Two For The Win - S2.56 - Mike & Bryan Debate Broadcast Rights, Santa QB & Happy New Year!!

A playoff race this chaotic deserves more than box scores. We kick off with the money moves shaping every league: MLB contract gymnastics to free cash for top Japanese prospects, the NBA’s Christmas tradition shoved aside by an NFL streaming grab, and a WNBA CBA offer that finally points the salary needle toward sustainable growth and real revenue sharing. If you care about how games are built and paid for, this is the backstory that explains the headlines.

Then the gloves come off. We unpack why NFL games landing exclusively on Netflix left loyal fans in the cold, and how legacy TV contracts, blackouts, and the Sports Broadcasting Act keep access fractured. It’s not just a rant; it’s a roadmap for what needs to change so a Sunday Ticket actually feels like a ticket. From there, we tear through the results that matter: a Texans defense transforming a season, the Chargers duct-taping an O-line, and the Ravens reminding everyone what a sledgehammer run game looks like when the weather turns.

Two showcases anchor the football talk. The Bills held the Eagles to a flatlined second half and still lost on baffling late-game choices—proof that situational play-calling can undo an elite defensive performance. And 49ers-Bears? A classic. Score-for-score symmetry, a Purdy masterclass in rhythm, and a final snap chase-down that kept San Francisco’s top-seed dream alive. Add in the Falcons’ timely upset of the Rams and you’ve got a Week 18 shaped by pass rush, red-zone grit, and DB detail.

We close by mapping every meaningful scenario: Broncos, Patriots, Jaguars, Seahawks, and Bears battling for byes and home fields; Panthers-Bucs and Ravens-Steelers deciding divisions; and which styles of play actually travel in January. Along the way, we debate Coach of the Year through the lens of real attrition, and yes, we laugh about the wildest O-line gifts—from samurai swords to dinosaur fossils—because culture matters too.

If you’re here for sharp takes, clear stakes, and a playoff cheat sheet you can trust, you’re in the right place. Follow, share with a friend who argues back, and drop your Super Bowl matchup in the comments—we’ll read our favorites on the show.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:13

Alright, December 30th, 2025. Welcome back, everybody. It's our last recording of 2025, but not the last episode of our season two. I'm Brian with an eye, and I'm Mike, and we are two for the way. Mike, we're cooking one last time for our listeners this year. What have we got for them tonight?

SPEAKER_01 0:32

Man, we need to talk some NFL because we're rolling heavy to the playoffs, and we got a lot of scenarios spinning out with this last week coming up. We got a little baseball news, a little bit of basketball talk. But man, it's gonna be a football heavy episode.

SPEAKER_03 0:49

Oh, yeah, as you know, and if you can tell from last year, we tend to get a little heavy on football, especially NFL football around this time of year. Uh so thank you for bearing with us. But real quickly, I just want to thank uh our sponsors and partners, Body by D Gym, located in Gloucester and Yorktown, Virginia. Uh, Deshaun Wright uh is building it just a great business up there. He's a former bodybuilding champion, training future bodybuilding champions in their own right. Uh very community-based, uh, very youth-based, a lot of great things coming out of that gym up there. More of a fitness center and youth center at this point, but only a gym in name and title. Um, our good friends Caden and Christian over at Solace Outfitters, uh, two young guys, two young athletes, actually high schoolers, in fact. They play basketball themselves, their talent is up and coming, and their business acumen is rather high for being their age. So they're doing very well on all fronts, and congratulations and good luck to those guys. And we can't cannot wait to see where they go in the future. Um, and our friend Justin over giving Tree Chiropractic over here in Virginia Beach. Uh, Justin's very good at what he does, very knowledgeable, uh, very outgoing guy, also has great business, uh, has his pricing structured uh to make it accessible for pretty much anybody on any budget. So uh bravo guys, thank you for being our sponsors and partners. And we look forward to doing more business with you in the future. Mike, let's dive in headfirst. Let's.

MLB Money Moves And Japanese Free Agents

SPEAKER_01 2:18

All right, we're gonna start with some baseball information and news. Uh, Angels have uh worked with Anthony Rendon on restructuring his contract. He was owed this next season$38 million, but they have extended it out years. Details not per have not been provided yet, but they're gonna extend it out a few years so they can spread that over a few years.

SPEAKER_03 2:41

Spread the wealth amongst the youth.

SPEAKER_01 2:43

And that comes at a time when uh right now we have two of the prime prospects from Japan set to make a visit to the Los Angeles teams, the Dodgers and the Angels. And uh let's see.

SPEAKER_03 3:02

Can Brian say the name? We talked about we talked about this guy before, right? That's a lot of two players. That's a Mai and Okamoto. Uh we talked about Amai before.

SPEAKER_01 3:11

Yeah, Amai and Okamato is if we're wrong, sorry.

SPEAKER_03 3:16

Sounds like the next version of Yamaha.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

Hey, I'm just glad we don't have to do a lot of hockey names because that uh I can't I can't do that with all them them weird names in hockey, but Vicusne! There's a lot of skis in that name, in those names, and my boss name is ski.

SPEAKER_03 3:32

Also from a long Polish name.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

Right. Go figure. Point of the matter is uh the Japanese players are running up on a deadline where they have to get signed to a team or have to go back and play in Japan. So that's running up on the second.

SPEAKER_05 3:48

All right.

SPEAKER_01 3:49

So these guys are trying to get with these clubs, and the fact that the Angels are trying to free up some money, one and the might be playing into each other a little bit there. Uh also the Angels did sign Kirby Yates to a one-year deal, uh, relief pitcher, who was with the Dodgers, and the Dodgers failed to use him. I don't know why, but they just didn't use him. Maybe just never came up.

SPEAKER_03 4:12

Uh but clearly he has some value coming also from a championship caliber team.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

Well, yeah, and he's he's twice he's been with two World Series winners. Actually, I think three.

SPEAKER_03 4:23

Man.

SPEAKER_01 4:23

Because I think he got one with the Rangers, he got one with the Braves, and got one with the Dodgers.

SPEAKER_03 4:28

Well, what a journeyman. Congratulations to this guy. It's rare just to get one. This man has three with three different clubs to talk about being in the right place at the right time.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Yeah, man. But uh also uh Eflon has decided to go back to the Orioles on a one-year deal, starting pitcher who spent quite a bit of time with the uh Phillies in recent years and then did one little stint with the Rays.

SPEAKER_03 4:55

Not bad. Phillies Phillies rather competitive this past season.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

But yeah, that's that's about it for baseball. We didn't have horribly a lot going on.

NBA Christmas And Jokic’s Historic Line

SPEAKER_03 5:05

Yeah, you know, just a couple nuggets there. And speaking of nuggets, Mike, uh Nicola Jokic, uh the Joker. By the way, he had a game on Christmas. I know Christmas was dominated by the NFL, but the NBA also showed up to work. Oh, hold on.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

See, you you gotta understand. NBA owned Christmas. NFL came in and said, uh-uh, hold my beer. They took it now. Yeah, and some of the they treated them like Debo what chain. It's yeah, some of Christmas Day. Y'all don't have Christmas anymore.

SPEAKER_03 5:39

And some of those former uh NBA legends not happy about the the NFL making an appearance on Christmas Day either. But uh Joker drops his first, drops actually the first ever 55-15-15 game in NBA history. In NBA history on Christmas, mind you, for that matter. Um so congratulations to him. And followed by some tough news for the uh at the same time, he's gonna miss at least four weeks just on the heels of this great game with a left knee injury. Uh yeah, just a tough blow after such a hot outing, man. Just to get hot and then just you know, a little bit of your momentum be sacked.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

So yeah, and and most of their most of their team is gonna pull together and try to try to make it without him. But you lose a player like Jokic, you're gonna feel that. Like it, he's he's too good, he does too much on the floor. I mean, because like let's face it, the guy is a triple-double machine. You know, it's it's like when he doesn't get a triple-double, people are like, What's wrong with him?

WNBA CBA Numbers And Endorsements

SPEAKER_03 6:49

Yeah, is he sad? What's going on? Let's go check on our guy here. But yeah, a tough loss for the Nuggets. Uh playoff can barely playoff contending team last season, trying to remain uh playoff contention this year, although they're short-handed. I don't know if they're gonna do it. But speaking of that, and we'll get to this in just a few minutes here when we get into the NFL. Uh Bajok that same game actually had more points than Max Brosmer had passing yards in his Vikings game. I think that was a rather inexplicable stat. Awful. So uh we'll get to that momentarily when we jump into the NFL here. And just some brief uh coverage on the WNBA. Sorry, we just skipped over them on accident. That happens. Uh, I think this news is a tad order, but it's just an up to date on their current CBA and these these women fighting for higher salaries. Um pretty much they came out with a new, they've offered a deal with that guarantees about a million dollars in base even for rookie contracts, and it caps, I think, around like five million dollars or something like that. The average player salary would be projected to exceed$500,000 uh annually, and the minimum player salary would expect it to exceed about$225,000 annually. Uh the salary cap would increase to$5 million, as I just mentioned, at a maximum, and would be set in each subsequent year based on revenue growth, which is kind of how uh the big boys do it.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

Well, honestly, in my opinion, this is this is great news because if you consider what they what they make right now as as average, I mean you're talking$70,000,$80,000 a year, and you're talking at a minimum, we're talking quarter mil. Look, I mean, come on, that's for you for your that's that's three times what they're getting right now. So that's a pretty significant jump.

SPEAKER_03 8:47

Yeah, and this is a huge step forward. And I think with them raising these numbers is gonna force the WMBA to try to uh raise their marketing level as well, because now they have to make that profit. Uh Angel Reese re herself kind of rejects this deal. I think it's a great deal to start out with.

SPEAKER_01 9:07

Well, especially with the back end of what you said. They're gonna re-evaluate revenue sharing where the better the league does, the more they can re-evaluate the terms of the agreement to better pay the players. Exactly. If it with anything, if you do good at your job and you've had a good year at your job, you're gonna go to your boss and you can say, Hey, boss, I've been doing really well. Can I get a little pay bump here? You know, can I get a can I get a raise? Yeah. And you want to feel like you're valued, and these girls, they're sorry, women, they're out there going through the same thing the guys are going through with injuries, with you know, hard road games, and you know, just doing what they can to make it through a grilled season.

SPEAKER_03 9:53

Associated expenses as well, something a lot of people don't talk about.

SPEAKER_01 9:57

Well, and think about where they are. Geographically where they are, because like, okay, if you're let's say you play for the team in Indiana, the fever, well, what what if you play in Los Angeles for the Sparks? It's a drastic difference what you make living there versus living in Indiana.

unknown 10:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:18

Money goes further in Indiana than it does in LA.

SPEAKER_03 10:20

And yeah, that is true. LA is an expensive state to move to. Uh expensive state in general. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's yeah, it's an expensive state in general. But I I think she's being a little overzealous with this. I think she's trying to uh squeeze the turnip a little too much, if you ask me. Um, this is a very generous offer considering most of these girls in the NBA don't make a hundred grand a year. Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 10:48

And let's also from you know, a fan perspective and and take a step back and look at how many endorsement deals do you remember seeing 20 years ago for the W and NBA? I don't was the WNBA even around 20 years ago. Yeah, they established in 1997. Okay, so they've been around for a while. They've been around for like 26 years. But but think about the fact that you really did not see many endorsement deals. And let's let's not forget, they have had some outstanding players through the years that not only won in the WNBA, but won at Olympic level multiple times. And you're you're sitting here, even with those women, they were not even getting the amount of deals that these women are now.

SPEAKER_03 11:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

I'm seeing car commercials, shoe commercials, fast food commercial.

SPEAKER_03 11:42

I mean, this is borderline NIL at this point, but right, so I I I um yeah, I'm not knocking it because No, it's that would that's not a knock.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

The big name is saying the the opportunities are becoming more for this league.

SPEAKER_03 11:56

The opportunities are there. Obviously, on the national level, the faces of the league and these teams are getting more notoriety, but I think a lot of these girls, there's local deals too. Somebody's from a small town in Oklahoma playing for say the Sparks or the Aces, right? Local pizza joint might be putting her on a local ad, right? It might not pay a lot, but it is a well endorsement deal. It's extra money. It might not be a lot of extra money. It's not like Papa John sponsoring you or anything, you know.

SPEAKER_01 12:29

But right, but there's also going to trade shows where you're doing autographs, yeah, you know, or or you know, making appearances at dealerships, or you know, opening of you know, big stores and stuff. I mean, the NBA guys do that.

SPEAKER_03 12:44

I mean the Yeah, they make they make guest appearances on places, TV shows, real stations, podcast networks, uh you know, conventions.

SPEAKER_01 12:54

That's how I met Bruce Smith was he was signing autographs at a at a car dealership.

SPEAKER_03 12:58

Yeah, they do yeah, they do things like that, appearances, you know, all kinds of different and things to make extra money.

SPEAKER_01 13:06

I got him, I got him sign a bunch of cards, and then I handed him one of the uh like professional paper football footballs for paper football, and I was like, Could you sign that? And he looks at it, he's like, Man, it's the first time I've ever been asked to sign one of these before.

SPEAKER_03 13:21

I'm surprised he didn't keep it. I'll sign it and keep it. We're gonna flick this into the crowd.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

No, he just he was like, All right. I just thought it was funny. Like he'd he looked at it, he's like, I've never signed one of these before. That's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_02 13:36

That's why I got signed it.

SPEAKER_03 13:38

But yeah, I think um, I think this is a relatively generous offer from the WNBA, given they're already kind of strapped financially. Um, so and then adding in, like you said, profit sharing for these contracts.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

So Which in years past probably would not be there.

