The around the NFL podcast. Congratulates Dan on his honorary doctorate in philanthropy from Tulane University. Thank you. That one. Greg, I understand that might annoy you. Tulane now. Oh, no.

I'm glad that you're mentioned in the Green Wave on the eve of their AAC championship appearance. Everyone watched that this week. Take one.

Sure. From the Chris Wesling Podcast studio. It's around the NFL. Yes. I am Dan Hanzis. I will be speaking at Tulane later this spring. Greg Rosenthal, a graduate. He might accompany me. We might have a trip down to Nola together. And Mark Sessler. It is the week. My goodness. 13 Preview Episode How It Flies mark.

We'Ve got that honorary football that you received citing philanthropic nature right over there at the window. And you and I walked by the window and it is very visible. Your name goes through the window and there's a lot of tour groups of students that come by this studio and they're going to just think more highly of you than they already do.

I thought of going on Amazon and getting one of those. You plug it in, it's an arrow. That's like pointing at the ball and blinking. But I don't know, that's a cost concern. If it's manageable financially, I might just.

Do I mean, you went on and on know, having all this being done in secret and quiet, a glowing arrow.

Is sort of well, now that it's out there.

Have you heard from any listener who knows how we got this ball?

Nobody knows. Nobody knows. But one day maybe we'll get to the bottom of it. Or maybe I did do something and I just don't know it. So you have to factor in everything here.

Yeah.

Spread a wide net with your good doing.

Okay.

It's like Fight Club except your other identity is doing good deeds for young business groups.

Is it business groups? Okay. All right. So we got so much to get to. This is a big week and we kind of tease this week as the beginning, obviously, of the end of the regular season. And there's so much at stake and so much more to learn about these teams. And it all kind of starts right here with game. It's not a killer slate. The primetime games. There's a great primetime game. There's a great late game. The slate itself, not great, but we're going to learn we're going to learn more about our league by Sunday night. So let's talk about these games. So let's start with one of those stellar games on the schedule, a game that didn't look like it was going to be anything to get excited about just a few weeks ago. But things have changed. The packers have changed. Coming off a great Thursday Thanksgiving performance against the Lions in Detroit. A really thorough win, and their young quarterback Jordan Love is playing at a much higher level. They get the Chiefs now at home and Mark, the chiefs are in some ways a mysterious team, at least on one side of the ball.

We're still trying to figure out if we could trust the Patrick Mahomes Reed side of it, which is crazy, but it's the defensive side that we are pretty confident in being one of the very best in the league. Big challenge here for love. I think we're going to learn a lot about the packers in this game.

The packers to me, are I came into the season intrigued by them just because of the nature of having an entirely new quarterback. And then I thought, well, this Jordan Lund thing doesn't look so hot.

Right? We talked about this. Like I asked you specifically, it hasn't worked out as we planned. And then they just started winning and he started playing at a high level.

I thought, what happened on Thanksgiving and the way that they came out, just firing the ball and Matt LaFleur cooking up, I thought his best coaching effort that I've really ever seen from him. Just the way that this team with its young parts around Jordan Love all kind of growing up together, creates a fascinating matchup for Kansas City, who I think on defense because we're always focused on Mahomes and he's thrown only two deep touchdowns in the last two seasons. What's going on with their offense? But it's like the Steve Spagnolo defense has been something you can count on week after week. And, like, I just think the way there's an element to consistency of he's been there for so long, but guys like Chris Jones playing the way he should, george Carloftus, but Trent McDuffie, for instance, like leading the league in forced fumbles and being used all over the field and creating havoc for quarterbacks. It's in Green Bay. I love that for the packers. But Jordan Love is going to face a real test here, and if he can hang with what the Chiefs do on offense, it's another big step for a team in Green Bay that I think really has a good chance to make the playoffs.

Right. It's a young team, the youngest offense playing a veteran defense. And when I think veteran, yes, they have a lot of young players throughout the defense in the secondary, but there's great continuity. They've been together for a while, and the coach has been there for a while. And I think back to the last time these two teams played, and it was Jordan Love's first ever start, and there was this great fascination, wow, what is this going to look like? Aaron Rodgers is hurt. Jordan Love's going to come in. He's going to make his first ever start. And it was just kind of like there. It wasn't terrible, but they didn't let him cook too much. And this Jordan Love, to me, two years later, has shown a lot of progress. I think he looks like an NFL quarterback now. He might be a little up and down as an NFL quarterback. But the thing I like are his eyes. Like, his eyes are very often in the right place. He goes through his progressions. He goes one, two, then he runs. He doesn't run enough. I would say, like, I would like him to see his athleticism, but the decision making, I've said all along is pretty good.

A couple of weeks ago, I thought he was turning the corner. And now you're seeing a little bit of the athleticism and the actual execution along with the decision making. So it's going to be tough. You got Jaden Reed, who's been a little out of practice. You got Christian Watson playing like this is a nice young group of receivers. I think they have a better young group of receivers than the Chiefs. I was thinking like, man, if Patrick Mahomes had Jaden Reed and he'd probably know what to do with Watson and Dobbs. Like, they've got three Rashee Rice's, like of equal value, whereas you got only one Rashid Rice on the pack, on the Chiefs, rather.

Yeah. I'm really interested to see as again, we talked about what matters in the last five weeks. You could definitely say that about the Chiefs and their offense as well. And part of me thinks, and maybe this is just kind of reflexive after years and years of greatness, that we might still see a good run to the finish line for this offense and they're going to figure some things out. And Rice will continue to rise and Kelsey will kind of hit that extra gear and all of a sudden, Mahomes, instead of throwing two touchdowns a game and being human looking, all of a sudden they're putting up multiple points a game because they like 30 point games, because it's all kind of there still, including a running game. So I think this is a spot where you could see it in prime time in Green Bay. I would not be surprised if you do get a big packers offensive performance. And if it does, I like the Chiefs a lot in this game, I guess I'll put it that way, that I do see them kind of figuring some things out. You saw pieces of that last week, their ability to kind of get things going in the second half, which had been an issue.

I think they're going to figure this out and we're going to look at them come January in the playoffs as the Chiefs that we know.

Yeah, I think the Rashid Rice development is big because next gen stats from all sorts of angles tells you this is a different offense than what we could rely on in the past. They don't have that explosive downfield element. I mean, they've been plagued, know, poor wide receiver play. If Rice can provide that, like what he did last week, which is sort of a I bet the best version of him, we've seen this like that changes things. And I think there's a little bit of question about if Travis Kelsey is still premier. Travis Kelsey at this point in the year, if he's a little banged up, but they can run the ball in a way that they couldn't in the past.

And I like that they know what they have in Pacheco and they used them more in the receiving game last week. I think that was important. And I think McKinnon might be out for this week, too, because he's one of their only playmakers on offense. Rice is another one. But Rice is kind of limited. I went through that game and was hoping know, we're going to see the way they use Rice. And a lot of it was just second reaction plays where he's kind of Kelsey, who that's great that Mahomes is going to find on these crossing routes and some quick screens, but he doesn't go out and run routes really well or anything. Jaden Reed to me, he's a really good slot receiver as a rookie. Romeo Dobbs can do different things like rice is explosive, get him the ball in space. He can make plays, but he's a little limited to be a number one type of receiver. The Chiefs, by the way, are favored by six in this game. That's rich. And the over under is 42 and a half, relatively low. Man. I love the packers. Easy to say now, getting seven and a half last week against the Lions.

And I think six is too much, too. I think this might be the hardest game the chiefs have left on the schedule. If they win this, they might keep winning. I think the packers got a chance to win this thing. Yeah.

Call it a hunch. Rashad hunches have been off this year, but I just feel good about Kansas City.

The Six feel a little absurd considering what we've seen from Green Bay in green Bay over the last couple of weeks.

Absurd is strong. I mean, are we now seeing Green Bay as one of the top teams in the know? They're on a nice little heater and the quarterback's playing well and for all that. I don't want to take anything away from them. I just am not ready.

Seems a little bit of a slap.

In the face for the Chiefs struggle offensively like efficiency wise, success rate, all that stuff. They're still like a top ten offense. It's not like they are offense, but that I hear.

What you also like, Mahomes, is, you could say, the greatest quarterback ever. And he's currently on pace for the worst yards per game, passing yards per attempt, touchdown, interception ratio, passer rating, all the lowest since he became a starter. So this obviously has been a difficult year for them so far. By their lofty standard.

Rashawn Gary is just having a crazy good season that hasn't totally shown up. But him versus Donovan Smith or Juwan Taylor, I think the Chiefs are a little vulnerable there. And Kenny Clark finally had a big game last week, so that's something to watch. If he gets a lot of heat on Mahomes.

Yeah, Checko could end up crossing, like, 1300 yards from Scrimmage. He looks really good all there, and yet they're averaging 23 points a game.

