The around the NFL podcast have never been to Greg's house.

That's true.

From the Chris Wesling Podcast studio. It's around the NFL. I am Dan Hanzas. I got heroes here. Greg Rosenthal. Mark Sessler. And Mark, what day is it today?

It's Wednesday, as far as I know.

Thank you. That means also with us is the wikilented, the cerebral, the empathetic, the photogenic, founding member of the 1051 Club, Colleen Wolf.

Hello. The 1051 Club is the oh, hey, hold on a second.

Johnny's the queen.

This was happening.

He's got one and a half thumbs. Folks.

That threw me first.

Was that the trope alert going off at the same time as the Colleen Wolf theme? We're having a soundboard problem.

So I'm open folders and things flow.

Down on the music list.

But here, let me give her a clean one.

Sorry, guys.

I believe that one.

You know, I didn't hate it.

Here we go. Kind of fun. There you go. Sorry, guys. Johnny's the queen.

She is the queen of NFL media.

There we go. So the 1051 Club is right now, Dan and I are in this club because that is the time that we arrive for the pod at the same exact moment in the parking garage, separate, but simultaneously. Our car has happened now maybe three times.

1051 Club is hallowed ground, and I invite anyone to join us. It's a bit of a rush. Like, when I see your car, I'm.

Like, oh, yeah, but Colleen comes straight here and then she's still early. What do you mean a couple of minutes late? What do you mean she comes straight here?

This won't be productive, sir. I believe we're starting at 1125. I was sitting here for 23 minutes before we started.

Yeah, so you got here. That's on me.

Hand up what?

Being late today.

1125.

Start that's on me. No, there's lots of technical issues.

It's okay. I'll take it. It's okay.

You want to be part of the One Club? No, come on in.

That would be a problem.

That would be a problem.

Be an issue. We got a lot to get to today. Colleen, the face of NFL Network's coverage of Thursday Night Football will break down the game that starts week 13. Seahawks Cowboys. That's a good one. Weekly game. We also have a segment now that we are heading Mark, toward the home stretch of the regular season. Here's what matters down the stretch here.

No, Trent, we're going to help. And we really were workshopping some ideas during the week.

I felt like you sent a text yesterday, and I assumed you had inhaled ayahuasca because you had so many ideas flowing from you.

They were great ideas.

I was surprised that all those ideas came when they did, but I thought I'd share them, and this includes some elements of those ideas, other elements of other people's ideas.

It reminds me of Keith Richards waking up from a deep sleep, sitting up playing the riff of satisfaction into a tape recorder and then going back to bed.

You never know. It could have been very close to that. I'm a little I will say one.

Thing of all of the ideas that you had and then put it into the segment. Maybe it's my own. I like to give you a good one.

You like structure, and so I was trying to provide structure.

The segment's a little open ended, and I am just so excited to see how far afield Colleen goes on this one.

Really going to stick the landing, guys.

Colleen's going to be talking about the industrial movement of Germany in the 1910s.

Or the departed? Who knows?

Oh, yeah. You saw departed. Good job.

Yes. Really thought I had seen it before. As it turns out, did not. And great movie, guys. You guys know about it? Does anyone know about the Departed?

Up next, Mark and I have suggested it. And Johnny, your husband, I feel like he's a bit of a cinephile. So this all surprised me. We want you to check out Heat by Michael Mann.

Okay. All right.

That's chino de niro diner scene. What else do you need?

Young Natalie Portman while I'm in Val Kilmer.

Okay.

Like Val Kilmer at his height.

Are we talking young Natalie Portman? Let's put beautiful girls on the list as well.

All right. It's on the list. I have so much time to watch all these movies.

Skip the Zach Braff movie, though. Doesn't garden state.

I'm with you. That overshot it.

I have seen that one at the time. Great soundtrack.

Can I say? A great soundtrack. Can I say it's okay for some movies just to live in the world where they live?

Absolutely.

We could enjoy that. We found it deep in 2004 and now it's a little embarrassing. But that's like taking a time machine watching.

It is.

Maybe you should watch Garnishate.

I don't know if I want to go back.

A lot of to do now.

All right, but first, as we promised, I am so excited for this. It's something that we've teased the pilot for a long time, including an initial pilot. Like, you know how Game of Thrones had a pilot that was so bad that they threw it out and HBO spent millions and millions of dollars and then they had to reshoot the whole thing. We had a pilot of this and then we even recorded it. And then we realized the sound we were using was actually months old. So we had to scrap the pilot in post. We had to scrub it.

That was the best.

But this time the sound is fresh. It is the sound from Panthers owner David Tepper's press conference after the firing of Frank Reich. And so, yes, enjoy the pilot premiere of ATN Presents. Tepper be talking.

People really need to check out the YouTube subscribe to our channel. We have our own channel.

Can you lean out just a little bit, Greg.

So graphic.

Let's see the let's see if we need to see the full let's see.

If my there we go. Yeah. My directions were tepper hyphen b hyphen talking lose the g, add the Apostrophe at the end. Stylized. Perfectly done by Eric Roberts.

Very much looks like my Trapper Keeper from 6th grade.

It's so good. It's very saved by the Bell. I would love this T shirt.

It's a visual feast. Well done, Eric.

All right, so to set it up once again, david Tepper has been the owner of the Panthers for what, about five years now, and they have struggled mightily in that time. They've been unable to field a winning team. In fact, only my New York Jets have a worse record than the Panthers since David Tepper took over. That's insane, by the way. And he fired Frank Reich after eleven games. That's the earliest the first year coach has been dismissed in over 40 years, I believe. So you knew this press conference. It was almost it's kismet, actually, if you think about it, the debut episode of Tepper Be Talking. It had to be big. I mean, what's bigger than this when Tepper is kind of under siege and the Panthers are being examined in a way that is probably uncomfortable for everyone involved. So Mr. Tepper took to the microphone and let's play some of what he said, starting with Tepper explaining his decision making on why he dismissed Reich and why he's fired three head coaches and two MLS coaches in the last few years.

As I said, there are reasons for each individual situation. I think you guys, upon your own reflection into looking what happened this season, can understand that you're around town for those that are around town and can know the reasons. Again, I'm not going to get into that, particularly into those particulars, but I do have patience. My reputation away from this game is one for extreme patience. There's no reason why that doesn't come here, too. It does now that patience comes with good performance and things that you want to see progress be made in different aspects.

Okay.

My reputation away from the game is extreme patience.

Thoughts that caught me when I was.

Listening live, it completely jumped out and it's like, okay, cool, but that doesn't matter. Nobody cares about your reputation away from this. We're talking about your reputation right now in the league, and it's not of patience.

I don't know if that to be true, and I'm not going to do the work to find out if it is true. But based on the way he's positioned his football takes a lot of it. You can find some haziness, too, like the fact that I am patient. But you're not patient. We heard these reports. He didn't want to do this. But you did want to do it. You did it. And I don't know what's happening around town. What was he talking about? He said the people that are walking around town know. If I had to guess, I think he's talking about the people, the fans, the chirping, what he hears around town, maybe the calmness. Right. And if it's kind of like if you're listening to the people around this, what's the know you're going to become one of them if you're a head coach.