SPEAKER_03 13:57

Yeah, you're right, probably would not be there. So I think that's great on them to have this deal on the table. I think they should take this deal. You gotta start somewhere, right? And this is an increase with a potential to increase more. That's what you wanted, right? You wanted a deal that didn't cap you, but had more flexibility going forward. I think this is exactly what they're asking for. It's not obviously some of those women Right. It's not it's not MBA money. I'm sorry, they're not gonna pay you fifty million dollars over five years because you just they're just not making that money, okay? Right. Like you, I'm sorry, some of these teams aren't worth$50 million.

SPEAKER_00 14:37

So I wouldn't say that.

SPEAKER_01 14:40

I wouldn't say that. Like, there's you the the money has to be there. The money has to be there to be able to support that kind of a deal.

SPEAKER_03 14:51

It has to be there, it's not and I'm not a big fan of financing or going into debt. Like, I believe a little bit of debt is okay, it can help your standing, but there is a such thing as being too upside down and running into the ground, okay.

SPEAKER_01 15:07

Yeah, and that's how you quickly fold a league.

SPEAKER_03 15:09

Yeah, and that's how you quickly fold a league. So I think they're trying to play it smart, but I think that this is the deal that's probably gonna get pushed through because I don't think they're gonna get much more right now this time.

SPEAKER_01 15:20

Um but this is this is where as a league, as as players in the league, the more you can do to stand your league up, it's only gonna make your make your product better.

Hockey Lower Leagues And Local Frustrations

SPEAKER_03 15:31

Yeah, and more money. Businesses don't get big and popular overnight, okay? Walmart took 30, 40 years to become the colossal that you see today, and it's still growing, right? Sam's Club right behind us, as far as I'm coming. Target, Home Depot, Lowe's, all these chains, McDonald's, okay, Burger King. Amazon, right?

SPEAKER_02 15:54

Amazon was just books.

SPEAKER_03 15:55

Amazon was just books, and then they had a pivot, and then they had a quicker road there because they're in the tech age, they're more, you know, their computer, they're built online, so everything moves faster online. But you know, these businesses don't become Titans overnight. No. Okay, it takes time.

SPEAKER_01 16:15

Well, let's talk a little college football bracket action. Uh, not much has changed since the last time we spoke because I mean, holiday season and teams haven't played. Literally nothing has changed for this bracket. I mean, there's been there's been some There's been bowl games, by the way.

SPEAKER_03 16:32

Congratulations, UVA won theirs. First bowl title in how long? First bowl appearance and what?

SPEAKER_01 16:40

I don't I don't know, but I was like my mind was focused on the fact that I I believe also JMU.

SPEAKER_03 16:46

No, wait, they're sorry, forget them. I'm thinking UVA, I'm thinking of other schools, things were going down.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

But we wanted to remind everybody of the upcoming games, especially since tomorrow we're gonna have Miami and Ohio State playing at 7.30 on ESPN. Tomorrow, tomorrow.

SPEAKER_03 17:07

I love ya, tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01 17:10

So after after that game, which is gonna be the let's see, they're calling this one the Goodyear Cotton Bowl game. After that game, we'll have all of the other action happening on the first, while everybody's hungover, the National Day of Hungover. Wall.

SPEAKER_03 17:27

I like how you did that there. Wall separation.

SPEAKER_01 17:31

Yes. So on the first, that's when you'll catch all the other games, starting with the Oregon and Texas Tech game happening at noon on ESPN, and then Alabama and Indiana will happen at four on ESPN and followed up by the very last game of Old Miss in Georgia at 8 on ESPN. I think it's also an ABC, if I'm not mistaken. But yes. So if you want to see some good college bracket action, catch these games.

SPEAKER_03 18:04

It's only a day away.

SPEAKER_01 18:09

You are fixated on that damn song.

SPEAKER_03 18:11

Look, sir, I have an appreciation for classic musicals, okay? Let's talk about some NFL, guys. You guys ready? We're a little bit early, but you know this time of year we get heavy on the NFL. We'll probably spend like 20 hours talking about the NFL. Maybe not 20 hours.

SPEAKER_01 18:29

Well, let's face it, at this time of the year, we're getting ready to roll into the playoffs, and everybody's excited, especially if your team has the ability to be in.

SPEAKER_03 18:37

Yeah, I mean, this is just for me, this is football time of year. I know basketball is doing their thing. There's still things moving in the MLB, the WNBA. Hockey is big, which you really haven't talked about them this much this season. And they just had uh what do they call it the Four Nations matchup?

Streaming Exclusives And NFL On Netflix

SPEAKER_01 18:52

No, that hasn't happened yet. Oh, it hasn't happened yet? No. Come on, dude. Give it the program. No, but what we did have happen in hockey. I'm the football guy. At a lower level, the ECHL actually just recently, after a two-day lockout where the teams didn't play at all, finally came to an agreement, and the ECHL has come to terms with their players and they're gonna end their lockout and start playing games.

SPEAKER_03 19:16

That's right. And our very own Norfolk Admirals play in that league, and we will get to see them this weekend. Thank you for ending that, by the way.

SPEAKER_01 19:24

I'm glad I'm glad you brought that up because I kinda I kinda wanna I kind of want to throw some shade at the AHL. Because the AHL did this area dirty, not once, not twice, but three times. Why I say three times. We had a team in twenty twelve that was part of the AHL, and this team was so good they won twenty eight games in a row. Twenty eight games in a row, went to the playoffs, lost only one game in the entire Playoffs, meaning they swept most of their playoff games, and most of those players are now in the in the NHL or have been in the NHL for many years. Tyler Johnson comes to mind, he's up there. Uh plot. He he was on that team. A bunch of other players. I'm not gonna let it go down the list. But as soon as that team won, I went to the celebration and met with the team, got some autographs, and talked talked to the coach, and I heard a nasty room, and I asked him, I said, Are y'all moving? And he said, How'd you hear that? I said, Don't mind that. Is it true? Never mind the source. He said, he said, Yeah, it's true.

SPEAKER_02 20:48

So they took our entire roster, moved it to Syracuse, and gave us the Syracuse roster. So no longer did our team be affiliated with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Why they did it, I don't know. That's weird.

SPEAKER_01 21:04

That was move number one that's weird. That was move number one that pissed me off. Move number two, they then do they then decided, oh, well, we don't want you guys to be part of the AHL anymore. You guys aren't doing enough for us, so yeah, we're gonna we're gonna take your team and we're gonna move them again. So then, a second time, they took our team from us. So then we got degraded down to being EHL or ECHL, which we were back in the 90s. Okay. So we get some notoriety, and then they take it from us. I just like I've always been mad at the AHL since that. And to make matters worse, they have a team still called the Admirals in the AHL, which screwed that Admiral's team. But they suck, and we're changing our name to the Destroyers. Anyway, it just like that always sat wrong with me that they did us like that after years of being and that's the other thing. They kept shuffling us around. They said, oh no, you're not you're not the team for for the Blackhawks anymore. The the the basically the triple A for the Blackhawks. Now you're gonna be the ones for the Ducks. Oh, now you're not with the Ducks anymore, you're with Tampa. No, you're not with Tampa. Now you're gonna be with whoever it was those last few years. Didn't last long before they just took the team from us. Damn. So yeah. Are they do the admirals feed anybody now or oh yeah, they're very bottom level now, but it's just like So they feed into the next level, but it's not the pros. It's not the pros. Before, where you'd see you'd see guys like Smith Pelley playing down here, and then he's uh up in the uh NHL scoring goals, and you're like, ah, I watch that dude. The penguins. Yeah, just aggravating. It's so aggravating.

SPEAKER_03 23:01

Yeah, I can understand that, and I feel that as well, but such is life and the Admirals are pretty good now as they had a pretty deep playoff run last year in the ECHL. So, you know, maybe things change in the future. Norfolk's never really had above, you know, like we have the tides basically.

SPEAKER_01 23:22

Yeah, we've had the tides for a long time.

SPEAKER_03 23:23

We have the hockey team, you know, but they don't really, you know, ODU is actually probably a bigger, closer thing to professional football than the sports are. Don't say that.

SPEAKER_01 23:37

Don't say that. I mean it's college. I mean it's kind of a disrespect to the city. It's kind of it. I don't mean to be disrespectful.

SPEAKER_03 23:43

I don't mean to be disrespectful, but they're, you know, I there are good, they are good teams, they have very good players, and they all most of these players usually end up going far and to the next level. But um as far as popularity, like they're pretty popular, yeah, a few here and there. But uh I digress. Let's talk about the NFL.

SPEAKER_01 24:02

Let's move on to NFL. Let's talk some sorry to derail the train there. It's okay. The train needed to be derailed, it hasn't been so we had we had some games on Christmas that most of them were on Netflix. Damn, I can't even Netflix.

SPEAKER_03 24:18

I'm not even gonna get to correct the sentence. We're just gonna move on. We're gonna move on. We're gonna move on. Alright, that's fine. All right, anyway, let's start this NFL talk out tonight. Uh, we would have done this around Christmas time, but since we recorded right before Christmas, it wouldn't have made much sense. So, Mike, question for you, and for you listeners to chew on while you wait for our next episode next week. Um, if you were a quarterback at Christmas time, what would you gift your teammates? And if anything, and I have a few examples here to get the creative juices flowing, okay? And I'll save the best for last if I can close it out and pull up the other ones. Okay, so last year in 2024, Josh Jacobs spent over 100 grand on custom-made diamond chain necklaces and pennants that featured the jersey number of each of his linemen. Okay, so he got him some ice. He got his linemen some ice, okay. This year, Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Warm, Cam Ward, gave several uh gifts to his linemen, including$1,000 airline vouchers, Louis Vuitton, Louis Vuitton wallets, and Nintendo Switch consoles. I remember in 2012 when RG3 was drafted, he gave the entire line uh Xbox, what was it, Xbox One back then, or was it still Xbox 360? I'm old, I don't know anymore. But it was Xbox consoles, and then this is my favorite. So it recently came out that Joe Burrow is obsessed with fossils. And this is I wouldn't say obsessed, he just likes fossils. He likes fossils, everybody has a hobby. He likes fossils a lot. I kind of like fossils too. I like history. This means this guy's a little bit of a history buff, too, though. He gave his entire offensive line authentic dinosaur, bear, and mammoth fossils for Christmas gifts. And honestly, I think this is rather cool and a little off-beat.

SPEAKER_01 26:13

Well, a side note to that, he gave those fossils to them, but they got to pick which one they got based on seniority with the team. So the more senior players got first pick of the fossils.

SPEAKER_03 26:28

That is also cool. Didn't know about that. But I thought that was kind of a cool off-beat gift instead of just loading them up with money and electronics and shoes like everybody else.

SPEAKER_01 26:39

Well, the year before he got them all uh samurai swords that were literally made in Japan by actual, you know, uh so authentic Japanese swords. Like these weren't just like produced in some warehouse somewhere here in the States. No, these were actually made in the ancient ways that they forged these swords. So this wasn't this wasn't no little thing. This was like, you know, he put some money in that. Those were primo swords, but yeah, but if you think about it, most of these guys have money. So what do you get somebody that has money? Well, if you walk into one of these guys' houses now, it's like where'd you get that fossil? What was it?

SPEAKER_02 27:22

Who was where where'd you get that sword?

SPEAKER_03 27:24

Who was the player? It might have been Percy Harvin. Don't quote me, because I really don't know, but somebody gave their O-linemen Bitcoin. They gave each of their O-linemen a Bitcoin. Which at the time, Bitcoin was only like sixty-five thousand dollars, which which was well over a hundred grand in the last year. But I couldn't tell you that one. Um, so imagine that there's been a lot of cool gifts. So, Mike, I beg you go ahead, but I ask you I got a couple other ones to tell you. Go ahead and throw out a couple, and then let us know if you were quarterback, what would you get your O-line, man?

SPEAKER_01 28:05

Remember back in the day, the first like evidence of what these uh quarterbacks were getting their player or their O-line uh originated pretty much with Dan Marino and uh Dan Marino given all of his offensive linemen isertoner gloves. So that was the first time people actually got to know what they were gifting their their linemen, which was, you know, back in the day, I mean, it probably was a alright gift, but still, I mean, you know, being in Miami, there's I don't know how much call for gloves you really need, but um but recently uh last year, Brock Purdy bought all new trucks and SUVs for his offensive linemen.

SPEAKER_03 28:52

I've seen I've seen the the truck and SUV thing before.

SPEAKER_01 28:56

This year he got them all custom Rolexes that have uh etched into the back of them the player's name and number on the on them. So they're custom Rolexes this year. I did hear about that as well. I think actually you told me about that. Josh Allen this year for his offensive lineman, he gave he gave a.

SPEAKER_03 29:18

I hope he got them something nice because they're they're on the fringe.

SPEAKER_01 29:21

So so here's here's what he did. He got them, I think it was it was either half or quarter of a cow. Meaning whatever the weight of quarter or half of a cow is, he got them that in cuts of meat and gifted them all these IR grills or infrared grills. So not only did he give them a grill, but he gave them a ton of meat to cook on the grill. And actually, one of his offensive linemen, his wife was going through it and she's like, she's like, we got wagyu beef, we've got you know T-bone, like she just going through all this, she's like, Oh my lord, look at all of these cuts of meat and you know, offensive linemen. They're known for eating, they're known for they're big boys, and they need and they need high protein.

SPEAKER_03 30:11

They don't just need meat, they need high protein. So he's trying to bulk his guys up for it. That's right. He's trying trying to sell himself. I need I need better protection. Y'all need to bulk up, bro. Go ahead and y'all eat these part of these cows, y'all. See country boy.

SPEAKER_01 30:27

Although it might backfire on him. You give a bunch of protein to a bunch of big dudes and you gotta line up behind them. I mean, there might be a couple occasional slips where he's like, what?