Greg, the league the league is not the same offensively. They're a good example.

All right, let's move to Monday Night Football, where the Bengals and Jaguars will do battle.

It's just depressing.

Damn.

No, Joe Burrow. Of course it is. Jake Browning, and they are if you want to talk yourself into this game, it's basically winner done for the Bengals at this point. If they go to five and seven, you could basically fold up the tent, because they're not going to win out. And the Jaguars, I think it's greg, for me, building on what you saw from their offense last week against the Texans, building on Lawrence, starting to come out of his shell a little bit, and do they have a surge in them down the stretch?

I think they do. And I look at the line eight and a half for the Jaguars, and I just think, man, how valuable quarterbacks are to this league, that we're too valuable. They're too valuable. Because I'll be doing this. Game on channel five. If you want to watch it in the UK. It's like, this would have been one of the best Monday Night Football games of the year. Would have been so exciting. And now it's eight and a half, and that seems fine, because I actually think with Joe Burrow, Jaguars Bengals is pretty even based on the weaknesses, the relative strengths and everything. And I do love what I saw out of Lawrence last week. I don't think I gave him enough credit on the recap show. Some of those big time throws he had against the Texans were fantastic. And the thing I loved is what we've been asking for. Let's see the special throws from Lawrence the last two weeks. They've absolutely changed their strategy. They're throwing the ball down the field more. They're doing more play action. They're more creative. They're more aggressive, and there's a little more variance. He misses some throws.

That's fine. No one's perfect, but the pluses have far outweighed the negatives. And this is the type of Jaguars team I think, okay, you can win some games in the playoffs.

They're set up well because the Bengals issues at this stage in the season, I mean, they're obviously cooked from every angle without Joe Burrow, but even we're Burrow there. Their defense is not what we've thought they've been in the past. There is a crazy stat out there that the AFC North has existed for 22 years with those four teams aligned that way. Of the 88 combined seasons of those four teams, the current Bengals run defense ranks 80 eigth out of 88 in rushing yards allowed yards per carry, 81st out of 88. Defensive rushing success rate, 77th out of 88. So you can run on them. And that isn't so much, maybe a huge factor in this game. I'm sure Fctn is an ETN game, absolutely. But secondly, they can't run the ball either. I think mixed in last week, had 16 carries off, 16 yards off, eight carries. So on both sides of the ball, you've got an inexperienced Jake Browning sitting out there with everyone around him, not able to support him in the run game. And you know, just what I hate about this Bengals season right now. It's like you've essentially lost not just Joe Burrow's season, but Chase, like Higgins, everyone else around him, like it's a lost campaign, and it is a Depressing Island affair.

Jake Browning, to the point we were making at the top of this particular conversation in week twelve, became the 50th starting quarterback in the NFL this season. That's a lot. And it also gets at the point when people get mad about there's too many rules protecting the quarterback. Oh, make it flag football, or Mark, you'll be like, oh, put him in a skirt, which is I do say that every Sunday. I'm saying that highly retrograde commentary, but this is why. Because we don't need 50 starting quarterbacks. But the thing is, Greggy, the players are bigger and faster and stronger than ever, and there's just no way to really protect these guys because they are naturally in a vulnerable position back there.

Right? The wrist injuries, him falling on a sack, that there's only so much you can do. It's just a bummer because Jake Brown, he's going to try to make some plays. He held the ball quite a bit last week. I thought there were moments I was like, oh, he kind of looks like an NFL quarterback, but I think he's going to be the backup type that tries to make plays. And so they might be a week that they pop and that they're okay. I doubt this is that week, but I think there's also going to be some weeks, and last week was pretty close to it, where he's just killing them, and he was not that guy. And their tackles, you keep pointing out, too. I really think Burrow was propping up a flawed team that was not going to get where they wanted to go. Their tackles, I agree with that, are bad on the edges in terms of their pass protection. Orlando Brown has not really played well on the other side. Their longtime veterans been average, and his percentage of pressures that he gives up now, he has to go against Josh Allen, who we'll hear a lot.

I just can guarantee Monday nights, like, not a lot of people talk about Josh Allen for just that's the only thing people say about Josh Allen. So we're talking about him. He's been fantastic. Maybe the best contract year of anyone in the entire NFL.

Eric, do we have time for another edition of another segment on the show?

What is this going to be? Browning be talking. It's time for the latest edition of Dan's Media Minute.

I don't remember the script, but hopefully that works. That sounds right. I don't need and listen, we're all dealing with all these starting quarterbacks this year and all these backups playing right, but I don't need and I believe it was on ESPN, but it's not a shot at ESPN because we do it. Obviously the major networks do it, these pregame shows. Okay. We don't have Joe Burrow, but Jake Browning's here. So we're going to do a fawning feature on Jake Browning and how awesome he was in high school. Oh, Jake Browning set every record ever at his high school. And, man, in college, he had a lot of success, too. And it's like no, I mean, this is the NFL, though, so the fact that he threw 400 touchdowns in high school is not going to hype me up to think that the Bengals are going to be okay with a deep, deep, upper deck level quarterback now playing in the front row. I just want to say tone down wow. Tone down the fireworks about these deep backups. We don't need to dress it up and make it seem like every guy's going to be Kurt Warner, because there's really only one Kurt Warner, and that's.

It'S really fair, I would imagine. Good app.

That was a good app.

It was a good app.

It's very neat.

Yeah.

I was like, I have not seen.

One of these profiles I watched on Sunday morning.

People will be listening to this in about seven or 8 hours. There'll probably be some television producers out that have already cooked up this segment, and maybe they back the truck up and remove it from the rundown.

Tough spot.

Yeah.

Here's my move. Here's my move.

ESPN headquarters. There's scrambly hands. This is on to us. We got to pivot. We got it audible.

The other move, which I've found to be successful, is like Hard Ghosting pregame shows entirely. So if it happens, I never know what happened.

Right. But for the people that do watch it and the producers that make the content, just know that you were just on the Media Minute, I'll give you.

One more other little media nugget.

Do you want to wow.

It's not a minute. It's just a little NUG. Okay, but I want to put this up on screen because go ahead. Our friend Spice Rack and our picks have been just absolutely out of this world. But if you look at the top right there, look at Spice Rack's prediction for the Bengals here.

Wow, you've got a 33. This is an audio medium, a 33 nothing victory for the last week. He backwards. And you keep saying you guys are on fire. It's tight, it's great. They list ten people that are predicting and they put the top five in there. I guess they don't want to make anyone feel bad to point out who's 6789. But you're not in the top five.

Well, no totally acknowledge that. And we discussed this on our text thread with Spice. It's like it's a comeback story. He was brought in during an era of up and down. Every week I do pick five over.

He is the Chris Tabor to your Frank Reich.

And you did I'm not just to make it clear I'm still in the organization. Just to make it clear, you did make one change to his picks last week as was what?

That's been our only loss.

The Browns I picked.

A lot of the data is conflicting with reality. Yes.

The producer I sent it to said that it's the most entertaining portion of his week because they're written on paper and he thinks we've got great promise.

That sounds entertaining. Someone.

Spice rack's blowing up too.

I'm just saying if I'm going to be getting personal texts about this and it's in the show as well, you were outraged. You guys at least do something in this competition.

Get to the top five out of ten. It's only been pretty low bar three weeks, so pretty low bar.

You know, I love this segment, but it's got to sing with winners. You guys got to be winners.

If we crack top five, I'm allowed to text you three.

How about top three?

Top five.

Can we get a bronze medal out of this?

Top five text.

All right.

Five out of ten.

All right. Let's take a break and then we will get into the draft. All right. We are back. And yes, with the primetime games off our plate, let's move to the draft. And it's time now for the first overall pick presented by DraftKings and Gregy. You are on the clock.

Yeah. I am taking the game of the week. One of the most exciting games of the year. The 49 ers favorite by three bang in Philadelphia.

The sharks get it. They understand what's going on.

Kyle Shanahan says I don't understand that they actually asked him about it because the players are all talking and Debo Samuel saying James Bradbury's trash. I like that we need a little more of that. Literally saying, this guy's trash.

I suck.

There's a lot of elements of that in this game.

Like a pro Bowler who's had made a lot of money in his career. James Bradbury's had a pro. He's trash.

It is funny how it shifts the vernacular through the years because when we were coming of age, it was, oh, that guy sucks.

Now it's like, that guy's, they were trash.

They were mad trash is like I.

Think I like it more. It's a little more for a little propane in retrospect sucks.