I think he isn't patient in a sense, in a lot of senses because there was Scott Fowler of the Charlote Observer, who had been critical of Tepper in writing before all this went down, was not allowed to ask a question at this press conference where he's telling us how level headed he is. There is. The ringer has a piece from Nora Picciotti.

Can I just say, Scott Fowler, the headline of the article he wrote when he was fired, which was Panthers owner David Tepper fired another head coach, he should fire himself. And that is like the number one columnist in town. And then they didn't let him.

Then you're muzled. I mean, I think that's pretty on the nose and I think that shows you don't kind of get maybe that works in your hedge fund magazine if someone's on a reporter in that world, but it doesn't work here. And Nora Princitto, The Ringer found this 2010 profile of Tepper where he was described in quotes as loud and profane. And then this other thing that if he goes knee, the knee jerkism is real. If he goes and is confronted with anything he doesn't like, if someone is an ass, he said Tepper like a waiter at a restaurant. I think I could just buy this place and fire that guy.

Whoa.

So you can't tell us that in your other world you have all this patience and you're bringing it here. There are factoids and anecdotes that suggest not true.

1051 Club. That is what he is kind of screaming there. But I will say based on his line about being patient outside of the NFL, there have been plenty of owners that have gone on the record and done interviews. Like Robert Kraft has done it and Arthur Blank has done it as well, talking about how the NFL being an owner is so different than any other business that they've ever been involved. Like to get the money, to get that to the point where you can own a team, it's just very different and you have to adapt to it and it's like nothing that they've ever done before.

Right. Because half of them are going to be losers every year by definition, not in terms of making money. You can be the dumbest business owner ever and you will be successful owning your NFL team. It will always raise in value. Like there is no way to lose money. So it's a very strange dichotomy.

I think it takes a lot of owners, maybe all owners, a few years to kind of settle in. So I just want to say the idea that they've struggled so far doesn't mean they're going to struggle forever with Pepper leading the way. But you have to obviously learn from what's happening here and we're going to see if they do. I have another sound clip. A lot of conversation around Bryce Young, of course with CJ. Stroud, a sensation down in Houston and the reports out there, the people talking around town perhaps that it was Frank Reich's desire to have CJ. Stroud with the first overall pick. And in general, it was Tepper's decision to pound the table and say bring me the Alabama star Bryce Young who has struggled mightily in his first year. Here is David Tepper on that rumor in his mind.

Now look, everything that's right and everything that's wrong here ultimately is my fault.

Okay?

I have the final say. But as far as those decisions, whether it's Frank Wright or it's Bryce Young, those decisions were made and in the case of Bryce it was almost, I believe it was, unanimous decision when the coaches and the scouts have very strong opinions at the time.

Every press conference from here on out needs to have this an underbed of music like this. It adds a real vibrancy to it.

I think it only makes sense for Tepper to be talking. This is just the perfect instrument for this content.

I need to know what the direction was of this. Like when you were working with Eric to put this together, what did you tell him the type of music that you wanted?

I was thinking of when the gang in, say, by the like, went into the kind of it's exciting to know Zach and Slater and Kelly and Lisa and Screech all together. But when you have that music underneath and then Max the Magician rolls in the waiter which, by the way, it's easy with the tricks. And get me my burger. Yes, Max.

Get the business, buy the whole place and fire him, right?

Exactly. It's a little more exciting with the.

Music know, I think it totally fits Tonally and these rumors by the people kind of like throw this out there. The rumors that he like it was a very specific reporter, Adam Schefter, that said david Tepper loves Bryce Young and Frank Reich, like CJ. Stroud and that was in March. So I keep hearing this that it's just like throwing it out like, oh, it's whispers. It was Adam Schefter. He was the one that reported it. It was last March that Reich wanted stroud.

We needed Greg at this press conference.

He wouldn't have been allowed to ask a question.

No. No. And there was a lot there that some other Carolina journalists noted, just optics wise and everything. They kept the entire front row reserved for people that didn't end up taking the seat. I don't know who it was for. Only one person sat there. So all the reporters were in the second row. I just found that interesting.

What?

They were all in the second row and they almost cut it off after like, nine minutes. He answered one more question that he talked for four straight minutes. It was this Bryce Young topic. Scott Fowler and many of the other key journalists that cover the team were.

Not know what they could have done because if they said 15 minutes, that's what this is going to be. Which is, by the way, 14 minutes is very short for a press conference of this magnitude in the combine. The most annoying thing ever is when you want to get the GMs and the coaches speak for this finite amount of time and then some. Bonehead is writing the feature about the offensive line through the years or something, and it's like, time for one more for coach. And it's like, oh, yeah. How is blocking in your mind in the 70s different than the everyone in the gang bang? Just kind of like they roll their eyes and shrug their shoulders like, you just ruined it for everybody.

Yeah.

Next level thinking. If I was an Oligarch owner, I would just plant a couple of those bozos in there to just fill up all the time asking know, various history questions pertaining to the NFL.

It's a good idea.

Anyway, one more. This is about his future or something. Here we go.

You know, I would like to have somebody here for 2030 years. I'd like to have somebody that would say eulogy at my funeral in 30 years. Okay, maybe it's 40 years.

I hope that was Frank. He wants to find a coach. He wants to find a life partner in football.

A lifer well, he was a minority owner with the Steelers. And people have pointed out how David Tepper has fired and had more head coaches in his five years than the Steelers had since World War II.

By the way, that Charlote football club.

I mean, they're extreme on the other side.

That charlote football club. The soccer team has fired four head coaches in the past 18 months. The most recent one, from what I read, actually went to the postseason.

Oh, my God. That's right.

I think there's an argument to say that Frank Wright needed to go.

It wasn't to the MLS.

No, just gone. I don't have a huge problem with moving on from this experience, and it's in another parallel universe. Had they taken Stroud and you got this version of Stroud, which is also a question mark under Frank Wright, no one's gone. Probably, but it's like there is a mix of impatience and also I kind of get where he's coming from. If you're an owner that has picked the wrong coach a number of times and you've never found a quarterback, you're going to go through this darkness.

Right. But there's no process. There's no plan. He seems to be in charge. The two year contract they give to Teddy Bridgewater. Remember that? Guaranteed money. That was kind of crazy. Then they were spitting out and he's like, this isn't going to work. Let's go get Sam Darnold and give up a second and a fourth for Sam Darnold. Yeah. Trader Joe like six games. It's like, oh, my god, this isn't going to work. Let's try to get Matthew Stafford. Matthew Stafford is like, no thank you.

Don't forget about Baker.

So then they bring in Baker Mayfield and they're like, this isn't going to work and let's go get it.

Just Steve Wilkes had the most success with them and that's because they were running the ball and that's how their team was built to be successful. And then they, no, no, we're going to get rid of Steve Wilkes and we're also not going to run the ball. We're going to pass it.

There was a very human quote in the Albert Breer story about him from a former Panthers staffer, which it seems obvious enough. His thing is the minute it gets bad, it's going to get worse. So we better try something else. He's a hedge fund guy. That's what hedge fund guys do. The second something stops earning money, they take their money out of it, take the profit and move on to something else. So it's like the second any of these decisions start going bad and they have been bad decisions, he's like, all right, let's burn it. Let's go. And that just leads to just more and more problems.