Christmas Games And Week Highlights

SPEAKER_03 30:38

I'm telling you, I'm telling you right now, no quarter, no NFL, in fact, no quarterback anywhere in the world, okay, of American style football, do they care how much their linemen are farting as long as they stay standing upright, okay? I don't care if all five of you around me in the pocket and you're just farting away while you're blocking, okay? I will hold my breath and pass that mum. I'm pass that ball. Sorry, we're trying to become more family friendly. So I will I withheld. But anyway, he caught himself. It was like holding in a sneeze, but we did it. But anyway, I don't know what I would get up. I suppose, you know, I'm kind of a nerd. So I do kind of I mean, I do, I mean, we're both kind of nerdy to be honest with you, but I'm kind of creative. I like to I like to be creative, and I've never really had a lot of money in my life. So the number of people I buy gifts for is limited, and those gifts themselves are limited. So, I mean, I bought you a fake chain for Christmas. Chain nonetheless. Yeah, it was a chain nonetheless.

SPEAKER_01 31:46

Uh, I don't know what I'd get these guys. Um in case anybody's wondering, it was a 49ers chain, like an emblem attached to a big fake chain.

SPEAKER_03 31:56

Oh, by the way, this thing is badass, and I almost bought a dolphin's one for dad, but I just didn't think an 83-year-old man would wear it. I think I think he should. I think he should.

SPEAKER_01 32:06

He should just wear it and rock it and go around town with it.

SPEAKER_03 32:09

Yeah, I I mean I think he should rock it. I think he'd be dope because I got him a jersey last year, like mad respect. My dad is loaded with dolphin stuff, and not that stupid new dolphins logo that looks like a whale, okay? This is the real Dolphins logo from the 70s.

SPEAKER_01 32:26

I think maybe what you should buy them is an experience. You know what I mean? VR. No, no, no, like that's an experience. VR, but like something cool. Like if if like okay, so like if one of your if you know one of your offensive linemen is like a big whiskey drinker, maybe you buy him buy him a whiskey tour. Yeah. Something that you know he'll enjoy because he likes that stuff.

SPEAKER_03 32:51

Whiskey tour, that'd be a good idea. I was trying to think of uh, I mean the cars and trucks, the trucks and SUV things was a good idea. I like Joe Burrow's ideas.

SPEAKER_01 33:04

Umbe one of them's you know, into NASCAR. Maybe you buy him the Richard Petty experience. He gets to go and drive a NASCAR.

SPEAKER_03 33:13

My guess probably would be personally geared toward them, and that's probably why I'm having trouble with this right now, because it will probably be based on each of them. Like, if my right guard loves Pokemon, I'm probably buying him all the Pokemon shit and a Pokemon Safari in Africa, okay? But if my left guard, if my left guard is in the NASCAR, like you say, I'm probably buying him the Richard Petty experience, alright? And my center, I don't know what he likes, so I'm probably getting him samurai swords and rocks.

SPEAKER_01 33:44

You can't steal Joe Burrow's look.

SPEAKER_03 33:48

Okay. If it was a good idea, you can absolutely borrow it. I'm not gonna steal it and say it was my idea. I'm like, hey guys, I heard Joe Burrow did this from his guys working on the video. I got you the Joe Burrow experience. But anyway, that was that was fun to deal with. And then uh speaking of experiences, um this one may just be a side effect of general NFL scheduling that's usually preset before the even season even starts. But I feel like the NFL missed a little bit here, especially when it comes to flex scheduling. And maybe this was not an option for flex scheduling. Sure.

SPEAKER_01 34:29

Maybe we hold off on that until we talk about what happened this past week.

SPEAKER_03 34:33

No, this is next in line.

SPEAKER_01 34:35

I know it's next in line, but I know what you're gonna talk about, and we kind of need to talk about what's happening here before we get to that.

SPEAKER_03 34:41

All right, that's true. We'll talk about that. I'll put a star by the 49ers for this. You know, when we I promise you guys we do go over the agenda before we start recording, but it wouldn't seem like it. But here we are. We'll talk about this. How far down the line are they? They're probably all the way at the end. Yeah, that's fine. I'll move that down. All right, let's talk about last week's matchup, guys. So wait a minute. What you put this off to talk about.

SPEAKER_01 35:10

No, no, we're gonna get this. No, we have to do this. We have to talk about what happened on Christmas. Listen, sir, we don't have to. I have I have a bit of an issue with what happened on Christmas. A bit? A bit. A bit of an issue. A bit because here's here's what I here's what I have to say on this. A boot. Okay. So the NFL decided with all their wisdom with spreading the games around, they decided to spread some of these games onto Netflix and Netflix only. And I'm here to say that's complete garbage. And you know why I say that? Because you're basically throwing the middle finger up to every single person who lives in a place that does not have effective streaming in order to be able to watch Netflix. So you basically said to those fans, we don't need you.

SPEAKER_03 36:00

I actually literally just now thought of something that probably is contributing to that problem. Okay, we live in the age of streaming versus broadcast networks, okay? And I've been talking about this off and on uh for a few months now.

SPEAKER_01 36:16

Sports Broadcasting Act, okay? I I'm not saying that you can't do streaming for stuff, but I'm saying offer it on both. Why is it not okay to offer the platform for both?

SPEAKER_03 36:31

Because what does every broadcast network do with every um primetime game that they have? All right? MSN owns Peacock. So month so Sunday Night Football comes on Peacock as well as MSN, because MSN owns all of it, okay? Monday Night Football is only on ESPN, which you can only access from ESPN's app or their broadcast network. But it is also offered on ABC because ABC is a subsidiary of ESPN and Disney.

Pro Bowl Snubs And Popularity

SPEAKER_01 37:07

Right. But the point of the matter is they put it on Netflix, which I have a problem with Netflix in general, you know. How do you how do you go from a model where you're offering it for five bucks to all the way to$27?

SPEAKER_03 37:23

Because the same problem we've been having for the last couple of seasons, the networks will black it out from the streaming networks. All right. If you didn't give it exclusively to a streamer such as Netflix, um right now the way it is, if you allowed Fox and CBS to have their their regular games during the day like normal, as well as broadcast on Netflix, Fox and ABC would black out Netflix. They would, and that's how they've been doing it.

SPEAKER_01 37:54

They can't black out Netflix, but the but the point I'm trying to get there'd be a complex. They're making it more difficult for fans to catch games now. And I'm here to say, as a fan who likes football and will generally watch any game that is on, even if it's two really crappy teams, I'm here to say, NFL, screw you because this is bullshit.

SPEAKER_03 38:21

Well, I'm gonna I agree to an extent with you, Mike, but I'm gonna take a hard left here because I slightly I think this is about the constraints of their contracts and actually the law. Because the net broadcast networks have the legal shouldn't be a contract with Netflix, period, in my opinion. The Netflix Christmas Day games were a contract because they were excluded from general broadcasting contract. That's the only reason Netflix got it, is because there's no nobody had Christmas Day game. They had to move games to Christmas Day, which were not covered by anybody else's contract.

SPEAKER_01 38:59

So there's Sunday ticket. People buy a Sunday ticket to be able to watch all the games. Yes. When you do stuff like this, you are not you are not going anywhere with helping your fans. All you're doing is lining their pockets and screwing us out.

SPEAKER_03 39:18

Well, this is because the reverse is happening. Netflix got the exclusive contract for Christmas Day, so no, they're not going to share it because they don't want a profit share. But I agree, if they change the law to make it more accessible, Netflix, as well as your TV brought your traditional TV broadcast networks, would have it. This to me is a constraint of legalities and contracts.

SPEAKER_01 39:44

And I think the NFL I get that. Yeah, Sunday ticket. This is this is more me saying I don't like it. Netflix, you the NFL cannot tell me to like it or tell me that I need to get these platforms. But dude, you realize in order to Watch every single game, you have to pay over eight hundred dollars to watch every single NFL game.

SPEAKER_03 40:08

Yes. If you pay for all of it, if you pay for it every single month through the season, yes. But the NFL only comes on Netflix like twice a year. So that's two months worth of paying for that out of the five months that they play. But I get it, because Netflix could have easily said, okay, because the Sunday ticket is supposed to be the gold, right? That's supposed to be the holy grail of the NFL, right? That's supposed to be every game ever, no matter what. But it's not, I think, because of contract constraints. Netflix could have shared it with the NFL Sunday ticket, but they didn't because of exclusive rights and profit sharing.

SPEAKER_01 40:54

I get all that. It's like you're trying to explain it to me. I understand it. I'm not expecting it.

SPEAKER_03 40:58

I'm just saying I don't like it. I think this is a very good one to dive into for our listeners, because I think our listeners also would like some mission.

SPEAKER_01 41:06

You know what I'd like to have happen? I would like for our listeners to say what their feelings are on it. Do you do you think it's okay for the NFL to just start spreading the games around where you have to go hunt for the games and they're not just on TV or they're not just available if you do pay for the Sunday ticket, which I do, which is kind of annoying that it costs so much, and I only get you know majority of the games. I don't get all the games, I get majority of the games. When before, when you had Sunday ticket, you got all the games.

SPEAKER_03 41:38

Because the age, this, like I said, this legitimately comes down to legalities for me. I think that they would like to have it on regular TV network as well as your streaming networks, but the infrastructure legally is not there for them to do that because contracts that were already in place. And who signed the contracts? The NFL gave them a contracts, but they did not go.

SPEAKER_01 42:02

They weren't prepared. Netflix didn't just bully it out of them. They they they paid them a crap ton of money to have those.

SPEAKER_03 42:09

I don't think Netflix bullied the NFL. I think I think that Netflix came to the NFL and said we'd like to have some football games, and the NFL said, hold on, let me see what we can work out, okay?

SPEAKER_01 42:21

Okay, this is not the only I'm not just trying to take this out on the internet. No, it's not the only one. They're not the only ones doing this crap. The NBA is doing it, the the MLB is doing it, which mind you, I pay, I sit there and I have, you know, the MLB TV so I can watch my teams, but they black out games. Listen, we live four or five hours from DC, but because I'm close enough to DC, they will black out the games because they want me to go watch it on Masson.

Texans’ Surge And Chargers’ Injuries

SPEAKER_03 42:52

And it's like I don't have to. And that that is the that is why they the blackouts exist. Because they look the oldest the oldest form. The oldest form of revenue. Oh, I think this is great. The oldest form of revenue for any sports franchise, regardless of sports, regardless of the sport, is ticket sales. It is the oldest, most primitive form of income. Also, still a major form of income if you have a large stadium.

SPEAKER_01 43:24

But I'm glad you brought that up because that's that's another thing I have an issue with. That's another thing that pisses me off. Sorry, I did I didn't mean for this to turn into a what pisses Mike off. No, I think this is great. This is great. I love this content. Hear me out. We're hearing, we are hearing you, sir. All right. Let me let me let me talk here. Don't interrupt. So out of out of out of all the major sports, out of all the major sports, NBA, NHL, baseball, football, right now the only sports that are accessible to everyone, and I mean everyone, is only the NHL and baseball. Because you can go get a standing room only ticket for most baseball games, and it's 15 bucks or less in some cases. You can go to a hockey game for, you know, a decent seat is about 65 bucks, which not great, but still 65 bucks. You try to go to an NFL game, you try to go to an NBA game, Lord help you, because the parking alone is going to be over$100 for most stadiums, unless you're the Browns who suddenly have$8 tickets at times because they're begging their fans to come back to the stadium. But then you'll get stabbed like London Fletcher's family did. I don't know about that. But the point of the matter is. We cannot attend games because unless let's say let's say you have a family of four. Let's say you have a family of four, and you want to go, you want to go to a game, and you want to sit, let's say we're we're gonna use NFL as an example. Let's say you want to sit close to the most expensive example. Right. You want to sit close to the 50-yard line. Let's say you don't want to even be on the first deck because it's just out the price range, right? So you move up a deck to the second deck, you're still looking at about 150 or more per ticket at the 50-yard line. Yeah, even if they now you're up to$600 just for the tickets. You haven't bought concessions, you haven't paid for parking, you haven't driven your car there. Once you tally it all up, just to go to one NFL game for a family of four, it's over a thousand dollars. And you haven't even bought any merchandise.

SPEAKER_03 46:04

Probably, if not more. And by the way, kudos on the quick math there, because I had to count on my fingers. Uh, but no, I I agree with you. No, I'm not disputing that it's more limited as far as access. I think it's becoming more limited, but I think that that is a direct constraint of the legalities involved with these contracts and the law. I don't know about law having anything to do with it. I think it absolutely has to do with the Sports Broadcasting Act. It gave all of the power to broadcast networks because they rule everything.

SPEAKER_01 46:38

Broadcast network has nothing to do with the stadium itself, it's the owners. The owners are the ones setting price for everything. Well, yeah, they said trying to make profit off of everything.

SPEAKER_03 46:46

The NFL as a league, the owner, the the GMs or whoever runs business management office for these NFL teams, there's a general like pricing list that's laid out by the NFL office. And teams, based on how their team is doing and valued, go by that uh by that standard of pricing for tickets, which is why pretty tight pricing. If your team sucks, it'll probably cost you about$100 to$150 a ticket. If your team's good, guaranteed it's gonna be$300 a ticket or more, depending on where you sit. So that is pricing across all of these stadiums. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 47:25

I'm saying this from experience. I have attended games at multiple stadiums throughout this country and for multiple sports: hockey, baseball, football, basketball. I have attended games in these in in each of them. Mike the Journeyman. That's gonna be a radio name. Mike the Journeyman. They are super expensive. They are except when it comes to baseball and hockey. They're the only ones that actually make it accessible for the average fan.

SPEAKER_03 47:56

And I have some answer. I well, I'm sorry, I have some theories for this, okay?

SPEAKER_01 48:00

It's the same number of seats, dude. Well, it's the same number of seats at a baseball stadium as an NFL stadium. It's just let's face it, baseball who has no salary cap can somehow make it affordable for the average fan. I mean, yeah, they have 162 games, so there's far more games. So yes, that might have a little bit to do with the cost of it. But you mean to tell me in this day and age that these owners can't figure some way to recoup some of that money? Because let's let's pay your players less. They also own the stadium. Yes. They're the ones who also say, Oh, come on, Taylor Swift. You could do four shows at my stadium.

