away from Buffalo and unless they lose some games, which it does not appear like they're going to, buffalo has no chance to catch them. So Chiefs are going to wind up with the number one spot in the playoffs catch them. So chiefs are going to wind up with the number one spot in the playoffs and it's going to wind up where the route, the road to the super bowl, is going to go through kansas city for the afc do you think so?
Speaker 1:I think so because they're going to get the lowest seed yeah, they're the number one seed right now, when after their bye week, they're going to get the lowest seed remaining, so yeah, so we'll handle them just fine. And with that law that Steelers lost and the Ravens winning the next matchup that moves the Ravens into the division.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and the Ravens man.
Speaker 1:They're getting hot right now.
Speaker 2:They beat up Houston, man, houston. Only managing a safety is their only points of the game.
Speaker 1:This is what I was talking about earlier when I said houston had been playing remarkably well until they came up against the ravens, like it just seemed like the ravens had were ready for them. Now houston did have some nice plays but that safety they got was probably more luck like I tribute the punter getting that thing deep on, like the three or four yard line. And derrick henry if you notice, when he gets that hand off he stumbles a little bit so he gets a little tripped up. Then they get through and push him back. That was a lucky safety and they got it. But oh you know, houston just never really showed up to this one man yeah it doesn't look like it.
Speaker 1:And with this matchup you know there's been a lot of talk about Michael Vick, now head coach at NSU down here in Norfolk. Lamar Jackson in this game officially passed Michael Vick's all-time record for quarterback rushing yards, which had been standing for quite some time. Mike, his record was 6,109 yards. Lamar just passes it at 6,110 yards.
Speaker 2:So congratulations to Lamar, he's got a number and he's still got plenty to go, so he's going to extend that out.
Speaker 1:Lamar is everywhere, he's throwing touchdowns, he's running a number and he's still got plenty to go, so he's going to extend that out. Lamar is everywhere. He's throwing touchdowns, he's running touchdowns, he's racking up yards to the air and the ground. But here's the thing.
Speaker 2:Like Lamar, is not running as much as he used to.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:He's actually progressing his reads and, you know, hitting the third man in his progression reads. And he's doing a lot more of short runs. You know he'll run out and he'll see he's sliding defenders and he'll slide instead of taking on defenders like he used to. He's, he is going for those long runs like he used to. I mean not to say he won't do it and he can't do it as much as he is.
Speaker 2:He is elevating his quarterback play. His His play has been getting progressively better and you're finally seeing a quarterback who has developed into a good NFL quarterback.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Borderlining on great.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because he's progressing every year and that's what you want to see. And so it almost begs to ask, when they were debating on paying him and there was all those rumors about, oh, we'll give him up for three draft picks, how many teams are going back and looking at that and going dang it? We should have gotten him. Why didn't we trade for him?
Speaker 1:And honestly credit John Harbaugh and his coaching staff as well, because they're coaching this young man from a young dual-threat quarterback and he still has some of the dual threat there, but as he ages and gets older they have really, like you said, elevated his quarterback play and his pocket presence, his vision.
Speaker 2:Well, don't discredit Lamar's work. I mean, Lamar is putting in the work.
Speaker 1:Well, Lamar is putting in the work. But I'm saying Lamar is the focal point. He is doing great. But I'm saying credit this coaching staff for helping him get there as well, because a lot of coaching staffs don't. There's not a lot of good quarterback developers in the league.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think the NFL definitely has a quarterback development problem and to me, if you want to look at how to develop a quarterback, you need to look at what they used to do and what one team in the Packers still does. They draft a guy, they sit him, they let him develop, watch the quarterback ahead of him and then he turns into a better quarterback.
Speaker 1:That's the best way.
Speaker 2:That's how it used to be.
Speaker 1:That's what real development looks like. I mean honestly I hate to throw it back. Cam Newton is a perfect example. He never developed really into a threat of a passing quarterback he may have never, ever.
Speaker 2:There's some people that they're not going to develop into that yeah, you know, he might, he might not have cam newton.