We weren't very good at podcasting when we started. No.

If you go back and listen to those first few episodes, we speak really quietly and with hesitancy not Greg. Greg rolled know he's a talker but Dan and I are just like, is that true?

I don't think that's true.

You came out of the birth canal talking, Greg on these podcast.

Bozos rosie be honking.

That's our next spinoff. So the ATN. I think that was a good pilot up. I think that one is going to get picked up.

It's almost like a reverse flashpoint because know, yes, maybe he's rash and maybe he acted too quickly, but he also understood that this was going to line up in a kismet fashion with this segment one way or another.

Flashpoint focus is a hit.

Temper be talking is the branding is really good.

Remember when friends first hit like in 94 and it was like, oh, my god, this is going to be we've got something here. We got something here immediately. Well, that's us. We could have a whole network of shows. We just have to put our mind to it.

Like ambition, an empire.

Ambition. The only thing stopping us is a lack of ambition at this point. It's the ideas. Oh, that's accurate. They're unbelievable. Let's take a break and when we come back, we're going to talk about what matters.

No promises on this SEG though.

Nothing at all. Definitely not.

No promises on what matters down the stretch in the NFL.

That is perfect.

Oh, my God, I loved it.

You all right? We are back. Welcome.

We need to do this for more segments. I think it would just improve our so good quality.

Love a sting.

Welcome back. So here's what matters. The regular season is over, I believe, on January 7.

Yeah, that's right.

And that means every team has discounting yeah. Either five or six games remaining on their schedule. And let's talk about as we kind of project toward the postseason, what are the things to really be kind of turning your focus to and what to keep an eye on in these final weeks. And I'll get this one going because it does connect with one of the Thursday Night Football combatants. So let's start it here. I think how the Dallas Cowboys close this regular season is mammoth in terms of how we think of them, in terms of what their chances are of actually doing something that they haven't done in over a quarter century, which is get to the NFC title game and even win it. So they have to close and we're going to get to it. Seahawks at home, Eagles at home at Buffalo. I don't know what state Buffalo will be in by then, but it's not going to be an easy game at Miami home, Detroit at Washington. Now, how do the Cowboys get through that gauntlet and go into the playoffs? Because if they're a 13 and four right now, what are they?

The eight and three, I believe. Yeah, if they finish 13 and four or 14 and three and they're a juggernaut in a potential number one seed. Or they could be eleven and six or even ten and seven and be a wild card team with a spotty resume against NFL elites. Because that will have mean that they didn't fare too well in this final stretch. And I think at that point, if that's the version, Mark, it's going to be back to the old Cecilerism where we're kind of just like, I don't know, we've seen you stub your toe too many times against big time teams this year to think it's going to be different in the playoffs. But on the flip side, the way they're playing right now and know there are elements of football, twitter, smart Twitter, I call it, they've always had an infatuation with Dak, and right now you're seeing a lot of people going nuts again about how incredible Prescott has been and how he's different and better than ever. And the data backs that up the past six weeks. Can he keep that up now when the schedule tightens up, is he going to be an MVP player when it counts most, including when we get to January?

But for now, I'm kind of focusing on these last six games. What version of the Dallas Cowboys do we get.

Yeah, there's no team like this in the NFL, and it's kind of this continuing optic situation for Dallas where there's two things happening. There's like, wait, Dak Prescott very likely could be the MVP, but it's like the other people need to see him beat the Eagles, not come close against the Eagles and win these games. It's really just how you feel about him. I mean, separate from his actual play, the Ceciler version of doubting. The Cowboys, though, has been eradicated at the moment because this feels different to me than other Cowboys.

But if Baron is it's because we haven't seen how they look in this stretch coming?

It is, except that they have been blowing people's doors off with, like, nuclear weaponry, and so it's not like they're sliding by commanders against lessons. I haven't seen all aspects of the team, including coaching, operate this well with.

A Dallas maybe tax rookie year, but probably not since we're all on fire.

Just to the point I was making. We're all super pumped about Dallas and their offense right now, but just as a reminder, giants at Carolina, home Panthers. Those are home commanders. Those are the three wins that have the football world really tuned in right now. I want to see it again. These next six.

I would just say, if you go four and two and you beat some of these teams, I think we were allowed to think differently about the Cowboys at this point. You're not going to go six.

And, like, if you put a normal Super Bowl champion and gave them this schedule down the stretch, especially the at Buffalo, at Miami, too, they're not going to go six and O because it's football. Like most great happens, it happens.

It happens.

They could go six and I think if they went four and two and the two losses were closer, they go certainly five and one. I mean, that would be extremely impressive. The annoying thing, I think, for you is it's probably going to land in the middle because of the Eagles schedule. I'll get to that. It's very likely, even if they beat the Eagles, that they're not going to go six and the ODS are against them winning the division. They win four or five of these games, they're probably going to get that five seed. And you're right, these are better matchups. Buffalo, Miami. It's all exciting to watch. The defenses he's facing aren't great. I love that DAC MVP ODS right now because the Seahawks, they're struggling on defense. The Eagles, they can't stop anyone through the air. The bills have been mediocre. The Dolphins are playing well defensively. The Lions are one of the worst defenses in the league right now, and the Commanders are one of the worst defense in the league. So I think DAC can keep it going. I am totally with you as a team. They look like one of the best four teams in the NFL.

If you're one of those, you probably win four or five of these games.

But do not go three and three. Do not go two and four. And if you to the Eagles and that's a key game, obviously, that has to be at home. You either have to win that game or compete to the very no, you.

Got to win it. You got to win it. Enough of this losing close to the Eagles and getting swept by them.

Well, that'd be progress from their last superpower opponent when they lost 42 ten to the niners.

Yeah. And so much has been made about how great they've been at home, but you have to look at who they actually played at home the jets, the Patriots, the Rams, the Giants, the Commanders. Like, teams that have a combined record of 19 and 38. So, of course, they're averaging 41 points per game at home versus on the road, where they lost to the Eagles, they lost to the Niners, and then they also they played the Giants, the Cardinals, the Panthers, the Chargers. I mean, that's a combined record of 29 and 39. So, of course, they're averaging 17 fewer points per game on the road because of those opponents, but the Cowboys will very likely be playing in the playoffs on the road. So you have to also take that into consideration.

You're right, Greg. You're right about because they went to Philly a few weeks back and they nearly won, but they got beat. You can't get swept by the Eagles and then expect me to think something's going to change in January. So win that game.

Yes.

Win at least four, maybe five. And then I'll be like, okay, this team's got something different this year. We shall see. We shall see. All right, Connie, you're up next.

All right, so this segment, how'd you do? Well, I thought it was the December dreams that Mark has.

What matters is an umbrella over those various other concepts. So even in our texting, Dan said.

You'Re welcome to approach a fatal flaws that was thrown out there. A December dream and then also what matters.

I have no idea what December dreams even meant.

I just went with December dreams.

The anxiety is pouring off Colleen right now and, like, leaking on my shirt.

I think I slipped a disk in my neck from stressing out.

Just let it go, Connie.

Let it go.

Well, all right, here we go.

Hey, you're in the trust tree.