SPEAKER_03 48:45

But Taylor Swift doesn't want to do four shows at your stadium.

SPEAKER_01 48:48

She did it in Madison Square Garden.

SPEAKER_03 48:51

Yeah, Madison Square Garden for who? Herself.

SPEAKER_01 48:56

She did four shows in a row.

SPEAKER_03 48:58

Yeah, her concerts.

SPEAKER_01 48:59

Yes. But that's the pick.

Ravens Ground Game Explodes

SPEAKER_03 49:00

Because that's Madison Square Garden's a huge venue, and that fits her venue needs.

SPEAKER_01 49:06

With the way her fans are, they would no matter where it is, if there were four nights in a row of her shows, there would be four nights packing that.

SPEAKER_03 49:13

Taylor Swift is very anti-NFL, okay. Bullshit. Anyway, she's not and she's just not gonna perform on an NFL level. She's above the NFL.

SPEAKER_01 49:24

I'm getting way off the rails here. My point of the matter is they could find other ways to counterbalance that revenue. It's just I find it annoying because even if you go and try to price point and find these last-minute tickets and try to get yourself seats somehow.

SPEAKER_03 49:42

If you're getting last-minute tickets, you're getting ripped off. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_01 49:45

No, no, no. There are literally sites now where you can go get last-minute tickets for shows discounted like hell, because you know, some fan can't make the game and he's just trying to sell his tickets. He's just trying to get his get something for his tickets.

SPEAKER_03 50:01

I have to keep an eye out at three o'clock in the morning on game day. I can buy the ticket and have time to drive there.

SPEAKER_01 50:09

Anyway, getting back to the games. On Christmas Day, we had two games on Netflix. We had one game that was on Thursday Night Football. Damn, we didn't even get past the first game yet?

SPEAKER_00 50:21

No, because you took it way off the rails.

SPEAKER_03 50:22

Honestly, I think this was a great conversation, and it gives our listeners something to dive into and chew on in their own time. All right. Cowboys beat the hell out of the commanders. Now they move on.

SPEAKER_01 50:32

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Don't gloss over. Don't do that. Look, Cowboys won the game, yes. But the game was the final score was Dallas 30, Commanders 23. So you guys are only down a touchdown.

SPEAKER_03 50:44

It's not doing what they always do, waiting to show up for work in the fourth quarter. They probably could have won this, but they had a lot of miscues of the game. By the way, Josh Johnson started this game at quarterback. It was only it was actually his first legitimate start.

SPEAKER_01 51:00

Sir, you really want your team to show up in the fourth quarter. It's worked for a lot of teams this year.

SPEAKER_03 51:07

No, I really want them to show up in the first quarter and play competitively and then win it in the fourth quarter. Okay, that's how this works. That's called a football game. Anyway, they lose to the 7-8-1 Cowboys, who still whose record is still astronomically unimpressive, yet they have one of the most volatile offenses in the league. Clearly, they have a problem on defense because I don't see how an offer I wouldn't say volatile. I would say it's a great offense. No, I think they have one of the best offenses in the league. Volatile means that it's like about to explode.

SPEAKER_01 51:41

It's horrible.

SPEAKER_03 51:41

It's bad. No, volatile is a good good uh verb. It is a good description, descriptor.

SPEAKER_01 51:50

Adjective. Volatile. Sure. Moving on. So let's talk about this NFC Central or NFC North.

SPEAKER_03 51:59

Might as well be NFC Central. There ain't no other teams more centrally located than these two teams right here.

SPEAKER_01 52:04

Yeah, the Lions and Vikings, a good good divisional matchup with the Vikings away with the win with the 23-10 victory. Making both teams eight and eight.

SPEAKER_03 52:16

I don't know if I feel more sad for the Lions or more confused by the Vikings.

SPEAKER_01 52:24

Okay, so the Lions the Lions the Lions their their situation is easy to explain. Their situation is injuries decimated their defense, so they can barely stop anybody. And just when you think that injuries only affected the defense, then they lost both of their tight ends. Look, leaving them with far less options on the offensive side, losing both tight ends, and their running backs just haven't been hitting the same game.

SPEAKER_03 52:58

I need to rewind to an episode we had in 2024 when I said that the Lions are gonna lose Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, and they're gonna take a step or two backwards. And look at where we are now.

SPEAKER_01 53:12

Look, you have both your top defensive backs in the backfield, your free safety and strong safety both go down to season-ending injuries. You're gonna start giving up stuff on the back end. Plus, you also lost multiple corners and had multiple injuries throughout your defense in the entire year.

SPEAKER_03 53:38

Sir, the the the uh the Panthers are in the playoffs with Bryce Young and a bunch of nobodies on offense. Their defense is relatively mediocre.

SPEAKER_01 53:52

You can't say that they have nobodies. They're a young team and they have players that are making a name.

SPEAKER_03 53:58

Yeah, but on the Lions, you have household names. I'm in Ross St. Brown, okay? Uh Jamison Williams becoming a household name. Jared Goff, who is the dullest household name I've ever heard of, somehow is also a household name. Dan Campbell, head coach, household name, their running backs, you know, nicknames Sonic and Knuckles, Montgomery, and uh uh what's his name? Gibbs. And Jameer Gibbs, who is possibly a top five running back in the NFL. Who are the Panthers playing with again?

SPEAKER_01 54:33

Bro, understand something. They have had injuries on their offensive line, which has screwed up the chemistry on the offensive line. All right, granted, that does message. And when your defense is literally just a leaking ship where you're trying to bail water with a bucket and a with a hole in it, you're not gonna do well.

SPEAKER_03 54:54

They were leaking ship last year because we outscored them in the playoffs.

SPEAKER_01 55:00

Different situation. But the fact that they're eight and eight after all they've been through is impressive. It is impressive because you've got to consider the amount of players they have lost.

SPEAKER_03 55:14

I gotta give them kudos for at least having a 500 season there, 8-8. We'll see what happens in week 17. The Vikings, worst three quarterbacks in the league, I bet they're missing Sam Darnold right now. Yeah, they should have signed him up. Says the stat line Max Brosmer hands off to Jordan Edison. They don't even know what they're doing anymore on offense.

SPEAKER_01 55:34

Bro, I tell you who's the most sad out of that team. Just Justin Jefferson. He wants Sam Darnold back because his numbers have been atrocious.

NFC North Woes And Lions’ Slide

SPEAKER_03 55:42

Yeah, anybody who drafted Justin Jefferson or Jamar Chase in the top five to ten of their draft is kicking themselves. Guilty.

SPEAKER_01 55:51

Hence why I traded back seven spots. Anyway, moving on to the Thursday night game between the Broncos and Chiefs, which lost a lot of its luster because of the fact that uh the Chiefs suck now. Well, they're showing how bad they are when they don't have Patrick Mahomes. But Broncos, Broncos came away with the victory 20-13. A lot of credit there.

SPEAKER_03 56:15

They have Patrick Mahomes most of the season. He still are only 6-10. They were 6-9 before Patrick Mahomes is big as well.

SPEAKER_01 56:23

Yeah, but at least their offense was actually putting up points when he was there. That's just their defense was also not stopping anybody.

SPEAKER_03 56:30

I'll give him that. Patrick Mahomes is a generational talent.

SPEAKER_01 56:33

I'll give him that. But I just, you know. I've never been quoted as being a huge Patrick Mahomes fan. Actually the opposite. Right. But the point of the matter is.

SPEAKER_03 56:47

Hey. You'd think he has a secret lust for him.

SPEAKER_01 56:50

Look. There's just things about Patrick Mahomes that are super frickin' annoying to me.

SPEAKER_03 56:57

Mike be out here in the world talking about Patrick Mahomes unprovoked.

SPEAKER_01 57:02

Yeah, be at the grocery store line. That's a stupid frog. That's stupid Patrick Mahomes. That's stupid frog-sounding motherfucker.

SPEAKER_03 57:10

This grocery bill is so high because of Patrick Mahomes. He missed that pass and then it affected the administration.

SPEAKER_01 57:18

No, no, no, no. Anyway, point of the matter is Broncos handle business basically stealing the number one or hard. Stealing the division for themselves and possibly the number one seed.

SPEAKER_03 57:33

Yeah, possibly the number one seed. I got a couple things here before we move off this match, okay? Um Chris Jones of the Chiefs uh talks about. So by the way, did you know there's also a Pro Bowl Mike? I didn't know that because it sucks every year. But anyway, there is no more Pro Bowl.

SPEAKER_01 57:50

There's just a bunch of people that show up to play some funny games. It's called the Pro Vacation now. But uh Is it a vacation? It was more of a vacation when they went to Hawaii and played.

SPEAKER_03 57:59

Yeah, it was. It was.

SPEAKER_01 58:00

It's hard to call the only reason people showed up.

SPEAKER_03 58:02

It's hard to call it a vacation when it's in Buffalo, New York in the middle of winter time. But um Chris Jones missed the playoffs, missed the Pro Bowl this year with 15 and a half sacks, which by the way, I know there's 15 and a half sacks is nothing to shake a stick at. Um he feels like he got snubbed. Do you agree that the Pro Bowl is more of like a popularity? I feel like it is. It's like figuring out who's gonna be your freshman in sophomore court this year. Like to me, it's a popularity contest. They even take consideration from the from uh team fans now of who should get in, right? Like the fans vote, the players vote, and then somebody else votes. And among the three they decide who gets in plus rotational players. I think I think the press is the other one.

SPEAKER_01 58:49

The press, you're right, right. So I mean Honestly, yes, it's nothing but a popularity contest because if you actually go by went by numbers and seen what some of these players are doing, because let's face it, I beg people right now name me people that play on the defense for the Titans. And I guarantee you, most people can't tell you one player on the Titans defense. Yeah. But I bet you if I said Jeffrey Simmons, you guys would be like, oh man, yeah, he should be in it. Yeah, he's a Pro Bowl level player, or for that matter, just go by some of these playoff teams. I bet you there are plenty of players on these playoff teams that should get some flowers for the things they've done this year, and they're not gonna get it. Because they're just they're not that player.

SPEAKER_03 59:44

Every year there's a couple Pro Bowl snubs. Um and I think Chris Jones might be part of that class this year. Maybe he should be, and maybe he should I don't have the numbers right directly in front of me at the moment.

SPEAKER_01 59:56

I mean, come on. I mean, it's not like he hasn't been before. But but yeah, it's kind of a badge of honor to be selected for the Pro Bowl and it it's kind of giving a little nod of the cap to what you've done through the year. So I get why he might be a little upset about it, but again, it's not in Hawaii anymore.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:14

And I and I think um I think London Fletcher might actually who has the most Pro Bowl Homer Homer if only we had our sounds loaded.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:29

Bro, I swear I'm gonna put a ban on you mentioning London Fletcher.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:35

By the way, he's by the way, he played for the Rams longer than he played for us. Uh Tom Brady has the most Pro Bowl selections with 15. Duh. Um quarterbacks aside, because obviously quarterbacks have quite a bit of it. Uh Tony Gonzalez is the next one come to mind. He's a tight end, he has 14. And then Aaron Donald had 10. Um, I know London Fletcher had like eight or nine, but he's a linebacker, middle linebacker. Yeah, I try to throw a homer out there on that one. I give you credit there, sir.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:06

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:07

But there have been Washington players that just sometimes it's just based on seniority respect. And then sometimes it gives way to younger players who just popped on the scene, and sometimes you get lost in the sauce. But I get Chris Jones' frustration. Um, and honestly, I agree with the fact you should be chasing a Super Bowl instead of a Pro Bowl. Pro Bowl just comes, right? It just finds you. Super Bowl, that's really where the real work gets in. And over here on the Broncos side, I just gotta say, man, is this not probably this has the potential to be one of the best head coach quarterback handcuffs for a long time, okay? Uh Sean Payton is only the second head coach in NFL history to have five 13-plus win seasons. Um, and when they the Broncos beat the Chiefs this last week, uh Bo Knicks became the only quarterback in NFL history with 20 plus wins, 7,500 passing yards, and 50 plus passing touchdowns in his first two seasons. Okay. This is a young team, a young quarterback with a very experienced head coach. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:22

I feel like there may be maybe some other quarterbacks that may need mentioning.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:27

Not in the first two years of their career. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:34

And so so let's let's move right along.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:37

We we can move right along, but to round out what I was saying, I think you guys should keep an eye on the Broncos because something is brewing in Denver, and it's not a small thing, okay? But yeah, we'll go ahead and move on because we're running into some time constraints here. Um Texans Chargers.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:55

Saturday slate of games.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:57

Honestly, this is a ups. Uh I know the Texans are now 11 and 5, just like the Chargers. But if you ask me, I had the Chargers as a favorite to win here.