I agree. My kids and young kids retrograde mark and I'm like, why is this allowed in some other words are not I'm worried about the Eagles in this game. Now, maybe everyone's going to be on the 49 Ers, and when that happens and it's two good teams, that's usually a bad sign for the consensus. And the consensus will be on the 49 Ers. I am consensus, but it just feels like they've been tilting towards this loss for a while. And one thing I've been very focused on this year is the extra rest. And the 49 Ers got that four days of extra rest. Teams with extra rest, they overperform in terms of the spread and everything else, exceptionally, it makes a really big difference. But on top of that, it's long been my corner when you have so many snaps the week before, and we know that the Eagles played an overtime, not only that corner with Rosenthal, not only that they were on the field that whole game. Defensively, I think it matters more for defense than offense. 95 snaps for the defensive backs of the Eagles, 95. That's two games. 80 plus for Reddick, 76 for Jalen Carter career high.

62 for Jordan Davis career high. They've had injuries there. Fletcher Cox is out of practice this week. Still, Milton Williams. And on the other side, it's like the DBS for the 49 Ers played at 60 snaps. The defensive lineman played 30 40 snaps last week. And you look at Nick Bosa, and he's peaking right now, 18 pressures. And Javon Hargrave, he's got the revenge game angle. And I just think up front, they're fresher and the game matters more to them, not just because they feel like they owe the Eagles one from a year ago, but because of where they are right now in the season. And I do think there's something that matters when that comes to it, that the Eagles are going to be up for this game, of course, but they've just had a lot going on this season that I feel like right now the 49 Ers are the better team and they're the fresher team.

I think the snap count thing, I would kind of shrug that off in September. It matters now. And they've been through a gauntlet. I mean, the Eagles, and it's like it feels like they've been like the game of the week, week after week. And to me, though, they're like the reverse Bills, because to sneak the win, to go win that game last week, it's not that you're playing with house money, but it's like you're just getting closer and closer to that totally important number one seed. It matters so much to me this game's in Philly, but I also just look at the way that Eagles have won because they've been imperfect, and it's like I'm kind of over this comparison between the 210 and one Eagles operations last year and this year because I kind of like what they're showing me. They've been out. Like there's something not to like. They've been out gained by 90 plus yards each of their last four wins. They found a way to win those games. They've been five and o when trailing at halftime. That speaks to me about who they are as a team. And Hertz has won five straight games when trailing by ten plus points.

So I guess you're getting crazy.

It is.

You're getting this version of the Niners, though, who are all healthy. When they're operating, they're all healthy. It's like certain guys kind of can disappear. We saw Debo was out for a bit. He can disappear for a game. And then Brandon Iuke blows up. Or George Kittle blows up. Eagles have a really good run defense. So if it's not a Christian McCaffrey all star showing, someone else is going to do it. But I do trust the Eagles just to find their way. If they get off to a slow start, they're the team I trust to get back into a game because we've seen it over and over.

Absolutely. I mean, there's no deficit that takes them out of the game. Well, maybe this will be different, this game. I think they've been living dangerously for weeks, as you're pointing out. And I just feel like this could be a bit of a maybe not a bad thing. Like if the niners go into Philly and they play as well as we think they have a chance to play here and kind of spank the Eagles a little bit, to me, it would be a thing that would be surprising, but it wouldn't be shocking. It would be kind of like, okay, the eagles have not been playing in top form, but winning. Here comes an elite team that, by the way, needs this game if they have any chance of getting the number one seed in the NFC. And they know that. And Kyle shanahan is pounding that into their heads. And they're also by the very, very upset, the niners about how last season ended. They're bitter about it, openly bitter. I would be, too. They were a absolute freight train going into the NFC title game and then they lost all their quarterbacks, which, by the way, Hassan reddick this week talked about that and he's kind of sick of hearing that because he feels like the niners use that as a crutch.

A little bit talk is know they get to come back in the link. It was a lot of boohoo's last year, a lot of crying, a lot of what if, a lot of this, a lot of that. They get a chance to come back in here, line that up and prove it again. All right, Greg, I'm going to hit you with one of your greg isms there. And that was, by the way, sports radio 94 whip. Two things can be true. They could be boohoo and speaking out about how bum they were and they felt like they got robbed, the niners, and it. Could also be like the Eagles, like we don't care. We just played the team that was there and you shouldn't complain about it. So I like that. There's a little more kind of bad blood there, you think, potentially. And it's going to be Mark, your boy purdy. I think it's a big purdy game here in a big test. And Greg, as the Bills proved last week, I don't think there's any reason why Purdy can't eat a little bit here.

I totally agree. You look at the matchups on the outside, these cornerbacks. I thought Bradbury had his best game of the season last week, by the way, so he's had a rough go. But Slay's playing a little better. But the cornerbacks have struggled. The middle of the field has struggled. And Kyle Shanahan loves just circling those linebackers and eating them. Your food, your food. We're going to eat you with Kittle and Debo and we all animals. The two man game. And, oh, by the way, Zach Cunningham's out of practice. They're already short. Nakobe dean. They might be Shaq Leonard. No, no.

Although actually do it. I would.

I like the Eagles too much to lock against them. But it's probably going to be Christian Ellis and Nick Morrow. And so I agree. I think it can be a big purdy game. He has played fantastic the last couple of weeks. And on the other side, to me, the only reason I wouldn't lock it and I do think that the 49 ers will win and cover is Hertz. Is there's something just special about him. And they're taking on the personality of Hertz and Devanta and AJ. Brown. That's where the weakness of this entire 49 ers roster is, is that cornerback. And so if you told me they both go for 125 and this game's in the it's just whoever has the last ball wins, that would not shock me.

I would lock up the Niners in this game because I love them in this game. However, I'm like Mac Jones, right? Like I'm not in the picks competition. I'm not good, but I'm not as bad as I look right now. But my confidence is shot so I'm going to stay away.

Well, I mean, Mac Jones is as bad as he looks at this point. But deep within you're saying, yeah, deep.

Within I am going to do it.

Oh, because I'm so far out of this race. But I'm going the niners. I just have a feeling like and everything I just said about the Eagles can still be true even if they get nipped in this game.

I like this lock.

I just think it's like, well, first of all, it's for the show.

How they got to do it again, I love this lock. I don't know.

Come join me.

You can come join.

I need this lock. And yet I must walk away from this lock. I'm Mac Jones throwing up moonballs on out routes right now because I just don't trust what you see or feel.

I like this over under of 47. I like my record here at six.

And six, five and seven. Wait, I'm behind Cestog? I thought we were tied and both lost last, too. What are we doing over there?

What are you doing back there? I like what you're doing. I like what you're doing over there. The graphics on this show made a mistake that was corrected by the lock it up website. All along, Mark had been, I believe, up.

Okay, well, that feels uncomfortable because we've formed a comfortable union in the past.

I have a plan that will probably get me even in the stand.

Mark. It was weird. Mark just like, huge fist bump. Like, yeah, third, baby.

Well, like, off, you know, taking a swipe at me.

And the Westling brothers are just two games behind Greg. They're our only hope, people. All right, all right.

Second pick.

Good 1. Second pick is know. I was starting to panic as I was scanning down. I was like, there's nothing here. There's a lot of, uh but there is one game that, again, another one a few weeks back would have had no interest in, but I love it. Now the Denver Broncos traveling to Houston to take on the Texans. I think it's also the most underrated announcing team for CBS. Iron Eagle charles Davis, our buddy CD, and Evan Washburn, who is money on the sideline. And he's got that Patrick bateman look where it's just like, good looking guy, got everything together. What's really going on?

Yes, I'm more than we know.

Aren't you often wondering what's going on?

More than we could like, hey, CD. Is like, hey, Evan, you want to go grab a beer after? He's like, no, I got some movies to return. I gotta go return my movies.

Well, I'm not insinuating that he's a serial killer, but he might have videotapes to return whenever you want to hang out with him. And then it becomes like, well, where is he going? Right?

Good observation.

Here's a good observation. CJ. Stroud is good. Tank dell good. Whoa. Even in a loss even in a loss last week against the Jags and a tough loss at that. They were flashing again, and they've become now kind of appointment television in terms of you want to see how this continues. And yet it's like the team that interests me more right now is the Denver Broncos. The Denver Broncos, a team that I had written off like the rest of us. I mean, we forked them, and we're in a lot of trouble there. Greg's going to be opening up his checkbook again. Tough search, but they have won five straight games. And now if they could beat the know there's playoff ramifications here, big ones, that puts them in the driver's seat for a wild card spot, and it puts the Texans in a tough spot. Would drop them down to 500. So will they keep it up. And, Gregy, I have to say, you are and I mean this sincerely, a gifted analyst. You're very good at this, and I think Greg performs a vital role to this show with his football acumen. Just your love of the game, your knowledge of the game, your passion for it.

I like this where we going here.

Making me feel uncomfortable.