My December dream gang.

Is this yes.

Can't wait.

So, after a delightful meatball parm from Angelo's 9th in Pittswater, the decision has been made. Family members are notified in a New Jersey stitched by the tri State area's finest. The only question left is how apoplectic Jerry Jones will be when he finds out the obvious here that Shaq Leonard has fallen in love with Philadelphia.

Oh, wow.

Wait, hold that thought 1 second before you go on. Eric. Do you have it? I think this will help. I think it's going to help. Not that you're off to a bad start what? But this is going to make it great.

Okay, I'll cue you.

I'll count you in. Okay, there's a count.

Okay.

4321.

You know, it didn't take them long to make the decision, but since the Cowboys play the Seahawks on Thursday night and the Eagles play the Niners on Sunday, leonard's debut probably not going to happen until week 14 when the Eagles go to Dallas to play the Cowboys in Dallas, who are also in the sweepstakes for Shaq Leonard.

Bang.

So, listen, don't forget here that Nick Siriani is the former Colts offensive coordinator for three years. He still has a relationship with Shaq Leonard, and it just feels like a really nice competition for these two to have before they actually play the second game, which will be huge in the NFC.

I like it. So what matters is where does Shaq Leonard land and what kind of impact.

Could he have, and what better news and development for your December dream that he went to know? It's a nice place. You could be driven around town. You could live here in this mansion. He was like, yeah, cool. I'm going to go to Philadelphia now.

Exactly.

And to be clear, he has not signed with either team.

No.

He met with the Eagles earlier on Wednesday as we're taping. So this segment could potentially be out of date. If he makes a decision on Wednesday, I mean, more anxiety.

I'm just saying this is a December nightmare.

Dick Siriani said, you know, he met with him, they talked, and we'll see. And the Eagles and Cowboys both have some issues at linebacker, I would say might be even bigger, though. And the Eagles have a nice history of bringing in veterans late in the season and then making a difference. Sometimes they don't make a difference, but they bring them in, they give it a shot, and that's where I would go. I would make that December dream come true.

Thank you.

I don't think shaq leonard, the holiday.

Lovely.

Yeah.

Okay, Greg, you're up. All right, here's what matters. The schedule.

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

I feel like we try to avoid schedule.

Where would we be without the schedule.

We'D be before the season? The schedule doesn't matter. I don't need to hear your schedule analysis. Really. We're just guessing five to six weeks left in the season. It matters almost more than anything.

GC.

So I just got some schedule nuggets. We talked. Eagles and cowboys. That cowboys schedule rough. Eagles are very likely the number one seed because of their schedule. And you think, oh, wow, they're on this brutal stretch here. They got the 49 ers this week. They're underdogs, and then they're okay, that's fine. And then they have the Cowboys. They can lose those two. And to me, they're still very likely the number one overall seed. Their actually future schedule overall, according to the DVOA is better than average because they finish with At Seattle who was not playing as well lately. That's not an easy game. And then giants. Cardinals, Giants and the 49 ers wow. And the cowboys. Yeah, they could get that tiebreaker. The 49 Ers are going to have to win out probably for a chance to get that one seed. The Cowboys, we just mentioned their schedule. It'd be very hard for them to win out, but they certainly would have to beat the Eagles and probably win out. So that's a nice little thing for the Eagles that really if you split these two games, you are going to be sky high in terms of number one seed likelihood.

And even if you lost the two, I would say it's better than 50 50. Some more stuff. That schedule matters.

Just think about Greg. One thing, our friend why am I blanking on the kicker's name? Sorry.

Jake Elliot.

Our friend Jake Elliott's. 59 yarder. How much that changes things because getting that win instead of the L gives them the cushion. That Greg's house money.

This is more just a funny nugget again, according to DVOA, people should check that out. It's now on FTN fantasy. You got to pay for it's worth it. It's worth it.

That's a tax write off.

Our old friend Aaron Schatz.

I don't know what that means.

It's just funny to me that the three easiest schedules in the league remaining are the Bucks, Saints and Falcons because they're all playing each other a bunch. Part of it, it's just like stupid.

I tried to blow up the NFC South.

You did?

You tried.

We was mocked.

We tried, giggled you off the stage and now we look like, well, she.

Didn'T really know what she was talking about the segment, but then she did in the end came all the way around.

Right. Got the W. In another world, like you would say, maybe the NFC South could get two teams in here because they all have such easy schedules, but they'll find a way to blow it. I think if you look at the AFC one seed, the Chiefs have the easiest schedule remaining, 21st, easiest in the league, while the Ravens have the hardest. The other three teams that are in the mix, the Ravens, the Dolphins and the Jaguars. The Ravens play the Dolphins and the Jaguars. So those are guaranteed L's for one of those teams here. And the Chiefs don't really have many difficult games or really any difficult games. The rest of the way, they don't.

Play a winning team, I don't believe.

Right. I think this packers game is a little bit tricky and they have an at Chargers, but they always find a way there. Whereas I mentioned what the ravens have. The Dolphins have Cowboys, they have an at Ravens, they have a Bills, the Jags, they probably have the second best chance here. They have an at Browns and then they have that Ravens game here. But, man, it's shaping up to be Chiefs number one. And then if you look at the wild cards, the Texans are really the team that stand out as having the easiest schedule remaining. And so that's good for your Texans.

Mark, I have one little scheduling request, too, that we've been light on the flexing. A team like the Patriots plays three primetime games between now and the end of their hellish journey that we don't need to lay eyes on. And I went through and looked at all the primetime games, and there's a couple good ones, thankfully, for everyone involved, but there are some stinkers out there and some teams that were projected to still matter, and they don't, like, start flexing some of these games.

Ladies and gentlemen, can we get rid of the Patriots on Christmas Eve? They're playing the Broncos. The Broncos are good now, but no, that's good, actually.

It's Christmas Eve night, and, like, I want to spend time with my family.

It's the third game.

Good for you. I'll be here.

You can even flex an NFC South game in there. And it's just like, I'm going to be with my family in some level.

And you never know sometimes, like, Packers Chiefs to me a couple of weeks ago is like, really? That's the Sunday night game. And now that's one of the most fun games of the week. And the last one is that of all the NFC wild card teams. And it's why you see on some of these projections that the packers are already up to a 50% chance to make the playoffs. They have the easiest schedule remaining. They have this tough Chiefs game, but after that, they're all very winnable games.

It's funny, even at this high point right now for the Packers, I still include them in this huge middle class of the NFL. It's pretty inconsistent week to week.

Sure.

And it's like, even though you're right, the schedule matters more now because we have a better idea of what these teams are. I can't look at it even. It's a perfect test for you, Mark, because I know we've had there's been some type of bad energy around teams that you have adopted in recent years on the show. The Texans, okay, they seem pretty safe. They have this beautiful young quarterback. They have a really cohesive group, and they're well coached, and the schedule's soft. This is going to be a good test, Mark.

Well, I'm not going to do anything. I'm not going to declare publicly anything because I know what will happen. The team will implode from the inside out, and I think it already has.

Happened in terms of the energy. I think you're attached to them.

Well, I apologize.

Maybe this is different.