Speaker 2:He was a great player but he aged quickly because he was not going to develop into the type of player like a Josh Allen or a Patrick Mahomes. He was not going to be that because he was well, I mean, even his type of I hate to say it Most of his passes were, you know, strong arm. You know you very rarely saw him do touch passes, where it just kind of floats in over the shoulder.
Speaker 2:It was just bulleted in and if it's not there, run and truck people over and then, lo and behold, shoulder issues catch up from all the being the bruising quarterback running down the field and he aged quickly. That's what happens when you're a physical quarterback you don't last long. That's why players like Lamar they're seeing what the other guys did and they're going hey, I want my career to be longer, so I'm going to learn how to be a progression reader. I'm going to learn how to throw touch passes, I'm going to learn how to slide and learn to get out of bounds and not be the guy who gets his career cut short by injury.
Speaker 1:And don't get me wrong, mahomes is good too, but Mahomes has not been as good as Lamar Jackson or even Josh Allen, Because Josh Allen's got some athletic ability too.
Speaker 2:This has been a down year for Mahomes for sure, he's definitely thrown a lot of picks and that's got to get cleaned up.
Speaker 2:But this is something that, from the day he got drafted, was going to be an issue, because they always the reason that he wasn't taken as a number one overall pick was people were so worried about his gunslinging and loose play and he had to go to a coach like Andy Reid for him to be the player that he is, because he reigns in the loose play and the aggression that he sometimes gets. So it really was a right time, right place, right situation for the both, in my opinion.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and honestly, just hitting on Mahomes, you could see his's forcing something, because there was a play last night where you just it was an absolutely horrid attempt. I mean he had ran back, he was running from two defenders, back, back, back. It looked like a madden video game. Back, back, back, 20 plus yards, still looking to unleash it and just launches it cross-body.
Speaker 2:Which is already a bad sign.
Speaker 1:Into the end zone and he threw it. I mean the Steelers picked it off. It looked like real-life Madden play. That was not a good Mahomes play, but we'll move on here. I'm sure they'll clean it up once they get into the playoffs. They'll have a bye week to figure it out.
Speaker 2:So, with these wins, what are we looking at for playoff picture? So I mean AFC we still have some contenders right, we still have some players that are outside looking in.
Speaker 1:Oh, this is the AFC. Well, the Seahawks are Some contenders, right. We still have some players that are outside looking in. Oh, this is the AFC. Well, the Seahawks are. Yeah, afc, yeah.
Speaker 2:So we have who's in right now. So who's in right now?
Speaker 1:Who's in right now? Okay, the Chiefs are number one. They're 15-1. Look, I know Mahomes is having a down year, but that's not going to change anything. They're staying in number one. The Bills sitting at number two at 12-3. The Ravens 11-5, taking over for the Steelers now in the division.
Speaker 2:So they got the three spot.
Speaker 1:They got the three spot, the number four spot, the Texans leading that division at 9-7.
Speaker 2:Yeah, which the rest of their division isn't really great, and they've already locked up their division, so they're going to be in that four spot regardless yeah, yeah, the colts are the closest team and they they're not gonna catch them in the next week.
Speaker 1:Uh, your wild cards.
Speaker 2:The steelers are firmly in at number five, at ten and six so that leaves that leaves only two, two spots for the wild card right now that are in question at the atth and 7th spot.
Speaker 1:And it's going to come down to a division matchup and both these teams are neck and neck, both 9th and 6th.
Speaker 2:The Chargers and Broncos.
Speaker 1:Chargers and Broncos number 2 and number 3 in the AFC West behind the Darling Chiefs.
Speaker 2:So right now we're sitting there with two teams that are 9-6 in the 6-7 spot. They're not locked up yet. So there are these other teams on the outside looking in.
Speaker 1:The Chargers are the favorite, but I'm not going to lie Mike.
Speaker 2:Well, because they have the tiebreaker. They beat the Broncos recently.
Speaker 1:They did, but I really like the Broncos to make a hard push for this year.