Ticket Prices, Blackouts, And Fans

SPEAKER_01 1:03:08

Didn't this kind of sneak up on us, though? I think this did. I think for most people, the Texans being 11-5 was kind of a sneaky kind of thing because a few weeks back, we were just like, look, is this team even gonna make the playoffs? Like they're they're playing horrible, they don't shove themselves, and well defense has come on strong. I think ever since that Bills game when they were just on Josh Allen for eight sacks, that they they really came alive as a team.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:37

I think so, and probably maybe one of the best, if not one of the top two defenses in the league right now, which really helps them out a lot. Um gives their offense a lot of opportunity, kept the Chargers run game in check for the most part, as well as the pass game. Um the AFC West and the AFC South. It's sad that the Chiefs are kind of regressing a little bit right now because the AFC South and the AFC West have kind of become these two powerhouse divisions the last couple years. I'm kind of excited because I have seen team there are teams that in my whole lifespan have never been or not been that competitive, are extremely competitive now.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:19

Well, it just shows that the these teams are starting to figure things out, they're getting good management and good coaches in there, yeah, starting to build something. And the Texans should be noted for yeah, they turned the page, they got a good coach, which they took from the Niners. And but in D'Mico Ryan's, but this game, getting back to this game, the Chargers lost this mainly because their offensive line has been dealing with health issues very bad because both their tackles have been out. So they they basically have been pieced together a line. They have their quarterback with an injured non-throwing hand that he had surgery with and is still playing, even though he had surgery on it, which he's playing well. Herbert's playing well. It just wasn't enough. It wasn't enough in this game, and it it was a tightly contested game. It was a little back and forth there for a little bit. It just like, like you said, and the Texans defense was stepping up and cutting off lanes and tipping ball balls that were passed to the receivers and just not giving them a chance.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:27

Yeah, and you know, the Chargers uh slow to get anything going on offense, but Omarion Hampton actually having a somewhat decent game here.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:36

He had a touchdown.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:36

He had he had a touchdown and some yards to go with it. So it wasn't not a it wasn't a bad game for him, but it was a decent game for him. Well, and Videll didn't play because Well, Videll didn't play. If this was anybody other than the Texans, I'm thinking Omarion Hampton has a hell of a game that night.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:52

Probably.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:53

But here we go. Uh one of my favorite matchups of the week, the Ravens and the Packers. I don't know, look, I don't know how the Ravens pulled this out. The Packers actually got ahead early in this game. This was a game of backups, dude. This was a game of this was a game of backups, and the Packers in the first quarter were actually out early over the Ravens.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:13

I thought the Ravens were gonna lose early on. Snoop Huntley was starting for the Ravens, and then you then you had Did you say Snoop? Yeah, that's he goes by Snoop Huntley. Snoop Dogg? It's it's Brett Huntley, but he goes by Snoop. I like it. Snoop Huntley. Very fitting. And uh Malik Willis started for the Packers. Now you didn't really see much of Jacobs, their running back in this game. It pretty much he came in for basically nothing. He was there for a few plays, got about three yards the entire game, and then it was all the backups the rest of the way. But on the other side with the Ravens, their running back, Derrick Henry, came alive. Going off for four touchdowns. He went off for four touchdowns. And at such a peak time for fantasy football, if you had Derrick Henry and you were in the championship round, you got big points from him. Four touchdowns, over 200 yards rushing. It was his game, all game. And Huntley just had to had to make some timely throws just to keep plays going.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:21

This is the time of year where you see these guys, especially fantasy-wise, have these breakouts, right? Derrick Henry, four touchdowns, okay. Um last week, who was it? B. John Robinson and Kyle Pitts, 40 points apiece, right? Um, and then there's Puka. Puka, another two weeks ago, 40-point game.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:44

Yeah, but he didn't well, we'll get to the to the game for the Rams. This we'll we'll get there, but still, but hell of a game. These players, and it made me want to say something about his performance.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:54

Yeah, and we'll we'll we'll get there, but focusing back in on the Ravens, the Packers, this actually sets the Ravens up for an AFC North showdown with the Steelers next week. Ravens barely been trying to get into the mix. I think Lamar, there's rumblings about his future. What are you talking about, Mike?

SPEAKER_01 1:08:11

Realize that going into this, they had a 7% chance of making it into the playoffs. So by winning this game and hoping that the Steelers would lose, it would give them a better chance. But they really needed to win this game just to give themselves a chance. And they did it. They won this game 41 to 24 uh with the Packers taking the taking the loss. And you know, it just poor showing by the Packers.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:38

They just they didn't number set knocks them to the number seven seed, they're on the fringe. Uh you know, we'll see.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:47

I mean, they they they pretty much are in.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:50

They're pretty much in barring something astronomical, which I don't think is gonna happen in just the last week. I think they're pretty solid.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:55

I think it's not gonna move out of the seventh spot.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:57

They're they're far enough ahead of the other teams. You're right. Um, and then down here, we got the Seahawks and the Panthers. Seahawks really needed to win this one, struggled a little bit early on. Panthers came out strong, but Seahawks come alive in the second half, get the win 27-10. Seahawks are now 13-3. Set up for an NFC West showdown for the 49ers, not just for the division title, but possibly.

Colts-Jags, Rivers’ Return, And Seeds

SPEAKER_01 1:09:23

Well, we'll get to that. We've got to talk about what happened with that game between the Bears, the Bears, and the Niners later. But the Seahawks needed to win this to keep pace, to keep themselves in the number one spot for now, barring what happened in the Niners game. But kudos to them to coming away with the win in this game because the Panthers have been showing us stuff here lately where they've been coming alive, and they if they won this game, it pretty much slated them to be the winner of the division. But because they lost this game, it keeps Tampa's hopes alive. And they really there's a couple scenarios coming off this game for the Panthers, but right now they still hold the spot for the division, but if they would have won it, they would have kept kept it to where they win, and then there's no chance.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:09

Panthers are on the outside looking in. Uh they need to beat.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:14

No, they're not they're not out. They're just they're they're their division winner so far until something else happens. Well, yeah, they are. I well, if they're a division winner, that's why they're in the hunt because they're still in it, because yeah. See how it goes 3-5? There's no four. Oh, yeah, there's no four. Oh, okay, yeah, yeah. They're the four C or they're right. Where teams are still in the division hunt. Going back over here to the next slate of game or next game, which was the Bengals and Cardinals. Not really much to go on here, no playoff implications. It's just can Joe Burrow get the win over the Cardinals, which easily he could. Bangles 37.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:58

Bengals just trying to build momentum for next year at this point.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:02

Right, with the Bengals coming away with a 37 to 14 victory. They even later on in the game pulled Burrow and a lot of their starters just because it was like, hey, we're up to not get people hurt.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:14

You just mentioned it. The only reason they even play Burrow or Jamarche or any of their starters in a game like this is to just try to keep some fluidity still.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:23

Oh, and Burrow Burrow has said if he's healthy, he's playing.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:26

Period. Yeah. And and he should. He needs the reps, he needs to keep it going.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:30

Speaking of games with impact, divisional game between the Steelers and Browns, good classic matchup. We always love seeing these divisional matchups, especially against these teams, because no love is lost between them.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:42

Yeah. Uh honestly, one of the biggest upsets of the week, it might be the biggest upset. I actually had the Browns peg to beat the Steelers because I had a feeling the Steelers were gonna have a trouble. They were gonna have some trouble with the Browns defense, and Miles Garrett trying to get that sack record. Uh, I don't think he got it.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:00

So Browns came away with a 13-6 victory in this. Um, there was a couple, like you said, the there was the Miles Garrett going for the sack record. He did not get it, by the way. Um, but more so, uh, one big thing that happened in this game is going into the game, they weren't sure if their young star tight end fanning was going to play because he had had suffered a groin injury earlier in the in the week. But he played, he he started, he was in there, he caught the touchdown for them, caught a 30-yard touchdown pass that was kind of a little underthrown by Sanders, but he adjusted, caught it, and rolled into the end zone, got the touchdown, and then immediately was pulled out because he re-injured that groin.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:43

Re-injured the groin, but at least he made the catch, got the touchdown, got his fantasy owner some points.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:49

Well, if you're if you're a fantasy owner of him, you were like, Yeah, I'm gonna have a monster day, and then you see and the you see them say, and he's out of the game. What? Well, dang it.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:01

I'm gonna tell you one thing about this game here for the Steelers. There's a big reason why they lost. They were so hyper fixated on not allowing Miles Garrett to get the touchdown. I think that played a huge role in their game planning and their and their play calling.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:18

Well, there was also one other thing that played huge dividends on this, is the fact that they did not have DK Metcalf because later in the game, the Steelers they had opportunities. They did drive the ball. They were to a point where they were making throws into the end zone to try to get the win, and they could not get it done. And they even had a fade pass that would typically go to DK Metcalf, but because he was suspended, yeah, he was not there. And you know, which, mind you, there's been some talk from that fan that had the interaction with him.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:52

There's been some from some talk from him and from Aaron Rodgers. I'm glad you reminded me.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:56

You go ahead and tell, yeah, what's he saying? DK said that this fan had said some uh racial slurs and stuff to him, and the fan has called out and asked for him to stop lying about it because he said he didn't say anything like that. He said his family is getting death threats and getting all kinds of like things said to his family. And bro, if you're gonna go down there and start chirping at a player and want to try to get him riled up, look you're you're you're part of the reason this is coming at you. So as much as you want to blame him, look at yourself too. You didn't have to go down there and start mess.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:37

This is tit for tat for me. This is check, check mate, okay? You wanted to rile up DK, DK's got a platform. Okay, he says something racist to me. That's all DK needs right there. If he wants to turn the tables. And honestly. Which mind you is not cool. I'm gonna, I'm gonna honestly, I don't do this a lot, but I'm gonna side with DK here. Granted, I don't think he should have gone up to the fan. Sorry, I don't think he should have grabbed the fan, okay? I think going up to a fan and jabberjon, you're you're walking a line, but you should never grab him to try to assault him or anything like that. But I think the fan, this guy, I I think he kind of had some of this coming, because I mean you asked for it. Like you say, you asked for it, and then there's video of him. I'll hold on. I'll there's video of him saying, Alright, that's what we were looking for, folks. We're done here, you know. He was celebrating. He he was celebrating, he wasn't upset.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:38

I don't side with either one of them because both of them made a piss poor decision, to be honest. Because as a as an athlete and knowing there's all those cameras around, if you make any action towards a fan that's not in a good light, they got it, they see it. So it was not a good decision. I mean, you let your anger take take hold, but but more so you you gotta think in the moment, like, is this gonna hurt the team? And this has hurt the team. You clearly could have been a factor in this game. Yeah, I mean you lost the passing percentages were were down, the receptions were down, it just like he had to spread the ball around, yes, but there was not it was not a great showing for the for this team, obviously, by the score.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:21

You lost a must-win game, to be honest with you.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:24

Yes, so now your team is going into a playoff situation on the very last week of the season because as we said, the Ravens won. So now next week, they are playing each other for the division. Winner goes into the playoffs, the loser stays home. So you might you might have cut your season short at week 16.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:44

So I'm looking at this right now. If the Steelers lose the Ravens next week and miss the playoffs, all eyes are gonna be on DK, guaranteed. Uh, but the next thing I have is bigger question, all right, given this situation. But they should have done better through the season.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:59

They should have done. I mean You can't blame it all on DK because your whole team could have played better.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:06

You went nine and seven with a quarterback who should have retired, and you got a minimal mediocre middle-of-the-pack amount of talent, you know, on the team. You got DK.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:17

They still can't rush the ball.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:19

You got DK because you promised them there'd be a notable quarterback there. Then you got one who Rogers okay. He still has it a little bit, okay? The team's nine and seven. They haven't been this good in a couple years, okay?

SPEAKER_01 1:17:32

They were lucky to they were lucky to go eight and eight in it last year, okay? Dude, they've never had a losing season under Mike Tomlin.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:38

They've never had a losing season, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:17:41

They've never had a losing season, and they have always I think they were nine and seven last year.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:46

They haven't been in the driver's seat of the division in a couple years, and they're in the driver's seat barely right now, and they were last week before the loss. But what I what I'm saying is the bigger question is Um, has the way gambling and fantasy football has that in recent times changed how fans and uh we'll just say um football game attendees because they're not all fans. We'll say, has that changed how people act? Has that changed etiquette? Has that changed how people do things?

Bills’ Play-Calling Meltdown Vs Eagles

SPEAKER_01 1:18:24

No, no, because this has always existed. There has always been gambling, there has always been fantasy football. Now, granted, there were not platforms. What has actually happened here is people have been emboldened because of social media, because of people just feeling like I gotta get my say in. Like, no, no, you don't. You don't have to go down there and make a n ass of yourself. I'm sorry. Like, as a fan, if you want to go have an interaction with a with a sports star, don't make it a negative one. Because all these sports stars have cameras around them all the time. And hey, everybody has a camera in their pocket. Yeah. So in this day and age, you do anything, we got it. We see it. I'll give you that. Things that so this isn't a matter of, you know, oh, I lost my fantasy football game because of you. It's your fault. Like, well, well, no, maybe maybe you should just be better at fantasy football. So, like, I'm sorry, don't blame it on the player. I mean, if you knew the guy was bummed for for three weeks, it's your fault for not taking him out of the lineup, not his.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:34

Honestly, I think you make a good point, Mike. Uh, social media has really emboldened, and not only that, but in this the world of technology we live in, cameras are everywhere. So things that normally could be kept lower or swept under the rug and that would not normally become national media very easily become national media thanks to social media now.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:57

Stupid people have existed for a long time. When you get a bunch of stupid people in a mass group, you can never underestimate what they will do. Anyway, the point of the matter is no, it's not because of the gambling. It's not because of fans having fantasy football. It's been around for a long time. Look, even people that used to work back at the infant stages of ESPN talked about how they did fantasy football back in the 70s. So it's been around. It's just you had to pencil and paper everything.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:32

We used to hike over snowy hills and send things by snail mail. And we'd know who won in the spring after we calculated all the points. I don't know where you were going with that. Fantasy football of old before technology existed. Right. These guys did it by mail, okay? Have you ever seen people play a board game over the internet? It's the size of the pool table in front of us. Look, neither here nor there.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:03

Congratulations to the Browns for pulling off the win. And I do like, I do like the fact that the Ravens sent a shout out to the Browns, like, hey, thanks for handling business for us. And the Browns reply back, we didn't do it for y'all. We didn't do it for y'all. We did it for our own feelings. We did it so we could win.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:21

But anyway, here we have the now. Browns basically like, get out of my DMs. Get out of my DMs. Keep my name out your mouth. Anyway, uh, we have the now 12-4 Jaguars versus the what I thought would be 12-4 Colts, but they're only 8-8. Sir.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:40