I believe you have a dual blind spot in your analysis that's connected. There's connective tissue. It's Gino Smith right now, and it's Russell Wilson, because they are tied together for don't think I think you're kind of looking at Gino with rose colored glasses, and you're kind of doing the opposite with Russ.

You know who Nick Shook has ranked higher in the QB index?

Who?

Gino Smith.

Okay, but listen, russ Wilson is playing a role here in this five game winning streak and making plays week after week with his legs, which is back in a part of his game and making money throws. He is the best red zone quarterback in football this season, Greg, and every week he's making a big time throw or three.

He's extremely confusing. I'm with you because what about my general overall take? Well, I double blind spot all the compliments. Great analysts. Yeah, that was great. Yeah, I was double blundered up with that.

You kind of walked Greg into a trap there a little bit.

You did. Again shook has Gino higher? I think I'm seeing things with Gino this year. He's been fine. He hasn't really been much different. Russell Wilson, you might have a point. So I actually looked into it this week, too, because I was like, what am I missing here? Because when you look at his stats, it's kind of crazy. His yards per attempt, down significantly from last year.

Right.

Yards per completion, down significantly from last year.

Different offense, different coordinators.

Sure. Sack rate still sky high. Still one of the highest in the league. Fumbles higher, actually. Again, one of the highest in league. So there are some downsides. But he leads the league in an interception percentage in terms of preventing turnovers. In terms of the interception. He's been great inside the red zone. He's running better lately. The completion percentage is obviously up. And he's been money late in games when they've needed him to be.

He's been a smart quarterback. He really has. And eight touchdowns, too. Yeah, they are a good team. Eight touchdowns, zero interceptions in these last five games. Always.

This game interests me, though, because of you compare the two quarterbacks, and it's like, I think they got to meet a little in the middle here. The Texans are asking CJ. Stroud to do more than whatever veteran, 13 year veteran Russell Wilson is being asked to do with Denver. Isn't that kind of crazy?

Yeah.

And I feel like Stroud is now maybe doing a little too much and I think slowly they're asking Russell Wilson to do a little bit more. Last week the running game was certainly part of it, and Sean Payton said that. But I think for them to get to where they want to go, he's got to be a little more dynamic. They got to have a little more throws down the field more consistently. And Stroud needs a little more help. So it's some meeting in the middle. It is kind of crazy that Stroud is a bigger part of their offense than Russell Wilson.

Here's the weird thing. Like, Devin Singletary has really stepped up in these last few weeks.

He's got good wide receivers around him.

Well, but he's I mean, give me some consistency.

He had a couple of big plays.

Though, last week as a receiver, but.

They nearly scored twice.

Zero running game from them last week between him and Peter.

But he's averaged 117 scrimmage yards the last three weeks. The previous two weeks were bigger. But you're saying beyond that and Tank, they need somebody else to step up.

Let me ask you a question, though, because I have no problem with shroud just winging it the way he has and throwing the ball as much and he's an MVP candidate. Are you saying you want him used differently? Like the way using him in the passing game?

I mean, more you need a running game. They were god awful again last week. So that's know they had those couple good weeks. But their defense gets him some turnovers like they've been getting for Russell Wilson. And last week especially, he kind of was doing the Aaron Rodgers did know where he was. Just going back there and trying to make a play. There wasn't much in rhythm, which is part of what I liked about Stroud.

That's all.

It's so interesting, like in a sliding door situation where I thought, like, Nick Casario's butt was on fire about a year ago and it's like now no one talks about him because he picked the right quarterback and a bunch of other things worked out and he's faded into the distance as someone weighing about that. Well, that's what I'm saying.

Funny how it works.

It's in reverse.

And then where we were with Russell Wilson a year ago, I don't know. I guess Russell Wilson is kind of like a comeback Player of the Year candidate right now just because of how dark and how far away and how close it looked like his career was just over to what we're seeing now. And also the Broncos in general going from like Sean Payton terrible zero Q rating to like, oh, Sean Payton eviscerated Nathaniel Hackett and now he's carmack return is he's won five straight games.

We have fun with Russell Wilson. Do we have any Russell Wilson sound fun? What does it say on that wall upstairs in front? Let's ride, baby. And he is kind of in some ways and I mean know broncos orange. Let's ride. I don't mean this in a mean way. He's kind of a ridiculous person, okay. But he also his power of positivity and his utter belief in self and the idea of sticking to a plan and all this stuff that positive affirmation, all that stuff. I think that Russ Wilson it has helped him flush last year where some other quarterbacks, like Mac Jones for instance, although different circumstances but still can be ruined by a year. As bad as last year was, I think his kind of mentality helped him move away from that at a time where not only was he coming off his worst year and had become kind of a punchline, it was a new head coach who immediately brought in a new backup quarterback and this general vibe that he was a dead man walking on this team. He feels pretty entrenched now with Sean Payton. Yeah.

He mean. The Russell Wilson experience is absolutely not for everyone. There's things he says that feel kind of like disconnected from reality. He is a religious person and he talked literally this past week about having this self reflection where he wondered if his career was over and kind of asking the universe, why are you talking.

Footsteps on the beach? Are we talking footsteps on the beach?

Little footsteps on the beach situation that.

Comes up once every eight months on the show.

It is not unlike that.

Two footsteps, one set of footsteps and now there's two again.

Like, why did you abandon me? It's like no carrying you over my shoulder right there.

Karen you bro.

I'm just saying he's got to be a little better.

All right.

I'm with you. But you think I'm biased and you're saying comeback player of the year and.

I'm like I'm saying candidate.

Check some stats here. I think he has gotten better the last couple of weeks. QBR 16th. Right between Dobbs and Baker Mayfield. PFF 16th, one spot below Gino.

But you're butterking Greg. You're ignoring other stats. Absolutely.

But I'm saying those are ones that I trust more than like passer rating and stuff. My point is he's been a perfectly average starting quarterback. I'm not going to go so crazy that one of the highest paid quarterbacks in the league with a great head coach is average. It's been a big upgrade. Hold on good. It's going to give them a chance. And he's been getting better.

I think there's a different argument between Russell Wilson from various metrics is a great quarterback. I don't think anyone's saying that. But the comeback player of the year is just simply narrative.

I mean DeMar Hamilton still deserves it, but if they don't give it to Tamar, I think Russ and if Greg's going to throw out a shot, I'll throw out one more russell Wilson in the red zone this year. 17 touchdowns, zero interceptions in that offense. And with the way that defense playing and how opportunistic they are. That's a good stat, too, Gregy.

It's an overrated one. They always tried out those red zone stats because it's like everyone's stats in the red zone. They're amazing. That's true.

All right, next green screen mark with my boy.

He is the anti Derek Carr, I'll give you that.

I would say check out Derek Carr's stats or any jets quarterback in the last 30 years. Not everyone has good red zone stats.

Fair. All right, go ahead.

All right, Mark.

I'm taking my late game Browns at Rams. I think this is a major turning point for the Cleveland Browns. What I saw last week against those Broncos was concerning on multiple levels. But now the weirdness of this team has gotten so much weirder because you can't bury the lead. Like Joe Flacco is going to be starting for the Browns here in Los Angeles again.

Did they announce it?

Well, he's taking unless DTR suddenly overcomes what looked like a gnarly head injury, I don't know if you're going to rush him back into the lineup on the road yes.

To pass the concussion test. Flacco's been taking all the snaps. Yes.

I'm going with the fact that it's going to be Flacco. And Stefanski still said the DTR is the starter. Ultimately. We'll see about that.

DTR showed some good things last week, actually.

No, I think he did, too, actually. Like their quarterback play when PJ. Walker came in, everything fell apart completely. But I just think the Browns that have leaned so hard on this defense, they gave up 169 yards on the ground to Denver, 172 on the ground to Pittsburgh, 100 plus to Baltimore in the last three weeks. So that part of their defense has been problematic. And I think one of the stories of the NFC and one of the reasons the Rams scare me down the stretch as if not a playoff hopeful they have a chance, but a Berserker type team is. Kyron Williams is running the ball, like, about as well as anyone in the league is 301 yards over the last two games. There was some injury in between that at 8.3 yards per carry. He's like an electric big play runner who completely changes this offense and makes Matthew Stafford all the more dangerous. So I think this is a real challenge for Cleveland, especially when it's like, okay, Miles Garrett avoided a terrible injury, but I don't know what lap means in terms of his overall health. He couldn't even lift his arm a week ago.

So we'll see if you're going to get that version of Miles Garrett, like.

You'Re selling the Rams short. If you're saying they're more a Berserker to you, they're one game out of.

A playoff spot, I think they can absolutely.

They could be playing.

I don't see them as like a, oh, that looks like a playoff team to me. Quarter after quarter, they're in the race.

Absolutely.

They have hit on something with this run game, though. And that's why I love December football.

December to remember we're getting there, december dream.