Speaker 2:Well, if they're going to be in, they're only going to get the seventh spot because they're not going to pass up the Chiefs, unless or not the Chiefs.
Speaker 1:Oh well, yeah, they're sitting in the seventh spot.
Speaker 2:So if they're in, it's going to be a seventh spot, but you still have a couple teams on the bubble the colts could try to slide in.
Speaker 1:The dolphins could slide in. I would really like to say I would really like to see the dolphins bangles as well.
Speaker 2:All three of those teams are seven and eight, so what they really need is a collapse from the broncos, that the broncos lose their last two weeks, then. So really we just need the Broncos to win another game and they lock up that last spot. I think, and, as fate would allow, they're facing the Bengals this next week. So if they beat the Bengals, the Bengals are done.
Speaker 1:I'm thinking the Broncos are going to win this one. I give the edge to their defense on this one.
Speaker 2:I think so too. I think the Broncos they have a good defense. Their. Their offense at times can be a bit malign, but they're gonna have to put up some points that they're gonna beat. Beat the bangles, because the bangles, let's face it, their offense has been the only thing that has been a good thing all year, because you know burrow's playing lights out, which it's kind of sad to see. You know a quarterback that's that talented, with a receiver in Jamar Chase who's that talented, and they've been scoring points all year long. Just you know, defense has not been showing up. So you know, having that type of talent just almost wasted.
Speaker 1:And you know, I think the Bengals get knocked out of contention this week. I know we skipped here.
Speaker 2:The Chargers got. New England Chargers are fine. They're not going to get passed up unless they start losing a bunch of games, and I don't really see that happening.
Speaker 1:I like to watch this Patriots game because I think this Patriot, the Patriots, have been playing pretty well, I think, and the Chargers had a relatively weak game. I know they won, but they still had a relatively weak defensive game and they're missing, you know, a couple pieces. I would like to watch this upset here. This might happen. I can see this happening.
Speaker 2:So let's look at the NFC side of the house and see what their playoff hopefuls and people who are in, people who are out- Number one, Lions 13-2.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean the Eagles could catch them, unless they start losing.
Speaker 2:Not only that, the Vikings could catch them.
Speaker 1:Look at the Vikings at the fifth spot, oh yeah, they're 13-2 as well, so they're all neck and neck.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that could come down to, if both those teams keep winning, it could come down to where the Vikings and the Lions play week 17 to see who is the number one spot and who is going to be the fifth spot.
Speaker 1:So the one, two, five and six spots are locked up. Okay, the three strongest teams in the NFC the Lions, vikings and Packers. Okay, well, maybe three out of the four strongest teams.
Speaker 2:So Eagles at the number two spot with a 12-3 record, which, with Jalen Hurts being up in the air with his injury, his concussion we don't know if he's going to be playing next week yet or not so they could slide maybe in the standings.
Speaker 1:We have three spots 3, 4, and 7 wide open in the hunt. We're currently occupying number three of the Rams at 9-6.
Speaker 2:Well, that's because they lead their division and the Seahawks have a chance to get back in there. But they need things to go their way In Chicago. They need the Rams to lose and them to win some games to catch up on them.
Speaker 1:And they are playing at.
Speaker 2:Well, the Rams are playing Saturday against the Cardinals and that's going to be in Los Angeles Divisional game. Cardinals are a tough team and we got the Seahawks playing the Bears on Thursday night at Chicago, that's a winnable game for them. It's a winnable game for them it is a winnable game.
Speaker 1:Uh, chicago, they haven't been great, but they can. They could show up to that one but, I, I think you're right. I think Seahawks gonna lock that down. Uh, I, how about the Rams in this Cardinals game here?
Speaker 2:I think that's a very, that's a very could-catch-you game because it's a divisional matchup. The Cardinals always play their division tough. The Cardinals have been that team that they seem to show up in games and not in others.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're. Unfortunately, both those teams are eliminated or no? Sorry Rams are at number three. The Cardinals are eliminated. Yeah, cardinals are eliminated or no? Sorry Rams are at number three. The Cardinals are eliminated.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Cardinals are eliminated.