Tell them the score. Colts. Jaguars. Jaguars coming away with the 23-17 victory. And I honestly, dude, the Phillip Rivers experiment, I gotta, I gotta give it some do. Like he has not played horrible. For a 44-year-old quarterback, he's been throwing touchdowns, he's been completing and moving the ball down the field. He's been alright. You know, for for a player who came off the couch and you you get this kind of production out of him, you've got to be happy with that. You know, for the Jaguars to only get a six-point victory over this team, they really had to put in the work. So this wasn't this wasn't an easy game because remember, this is a divisional game between the Jaguars and Colts. So they know each other. And the Colts earlier in the year, we were talking, oh, can this team go to the Super Bowl? Because, you know, they were playing lights out. The running game was working, Daniel Jones was actually throwing some decent passes and and making the the offense look like it was top tier. And they just injuries catching up.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:50

They are. And by the way, speaking of the Colts, I just want to give a round of applause. Bravo to Phillip Rivers and his three-game comeback. Uh, first of all, he resets the time. He resets the clock on his Hall of Fame bid, which may or may not be a good thing for him. I don't know. Uh, but he they're gonna start Riley Leonard for the final game. They're not gonna start Phillip Rivers, obviously. They want to see what they have in their young guy. Um, this to me has been a bittersweet return of Philburg. He he retires, by the way, uh as a Colt with having thrown 544 yards, four touchdowns to three interceptions. Not necessarily eye-popping numbers, but was manageable enough to keep them going. Okay, he had a 63% completion rating, better than 50% of the quarterbacks currently signed to an NFL contract.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:51

I can relate with Philip Rivers and why he came back. Because most athletes that perform at a high level or love what they do and can get to that high level, most of them when it's done, because at some point we all are told we can no longer play the game. If you get a chance to do it, to do it again, it's kind of hard when you got that drive and you got that that you know fight to play, you know, the the itch to to be on that field or on the court or on that diamond, you're willing to give it everything you got. Look, and he he looked good. He did well for what he was asked to do.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:37

And you know, I can relate because Mike, let's rewind the clock. What are we almost 40 now? You're over 40. I'm not. Um over 40. Let's rewind the clock roughly about 20 years, right? Us and our large group of friends at the time, football friends, mind you, every Saturday and Sunday, mostly Sundays, we were out there playing neighborhood football pretty much anywhere we could find an open field. There was like easily 20 of us, bro. I know the feeling, you know the feeling. If we could have one more game with our crew, we'd absolutely take it. So I understand Phillip Rivers wanting to come back and have another taste of that life, right?

49ers-Bears Classic And No. 1 Seed Stakes

SPEAKER_01 1:25:22

I mean, we've seen it time and time again. Brady coming back, Favre coming back, Michael Jordan coming back, Aaron Rodgers staying back. Well, he never really left. He just played with people.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:34

Maybe I'll tire I won't. Prolonging the inevitable.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:39

But yeah, I I get it, right? Like, you know, everybody wants another taste of that greatness uh or of that experience that they had. And honestly, in any sport, any professional level sport, and I can tell you right now, just us the way we used to play with our crew. I if I could have one more day, I would give up a lot of things for that.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:06

Agreed. But I think we're getting away from what we should be giving a little bit of congratulations to the Jaguars because with this victory, it still keeps them on pace for a possibility of overtaking the Broncos for the number one side number one seat going for the playoffs. And it will take a Broncos loss for them to get there, but remember, they have the tiebreaker if they have the same record. So if Jaguars just win next week, Broncos lose next week, you got the Jaguars leapfrogging them for the number one seed.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:43

That's right. And uh honestly, I'm excited for the Jaguars. I'm excited for Jaguars fans. I know a Jaguars fan in real life. I do too.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:54

It's weird. Let's move on down here and talk about the Buccaneers and Dolphins game, where you kind of you kind of been seeing the Dolphins come on a little bit these last few weeks, where they had a little glimmer of maybe making playoffs, but then they lost in a game, and you know, now they're now they're out of the out of the hunt. Honestly. But with this game, the Dolphins came away with the victory 20 to 17. The Buccaneers just injuries and stuff really taken hold on this team, and they've really been relying on Baker Mayfield to be like Josh Allen. They really want him to just handle everything. I mean, they really didn't give Bucky Irvin many carries last uh yesterday's game, or yesterday's, no, Sunday's game. Sorry, I'm getting my days mixed up. It feels like a Monday, I know. But the Buccaneers, despite the loss of them being at seven and nine, they still have a chance to make the playoffs. And it's crazy because they have a scenario where they need to win next week against the against the Panthers, and they need the Saints to help them.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:00

Look, I just want to give both these teams credit for a second. The Dolphins were probably the team that everybody said, alright, they're done week two of the NFL season. Even the Browns didn't catch the kind of heat they were catching, okay? I gotta give it up this team going seven and nine, and hopefully maybe going eight and nine, but even if they go seven and ten, I give them a lot of credit for those seven wins because my team only has four wins, and that's probably by mistake. Um, and then the Buccaneers going seven and nine, potentially eight and nine next week, they've dealt with a lot of adversity, and they've dealt with a lot of adversity. Injuries, players underperforming, uh, you know, coaching questions. So I I really put this one on the Dolphins defense because they actually have had a rather good defense this year, uh keeping them together. But the Buccaneers offense kind of fall a little short. Their defense not playing too well either. Well, remember who's playing quarterback for the Dolphins right now.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:02

Yours. I know the former Texas quarterback.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:14

Yours. Yeah. I thought you say yours for a second as in my quarterback. I said we didn't trade Jaden Daniels or Marcus Mariota. No, no, or Josh Johnson. I said all three of those players are still with us. Anyway, and he had a I said, what is Jaden Daniels freelancing now?

SPEAKER_01 1:29:32

He had a pretty good performance in this. And uh, I mean, not you know, anything to write home about, but enough to get them the victory.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:39

It was probably it might have been enough for them to talk about making him the starter next year and developing him. But I don't know about all that. I digress. Props to both those teams for doing what they've done. Hopefully, either of them can do a little bit better next season. Maybe the Buccaneers make the playoffs, but honestly, I kind of like the Panthers to do it.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:56

Let's move on to the Patriots and Jets game. It's no surprise. Patriots won this game 42 to 10. Let's let's face it, Jets, they've just been an awful team all year. They just really have not performed to what we thought they might perform to coming into this year. You thought the defense would be better because they're gonna defensive head coach, but they've been awful all year. I'm wondering if this will won and done with their coach.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:25

I hope not. Honestly, that this always seems to be the case with the Jets, right? Whether they get one year or two years, nobody's made it past two years at this point in the last 10 years, but they're kind of like the Redskins of new, okay? The Jets ownership might be the worst ownership in the NFL now, okay? Let's just face it, Mike. Uh when you have a top-down culture, okay, when your owners are your problem, it doesn't matter who your head coach is, it doesn't matter who your quarterback is, you're not gonna have a good organization, okay? Uh to me, this comes down to ownership, ownership all the way, because the Jets, over let's just say the last eight years, okay, they've had a number of good head coaches, yeah, favorable head coaches, okay? Some of them younger, some of them have legacies. They've had well, maybe not some great quarterbacks, but Sam Darnold has had a journey across the country with the Vikings and the Seattle Seahawks and having success with both. Okay, and Minnesota Vikings actually miss him more than Kirk Cousins. Um, they've had some good players. Garrett Wilson's on the team, they have Brees Hall. They they have potential.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:38

But the problem is because of ownership, they're usually getting the not best selection when it comes to the coaching candidates or GM candidates because the culture there is just like you said, top down from the ownership down. It's just not working. And and and what it really needs to probably turn into is the owner start pulling your hands back, and and it's it's hard for most billionaires, it's hard for them to hands off and say, All right, I empower these people to make all the decisions.

Falcons Upset, Rams Reality, And DB Masterclass

SPEAKER_03 1:32:12

Well, I think it's things like okay, self-made millionaires, okay, let's face it. No, billionaires. You're at least a billionaire if you own an NFL franchise. Okay, most self-made billionaires, which is hard to fathom being where I'm at in life right now, yeah. Um, they're used to building it themselves, right? So they feel like they still have that acumen. And some may, some may not. But at some point, you have to be willing to go hands off. You have to be willing to have passed on what you quote know and let somebody else run the show. You're out of the game now, right? Not that you're out, not that you're irrelevant, it's just it's somebody else's turn. And the other thing is, uh sorry, I forgot my thought. The other thing was um those who have inherited the wealth or inherited the team, much as Woody Allen's um sons may be getting ready to do, now they're eager to show that they are worth something. Right. But they're doing it in a wrong way, I think, if they're over-tampering.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:20

Well, look, I think we're getting a little too heavy on the misfortunes of the Jets and how things are not quite clicking for them, as much as we're getting away from the fact that with this win and the performance put up yesterday by uh Drake May, he's he's strengthening his case for possibly getting an MVP nod out of this season. And kudos to Vrabel for making this team into a caliber team that can pull off these kinds of seasons with a 13-3, especially considering this team was horrible last year.

SPEAKER_03 1:33:59

First of all, I don't know who's more impressive. The Broncos or the Patriots. I'm probably gonna go Patriots because last year they absolutely sucked, even though it was under a different head coach, they didn't have the kind of head coach they have now. The Broncos have had a great head coach since that time period. Um under Mike Vrabel, this is a totally different Patriots team. This is a totally different Drake May than what people expected. He might be the top quarterback in his draft class right now.

SPEAKER_01 1:34:33

Yes, and and here's the thing though, but you gotta look at what they did to start out. What they did to start out is they they built their team off of getting guys that fit what they're trying to do. So when they went into free agency, they didn't always go and grab like the big flashing name. They went and got guys that it made sense for them. The guys that they could, you know, okay, we're weak at middle linebacker. Okay, go get Robert Spillane. We're gonna put him in there, you know, he's a good strong, good strong middle linebacker. He's he's sack or not a sack machine, a tackling machine. We need him there. Uh, okay, we got to improve improve our our rush a little bit. Harold Landry, go pick him up. Let's let's have him add that veteran leadership up front. Look, you know, they just made little moves that if you weren't paying attention, you didn't see it or or gave it much thought, but it was all like each level they were doing things like this.

SPEAKER_03 1:35:32

This is veteran Bill Belichick stuff, okay? Vrabel learned directly from the best. This is why I think Bill Belichick should have gone on to be a GM instead of a college football head. Oh, I don't think so.

SPEAKER_01 1:35:45

I don't think so.

SPEAKER_03 1:35:45

No, I think so absolutely, because he knew how to pick players for his team and what they're trying to do. Then how come he couldn't pick a single receiver that could make a Pro Bowl ever? Because he might not have been a receiver's coach, but he had Tom Brady.

SPEAKER_01 1:35:58

Every single offensive player he selected just did not pan out. After a certain point, he just he could not choose offense anymore. The last good offensive player he he drafted, well, well, Aaron Hernandez was the last one. But Grunk.

SPEAKER_03 1:36:18

I mean, Vince Lombardi was an offensive-minded coach.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:22

I mean, he got he got weird. He had great offensive players, had had mediocre defenses. Like he basically plucked guys from other teams. Wes Welker came from the Dolphins. You know, he got uh And Wes Welker had the best career he was ever gonna have with them. Uh well, he still had a pretty darn good career with the Broncos, too, in Peyton Manning.

SPEAKER_03 1:36:44

Well, he had it well looked at. But your quarterback is Peyton Manning, and your name is Wes Welker. You're gonna have a good time, okay? I don't care who you are. Anyway, we're we're beating this to death. We're beating it a little bit, but I can't say enough about what the Patriots have done. Enough, what about the Jets aren't doing? Let's move on to the next matchup.

SPEAKER_01 1:37:02

Next matchup is the Saints and Titans with the Saints pulling off the victory 34 to 26. And if you haven't really been paying attention to the Saints because they're not really in it, here's the thing we gotta understand. The Saints have been playing good. And their young quarterback, Tyler Schock, Shook, Schock, he's been playing great football for them, and he they've been rattling off a few victories here and there. Their defense has been phenomenal for them. I mean, yeah, they're giving up points, but they're holding it down for their team. Like I I remember, oh who was the who was the Chase Young, the the rusher you used to have? The end rusher that you drafted.

SPEAKER_03 1:37:46

Yeah, Chase Young. I just got a jersey by him. He doesn't play for us anymore.

Week 18 Scenarios And Division Deciders

SPEAKER_01 1:37:50

Well, he he had an amazing uh sack of Ward where he took the football from Ward and ran it back. And Ward didn't know what hit him. Ward did not know what hit him. Um anyway, so congratulations to the Saints coming away with this victory. And actually, the Buccaneers need a Saints win. The Saints need a win next, or the Buccaneers need a win from the Saints next week in order to have any hopes in making the playoffs. So the Saints are gonna be playing the Falcons. So if they don't get that victory, and the Falcons win, Buccaneers, even if they win, do not get in.

SPEAKER_03 1:38:37

Right. And real quick, I know we're running a little short on time. Uh let's talk about the Giants and Raiders real quick. I'm just gonna jump right into this one, Mike. Giants beat the Raiders 34-10. Do you think that the Giants should have tanked for draft position, or do you think they should come out and play for pride? I'm a big fan of you play every game to win no matter what. I don't care.

SPEAKER_01 1:39:00

I'll tell you this: no team, no player in the NFL is out there to lose games, period. Right. They're not out there to lose because they don't care about draft picks. Right. Because of the point that these players they play because they don't know how long they're gonna have. So you play every game that you possibly can while you can.

SPEAKER_03 1:39:18

And at the end of the season, these games basically become like preseason games. If you're out of the playoffs, these become exhibition games essentially. You try new talent, you try new concepts, you try to find some chemistry or what works going into next year.

