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Teddy Bridgewater Starting for Dolphins, Derek Carr, & Nick Shook's Underdogs · NFL Now

0:05
Speaker 1: NFL Now is a production of the NFL in partnership
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Speaker 1: with I Heart Radio. All Right, it's NFL Now on
0:18
Speaker 1: NFL Network. The commanders have made a quarterback change. Nick
0:22
Speaker 1: Siriani is joking about who his quarterback maybe and why
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Speaker 1: he is better than you in all aspects of life,
0:27
Speaker 1: plus all the playoffs scenarios, both clinching and elimination. For
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Speaker 1: Week seventeen, I'm ANDREWS Ciciliano. This year is Steve White.
0:36
Speaker 1: Thank you for watching NFL Now. And you're still pushing
0:38
Speaker 1: back against what NFL research suggests would be the best
0:43
Speaker 1: Monday night game ever. Yeah, no, no, I mean that's
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Speaker 1: that's conjecture. That's you know, a little crystal balling. But yeah,
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Speaker 1: it could be. We'll see talking about win total, wind total.
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Speaker 1: We will preview the Bills and the Bengals, who have
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Speaker 1: combined for twenty three wins and meet Monday in Cincinnati
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Speaker 1: coming up shortly. We begin, however, with a far more
1:01
Speaker 1: serious story here, and that is out of Miami. We're
1:04
Speaker 1: two a ton of Hello. It does have a concussion.
1:06
Speaker 1: He is not only in concussion protocol, he has been
1:10
Speaker 1: diagnosed with a concussion with a head injury and unless
1:16
Speaker 1: something changes, he is not playing on Sunday. Mike McDaniel
1:20
Speaker 1: made it clear today they are moving forward with Teddy Bridgewater.
1:25
Speaker 1: In regards to it's a very UM. I've been advised
1:29
Speaker 1: by UM medical professionals that it's critical that that uh
1:37
Speaker 1: to a worries only about um the day that he's
1:43
Speaker 1: currently in and nothing else. He's uh better better than yesterday. UM.
1:52
Speaker 1: You know, he's a he's you know beyond that. UM.
1:58
Speaker 1: I feel I feel like it's a kind of weird
2:02
Speaker 1: UM two extra appelate beyond good which is what he
2:08
Speaker 1: tells me moving forward today, and you know the whole
2:11
Speaker 1: team's approaches. Uh, Teddy Bridgewater is the starter. UM. This
2:15
Speaker 1: is why you know we uh I thought it's so
2:20
Speaker 1: vital to to go um uh after human free agency.
2:25
Speaker 1: This is why he's done such a diligent job during
2:29
Speaker 1: the course of the season, UM with his own uh
2:33
Speaker 1: injuries and and such, to be prepared for this opportunity.
2:36
Speaker 1: I'm not sure if it's really my business to go
2:40
Speaker 1: into his day to day you know, just honestly, it's UM,
2:45
Speaker 1: it's science. You don't want to UM. This is a
2:51
Speaker 1: private time for him to focus on his health. Um,
2:54
Speaker 1: and that's uh all. I really want to get into Mike,
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Speaker 1: you into a very close off the field for you
3:02
Speaker 1: as a person, as a friend, as a coach, to him,
3:05
Speaker 1: what's a life to seek him? How to go through
3:08
Speaker 1: this terrible? And I think that sums up the situation
3:15
Speaker 1: really from everyone's perspective here. Camp Wolf was in Miami,
3:18
Speaker 1: jud Batista with me as well, can't start with you
3:21
Speaker 1: and let's let's try to figure out how this all
3:24
Speaker 1: played out. Because the announcement was made yesterday afternoon that
3:28
Speaker 1: Ta is in concussion protocol and that came as a
3:31
Speaker 1: surprise to some people in that building. Yeah, Andrew leaving
3:36
Speaker 1: the locker room. That's the overall feeling from the players,
3:39
Speaker 1: surprise And one quote stroke me the most. Running back
3:42
Speaker 1: Raheem Mostard said, it was a shock to see two
3:45
Speaker 1: of going through that, but kind of made sense when
3:48
Speaker 1: I look back at the end of the game. I
3:50
Speaker 1: was in the locker room, I mean in the huddle,
3:51
Speaker 1: asking myself, what's going on? What are we doing here?
3:54
Speaker 1: Not necessarily just for Ta, but the whole aura of
3:57
Speaker 1: the offense. Something seemed off. And so to learn that
4:01
Speaker 1: he has a cussion that sucks and if you remember motion,
4:04
Speaker 1: and two I had to miscommunication on that second interception.