Speaker 1:Seahawks you know their next couple weeks.
Speaker 2:So we have the Falcons have actually taken the number four spot right now at eight and six, and that's because of the Buccaneers losing their last game. So now, because the Cardinals own the tiebreaker or not the Cardinals, the Falcons own the tiebreaker. The Bucs are the ones sitting on the bubble outside the playoffs at an eight spot right now. So they really need to turn things around and hope for the Falcons to start losing some games. I mean, you got a divisional matchup with the Buccaneers playing the Panthers, and then you have Atlanta going to play Washington, which, if Washington keeps up their pace, will make the Falcons take an L and then if the Buccaneers win against the Panthers which, if you remember, the Buccaneers got taken into overtime with the Panthers.
Speaker 2:And if it wasn't for a Chupahubba fumble? In overtime, they would have lost that game. So there's no guarantee that the Bucs are going to win.
Speaker 1:Bryce Young is honestly playing really good and Baker Mayfield, his numbers have slipped a hair, not a lot, but he's not balling like he was at the beginning of the season.
Speaker 2:No. So that's going to really shake up things because, depending on how that shakes out, you might see a shift where Buccaneers move in and Falcons move out.
Speaker 1:I like the Buccaneers, but I again, I, I really want to watch this upset because I think the panthers could show up here and really do them in yeah, both teams lose, nothing changes.
Speaker 2:But you know, if one or the other wins I mean atlanta is- the same way they don't have much of a pass rush.
Speaker 1:But michael pennix, you know he played all right but now he's going to go against another team. A weak secondary, though.
Speaker 2:Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. Now he's got to deal with some veteran linebackers on your squad. Yeah, and Bobby.
Speaker 1:Wagner, Frankie Louvu.
Speaker 2:So I mean it's going to be a better test because your offense has been hitting on all cylinders. So you know you could see their team hasn't exactly been the best on defense. They've gotten like no pass rush.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So they could be bounced and then you're looking at. You know, if their records get a little shaky, you know, I think I'd like to say so I mean your team right now. Yeah, you're 10-5.
Speaker 1:I think they're as long as they can pick up at least one more win. I think they're relatively safe.
Speaker 2:I don't think we're going to catch the Eagles. I think you're fine. I don't think you're going to move out of your spot and really what the shakeup is is, you know, depending on what's going to happen with packers and what's going to happen with the vikings, because the number five spot is going to be from from that, packers, vikings, lions. You know, one of those three will take, take the fifth spot, but if the packers wind up losing, then your team could slide up into the sixth spot yeah and then you're talking so like Packers right now.
Speaker 2:They got the Vikings next week. So, if they lose that game and you win your game, which you have a better matchup, your team could move up into the sixth spot, and then the seventh spot will be occupied by the Packers.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Like I said, I think we're safe. I mean we have Atlanta and Dallas to finish the season.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but basically we're seeing where things are, the playoff picture is getting defined. I mean, really now the only teams that are in the bubble for the NFC is the Buccaneers and the Seahawks, and that's purely because they have divisional stakes where, if the teams in their division wind up losing games and they win games, they can slide into their division wins, and that's all that is I mean, because, let's face it, we're not going to have any shake-up where you know teams are going to slide up into, uh, you know, the the four and number three spot, because the three and four are division winners.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the three being right now the West, which is only up by a game.
Speaker 1:And five and six are locked down. The only one that's being contended for is seven, and I think if we lock down the Falcons this week, it'll be done deal.
Speaker 2:I mean I don't think that the Buccaneers or the Seahawks are going to get enough to pass you guys.
Speaker 1:No, they only have two more games. But if we lose the next two games, that can change the conversation.
Speaker 2:It can but going against the Falcons, who are riding with a rookie quarterback and have had a very up-and-down year in the defense, not looking great.