Because these stories, these personalities that we have been building for three months, they do have games like this where the rubber meets the road. I think the Browns can and very well might lose this game. They're three and a half point underdogs. I would pick the Rams, but neither would surprise me. I think they can survive a loss here and they'll still be in the mix. But the whole idea of this Browns defense is a truly special group and then this Rams offense and especially their running game building something really interesting. Our friend Nate Tyce has tweeted a lot about this, and our friend Jordan Rodrigue has been writing about this at these Rams duo runs. And a duo run is basically like a power scheme. You're double teaming, you're running with the tight end on the field. They're doing it in some creative ways that they're blocking with the wide receivers and the tight end, but it's ultimately power straight ahead type of football with some ingredients mixed in. And it's interesting to think back to what made Sean McVeigh and it was the opposite. It was zone and it was the coordination between the offensive lineman.

But the way the NFL is now with all these light boxes and the Browns are kind of part of that. It's like, hey, how about we just smash you? And the Rams have been pretty good and pretty creative about that. And so it's a nice little clash here, and I kind of think the Rams have a good chance to run the ball on them.

I will say Jeremiah WOSA coromoa last week played one of the best games I've ever seen.

So good.

He's just fun to watch, and he is a star who then seems to disappear in that defense. Sometimes a little bit. But on the flip side and we were talking about the Stan, I've argued you about David Najoku at times. I found what happened last week when you needed to support two young quarterbacks like the drops. And it wasn't just him, it was the rest of that, oh, he had a dreadful game, but he just did like the worst version of David Najoku, and that happens. It's really frustrating. Like, a lot of Browns fans kind of joke about the fact that there's all these clips of him catching balls with no shirt on off the jugs machine, and he looks like a perfect athlete, but then it's like, you got to make these plays. You want to be a star tight end.

They need him because they just don't have enough weapons.

There's nothing yeah, Cooper got hurt last week. There's nothing more frustrating than watching your team that has a backup quarterback and the guy struggling just to complete basic passes, and when he finally puts one on the money, you're not making catches and he dropped an end zone ball. That was the other tight end. Picked him up later in that drive but then had another big drop over the middle. And in general, these guys need to help out the quarterbacks. And the Flacco side of things is just like, it's coming, it's happening. And it's going to be wild to watch. And I'm going to set the over on two and a half fumbles on Sunday for Flacco.

That's what a stone age pony does.

And maybe if he gets protection, he'll be able to spin a couple of deep and maybe they hit on something. It says a lot about the state of the Browns and the desperation that like last year in New York, turning to Joe Flacco in 2023 is the right move because they need something to spark them more. And I guess I don't see it as much with DTR. I know.

I thought he had a nice game, he made some nice throws.

I don't know. Maybe PJ. Walker does nothing for me. So give Flacco a shot here and see if you could get Lightning a box.

He will be their fourth starter this year. Man, I wish I could find the step. I think it's the first team in six or seven, something like that years. I believe it was a Panthers team that last started four starting quarterbacks. So it's pretty rare. You have four starters in a season.

And it's about the weirdest quarterback you could imagine in a Browns helmet. So visually, I don't understand strange.

By the way, that was the Browns are your first pick this week. Oh, yeah.

Have you cal Ripken, by the way. They're over in Westwood practicing all week. They're in La. The browns, right?

Ever think just no.

Remember, he's not no, but you're just a fan of football.

Am I allowed to go watch the.

I don't know what the security is like over there. I think they're in a bubble, a press. No, they're outside. It's beautiful. Like get a credential.

You're saying? Sure.

Or just show up. Maybe fans can show up there. I don't know how it works.

Well, but he's not a fan.

Right? Well, as a credential, just as a reporter.

As a reporter professional, yeah.

They're in UCLA all week. I just find that interesting.

That's a hop skipping a jump.

Take a look.

All right.

You're up again, Mark.

I'm going to take the Lions coming off a grizzly Thanksgiving Day against the Saints, who are a weird team. I guess I kind of want to just see what this Lions team coming off know? Nine plus days of rest, which I think matters how they mean good reset.

For them, too, after the grim nature of that game and even the week before where they just survived against need to.

I think if you're a Lions fan, you want to see Jared Goff return to the version of Jared Goff that we had seen for so long. I have confidence that can happen. But he's had two really ugly performances in a row. I kind of feel like in general the Lions have these things. When I was watching the packers game, I was like, oh, this is what their playoff they're going to win a playoff game and then they're going to lose one and the loss is going to look like this one where they just get kind of thrashed and it's like the secondary is a fatal flaw. Aiden Hutchinson is brilliant, but there's not a great pass rush here. Their offensive line, I thought, got controlled by Green Bay a week ago. That's a problem.

Is Aiden Hutchinson. Brilliant also. I think that's part of the issue, too.

He's not I'm not saying that he's a mathematician. I'm just saying he's no, I mean.

Like he's not a brilliant football player.

I don't know.

Very good player.

I think he's tracking to be a pretty huge difference maker.

I mean, like a pro Bowler it's a success. Maybe not, though. There's so many good edge players. It's fair point.

I don't know. Sometimes maybe I like him more than you guess.

He disappears and then he's a very good player. I'm just saying. You said brilliant.

Maybe you told me that. He has a similar career in some ways to Jadevi and clowney where he's always a lot of pressure, maybe better. Kind of like borderline pro Bowler but maybe not like Miles Garrett. I get it.

Miles Garrett. We call these coaches brilliant all the time and they're not brilliant either. So it's in football that we're I'm.

Not talking about intellect.

Right.

I'm talking about like I thought you meant brilliant as a brilliant athlete.

I did, but I couldn't regret using that word anymore at this point.

We should have mentioned Garrett, by the way. We got to see how he looks.

He did. I did.

Okay, good. Go on.

I never said that. Are there any other corrections or issues at this point?

No. Move forward.

I would just say Greg, that's just in.

Fourth in pressures among edges in 6th in grade by PFS. That's pretty good.

Very good.

Saints, very banged up. And Derek Carr. Like, the last three passes have not come from Derek Carr. I don't know what's going with Derek Carr but from a lot of different angles, Saints fans are not thrilled. Wait.

Are Saints fans unhappy with Derek Carr? Let's throw it to Greg.

Wow.

They hate him.

The media apparently is because they were asking him about his red zone woes and he's like, I could tell you what we're doing but I'm not going to answer that question. Why did he say that? It's just getting a little tense. I knew what he was saying was.

That I'm so bored of the Derek Carr hate. There's so much more to not like about this team beyond Derek Carr, but.

To your red zone point over the last two seasons. 15 for 52 on passes from ten or closer. Next worst among that's 28%. Next worst among 35 players with 20 attempts is matt ryan, now working with CBS. 10% better retired guy than Derek Carr.

Fired and retired.

There is something there. They're 29th. It's just bad. And I'm with you. There's so much more not to like about the saints. And I start with their coach and their defense. And I think, you know, it's done for a team when the thing that's supposed to be their core thing is no longer their core thing. And for the saints for so long under Dennis out, it's like, oh, we got to keep this guy, keep this defense together. It was their defense in general and it was their run defense especially elite year after year. Last five weeks, 164 allowed. 105 612-5228. Sorry. You're going up against big lions team who can mash you on the ground. It's going to be a long day in the superdome. I'm locking it up.

Me, too.

Oh, no, don't put that sink on me. Give me a double.

Give me a three.

All right.

In the Roosevelt train. Let's go, Greg. I will follow him, follow him wherever.

He I don't ever take road teams either, and I'm taking like a little.

Brother just trailing behind the big brother. No matter where he goes. You can move off this game, Greg, and go to another game. I will follow him, follow him wherever he may go.

Lions are favored by four in this game, by the way. Sounds about right. I don't think that's crazy.

Yeah. We got this, Greg, me and you.

It would be if they don't have shahid and olavi. And olavi was practicing. He had a concussion, but he was practicing. So I think there's a chance he.

Get a decent chance.

Total confidence.

But it's a bad week not to have shahid here because I do think carb made a lot of nice throws last week, too. They're not like the worst offense they could put up.

That's what I was trying to tell.

You guys on cyber one's, putting up a lot of points on the lions. If the lions trail in this game 20 to ten, I don't want any texts from you, Dan, saying why didn't you do this? Even when the lions are traveling 20 to ten, I have confidence they will win. 37 31.

You're driving the car.

That's my vision, daddy.

You're driving the car. That's right. And I'm in the backseat and we are just cruising to another w. Yes. That's why I was, like, pulling my hair out on Sunday watching the saints because car threw for 300 empty yards and they were moving the ball so well between the 20s.

Camara is playing as well as he's played in about three years.

But how is that possible, Greg?

That none of it greatest, though.