SPEAKER_01 1:39:34

And I think that's important for them as well. The the thing with this game, though, the Raiders actually told Max Crosby not to dress, to stay at home. He now, granted, he's battling a knee injury and has been all year. So they kind of said, Look, man, there's not really much of a point in you coming out to play and hurting yourself. Just go home. And then he's sitting there on social media posting him playing basketball with like his. Family and whatnot, and like you know, kind of pissed off. And I don't blame him because Max Crosby, he loves playing and he's he loves playing a player.

SPEAKER_03 1:40:08

He loves playing, and I I think he kind of likes playing for the Raiders, but I think his future is in flux right now. I don't think they let him walk, but I think the Raiders could end up trading him because he's at a point in his career where he's looking for a Super Bowl. The Raiders aren't there. So that being said, there's rumors that one of the top suitors could be Buffalo, who had an opportunity to draft him, but they took Dawson Knox instead. We'll get more into those details later.

SPEAKER_01 1:40:40

I don't know that they're gonna they're gonna trade him because they the Raiders have been talking about how he's one of the pieces you played.

SPEAKER_03 1:40:47

He's a building stone, he's a cornerstone of that defense. But if he wants out, they may oblige him.

SPEAKER_01 1:40:54

I got the scenario that'll work for him. I got a two bird two bird situation right here that will work for him. You call up the 49ers because they have a disgruntled player that wants out and Brandon Ayuk. They also have a quarterback who is their backup, who's been showing that he is a starting caliber quarterback in Mac Jones. You call them up, say, look, we'll trade you Max Crosby and some picks for both those players, and you give us also a couple picks and swap, it's all done. Because Ayuk would then, he's signed up, you got Mac Jones, try him out, and I'll do you one better. They're also going to be up there in the Mendoza area to get him in the draft because they're slated right now to be the number one pick.

SPEAKER_03 1:41:44

Yeah, they are. And I honestly honestly, I think the Raiders would be a perfect landing spot for Mendoza.

SPEAKER_01 1:41:53

He's the starting guy until Mendoza's ready. They let him sit and wait. Like most quarterbacks, like the last one I remember sitting and waiting was Patrick Mahomes.

SPEAKER_03 1:42:02

And Mac Jones has shown he can be a starter in the NFL, even if it's for a short amount of time. Um, so I I like that idea, actually, Mike. That would be good, and that'd be the perfect landing spot for Mendoza, would be the Raiders. And also, he's only about a couple thousand miles away from where he plays football now. Anyway, Eagles, Bills. I actually thought that the Bills were gonna come away with this win, but the Eagles game.

SPEAKER_01 1:42:28

This game pissed me off on so many levels.

SPEAKER_05 1:42:32

Woo!

SPEAKER_01 1:42:33

All right, so Eagles came away with a 13-12 victory. We'll get to why it's 13-12. But for the Eagles, they lucked into this win. For the Bills, you screwed up into this loss. So here's why I am pissed about this game. How is it the Eagles can be a team that is getting into the playoffs and look this dysfunctional as a team? Your quarterback does not even complete a single pass in the second half. So to me, there's two things here. Eagles, you need to be thanking your lucky stars that the Bills screwed this up. The Bills, your offensive coordinator, your entire offense need to go over to the defense and apologize. You guys need to apologize because y'all let your defense down because they did their job and they did it to a higher level than they have all season, and you guys let this one get away because of piss poor play calling and piss poor management of an offensive scheme.

SPEAKER_03 1:43:37

You can't put it in Josh Allen's hands every single play.

SPEAKER_01 1:43:41

This I am so over the way that they call offense. It is frustrating as hell. They sit here and they are rotating their backs in, and their backs are not fooling anybody. You have a lead horse back. Use him. Stop rotating these guys in that aren't starters. Because nobody's nobody is afraid of Ty Johnson. Nobody is afraid of Ray Davis. He's neither one of them is gonna barrel up the middle and cause any change of pace that matters. Well, they're not gonna they're not gonna load the lineup for them. All three of them can catch. You are relying on Brandon Cooks this game to make amazing catches, which I told you, when Brandon Cooks got there, he would be a big impact to them, and he has been. But the the often James Cook. No, I'm talking about Cooks, Brandon Cooks.

SPEAKER_03 1:44:33

Oh, Brandon Cooks, okay, gotcha.

SPEAKER_01 1:44:34

Brandon Cooks. They did sign. But the whole way they manage this game, which mind you, their adage is you play for the tie at home, they win away. You go for two at the end of this game saying, Oh, we were being aggressive. No, you don't be aggressive because your team has looked like hot garbage on offense all year, and your defense has kept kept the Eagles to no completed passes in the second half, and you sit there and don't go for the tie and send it into overtime.

SPEAKER_03 1:45:09

The defense clearly did its job here holding the Eagles 13 points.

SPEAKER_01 1:45:14

The coaching, yep. All the coaches, all the offense, if you're not involved with defense, go over to the defense today and apologize to them because y'all screwed up one of their best performances. You kept the Eagles team down to 13 points the whole game, and that was 13 points scored in the first half. Yeah. And you let this slip away. You let this slip away because of the piss poor play calling and the piss poor offensive execution.

SPEAKER_03 1:45:43

Look, I won't go too deep on this, but the Bills have been hit and miss the last I'll say month or so, maybe even longer. Because their offensive play calling is hot garbage. I don't know how they're 11-5 right now. Because they have Josh Allen. They but I mean the Chiefs have patch well, had Patrick Mahomes, but I uh they have Josh Allen, but they have other pieces too. But their defense is really a huge benefactor for them, especially in a game like this.

SPEAKER_01 1:46:12

Has not been what it was yesterday or on Sunday. On Sunday, they played at another level, and they needed for their offense to get it together, and they couldn't. They just could not get it together.

SPEAKER_03 1:46:26

Yeah, and this was an icy game, too.

SPEAKER_01 1:46:28

This should have been a Bills tundra game, but the Eagles came in and I'm sorry, this this game, this game had me so pissed. I and and Josh Allen, like he had it, that pass, if he would have just waited a tick sooner, it would have been completed for a two-point conversion win. But again, the scenarios, the way they were calling it, just everybody on that team, other than defense, needs to go apologize to defense.

SPEAKER_03 1:46:56

I think you should have I think you should have loaded up the line, threw a fullback in there, handed off to your run back, and everybody pile forward and push.

SPEAKER_01 1:47:06

Bro, they did that in the game.

SPEAKER_03 1:47:08

The point of the matter is they should have. Honestly, I think they should have called the field goal. But anyway, I digress. Huge loss for the Bills, big win for the Eagles. Uh, you know, I don't know what else to say, but we're gonna move on. We're running a little bit short on time here, so let's rock and roll. We're good on time. Just go. We're good on time. Sunday night football. Actually, I think this was the game of the week here. Bears versus 49ers. 49ers get a late win, 42-38, bringing the 49ers 12-4 into now a divisional and possibly conference leading matchup next week with the Seahawks, Bears maintaining 11-5.

Super Bowl Picks And Closing Thanks

SPEAKER_01 1:47:50

This game had my nerves. It had my nerves, bro. It was so back and forth the whole way. It was the only game, regular season in NFL history where the teams went 7-7, 14-14, 21-21, 28-28, 35-35. It was the only time, other than in the playoffs, because it's happened in the playoffs, it's the only time it's happened in regular season history. And and the 49ers got a great performance out of Brock Purdy, out of Brock Purdy, which and and CMC. So this was all around great job. And the defense, when they needed the most, with only four seconds left on the clock, came up with a big stop and chasing down Caleb Williams. And I'm telling you, like if he had just a split second more, he probably would have made the pass to one of his receivers because there's two receivers in the area. But because of one of the defenders rushing on him and basically spearing him, he uh but he kind of added to it. He kind of like dove backwards and kind of threw it as he's falling backwards, yeah, which aided in the throw being well short of the receivers. But man, what a what a time to come together, you know. But congratulations to the Niners because of this. Yes, like you said, next Saturday, they get a chance to go against the Seahawks for not only the division, but the number one seed.

SPEAKER_03 1:49:22

Yeah, just like mentioned before, yeah. Yeah, this conference, there's seeding implications here.

SPEAKER_01 1:49:29

This this basically would give them they wouldn't have to leave their house. They'd be staying in Santa Clara all the way to the Super Bowl if they could make it passed to the Super Bowl. They get the first round by game at their house. The rest of the world.

SPEAKER_03 1:49:43

That's honestly pretty good. And uh good luck to them. Good luck to them and the Bears, honestly, because both the 49ers of the Bears in their own rights have been having a very respectable good year in their own right.

SPEAKER_01 1:49:55

Is Kyle Shanahan the best coach this year? Given all they've been through, has he been the best coach?

SPEAKER_03 1:50:06

Look, I'm gonna say this is a homer. This is a homer. This is not a homer, no, this is a homer. Because the Bears absolutely blew balls last year. They didn't even, they weren't even in playoff talks last year. They're 11 and five. Add Ben Johnson, they're 11 and 5. That is coaching me. Y'all have been competitive for a while. No, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 1:50:25

Sir, you're missing the big picture here. Oh lord. No, seriously. I'm not with all the players that the Niners have lost due to injury, with all the players that are out this year, and all the players they had let go before the beginning of the year, for this team, which was supposed to be a throwaway year by most analysts, for them to come away and be 12-4 with the possibility of winning the division in the number one seed, you don't think that's coach of the year?

SPEAKER_03 1:50:58

I think Ben Johnson might be coach of the year at this point.

SPEAKER_01 1:51:02

He's had his team the entire year, dude.

SPEAKER_03 1:51:04

He's had his team.

SPEAKER_01 1:51:05

Well, he's had his not dealt with the number of injuries that that Shanahan has.

SPEAKER_03 1:51:09

But there's been other teams that dealt with injuries too. I mean, honestly, um what's his name in uh Carolina, Canales? He's probably, I think he's more of a coach. I'm not knocking Shanahan or the 49ers. They have historically been a competitive team. The years they haven't were anomalies, okay? Even under Shanahan. But I think there are other coaches that are in line to be actually head to actually be coach of the year.

SPEAKER_01 1:51:38

When you're starting seven rookies on one side of the ball, you don't think that's a coach of the year?

SPEAKER_03 1:51:46

I think Mike Vrabel's coach of the year, to be honest with you. I'm just gonna throw it out there.

SPEAKER_01 1:51:51

He's had a healthy team all year.

SPEAKER_03 1:51:54

Dude, you're you're talking about You're talking about a team that didn't even have six wins last year.

SPEAKER_01 1:51:58

He didn't have his starting quarterback for like five weeks out of this year.

SPEAKER_03 1:52:03

I agree, but Matt Jones is a quality backup. Mac Jones should be a starter somewhere in the NFL, and there's an argument for that. There's an argument.

SPEAKER_01 1:52:13

You basically have two starting quarterbacks on the roster. He did the same thing with Sam Darnold. The point of the matter is he's done so much with less. He didn't have Sam Darnold. Yes, he did. Sam Darnold was with the Niners before he went to the Vikings, and he did start a game for the Niners that year. Uh yeah, it's true. I forgot about that. But either way, the point of the matter is quarterbacks go there to get elevated and go elsewhere, which will probably happen this offseason.

SPEAKER_03 1:52:41

Brock Purdy definitely got elevated because Mr. Irrelevant, I would have never had him even in a playoff conversation. But Purdy has performed well under Shanahan. There's been a lot of it doesn't honestly matter what their level of skill is. Shanahan has gotten the most out of his players that he can get. I agree he's a very good coach. That's the reason the 49ers have kept him around. But I don't, but if we're giving, but we're talking about head coach of the year of 2025. I think he's in contention. I'm not saying he's not. I think he's a very good head coach and he should be in that contention of the year. But I don't think it's gonna be I don't think he gets it this year.

SPEAKER_01 1:53:21

You haven't had Kittle most of the year, you don't have Brandon Ayuk all year. Well CMCL. You don't have Ricky, Ricky Pearsall for most of the year. You don't have have your starting left tackle for some of the year as well. You lose Bosa, you lose Fred Warner, you've lost take a rotation on corners because they've been in and out all year. Both of your starting safeties at the beginning of the year were hurt and not playing. You lose your backup middle linebacker, both of them, at one point for entry, that you're bringing in Eric Kendricks to come play out of retirement, basically, and you're losing pass rushers left and right. Bro, how is that not a setup for coach of the year when you've got these other teams that you're mentioning that they've had their starters healthy all year?

SPEAKER_03 1:54:16

I mean, I suppose you do have a good point, but a lot of teams have dealt with injuries and have overcome them, okay?

SPEAKER_01 1:54:23

I mean, you guys have Name me name me another team that has lost their best pass rusher, their best middle linebacker, their best corner, their best safeties, and lost offensive linemen. I mean, all and lost your top receiver, and your second best receiver. I mean, come on.

SPEAKER_00 1:54:46

And your starting quarterback.

SPEAKER_03 1:54:47

The Patriots have no receivers except for Stephon Diggs, and now he's in other issues. Anyway, uh let's move on to the Monday night.

SPEAKER_01 1:54:56

At least you guys have household name players. Monday night game between the Falcons and Rams, with the Falcons pulling up the upset with the 27 to 24 victory, making them 7-9 on the season, and possibly playing spoilers to the Bucs next week.

SPEAKER_03 1:55:13

Another trap game that I had called. Does this change your view of Matt Stafford and his ability to hear what you say these are trap games?

SPEAKER_01 1:55:23

Or at least we got to get this in.

SPEAKER_03 1:55:25

No, this absolutely was a trap game to me because the Falcons have fielded one of the best defenses in the league. They also have been capable of not only scoring, but showing up during games, and I said this before, during games that they should have lost, they have shown up. This being one of them, 27 to 24. That's a field goal difference.