Speaker 1:Well, there's one game of tape on Pennix now. So I'm sure they have some form of game plan. I don't know if Atlanta, you know, they know what they've got in Pennix to some degree.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean the playoff picture is coming into focus and you know there's a lot of interesting scenarios that can happen shifting teams around. I think it's shaken up to be a really good playoffs.
Speaker 1:I think so too.
Speaker 2:I think so too I think we're going to see some really really good matchups.
Speaker 1:Hugely competitive.
Speaker 2:I think one thing I want to see as much as you may not want to I really want to see Jalen Hurts get healthy and be back at the helmet with the Eagles. Because I really want to see Jalen Hurts get healthy and be back at the helmet with the Eagles, because I really don't want to see a team have to go with their backup quarterback in the playoffs.
Speaker 1:No, I agree. I always like to see teams have their best and their best players. That's when you get the best quality product or the best quality game, when you have two juggernauts or as close to it as you can get go at it. That is where you get result.
Speaker 2:Competition always breeds results well and it makes for better playoffs, because then you're seeing teams that can, you know, get in there and it, it. It kind of is a you're really getting the best of the best and you're not getting these blowout wins, and I really want to see that and I know everybody else does, yeah. So, um, touching on something that we mentioned last week with the uh fury usic fight, uh, so fury didn't get his his revenge. Usic won the fight again. Making him, making Fury, have two losses on his career, which, sorry about that is really crazy, because I mean you go 34-0 and then you lose two matches and you lose two matches to the same guy. It just it. You know, both times Fury thought he got it and it went to decision.
Speaker 1:What does Yusik know that the others didn't?
Speaker 2:I mean, what it's showing is a guy who was not a heavyweight fighter, who goes up in class, is showing you that he has got some great boxing talent.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know it, really, I mean, boxing has kind of fallen on its face a little bit because, you know, UFC came out strong and they kind of like replaced a lot of people's interest and a lot of people were, you know, not really watching as much boxing because they were like upset that boxing was rigged a little bit where people were basically paying people off and getting people to take dives, so people started their level of interest in watching it was getting swayed away because, let's face it, watching a Floyd Mayweather fight is boring. I have literally fallen asleep watching those boxing matches and really it's a point grab. He doesn't really box, he dances around, gets a couple punches, moves away, lets things go to decision, and it's boring.
Speaker 2:People want to see boxing, they want to see people getting knocked out, they want to see things go in the distance. They want to see people getting knocked out. They want to see things go in the distance. They want to see people getting, you know, the mouse under the eye where you know. They want to see people getting beat up. I mean, it's a boxing match. We don't want to see people just, you know, come in, jab, jab and then dance away, and then jab, jab, dance away and that's boring. Nobody likes that. People want to see a boxing match. They want to see a boxing match.
Speaker 2:They want to see people like throwing down and people getting knocked down and you know people getting knocked out, you know that's what boxing is. We want to see that, yeah, you know. But and you're kind of seeing that with the the Fury uh, fury and Usyk fight, where you're seeing actual boxing, where guys are actually getting in there and getting rough. But credit to he's sick he. He stepped up in in weight and and he's showing, he's taking on the best and he's winning.
Speaker 2:He's got it right now. He might be the best boxer in boxing, right now at least for heavyweights.
Speaker 1:Congratulations to him on the second win. Yeah, it's a very notable fighter at that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, you hand somebody who's undefeated two losses.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You're doing something, especially a name like that.
Speaker 1:Well, if you wanted some notoriety, you got it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, you're stepping up for sure, but getting to be that time where we wrap up and say thanks Another and say thanks Another great episode in the heat of wintertime sports. We hope you all continue enjoying your holidays. Let's definitely enjoy the upcoming matchups in the NFL and the heated college playoff matches that are shaking out. Let us get to that national championship game and ultimately, you know, playoffs coming up for the NFL and going to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1:That's right. It's our favorite time of the year. Once again, I'm Brian with an I.
Speaker 2:And I'm Mike.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining us. We are Two for the Win.
Speaker 2:Thanks everybody.