The last time they played in a two score game was week four. So they're kind of a coin flip team. Even though they're fun and they have a good quarterback and look at their record, every single game comes down to the last play, basically, that they play.

This is a good segue to go ahead. Mark team. I want to talk about that. I mean, I think within the last fortnight, we're kind of, like, acknowledged that we forgot they existed, but they are lodged right now as the AFC's number 7th team. It's the Colts. I think that if you look at the journey of this team, that a year ago, we were talking about Frank Reich melting down there, and it's like, what's the future here? And I don't know if there's to me like a top two or three impressive coaching job by Shane Steichen, you have an excuse if your other teams, like the Bengals, you lose your starting quarterback, everything kind of goes south. The Bengals, to me, are like two steps away from just being like an apparition. They don't even exist. We saw what happened with the jets. Couldn't be more unfortunate. Shane Syichen loses his rookie first rounder, Anthony Richardson. In comes Gardner Minchew, who is a total hot and cold act. Instead, what I think he's done is kept that team together. They've won a bunch of close games. You're in an AFC where the Chargers and the Bengals, like we mentioned, are fading into a false reality.

And listen to this schedule for the Colts, the Titans, the Bengals, the Steelers, the Falcons, the Raiders, the Texans. You are currently right now the number seven seed lodged with the Houston Texans. Same record in these surging Broncos, also at six and five. And you've got the Bills at six and six, and then it falls off a cliff. So I think the Colts have a real opportunity to remind us once again that they're not just this little project. Now, Jonathan Taylor surgery, like I'm sticking surgery, it's a relatively relevant news item, and it helped us not have to do a huge news SUG because I stuck the Jonathan Taylor news right in the middle of this say news SUG news SEG. I should say so. We've got that. I think Zach Moss, though, like Zach Moss, played really well, surprisingly, when jonathan Taylor.

Jonathan Taylor.

It's a big hit, though, for my running back draft. Because I was thinking last week, suddenly, suddenly Kamara Taylor Bajan was looking better than your trash teams and all the heat I was taking.

No, it's great.

I have Christian McCaffrey on mine.

This is what's fascinating about Greg.

He's been tracking this well.

I actually love about he's so competitive. I don't either. But I do remember that my three that I was worried about, they were coming together. I was like, this is a good little group here.

Eric, can you look up again? I'm sorry. This is the most, like, third time I've asked Eric to look up our running back groups.

Cool.

Mark, I'm with you. Do I have permission and I don't say this to anger any of the great people of Indiana and Indianapolis, one of my favorite NFL cities. I don't really care about the Colts. They kind of are ticketed to eight and nine or nine and eight. And maybe they're playing on Saturday of wild card weekend, and maybe that's the one game that if you had to miss, you'll choose to miss. Because I don't see a lot of juice with this team and it will be commendable if they do end up getting out of the regular season. But this team doesn't necessarily excite me.

For me, what it points to is that a team that post Andrew Luck had no identity. They just struggled, especially quarterback. Whether or not, no matter what we get with Anthony Richardson, that matters a lot. I think you've got a coach who can be around for a really long time, and I just think it's been an impressive but under the radar coaching job.

I hear you, but you know who they kind of remind me of is all those Frank Reich teams that would win. Like, Frank Reich found a way to win all those years. He had a great record until last year. The optimum with weird quarterbacks and backups. I think they weren't really irrelevant.

I think psychon is like the future of offense where Reich didn't even want to change what he did in Carolina and be flexible and be open minded. So I just think you've got the guy to latch onto, and I wouldn't mind seeing the Colts instead of what we've gotten from the Steelers.

Oh, my God.

All right. And like, frankly, wait and see on the Browns offense, that whole thing.

Can I just jump into the Steelers? Because that's what I think matters, too. The Steelers jumping in.

Yes. One last thing before you do. I just want to say we all could succumb to this, but we have optimism around the Colts because they just beat the Panthers, Patriots and Bucks. I just want to see the fact that their schedule stays soft. I don't know if that's going to.

It'S not even those are teams that are just like the Colts. They have a very average schedule where they could win any.

I would say a three game stretch that includes the Panthers and the Patriots is pretty damn.

No, I mean, moving forward. It's not a brutal it's not too at. They're playing a bunch of teams kind of like the like, okay, I think they're better than the Raiders for Raiders Texans week.

Connie, did you have something to add before we throw it to Greg?

I mean, I was just going to mention that Michael Pittman looked great, but that's not a team that excites me either. They haven't since Jonathan Taylor was running wild.

Anthony Richardson injury stole well, you also a year ago had them ticketed as.

Like, an AFC champion. I don't want to really go in on the Colts.

That was a dark power ranking subject throughout the 2022 season.

All right, Greg, what do you got? I take issue with you saying anything negative about your Steelers, who you said we're going to win twelve games. You got a shot at this here, Mark.

Yeah, I do.

I think I'm putting them in the playoffs. I think we can ticket five teams to the playoffs in the AFC. The Ravens, the Chiefs, the Jags, the Dolphins, and the Steelers. The Steelers offensive resurgence, and it's not just since last week when they fired Matt Canada. It's since their by week matters since then. They are third in the NFL in rushing EPA. They're 11th overall in offense. They're fourth in success rate. That's since week six. That's more than half of the season that's happened so far. They have an identity. They are a very good running team with two good running backs. They're an effective running team. They can finish out games, they rush the passer really well. They got some holes on defense, but they tend to make up for it with coaching and turnovers, and I think we've seen the worst out of their offense. I'm not saying Pickett's going to play like he did on Sunday where I thought he really played well, really well against the Bengals. I don't really trust him, but I trust them. They're seven and four and their schedule is pretty easy. I don't think they'll come back and beat the Ravens, but I think there's a better chance of them winning the AFC North than there is falling out of the playoffs.

And that's partly because they got Cardinals, Patriots, Colts, Bengals the next four weeks before a tough final two games at Seattle, at Baltimore.

So Seattle may not be that tough.

But then either your twelve is not totally crazy, and I actually think if you drill down here, this is a pretty good team. It's probably a team that's either one and done or loses in the second round of the playoffs. But they're not an embarrassing team. I think they got lucky early and now they're actually good.

They have about 700 yards of rushing over the last five weeks.

That's crazy. Yeah, that's what you want to be.

I was so excited. So this year I felt like the Steelers were sort of my Colts coming into the regular season because I had gone there for training camp and I drank all of the Kool Aid and there were so many things to be excited about. And then watching them play, obviously it was like this team, it just doesn't feel like they match their record. Like what I'm watching on the field doesn't seem like it should correspond with the winning record that they have. But now they've caught up to it and it kind of does feels they're frisky.

And here's the other side of it, too. They have allowed under 20 points in six of their last seven games. And so that's been consistent. I think TJ. Watts the kind of guy could win a playoff game for you. That's his DNA. And if I get this twelve wins Steelers thing going to that off, and.

They don't play a real the real team, really, I guess the Colts, I take that back. But that's not a real quarterback in terms of, like, a top.

Here's.

Why till December 31?

Here's what makes this make sense, okay? Because even they could get to twelve, but they're not really a twelve win team. That doesn't matter for your prediction.

That doesn't matter at all.

The truth of the matter is, and it's very simple, they are a ten and seven team that got the Bengals twice after Joe Burrow got hurt.