SPEAKER_01 1:55:45

Right, right. But they they did most of their scoring in the first half and kept, as you said, the defense kept the Rams down until the second half, where it was Rams mostly. But Terrell, their corner, made an amazing play late in the game when they were trying to come back and tie this. Made a great play against Puka on the sideline, where if you watched it real time, it looked like a catch. But after the two refs came together, said no, it's not a catch, because Terrell had planted his hand right on the wrist of Puka and shoved his wrist to where he lost control of the ball for a split second. So that way his feet were out of bounds when he regained control.

SPEAKER_03 1:56:25

Good heads-up play by the DB. I gotta say, but they were saying that could have been the catch of the year. Hey, I don't know. I don't know. I there's been a lot of good catches and plays. I don't know if that would have been the one, but I would have definitely put it in the top.

SPEAKER_01 1:56:41

It would have been a cat, it would have been an in for like a nominee for sure. Yeah. But not to be because it was not a catch. And I know people are arguing about also the 2-2 Atwell situation downfield where they were hand fighting back and forth, and it looked like Alfred kind of hooked his arm or grabbed his arm. But the ref saw them going downfield, you know, jacking in for position, hand checking each other the whole way. So this is no call.

SPEAKER_03 1:57:11

This is a game I'm glad to let the refs let the players play. All right. This is all part of my new things. Yeah, don't feel fair. You know, if if you're gonna overofficiate, that's what I call over-officiating. At that point, you're kind of pushing the game in one direction or the other. If you let the players play, you'll get a true outcome.

SPEAKER_01 1:57:30

Yeah, if you're looking for flags to help you win, you're screwed up as a team because you need to be sitting there winning it in the quarters before that. Because remember, they didn't score much in the first half.

SPEAKER_03 1:57:39

So But here, you want to talk briefly about playoffs? I know we gotta skip next week due to time constraints.

SPEAKER_01 1:57:46

No, no, we can hit we can hit net week next week game real quick. Net week. We can hit net week. Words are hard. Let's run through real quick. All right, so Saturday's slated games, we've got the Panthers and Bucks is the early game at 4 30. Playoff implications. Playoff implications. The Panthers don't need to win this in order to be in the playoffs. Because if the Buccaneers win and the Saints win, then the Panthers are in automatically because of divisional record and divisional record and other stuff pending on the city.

SPEAKER_03 1:58:16

It's weird that the Bucs can match their record and still not be in. Because normally it's the opposite. Normally, if you at least match the record, you're in. Well, yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:58:24

But typically, but this is a situation that's gonna be.

SPEAKER_03 1:58:35

How about the Panthers just go ahead and win this, and there's no more questions.

SPEAKER_01 1:58:38

Yeah, there's no more questions. The the late game on Saturday will be the Seahawks and 49ers, where this is gonna determine not only who wins the division, but it's also gonna determine who the number one seed is and who's gonna just be a wild card team. So for the 49ers, it's a big situation for them where if they can pull this off, not only will they get the number one seed, but everything goes through Santa Clara if they keep winning.

SPEAKER_03 1:59:02

This comes down to two things for me, okay? The Seahawks high-scoring offense versus the 49ers still relevant defense, okay?

SPEAKER_01 1:59:11

I think it's the number one thing that we need to watch in this game is the Seahawks pass rush against Purdy. Yes. Seeing how they can affect Purdy and get him moving out of the pocket or possibly flustering him. That's how you will win that game as from a Seahawks standpoint.

SPEAKER_03 1:59:27

Well, that, and I think the 49ers can deter the pass rush with the pass game, uh, and the short pass game as well. So I I think the 49ers can pull this off if they can keep the Seahawks in check. Uh going down to Sunday slated games, January 4th, Sunday, the day before my father's birthday. By the way, happy birthday, Dad. Happy early birthday.

SPEAKER_01 1:59:49

Uh Saints Falcons here. Uh this game really no impact as far as either team making the playoffs, but it does have playoff implications in a funny way. So, like we've already mentioned before, if the Saints win, sorry, Bucks, you ain't making it. If the Falcons win, you're still alive, Bucks. You got a chance. They gotta win, though.

SPEAKER_03 2:00:11

You gotta win. They gotta win. And it's hard. They're not Kyle Shanahan, but they're gonna try to be.

SPEAKER_01 2:00:18

So divisional game up next, it's the Browns and Bengals. Again, no playoff implications here, just pride. Teams are gonna play to see who if they can beat their divisional opponent. And you want to end this end of season on a high note?

SPEAKER_03 2:00:31

Um, I'm not gonna lie, I'm taking the Browns here. Shadur's got one last chance to show out. I think he's going to be.

SPEAKER_01 2:00:37

If they still had Jutkins, I would agree, but they don't have Jutkins, and it's looking like they might have fanning as well.

SPEAKER_03 2:00:42

Well, they they won without Jutkins and they partially won without partially fanning against the Steelers.

SPEAKER_01 2:00:48

Yeah, but they were without TK, so I'm not really counting that much in their favor. They just happen to play well in the world.

SPEAKER_03 2:00:54

The Steelers' defense is not what the Browns' defense is. You mean the Bengals? You said Steelers. I did say Steelers because the Steelers defense is not what the Browns defense, because I think the Bengals are gonna have trouble with the Browns defense. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:01:10

Gotcha. So moving on to the Colts and Texans, again, another divisional game, but Texans have pretty much already submitted their way into the playoffs, and the Colts, um, unfortunately, after a great start, you're not making the playoffs.

SPEAKER_03 2:01:23

Tough run, Colts. Shouldn't have let Rivers retire.

SPEAKER_01 2:01:27

I don't know about that. Moving into another divisional matchup between the Titans and Jaguars. Titans, uh, they're just playing for pride. Jaguars, they're trying to keep the winning pace if they can win and get tied up with the divisional with their trying to go for that number one seed. I think the Jaguars keep the pedal to the medal, they roll over the Titans. Yeah, if the Broncos lose, then the Jaguars will get the number one seed. Uh moving moving over into another divisional game, it doesn't really have impact for the playoffs so much, but the Packers at 9-6-1 are going against the Vikings at 8-8. Vikings season, it's over. They're not making the playoffs.

SPEAKER_03 2:02:07

No, but still look for the Vikings to win because the Packers are gonna wrest everybody. They're already in the playoffs.

SPEAKER_01 2:02:13

Possibly. Uh Cowboys, Giants, no impact of anything as far as playoffs are concerned, just a good divisional matchup. By the way, Zeke Elliott wants to come back.

SPEAKER_03 2:02:24

Just putting that out there. I didn't even know where he's on the team. He's not on the team, but he wants to come back to a team. Oh lord.

SPEAKER_01 2:02:34

Anyway, Jets and Bills. Bills better get right on this game. They need the they need the victory to go into the playoffs.

SPEAKER_03 2:02:40

If the Bills lose to the Jets, I am going to It's a divisional game. It is a divisional game. And the Jets historically have a very good defense despite how much mediocrity is going on in the front office. But the Bills better come away with this win, Mike.

SPEAKER_01 2:02:57

Lions going into a game against the Bears. Eight and eight Lions don't really have any playoff implications. Bears are pretty much going to win this division already. So it's not much impact if they win or not.

SPEAKER_03 2:03:07

This could go either way for me, because if Ben Johnson rests any of his starters, notably Caleb Williams, I think the Lions could squeak in there and get a last win, but like you say, won't have much impact. Doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_01 2:03:19

Now to a game that does have impact, the Chargers and Broncos, if the Chargers can pull off this win, it will it will bounce the Broncos out of the number one seed, giving it to the Jaguars and making everything go through the Jaguars Stadium instead of the Broncos Stadium in the playoffs. As far as like if the Jaguars keep moving on.

SPEAKER_03 2:03:38

I'm taking the Broncos here. They're healthier, they're stronger, and the Chargers, they're they're hanging on, but I don't I don't think they are what the Broncos are.

SPEAKER_01 2:03:47

Well, it is a divisional game, and the the Chargers have played their division pretty well. So I'm gonna I'm gonna wait and see what we can get out of the Chargers. Well, if they can if they can hold up, I I I really it depends on how how well the defense for the Chargers shows out, I believe. Because I the better quarterback, in my my opinion, is Herbert. And if they can give Herbert some protection and get their run game going.

SPEAKER_03 2:04:14

Look, this Broncos team is very good, and I think their defense is better than their offense. Oh, undoubtedly. And their offense is pretty explosive. But anyway, I digress.

SPEAKER_01 2:04:23

Moving on to the Cardinals and Rams. For the Cardinals means nothing for them other than divisional pride. Uh the Rams, it does mean something for them because based on how they finish out the season, it will determine where they are in the wild card. And believe me, for them, you don't want to have to go and face the Eagles in their house or face, you know, one of these other teams like the Panthers, who you lost to in their house. You want to face you want to have a soft landing spot.

SPEAKER_03 2:04:54

I think this is a walk-in win for the Rams.

SPEAKER_01 2:04:57

I don't think the Cardinals are gonna do much. So depending on how they fare, they could wind up playing playing either the Bears or the Eagles. And I you don't want that.

SPEAKER_03 2:05:07

I think I think they'll end up probably against the Eagles, but I still think they get the win against the Cards.

SPEAKER_01 2:05:14

So Chiefs and Raiders, really, right now, the Chiefs have to just say roll over and lose this game so you can secure that number one pick, unless the Chiefs want to play the ultimate destroyer of hope and allow the Raiders to win this game so they don't have the number one pick. I don't even care who wins this game, and I'm not even gonna try to guess. Moving on to the another divisional game between the Dolphins and Patriots, with undoubtedly the Patriots are gonna come away with this win because the Dolphins. The Dolphins, although they've had streaks of being hot, I just don't see it happening.

SPEAKER_03 2:05:46

Can't say I disagree, but I would love to see a Dolphins win here.

SPEAKER_01 2:05:49

And for the game that would be most surprising and awesome. Ravens vs. Steelers. No, Washington Commanders against the Eagles. If the Washington Commanders are to come away with this victory, that would just be the ultimate slap to the face to the Eagles going into the playoffs. No contest. Ravens Steelers. Ravens Steelers to find out who the division winner is. With the Ravens being eight and eight, Steelers being nine and seven. Winner of this takes the division, goes to the playoffs, loser goes home.

SPEAKER_03 2:06:19

This might not be the best matchup, but this might be the sweetest matchup. This is your sweet-tooth matchup of the week. We're going to start doing that, Mike. That's your Sunday. That's your Sunday. That's your sweet-tooth matchup. I think that could go either way, depending on which version of Lamar Jackson they get to come out.

SPEAKER_01 2:06:38

So right now, as it stands, the four seeds are the ones in question, as we already stated with the Steelers and Ravens in the AFC and the Panthers and Bucks in the NFC. That will decide who's going to be the four seed. And being the four seed, you will take on whoever the top seed is for playoff position.

SPEAKER_03 2:06:58

Of these seeds, including on the bubble, who you think is making the Super Bowl, AFC, NFC, you pick? Who's your prediction?

SPEAKER_01 2:07:08

For who's going to make it from each side? Yeah, who's going to make it from each side? Who's going all the way? Ooh, that's that's tough to say. Uh, right now, the most complete team I feel like on the AFC side is the Patriots. Although at times I do feel like their defense can be a little suspect, but you can't argue with the production you're getting out of Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars. The Texans defense has looked amazing, but they got to get their offense going as much as they are uh on the defensive side. Broncos, I just the inconsistency on offense worries me. Coming over to the NFC side, I mean you can't really argue with the Rams' ability to score, but their defense at times being shaky and giving up a lot of points is not really great. And the Seahawks, like if they can keep their offense rolling and keep the turnovers down, you can't really argue with how well their defense is playing and how great they are looking when their offense is clicking.

SPEAKER_03 2:08:18

Yeah. If you ask me, I think the best potential is in the top two seeds already on each side. I think you either go see the Broncos, the Patriots, or the Seahawks and the Bears. Uh, I'm leaning a little more toward the Patriots because they their offense has been absolutely explosive. I don't know what they're doing, but they're doing it. I'd love to see the Broncos make it. Uh, I think the Seahawks could edge the Bears out, but there's a chance that I think the Bears could upset the Seahawks and make it into the big game.

SPEAKER_01 2:08:47

But let's not forget, we've had wildcard teams go all the way to the Super Bowl and win before.

SPEAKER_03 2:08:52

We have, in fact. And I could see the Chargers going. I think the Bills are running a little bit lean right now.

SPEAKER_01 2:08:58

I mean, the Bills, depending on what happens with these other teams, you know, the Bills could move all the way up from the seven seed, which they are currently in, all the way up to the five, you know, with the Texans loss and a Chargers loss. Yeah. And that's putting them in great position because in the five seed, they would place the four seed, which the four seed would be the Ravens or Steelers.

SPEAKER_03 2:09:19

Once the Bills get to the playoffs, they have got to play competent football all the time. They haven't done that on the second half of the season. If they can do that, I think they can get to the big game, but I think they have a big task ahead of them with the Broncos, the Jaguars, and the Patriots all being ahead of them in the in the seeds right now.

SPEAKER_01 2:09:37

So with that, with that Rams loss, the best they can do is the six or seven seeds. So they can't even get into the fifth seed spot. So we're looking at a situation where that loss against the Falcons really screwed them.

SPEAKER_03 2:09:50

Yeah. But, you know, I I think it's an interesting playoff bracket. We'll see how it shakes out in the final week with the last couple teams making it in. Uh we're gonna go ahead and wrap up this evening. Thank you everybody for listening to us. Uh, thank you once again to our sponsors and partners, Body by D Gym, Solace Outfitters, and The Giving Tree. The Giving Tree Chiropractic. So sorry, mind blank, my notes are not in front of me. It's okay. We have some more stuff to go over next week, didn't quite get to this week, but I think we had a relatively good episode. Uh thank you everybody for listening to us. Wishing you all a happy new year, and we will see you on the other side in 2026 for the final time in 2025. I'm Brian with an eye. And I'm Mike, and we are two for the win. Thanks, everybody.