He's like the greatest red zone running back in the. League inside the ten, certainly, and they can't find a way to block up front for him or get the ball in his hands in space. And that's when I start to think, okay, Derek Carr, he's not the guy long term for them. But how about Carmichael and the offensive scheme? Like, why are they not making the most I've got them talented.

The least greg answer I can give you, which is and it's the reason why I feel so good locking this game up is vibes. These are vibes. Vibes. These are the two I agree with that opposite vibes. Teams. Saints have the worst, among the worst vibes in the NFL. The Lions coming off a loss have some of the best.

Going. This will create one of the more annoying.

Losing now.

All right, let's move on. It is my turn and I will grab yes, I will take the Atlanta Falcons. Let's grab another south team heading to the metal ends to face the jets. It's a two and a half. Oh, my. Know how much things have changed. Desmond Ritter is the quarterback of the Falcons. He's going to New Jersey to play a jets defense that has faltered of late, but as a couple of weeks ago seen as one of the best in league. And this Falcons favored by two and a half points. And the over under here, I can't imagine there's a lower over under and six is not 33 and a half over under in this game. So we're going to see, I think, Desmond Ritter. Listen, am I going to come out here and say now that Aaron Rogers been cleared to practice and he's back on the field and he's still targeting Christmas Eve as a return, as a jets fan, you know, it's a bad idea, everything about it. But you can't help but suck yourself in and be like, okay, well, if we could just stop the bleeding against a mediocre Falcons team with a bad quarterback, maybe we could kind of just hang around, at least get to mid December.

And then it becomes a possibility that Rogers saves the day. All silly talk, but this is what you do as a fan. You kind of talk yourself into things. And it starts here because I do think that this sets up well for the jets pass rush and their secondary to force turnovers and give the offense its only chance, which is short fields or even a defensive score, which they got against the Dolphins and it still didn't matter. So that is the path to victory for the jets as it has been all season. Is the defense saving the day. But I think against this opponent they have a better chance at it actually occurring.

They're often gloat about defense for some proper reasons. You can run on them. Only one other team is allowing more yards on the ground per game. Some of that is like, I guess the game script because a lot of killing the clock. And that makes sense. But it's still it's like this isn't a Falcons team that finally, last week they ran for 228 yards. It kind of looked like what we thought they wanted to do. It wasn't having Desmond Ritter throw the ball 47.

Maybe that's it. Desmond Ritter, maybe he doesn't throw it more than 15 times.

That's probably your recipe. To sneak into the playoffs is a certainly doomed operation. But I feel like this jets team, they're so close to probably just fracturing psychologically, but they're going to need like two or three special things to happen that generate points from somewhere other than your offense to win these games. To have Aaron Rogers even relevant, I don't understand why he would come. I don't want a guy, 40 year old guy coming off like a quick recovery from an Achilles playing games in late December. But that's their decision.

I don't think they're going to get there.

It's not their decision.

Well, it all happens to them.

And that's where you get frustrated as a fan and why as a jets fan, it's messing with your mind because, you know, he shouldn't be doing it. And, you know and packers fans like Big Funk Behind the Glass know this, that Rogers is doing it in a way that I think you could frame it as Rogers is doing it to show that Aaron Rodgers did this, not to save the jets. And if he could do both at the same time, great. But if he could at least check the boxer being the guy that had the fastest return ever from an Achilles, I think that matters a lot in the world of Aaron Rodgers. Sure.

But they'd have to win two out of three, minimum. I guess they would have to win two out of three is how I would put it, if he was trying to get back from right.

And in fairness on McAfee, which we can't play the clips to because it's not allowed unless you pay a fee, he said that. He walked back a little bit and said, my return to the field this season is going to be connected to the Jets'ability to stay in the mix here. And if they don't win this game, you're kind of folded your schedule.

Is it's Falcons, Texans, Dolphins?

This is their easiest, and I think two and a half is I would give away the two and a half and I would take the Falcons because vibes again, not that the Falcons have good vibes, but the jets ones are rough. And I just don't trust in the offense. And I guess it's like, what do you trust? What you saw the last couple of weeks or over the breadth of the season? If you trust the breadth of the season, the Falcons are a total mess. And this is pretty winnable that game last week, and granted, it was against the saints was enough for me to be like they reset. They had a by week. The offensive line looked really cohesive. Caleb McGarry, who struggled this season, and Chris Lindstrom and that Oline, which had great continuity, man, they were blowing open holes and they're running for 228. And that was the falcons I expected. You kind of just mentioned that. And is that enough to beat the jets? I think it is, but it's the Falcons.

I watched that game live last Sunday. And the thing about them and that's why Arthur Smith is going to lose all his hair by the end of the season. Even in that, there were still these just dreadful ritter I get it.

I watched it.

It's going to happen every single week with him.

He'll make, like, the best throw he's made all season and then a disastrous throw that leaves the Falcons in a dark corner.

They protected him well again. And that's the matchup, too. But if their offensive line can play well, I think they can win the division.

He'll give the Desmond Riddle will give the jets a chance to win the game. Now, whether or not this version of the jets can take advantage of those opportunities, I am dubious. But as a fan, I can always hope. All right, let's take a break. And then when we get back, Greg all right, we are back. A couple housekeeping items before we get back to the draft. And Greg is panicking over there trying to figure out his next two games. This is our Thursday triple header for ATN. We have this preview show. We have our NFL plus Dreamatorium episode. And then Thursday Night Football recap Greg.

Rosenthal and Stephen Ruiz from the ringer.

Stephen Ruiz.

Good get.

That's the Brock Purdy guy.

It's also the Smith guy.

Oh, you guys. It's either going to be funeral march.

He was there for Gino's. Great first start for the Seahawks against Russell Wilson. Not his first start ever, but last season. So I brought him back on for a little good luck.

This will be a vibrant debate as your arm in arm, like, fawning over Jesus.

Well, I mean, they're probably not going to win or just, like, looking stats.

To present his game as somehow successful.

Regardless of a brilliant I'm worried.

And so check all that content out if you can. We promise it is high in quality because the moment that this show ceases to be a quality program, we're all out of here. Oh, wow.

Yeah. Immediately not doing a bad show mid episode.

Perhaps I'll go do a Yankee podcast that gets, I don't know, 300 a month.

Are you openly concerned about that?

No, I'm saying I don't care. I don't want to do a bad podcast. I'm not interested. No, the ambition is strong here and I feel it with you guys, too.

Okay.

As long as we care, it's good for them, the listeners.

What am I talking about.

Also, arrest warrant. This is serious news. Arrest warrant has been issued in Dallas for Bill's Edge Von Miller for allegedly and this is no bueno assaulting a pregnant woman. The Dallas Police Department confirmed the warrant on Thursday, which was initially reported by WFAA in Dallas. Wednesday at 11:00, a.m. Dallas police responded to a major disturbance call. That's a third degree felony, by the way, if you are charged with assaulting a pregnant woman, and that's very bad. So obviously the case has to play out. But we don't know what this means in terms of Von Miller's future with the Bills or whether he could end up being placed on leave. And he's had a disappointing season. So from a team standpoint, I don't know how much this hurts the Bills, but obviously Miller is a hall of Fame level player with a high level of notoriety, and this is not the first time he's been connected to domestic violence, it should be stated. So keep an eye on that story.

I will move on by taking the next pick here.

Go ahead.

I do not want to watch the Patriots live, so I'm going to avoid them and take the Cardinals. I think I've had them three straight weeks since Skyler's gotten back at the Steelers. The Steelers are five and a half point favorites.

Okay.

Makes sense to me. I talked on our Wednesday show, what Matters. I believe this Pittsburgh offensive renaissance matters. And so I'm going to keep an eye on that. Good running game, even back since before Matt Canada was fired and last week, if they really are getting better in terms of throwing the ball, and I thought that was Kenny Pickett's best game of the year by far. I mean, that's not even a question. Some real throws. Nice throws to the outside. Friarmruith being back is important.

He was great.

Really good player.

Yeah, he's very good. Officials blew a call. He should have had a touchdown pass to Johnson, I believe, right?

And Tomlin should have challenged that, too. So Pickett would have had that touchdown. Friar, like, faster than I remember. Maybe he's always been fast, but really adds dynamic to their offense that I think they need. And they're going up against a Cardinals defense which has never been good this season and seems to be collapsing further each and every week with injuries. And so if they are the Steelers that I kind of think they could be down the stretch, put up another 400 yards with Warren and Najay running all over the place this week.

Yeah, I didn't look at the Bengals defense as it was a nice event for Pittsburgh. It wasn't an acid test, nor will this be in terms of where their offense really is. Like the Cardinals sitting dead last in EPA against the pass and 30th against the run. I think that bodes well. One thing that I thought Pickett last week had six completions of 15 plus yards, and it looked like it. And before that, he was last in the league in throws of that nature per game, and so that has been missing. And Friarmouth seems to kind of just be the glue. There's a couple tight ends like that. Other teams don't really feature it the same way. He really, really helped open up the middle of the field. And I'm with you. I think he's an emerging player. He was PFF's fifth highest rated football player.