Perfect timing.

So they're going to pick up two wins that they probably had no business getting, and that's going to ten plus two equals twelve. In my mind, this is kind of like a fringey nine or ten win team that, again, another team, stick them on Saturday.

God.

Hopefully, maybe we could get the Steelers and Colts and lock and horns and knock them, get that game off the grid entirely.

One advances, they got to win. The true too, but I think they could. The only thing I'd push back on just a little, I think I'd put them at eleven. And you're right, in general, they're a ten win team. But now, looking forward, I don't think the Bengals would have swept them with Joe Burrow. Like this Bengals team has issues, and I think this Steelers team can be a legit top ten type of team. I think they most likely split that division games.

They're one of the margins.

Go check out the Joe Burrow film when he was healthy there for a couple of weeks, they were looking, I hear you, Cincinnati.

There's other issues.

That's another frustrating subplot.

You've mentioned about six teams that you want to play on that invisible Saturday playoff game. But I think to the point of that, if you look at the top seven or eight in both conferences, right. There's a lot of junk that's going to escape.

That's why that's coming up repeatedly. Some of these teams at the bottom of the playoff picture are really teams you just want to get to division round football as soon as possible. But you know what? I'll still be watching the games. I'll still enjoy them. It could be drama.

All right, you're a professional.

Here we go. Total pro. All right, I'll do my other one. All right, here's what matters. Trevor Lawrence and the doomed quarterback class of 2021. Look at this. You ready? Trevor Lawrence, number one overall in the 2021 draft. It was signed, sealed, and delivered the moment he declared out of.

Come on, man, you have the ball.

That's right. Well, I have a deep connection with the university out of Clemson. Okay, now, should I share the ball story?

I think it would help.

Now, either that or we have to edit that out. Yes. Because no.

Can you grab the ball? Yeah. A couple of weeks ago, I was in the office and I went downstairs where we have our dressing area, and there was a football sitting with all my shirts and stuff, and I picked it up and my name was on it, like and it was you want to get a shot of this here?

Oh, my God.

My name was on it. And it says, Most Valuable partner Dan Hanzis, thank you for aiding in the professional development of our scholar athlete and providing a life changing career experience during our 2023 Los Angeles Business Week trip. And then it's signed by head coach of Clemson, Davo Sweeney. Davo Sweeney.

Wait, what was davo? That you did for them or they're nothing.

That's the thing. That's unbelievable.

What do you mean? How do you know?

And because you told me.

How do you know? Though I love how mad Greg gets.

About Hans is displayed, it in the window here in the podcast studio. So anyone walking past the studio, he.

Rotated the football so that if you walk by, you could see his name prominently displayed. Now, here's the charitable individual top of.

A mug, so it was hoisted up as well.

What did you do?

Is it perfectly clear to anyone, myself included, what I did for this scholar athlete? No, not on the surface, but do I have this football with my name engraved in it and signed by one of the most famous head coaches?

I mean, college football proof of something.

With all these nice words about me. That is absolutely true. What did it say you do that is apparent?

You helped the scholar. Now I realize it's not from Clemson. It's from Dabo Sweeney in some sort.

Of paw journey, which is his lifestyle of winning.

What business trip was don't I'm like.

One of those people. Like, there are people that do things, nice things, and make sure everyone knows about it. Yeah, there are people that just try to keep it to themselves. So I'm going to leave it kind of more, you know yes.

Greg, there's also people this was absolutely a clerical error.

Yeah, I want to know, like, is it a listener?

I know you want to know.

My theory is a listener somehow is involved with this program and sent it as a joke.

Well, that says a lot about you.

There's no other explanation.

Well, that's one way to look at it.

Is it a flat out clerical mistake.

The way that you're holding this football right now and displaying it now you're cradling it like a name davosweeney.

Because I don't do it for the Autographs or even for the head coach to send me this beautiful do.

You don't do it at all.

What do you mean?

Greg hates it. No, I love it. I do love oh, yeah, you love it.

Greg greg sent it.

There is a selfless nature to you, Dan, and I don't think anyone could deny that.

And, like, now that the football landed in my lap yeah. Did I rotate it this morning toward the window? Because I think it's an inspiration to others to also give their time for people who need it.

Maybe another student.

Can I get a little applause? Come on, Eric. What's taking so long? All right, let's move on.

You're a monster.

Anyway.

Trevor Lawrence got to end the segment.

We got Trevor Lawrence, number one overall pick. Zach Wilson, number two overall pick, zach Wilson, trey Lance, the number three overall pick. Justin Fields, the number eleven overall pick. Mac Jones, the 15th overall pick. None of the last four names are going to get a second contract with the team that drafted them, and one of them is already no longer with the team that's Trey Lance. And it's now all up to Trevor Lawrence to make that, by the way, which was kind of a fascinating draft class. Mark, would you mind pulling up the 2021 NFL Draft class? Great first round, tons of stars, and the quarterbacks were the headliners, and they pretty much all busted except for Lawrence. And now you look at Trevor Lawrence, and I mentioned it a couple of days ago, but he closed strong last year. His last seven games. I looked this up on pro football reference. He had a 104 passer rating, twelve touchdowns, two interceptions. He added two rushing scores, completed 68% of his passes. They won the AFC South, had one of the great comebacks in the history of the NFL against the Chargers, and then gave the Chiefs all they could handle in the divisional round.

As Greg mentioned, they have a pretty soft remaining schedule, no borough. Cincinnati at Cleveland with DTR or whoever home against Baltimore, major game with high level stakes in the AFC playoff picture and the potential buy at Tampa home, Carolina at Tennessee. They absolutely can be a twelve or 13 win team if they get high level play from their quarterback, who is the only QB that matters out of that draft class. We shall see how he finishes and how the jags finish.

I'm not totally giving and whoever you are, you're welcome.

That is a terrible quarterback class, looking at it from top to bottom.

I'm not giving up on Fields having a reasonable career where he starts a lot of games and has a better second act, like a Ryan Tannehill type of guy. I wouldn't put him nearly in the same class of where will Zack well.

He'Ll be traded, though, in the offseason.

By I don't think he'll be on the Bears.

We've seen the number one overall pick last year to keep right, but Trey.

Lance and Zach Wilson and Mac Jones are in very dark places. I just put Fields like a little to the side and it's just kind of crazy. It is, because the next quarterbacks that were taken in that class were Kellen Mond.

Right. After a long.

He had yeah, I guess he's living who else was in.

That first round, Mark? That was a good first round?

Well, it's Trevor Lawrence. It's Zach Wilson. It's Trey Lance. It's Justin Fields. It's Mac Jones. Then it falls off to Kyle Trask.

In the no, I mean the other players that weren't quarterback.

Oh, absolutely. Look, you've got Micah Parsons in there.

Parsons is twelveTH.

Yes.

You got Jamar Chase is fifth Penet.

Sewell, patrick Sartan, devonta Smith.

Kyle Pitts was fourth, waddle was 6th. I mean Sewell's an all pro or pro bowler. So Sir Tan at nine, devonta Smith might as well be at ten. Great player. Parsons at twelve. Slater made an All Pro team at 13. That is a great top of the draft.