4:07
Speaker 1: Mostert said he ran the wrong route to us said,
4:10
Speaker 1: he didn't say the playwright. You know, good teammates cover
4:12
Speaker 1: for one another. But at least the most it was
4:14
Speaker 1: clear that something was off for him during the game,
4:17
Speaker 1: and it struck me that Mike McDaniel Monday morning went
4:20
Speaker 1: in with his coaches to watch that film and they
4:22
Speaker 1: noticed something on tape that seemed off and inconsistent with
4:26
Speaker 1: his play, and so they decided to ask him and
4:28
Speaker 1: send him to the doctors, which is what started the
4:31
Speaker 1: protocol process. For two. It's important to note that Sunday,
4:34
Speaker 1: no one saw any physical signs of a hit that
4:37
Speaker 1: caused him to have any symptoms. But moving forward, they
4:40
Speaker 1: were trying to figure out how to have his health
4:43
Speaker 1: as the best thing going forward. And this is particularly
4:45
Speaker 1: concerning because it's a second diagnosed concussion for two and
4:49
Speaker 1: the third time he's been evaluated after hitting his head
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Speaker 1: in a game. And so we saw the NFL p
4:54
Speaker 1: A initiate their investigation jointly with the league and going
4:58
Speaker 1: to figure out exactly what happened here. The first one
5:01
Speaker 1: there was tweaks to the protocol we'll see what happens
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Speaker 1: the second time. The first and most important thing here
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Speaker 1: is to us health. You got to figure out exactly
5:10
Speaker 1: how he's going to be moving forward, so there's no
5:12
Speaker 1: timeline for his return, and the teams moving forward with
5:14
Speaker 1: Teddy Bridgewater as the starter. And one more thing, Andrew
5:18
Speaker 1: I asked Teddy Bridgewater, who had his own serious concussion
5:20
Speaker 1: last year, his advice for TA. He said, take care
5:24
Speaker 1: of yourself, man, and then he paused and repeated it again,
5:27
Speaker 1: take care of yourself. Well, guys. I talked to Dr
5:31
Speaker 1: Allen Sells, the chief medical officer for the NFL, yesterday,
5:34
Speaker 1: and he made the point. I asked him, you know,
5:36
Speaker 1: why wasn't too taken off the fields at any point
5:38
Speaker 1: during the game, Because I think one of the things
5:40
Speaker 1: that is so alarming about this is the play. Whatever
5:43
Speaker 1: play it was that two was injured on, didn't even
5:46
Speaker 1: stand out. It wasn't an exceptional play that caught. And
5:48
Speaker 1: he noticed and he said, you know, the spotters at
5:51
Speaker 1: a game are taught to not just look for a
5:54
Speaker 1: hit or a blow to the head and neck area,
5:57
Speaker 1: but you're taught to look for that and then what
5:59
Speaker 1: they call injury behavior. That follows it. So if a
6:01
Speaker 1: player took a blow to the head or hit his head, um,
6:04
Speaker 1: then you would look to see is he stumbling, did
6:07
Speaker 1: he grab his head anything like that? Was he unsteady? Um?
6:11
Speaker 1: There was none of that in to his case. That
6:13
Speaker 1: the symptoms presented themselves later, which is not uncommon. Um.
6:18
Speaker 1: So there will be a review conducted by the union
6:20
Speaker 1: and the league jointly about what happened here. But even
6:23
Speaker 1: when you talk to people who have been critical of
6:26
Speaker 1: the NFL's protocol, they will say, you know, you can't
6:29
Speaker 1: be pulling players. Every player who might have hit his
6:33
Speaker 1: head on the ground off the field. You wouldn't have
6:35
Speaker 1: that many players left to play the game going forward?
6:39
Speaker 1: What they do? I I asked Dr Sills, you know,
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Speaker 1: is it different since this is the second concussion for him,
6:44
Speaker 1: And he said no, you know, every player has to
6:45
Speaker 1: go through exactly the same sort of graduated level of
6:48
Speaker 1: exertion to be cleared. And he said, once they have
6:52
Speaker 1: all the data, the doctors, um, the independent consultants have
6:56
Speaker 1: all the data, they will sit down with two and
6:59
Speaker 1: lay it all out. This is what they would do
7:01
Speaker 1: with any patient, not just athletes, and lay it all
7:04
Speaker 1: out Because Tuah and his family have to have a
7:07
Speaker 1: voice in his treatment, in his recovery because, as Dr
7:10
Speaker 1: Still said, even with all the technology and all of
7:13
Speaker 1: the advancements in studies of concussion, they still cannot predict
7:18
Speaker 1: but long term effects on an individual and when a
7:21
Speaker 1: re injury might occur. So, as Dr Still said, they
7:25
Speaker 1: have to err on the side of caution here and
7:27
Speaker 1: be very conservative with his care. Yeah, dude, I know
7:30
Speaker 1: to I know his family. You know his parents, Nala
7:32
Speaker 1: and Diane, and you know how they feel about their children.