We could go and he might be pickett might be like Josh Dobbs as an example, one of those quarterbacks that just loves their tight ends, and if they can continue to build on the chemistry, and then he could sprinkle in the wide receivers, which are high quality. Yeah, there's potential here. They're coming off that season high 421 total yards. I will just a little bit push back on. They did score 16 points off those 400 total, 21 yards.

True.

And the week before, they won a game, and I think it was 13 points. So this is still not a team that's finding a way to pile up points. However, I think in this matchup you won't need more than, let's say, 17 points. So I think it really sets up well for another win. The bummer about the Kyler thing, greg, to me has been Kyler Murray's back, and that's fun. And he does have that highlight play every week still, but they're still kind of like the same team with no juice, and they're just like a team that exists, but not really.

Yeah, I think he's played solid. He's definitely an upgrade from Dobbs, I think, overall, but it's only so much I've been struggling with what more to say about this Cardinals team, but I found something. They're getting a lot of production and a lot of play from a very solid rookie class, so that is something they should be happy about. Paris Johnson, playing at tackle, been solid. Ojalari, pass rusher, solid. Garrett Williams, quite good for a third round cornerback. And Michael Wilson, when he's been healthy, has been nice at receivers. So their first four picks under this new regime, they don't feel like home runs, but they all feel like singles and doubles, guys who will be starting in the end. That's positive.

That is a big change from previous GS.

Four players that like, okay, those guys will be starting next year.

They've got right now the number two pick. They've got another first round pick and a flock of other picks as well.

So don't trust them.

All right, back to me.

I don't.

I'm going to take the Dolphins fun watch every week. Favored by nine and a half in Washington. The Commandos get no respect anymore, and I get it. But as four and 18, that was.

A tough Thanksgiving for the old Commandos.

It was rough. It was a weird game. They were like, even in total yards halfway through the third quarter and I was like and then they weren't quite as bad as the score looked. And then it got even worse and worse and worse as four and eight teams go. They're watchable. They're one of the only two teams in the NFL along with the Cardinals who haven't had a buy yet. And so the buy schedule will end next week with a bang. Commanders and Cardinals say goodbye to them for a couple weeks or forever. That would be fine. They just stayed on their by. I wouldn't mind that. Miami was asked this week, mike McDaniel, what are you going to do to improve the short yarded situation? He did say he wants to run the ball a little bit more. Mostert's having such a nice season for them. He might be a Pro Bowler for the first time. We will see if Armstead Toronto Armstead returns. I don't know what to do here. I want to see a beautiful Tua game. This is an easy matchup. He hasn't had a totally easy one in a me.

Give me some September tua.

Yeah, I mean, their schedule Miami and I know they're not talked about as like a team that's going to sneak in there and take the number one seed. And I don't expect it to happen, but commanders, Titans, jets, after having played an up and down Raiders team and the jets the first time, it's laid out nicely for them. And it hasn't been like a pristine version of Tua the last couple of weeks, but I'm with you on mostert all he really ever needed to do was stay healthy. I mean, it was like seemed like every single season. Injury sideswept, what was a really and.

There'S been injuries next to him too, so he's had a bigger role because of that.

Sounds like Devon a chan could play this week. We'll see. But they kind of were cautious with him a week ago.

And I do greg, you've been hitting on this a little bit. I think it's time to to at least so far. We're not going to know for sure how Miami fares against the big time teams, but let's get back to at least a monster offensive performance by this team where you're like, okay, they still have that in them. They could absolutely destroy an opponent. And the Commanders, as we just saw against the Cowboys, have a defense that will certainly allow that defense in disarray that just fired their defensive coordinator, traded away a bunch of their big pieces at the deadline. If the Dolphins once again are kind of hot and cold and Tua throws another one of those balloons on an out pattern for a pick six or something like that, it's like, all right, guys, is this a problem? Have we peaked as an offense?

It's concerning. And then on the other hand, like, Dolphins fans are like, we're about to go nine and three when was the last time we won the AFC East? I don't even know what the answer is. You mentioned that schedule that could set them up to get to eleven and three and then they have the Cowboys and the Ravens in a row. So that's a fun, actually, scenario where they beat up on these lesser sisters of the NFL, get to a big fancy record and then we have some nice matchups there at the end of the season.

They last still have to prove themselves.

World, but it's fun. Fun little Christmas game.

Cowboys. Yes, Mark.

I was going to say they won the division in 2008.

Oh, it was against the jets. Chad Pennington, comeback player of the year. All right, moving on. My turn.

Thank you, Mark.

Tony Sparano, rest in peace. He was a good man. Tony Sparano.

All right.

I will go with I haven't done this all year, at least in games that connected to my favorite team. I'm going to go with the Patriots. I'll help you out there, Greg. Chargers at Pats and I have no interest in anything going on in New England at all. But, you know, all right, as my second game, as the game that's not as high up, I'll watch Justin Herbert. That's kind of what we're at here. Where we're at on this one in terms of juice, from my perspective, from the Chargers perspective, like, I don't know, let's see, what's the zone on this one? Five and a half. Which is greg, why are we not locking up this one? I know the Chargers are going in a bad direction, too, but the Chargers.

This is, I think, where you get into trouble, but maybe it is it is a big number and I have to admit, Nick whistling's talk about don't go for the fives and sixes. That's probably played in my decision making last few weeks. But I actually do think the Patriots have a better chance to win this game personally than the Saints because the.

Defense is the only thing they have left.

Because as ugly as it is for Brandon Staley, can't you just imagine losing to the Patriots here as being kind of the final nail with the Patriots? There's nothing I can imagine. I don't expect it, but I can.

Imagine with the Chargers there's nothing that would surprise me in terms of it's.

A totally preposterous game that Bailey Zappi doesn't do anything but their running game, which has been pretty good. The Patriots is effective throughout the game and the defense plays well. I could see it. I don't expect it, but I could see away. I would not give away the five and a half I'd taken the Patriots.

And Belichick never loses to the Chargers. But the Chargers again, they kind of told on themselves and expose themselves as being fraudulent. But before this three game losing streak, they took care of the Bears and the jets who are similarly bad teams, at least the jets in the form they are now. So the Patriots should be a team. They kind of take care of business as it will. I guess that's really what it comes down to. There's two things to watch for on the Patriot side is how bad does this get? Mark, you mentioned it when we talked about what matters. Does it matter how the Patriots close? Has Robert Kraft already decided what he's doing with the head coach? But certainly if they get embarrassed again at home by the Chargers, that will be another nail in Belichick's coffin. And on the Chargers, did they have any fight whatsoever or are they quitting on Brandon Staley? It's kind of a grim game, but one that's worth keeping an eye on.

For those there's terrible things happening for both like the Brandon Staley, like whatever your calling card is or what do you want to wrestle with the media over? They're allowing more yards per game than they have going back to 1985. They've never been this bad on defense. And it's not just yardage. It's everything else you see, too. And for the Patriots, Mac Jones and Bailey Zappy, I don't really care who's starting or if you play both of them seven different times in one game. They combined for a 56.6 PFF grade last week. DAC was at 97. It's like combined. They were terrible.

Oh, combined.

Like, if you added their scores and it looks like it that's the thing.

About Zappy, which I think you have to play Zappy. And they are playing Zappy. According to reports, even though Belichick won't say it, he's been taking the reps. You have to because Max just totally broken. But it is worth noting, I checked this. PFF has 52 players who have had at least 40 dropbacks this year. Zappy's ranked 50th. I mean, he's been terrible, too, and through a terrible interception last week. So it's just like run the ball in defense and hope for the I.

Don'T think we probably don't ever see Mac Jones play another game for the Patriots unless there's an injury.

That's what I thought a couple weeks ago.

That was one of the reasons why Belichick is like, I can't believe he played him again. And I know they don't have any faith in Zappi, but it just he benched himself and you didn't listen.

It was crazy, by the way.

My worst but Johnston benched, too, by the way, at the end of last week's game was kind of an we didn't really notice that on the show.

We talked about it.

Oh, did we?

We talked about they said it was an injury, but then he was playing special team.

Yeah. Then Staley confirmed eventually, essentially was Mess.

Worst contract year all Stars. I think maybe T. Higgins is the top of the list, but Austin Eckler is not far behind. It's been a tough year for Eckler and the stats aren't great, but it's really with him. I test, too. He just doesn't seem to be explosive this year and that's going to be tough for him.