But that said, though, quarterback, jets were not going to take a linebacker. It was like you have to keep trying.

Well, once the jets beat the Rams in Week 16, they locked themselves out of the Trevor Lawrence sweepstakes and they would have been, no matter what they would have done, they would have been wrong, but doesn't make it feel any better.

And this quarterback class, that one was sold to us as a really good generational.

Sowning over Zach Wilson, even a year into his career.

So I just want to say that Lawrence and the Jags are a team to watch down the stretch here with a soft schedule and good positioning, and they could, even though it strikes you as OD, potentially be the number one seed in the AFC.

I give them a little less of a chance than the Chiefs, but they were the second most.

Put it this way, at a certain point before games were played, they were the number one seed on Sunday, if.

I'm not mistaken, so many times.

But that tells you how incredibly packed things are. But also they're in the mix.

Absolutely.

Right now I have one quick one.

Yeah.

Because it's literally one of the biggest sports stories around. And we're about 40 days away from knowing the fate, very simply, of Bill Belichick staying in New England or leaving the Patriots, maybe saying goodbye to him when they have the number one overall pick, or 1st, 2nd, or third. And then, like in any given Sunday, al Pacino closer.

Have you seen that movie, Colin?

I have, yeah.

There you go, like Belichick turning right around and continuing his coaching career and chasing Don Shula's record somewhere else. Maybe with the Chargers, maybe with the Commanders.

The Commies. You know what's interesting is there anything that Belichick can do from this point to January 7 that would change his fate in New England?

I think it would more come down to the fact that Kraft, one way.

Or the other, I don't know if.

You're craft and you win every game. If you go six and o with Bailey Zappy, that would probably change it.

Or is it just already open?

Why would it change it then?

I'm just saying. That's what I'm saying.

Have they already made the decision?

It's more like what Kraft is weighing as other options and it's going to be the coach that's to come be post Bill Belichick. If it's Gerard Mayo, maybe it's already decided in Kraft's mind.

But Belichick said this week that he enjoys coaching this team and enjoys coaching as much now as he did when they were winning Super Bowls, which, okay.

There'S no way this is equally as wide.

I don't quite believe that. But I do believe A, that's a signal I plan to continue coaching.

I love ball.

Of course he wants the record and I actually do believe him that he believes, and he's probably right that he is going to find no greater satisfaction or enjoyment or joy in his life than doing what he's doing. So he's going to keep going to keep doing it totes if someone hires him to do it and if he.

Could be hired by a team that has an established quarterback that has the Patriots on their schedule, I think he would like that, too.

That would be would he be willing to give up running the organization? Because I do think he's not that far away from the defensive version of Mike Shanahan, which is like Mike Shanahan running the organization where he was essentially the owner ruined, that he was still, like his son, the best play caller in the league. And for everything that you know isn't doing right, they're still ranked pretty high. Like, I think he's still a fine game day coach. He could coach up a defense. Everything else.

I don't think Bill's going to want to go somewhere where someone else is, as Bill Parcel, some little nerdy GM telling Bill Belichick, what if you're going to ask me to cook the meal, you got to let me shop for the groceries. About 40 days. I can't see Bill having someone else go to the supermarket.

You're probably right.

But if you have, I don't know, justin Herbert is the quarterback, then you have a little more margin for error, which he does not have right now. All right, let's get to Thursday Night Football. Unless anybody else have another one. We're good.

All right.

Good talk. Good SEG. Thursday Night football. Yes. The aforementioned Dallas Cowboys are at home where they have been unstoppable this year, including a Thursday night bashing of the Commanders that got people fired. They host the Seattle Seahawks and these are two teams, Connie and again, Colleen, who anchors coverage of TNF on NFL Network. Two teams going in different directions. So I think the general sentiment out there and I don't know what the desert's saying, but I'm going to guess Gregy. I'm going to guess about maybe seven and a half.

I'm checking at least it's up to nine.

Up to nine.

My God. The general sentiment out there, and the Vegas sentiment is that the Cowboys are going to keep rolling. Is there anything that you're seeing in your studying of the Seahawks that says, you know what? This could be a team that game they hang around in and maybe even win.

So the only thing that jumps out at me is Gino Smith. Yes. He was definitely not 100% last week. We knew that after hurting his elbow. And he wasn't a full participant in practice going into that Thanksgiving game. But this week, he's participated in all of the practices fully. So I think Pete Carroll came out and said that it's a night and day difference for him coming into this game. So maybe we see a little bit more from Gino, because that was just not a great performance by him at all. But yeah, I mean, these two teams, I think the Seahawks are like, a perfect example of how volatile the NFL is this year in general, because they were five and two. They were one of the darlings of the NFC. They were in conversations about challenging the Niners for the division. And then they lost three of four games, including the San Francisco one. And they're still in the playoff picture, but their next three games at Dallas, at San Francisco, and then hosting the Eagles, that's a really tough stretch. And with these two teams matching up on, like Duran, Bland has more touchdowns than any of the Seahawks wide receivers.

So they kind of I know that they run the ball well, and they're going to have to to win this game or even make it close.

Metcalf has 1100 plus yard performance. There's a number out there that says on tight window throws, he's caught two of 17 tight window targets. The offense has fallen off a cliff since Week Nine, allowing just over 15 points per game. They're allowing almost 28 on defense. Dallas has never trailed at home this entire season. Seattle has gone 20 straight drives without a touchdown. So it's not just the healthier version of Gino Smith. It's like we're watching a team that I think had great promise, and it's starting to crumble left and right. You don't have Kenneth Walker, and I see issues on both sides of the ball. And do I trust Pete Carroll on the road against a white hot Cowboys team to coach his way out of it? If I say I don't trust them, they'll probably win anyways, because I remember what happened last week when I predicted Greg.

It's a little dan, Quinn. Pete Carroll off, by the way.

That's true.

Dan Quinn, who's coaching up a storm. Pete Carroll 22nd in defensive DVOA. They've been below average now for five out of six years. The one year they weren't was the pandemic year where they were 13th. So he's a defensive coach with a below average defense basically every year.

Greg, you know what else matters in these last six weeks? I think it's your boy. I think Gino's playing for his job these last six weeks of the regular season because I think he's had a pretty genocoster type year. And I think contract wise, they can make a move if they have to after this year. So he's got to put better tape out there as well.

I think they're more likely to draft a quarterback to pair with him because of the contract that he has, which was similar to the Derek Carr contract with the Raiders, which you can get off of it, but you'd have to still you guaranteed, like, 12 million.

But if his next six money looks like his last six weeks, I think they could go in a different direction.

I don't think they would do that with a veteran because I think he's kind of played over that line of just like, he's better than average. So we're going to need right now.

He is, you think?

Yes, I do. I do think, though, that the Thursday night game was a great example. They've had a couple of these games this year, and it's boring to point this out, but they get steamrolled offensively and defensively on the line. They have no pass rush, essentially, that's consistent. They put all this money in Draymond. Jones. They traded for, you know, Boy Mafia, all this stuff. They get rocked. And the Cowboys offensive line has been great.

It's been awesome.