Yeah, they're really not. There is this idea that they're very talented after losing Mike Williams on offense. I just mean okay, mike Williams lost. They were never rashawn Slater. Certainly keenan Allen's a really good receiver. But are they better than average overall?

I'd be curious what Eckler's like. Pop the hood stats are in terms of okay. Because he's averaging 3.8 yards per carry and it looks like it this year. All right, let's see. Always something wrong with that team.

We're in seven arc. We're in seven.

I'll close it out with two picks. Where will I go first? If you're driving around, the drama is building. I'm going to take colts at titans.

Crash.

Can you buck the side of the road? That'd be terrible. Colts defense.

I like that. Only if you're driving around, there's a lot of tension, but if you're just like sitting in the park listening to.

The show, you're fine. You're in a nice park.

Yeah.

Depending on where you live.

Yeah. Thank you for listening in the park. I'm sure it's very nice. Maybe not seasonably warm.

Don't do this thing where you're on three times speed in the park. Like the volume of the don't change.

Don't be on actual speed either. The drug that's your healthy no, that's your choice. That's not good. But if you are in the park, therapeutic, if you are in the park listening, send us a picture. Send us a picture on the old.

Googling on my NFL.

Just like a picture of you showing you listening in the park. I would love it.

That'd be really nice.

I would love it. I've appreciated all the spotify.

That happens once a year. They seem to do that once a year and it's a day that kind of makes everywhere feel great about themselves.

It is fantastic. I want to say shout out is.

An amphetamine, by the way.

Yeah, it's not good for you. Shout out to the guy, the truck driver. I want to get it. His name is Ryan who listens for 46,800 minutes. I haven't seen one higher than that. Very nice. I responded saying that's how many hours? 46,000. And I didn't ask why. But he did explain and I'm glad it makes sense. I'm a truck driver and I've been having a great time going back through.

The whole what a dude.

Back through the 2016. I wonder what each he's in the car all day.

What kind of goods does he transport?

He's roughly 46,000 hours ahead of my.

Wife and I believe Emica has never listened.

That one.

Sorry, Mark.

No, I think that was trenching to talk about. The listener. I have liked this colts defense kind of all year. I thought that they just always have a knack for making these game changing plays. They've had a cake schedule of late. But they've only allowed 13 points a game since week nine. They've been awesome in the red zone. The best in the league at preventing touchdowns in the red zone since week nine. So they've been arrow up and you're playing a Colts team.

I thought you said everyone is great studs in the red zone. Not against the Colts, Greg.

I just mean Colts have been a.

Lot of times on these CBS broadcasts. They'll be like and quarterback x is 13 touchdowns, zero interceptions in the red. It's just a common trope, Greg. It's a common trope.

I find you to be an incredible no, I'm not going to do it. Go ahead, Mark. Tell us more about how great the Colts are.

I know you think I'm too high in the Colts. I just think that they're really well coached.

No, you just used your limit of cold stock yesterday.

I did. So I'm going to hand it off because it's impossible to speak for two sentences anyways on the show. But Jonathan Taylor. Check you later. But Zach Moss zach Moss is who I picked up on my fantasy team. No one cares about that either.

But like a waiver wire is a great Markism.

They need him to come back.

You know what I've been clocking lately? Completely different is actually completely different. And it's not always just talking about two different sports. Just things are completely different. That's a Marxism.

We have someone else that tried to.

Get on that corner on the who.

Completely different from basketball.

Who's that?

Ian Rappaport on an NFL Films production.

Went down that same road waiting for weeks no me to bring up keeping that one whole.

I was alerted to it, actually, last night.

I mean, if he had said completely different than basketball well, I think he's.

Trying to do it his own way.

In what context did he say that? Don't recall that this is anything else. Will you take if you're the Titans, will you take what Gardner Minshew gives you every know every week there's three or four chances for the defense to make a play on Gardner Minshew and will the Titans take a chance? Wait, Graver didn't send the video.

Now you know what or did he did he I even connected with him on it.

I did. I talked to him. But, you know, we love him anyways.

We do next week.

And that is the Titans are getting one point there, by the way.

Thank good job there.

You on that.

Close it out.

Mark, if the Colts are really going to be a wild card team, you take care of you find a way to win this game. I could see them slipping up here.

Well, that would be feels like a.

Game they would lose.

That would go against most of what I said on Wednesday. So that would be disturbing.

I need to see those Zach Moss carries in the playoffs, please. Colts win some. Games.

I found a real revenge game, by the way.

Okay.

Panthers going to Tampa Bay, carolina getting five points. Baker Mayfield revenge game. I mean, they nearly ended his career last year, and I think he's having an okay.

They've fired three coaches. That's confusing.

Is it a revenge game when you was well, that's always been a thing.

That they made him look even worse than he was.

That's what I think is true.

Yeah, but then Darnold took over and was better.

But Darnold was terrible.

He was not great.

That's true. He had a finished strong.

He finished he also just started running the ball 45 times.

The only reason Baker came in was wasn't it because Baker was benched? It was because Darnold was benched.

I don't remember anymore.

That whole Walker got involved in that nonsense, too.

Didn't Baker start the season?

Yes, he lost to Cleveland, I believe, in the opener. And then it went downhill from there. And then there's a little sam darnold.

There was some darnold had a good handful of weeks.

Anyway, we could say the Panthers ruined Baker Mayfield, but Baker is Baker is Baker.

You know, he doesn't change. But I do think that in every game, he's making an argument. I thought his career could have been over just because of the dynamic, him being a first round pick and probably not wanting to be a like I don't think he's a starter after this season. It depends on what happens to these teams. But Baker Mayfield will hang around for a while, because in every one of these games he's doing.

I would love baker as aaron rodgers'backup next year.

That would be perfect, because he's only making $3 million. I was just thinking, like, pure value wise, that was a great signing. Is there a huge difference between him.

And I know you don't want me to bring it up.

Derek Carr like Derek Carr making.

How dare you?

30 plus, and Baker making three, and they're in the same ballpark. Ultimately, they did as well as they possibly could have.

So that is like it is on Baker. But that's what I mean, kind of by what the Panthers did to Baker on a revenge. They probably cost him a ton of money. Now he's part of that, but they cost him a ton of money terribly.

Did Seth Spice pick the Panthers in this one? Because this is the fired coach principal here they are five point underdogs.

Did they get the Versace bump here?

Right? Because I think they might get a little bump. But I was reminded last week, watching that game as they had these injuries last week during that game, they were missing the Panthers, their top two tight ends, their top three cornerbacks.

What?

Their top three guards. I mean, it's like when it happens all at one position, too.

Well, more offense than lineman got hurt.

In the game, right. And then other people getting hurt that's.

A lot of so I needed to medicate after watching the Panthers last Sunday. I will not draft a Panthers game for the rest of the season if I can help it. And if it's a 36 minutes game rewatch, I will white knuckle my way through it. But they are a tough, tough, tough situation. I feel for you, Nation, because what about me?

I'll be watching it on Sunday.

Yeah.

While you guys are like giggling about your little lock over there.

Whoa, we got a lock here.

We got a uh oh. Let's head to the Cincinnati Zoo. No, I just want to say let me finish my thought. Keep pounding, nation. I feel you. Hang in there. Maybe it gets better. It feels it's as dark as it can get right now with the QB struggling and the owner going off and.

Not having the one pick is what? Really?

Not having the first overall very it just sucks.

It might be time to jump ship.

Don't do it. There was a moment last week that to me explained the Panther season. There was an injury cart. I forget who they were. Carting to the locker room and they were bringing them there. And then on the way there, someone got hurt and they had to back up the cart to bring another player because I forget who it was. But we're backing up the cart to get two players on the cart.

That doesn't even feel like medically.

Was that necessary? I don't know, but they did it.

I mean, they didn't finish their facility, so I guess they can't afford the second cart. Let's have a backup cart ready. All right. Now to the Cincinnati Zoo.

Well, guys, no video this week, but.

The Cincinnati Zoo will be locking up the Bucks over the Panthers.

I thought they were going to get.

No because now Nick, the Zookeeper, he smells it like what he was doing earlier was for show and he was figuring out how to be a wants that he wants the strap.

No message or video this week, but the message that came along with the pick will I will be taking the.

Rosenthal approach and locking the Bucks over the Panthers.

I mean, first of all, he's doing it for a week. I just don't want to hear that he's so bold and he's locking against a one in eleven team on the road. But I don't have a problem with it because I don't think any locks are truly locks. And it wouldn't surprise me somehow if the Panthers just freaking found a way. You never know. Fired coach principal.

No video.

All right, that's it. Thank you again. This is the ATN triple header so you could get this preview. You can get NFL Plus Dreamatorium App and Dazone. Or NFL Plus. And the Thursday night recap will be in your feed later tonight. Till then, you know what you gotta do. Heed the call.