And then you flip it, and Gino is facing, I think, the third highest pressure rate in the league. Despite getting rid of the ball pretty quickly and mostly avoiding sex, they do get Abe Lucas possibly back for this game to replace the 40, 41 year old Jason Peters for the first time since Week One. This would be the first time they have their tackles back together for the first time since Week One, but they've still got, like, a missing guard or two. Their two lines are bad. And, man, the Cowboys are so good up front on both sides, it's sad. I'm not looking forward to Gino playing this defense because there's no reason to think that they're going to play well.

I think also, if you're like, you could point to figures on the roster who have improved. Like we've gotten a much better version of Brandon Cooks the last couple of weeks. We're waiting for that. I think Tony Pollard's been running the ball better than any point in the year. And then it's like they're the kind of team that if you get behind against Dallas, they just start to dark hell on everyone. I don't know. I don't love the formula for Seattle here.

No.

And also, I kind of think it's interesting that the Seahawks, they just signed Kelvin Joseph too, to their practice squad. So, a former Cowboy, they have a couple former the.

Yeah.

On the team, if you count Jason Peters, I guess. But the Cowboys offensive line has been playing so well. Both Smiths on the left side, Tyron and Tyler. They look great. Really?

He said they had three hall of Famers on their line, including Tyler Smith.

I think Dak is also I think.

You misspoke I think he was thinking.

He did say it right. He's probably not pounding the table.

I think he was get Tony on the line from a grocery store.

He's like, having a flashback to before Travis Frederick retired.

You mentioned Cooks, obviously. CD. Lamb's been an all pro this year. You mentioned Pollard starting to heat up. You are getting a situation where I think DAC is lifting all boats here. And, Connie, here's a good stat from Barnwell.

Write this one down, buddy.

Yeah. He has an 80.7 QBR since week six, and I think week six, you're butterknifing it a little bit, because I think that's when he bombed out against San Francisco, but since that game, he has an 80.7 QBR. Nobody else in the entire NFL is over 68. So he's head and shoulders the best QB in the league for a month and a half now. And I just think, Connie, everything sets up in prime time with the Cowboys feeling themselves they are on normal rest, even though they played on Thursday night. Same with the Seahawks, by the way. To keep rolling on offense, I think we could be looking at another 30 to 40 burger.

I could definitely see that. It feels like they're at the height of their power right now. And dak Prescott. Yeah, he's on an absolute tear. He was actually asked about it. He has a daughter that's due in March coming up, so you could call him dad Prescott if you want. Well, you could, but he was saying that he was asked about how well he's been playing.

Are you, like, shopping that for Mooch on Thursday night.

Me and Mooch alone.

Does Mooch know that this show exists?

I'm sure he does. You should have him on.

Sure.

He's so much fun.

I don't know if he knows the show exists, but I mean, what a great guy.

Are you kidding me? He is the best.

Always.

Uncle Mooch here in the office. Everybody likes Steve Mariochi.

He is just the sweetest, most genuine like, he's so much fun to be around. I love doing shows with him. And my dad is in town right.

Now because we want to get oh, really?

Yeah. So it's like, I just have big dad energy all around me.

Yeah, dad energy is right, I think, because another one, we want to get who we want to get on the show in the offseason. McDaniel. We want to get Darius Slay, Kyle Shanahan. We want to get Steve Smith. Do my own episode with Colleen. Yeah. And how about Mooch with Connie as well?

Mondays with Mooch it's one of my favorite days of the week. And anyway, what I was just about to say, though, about Prescott, he was asked about the pair that he's on right now, and he said that it's Dad's strength. That's what's really, like, pushing him through right now.

Way to tie it all together.

Yeah. There we go.

Till you're getting about two and a.

Half hours of sleep and anything else on this game. All right, good.

Let's show up Seahawks. They are a more interesting nine and a half point underdog than most.

I'm with you.

And there is something to the fact that they're not facing the 49 ers. I know the Cowboys are great, but the Seahawks just look like little babies when they go against the 49 ers. Like they shouldn't even belong. They had to have been humbled there. If ever they were going to respond a little bit, try a little harder, dan, this is the game after I mean, that was as bad as it gets last week.

You know what other energy they show up. Give us a good remember that from the other night? Just hit the road. We're good.

Do the Rams end up getting in the playoffs and bouncing the Seahawks?

Seahawks are in trouble.

Feel like the packers are more likely.

But, yeah, they are in trouble.

They got to win one of one less of the underdog.

Fearless prediction, I think. Duran Bland gets an interception. He gets in the open field. That gets brought down on the Seattle side of the field. So he almost has builds on his NFL record with a 6th pick six.

I thought you were going to say tackle him. And for some reason, Gino has a lot of strengths. Open field tackling. I just gino could have the tackle. I don't feel like would be one of them. I don't feel like it would.

I will freak out if this happens.

All right. Okay. Okay. I think we covered everything. Let me check the rundown. Colleen Wolf, I want to give you the floor before you say goodbye. Is there anything you want to share with the audience on anything? Whether it's a plug or something personal or what?

I will be on TV on Thursday. We got that Thursday Night Football.

What else? Are your Christmas decorations up yet?

No, Christmas is canceled.

Breaking news.

Yeah, I've canceled it because we had to put our sweet baby to sleep last week. Blitzen.

No.

So one of the reindeer is not suitable.

That's terrible.

I'm sorry to hear that.

I am sorry to end on a down note here.

Well, that's news.

Yeah. So I am a basket case. So there's.

And you still have the one dog.

And still have Dasher.

You and Johnny will give Dasher the comfort he needs.

Yeah.

By Christmas, you'll get in the spirit. I know.

Need a little recovery, as I've said before, with dogs, because I've been very close with dogs. In my life. They are the perfect animal. Only thing, the only fundamental flaw of the dog is it lives long enough for you to really embrace it as a part of your family, but not long enough to just be around and you get those ten to 15 years. And Blitzen was a good dog.

Blitzen was great.

Great dog.

My Boomer was a great dog. Everyone has had a great dog, or most of us have.

I feel lucky that over the offseason, I got yanked out of the mist to house it at Connie and house and spend a lot of time with both dogs. And I had met them both before, but it kind of effs me up to hear this news because they were really sweet and they were best friends, too.

And you sent me the best videos of them. I still had the best pictures and videos, so many throughout the time that you were house sitting. And I love them. I love every single one that you sent. And I save them and I look at them.

Advice to a friend. Find an ornament that looks like Blitzen. Decorate for the holidays and hang that ornament and celebrate together. I think it would actually help.

I think so.

Bring love into the house. Celebrate Blitzen.

Uncancel Christmas.

Fine.

Uncancel Christmas.

Christmas is back. Turn on the music.

All right. Shout out blitzen. Thank you.

Thank you, everyone, and you.

And dogs. It's never nonstop drama around.

Blitzen was the opposite time of year.

I know.

Jeez.

Where is Tank?

How is Tank? Still around? And Blitz is actually tank's not around.

I was rooting for the dog.

All right.

Okay.

Gotta go.

That's everything. You said it all, Colleen. Thank you to everybody for listening. We'll be back on Thursday with the TNF preview, NFL plus TNF recap. It's our Thursday triple header. That's a lot of work.

Looking forward to it.

That's what we do. Yeah, we grind. Till then, heed the call.