7:35
Speaker 1: So I'm sure they're having a very hard discussion with
7:38
Speaker 1: Tah about Hey, look, this is for your health, this
7:41
Speaker 1: is for your long term care. Because two of by nature,
7:44
Speaker 1: he's so competitive. He always wants to get on the
7:46
Speaker 1: field regardless because he's always had to fight an uphill battle,
7:49
Speaker 1: small guy, injury prone. I want to show people that
7:53
Speaker 1: I'm tough and I can make it. So this is
7:55
Speaker 1: one where as a family, the Dolphins, as an organization,
7:58
Speaker 1: the medical staff, whomever, teammates need to make sure that
8:01
Speaker 1: they feel comfortable with him being out there. And I'm
8:04
Speaker 1: gonna go back to something on a conversation with Mike
8:06
Speaker 1: McCarthy back when he was coaching the Green Bay Packers
8:09
Speaker 1: about ten years ago. He said, as an organization, they
8:12
Speaker 1: have a test called the can we sleep at night
8:15
Speaker 1: test if we put a player on the field after
8:18
Speaker 1: he suffers an injury. This is something that everyone in
8:21
Speaker 1: the Dolphins organization and anyone around TWA needs to go
8:24
Speaker 1: with you right now, can we sleep at night if
8:27
Speaker 1: we put him back on the field feeling comfortable with
8:30
Speaker 1: the doctors, and Ta says if he plays football again
8:34
Speaker 1: this season. I also remember a couple of months ago
8:37
Speaker 1: when we went through this the last time with two
8:40
Speaker 1: and he was on the podium. It was a midweek presser.
8:42
Speaker 1: He was back, and he was asked, how does your
8:45
Speaker 1: family feel about you playing? And he hemmed in had
8:49
Speaker 1: and seemed pretty clear that they had reservations then. And
8:54
Speaker 1: now we're going through this again. It's gonna be Teddy
8:57
Speaker 1: Bridgewater this week, and then we'll check with the Dolphins
9:00
Speaker 1: again next week. Thank you, Steve, Thank you. Cam live
9:02
Speaker 1: in Miami due to be teased it as well. Get
9:05
Speaker 1: to some other news here, other quarterback news. He and
9:07
Speaker 1: rapping board this one somewhat surprising the other team in
9:11
Speaker 1: that game, the Packers Green Bay one Aaron Rodgers seemingly okay,
9:15
Speaker 1: but not seeing on the practice field today. Yeah, dealing
9:20
Speaker 1: with a little bit of a knee injury is Aaron Rodgers.
9:23
Speaker 1: And you know, there was a point in the game
9:24
Speaker 1: of Rodgers was kind of on the sideline that believe
9:26
Speaker 1: it was late in the game, got hit right on
9:28
Speaker 1: the knee, came up wincing a little bit, didn't miss
9:31
Speaker 1: the play, seemed okay, but it was definitely something, definitely
9:35
Speaker 1: a thing. And it seems like the thing that is
9:37
Speaker 1: keeping Aaron Rodgers out of practice does not seem to
9:39
Speaker 1: be significant, seems relatively minor, and basically I would say
9:43
Speaker 1: his knee probably needs to be falling off for him
9:45
Speaker 1: not to play at this point for the Packers. Didn't
9:47
Speaker 1: sound like the knee is falling off, So I think
9:49
Speaker 1: Roger is going to be fine, But yes, no practice
9:52
Speaker 1: for the Packers. Starkquard, Okay, you said he was wincing,
9:54
Speaker 1: not wincing. Ron Rivera is wincing again. He's made a
9:58
Speaker 1: quarterback switch here as the Commanders get ready to play
10:01
Speaker 1: the Browns Rogers and the Packers rooting for the Browns.
10:05
Speaker 1: That clear, very yes, made it very clear rather yesterday
10:08
Speaker 1: why Ron Rivera make the switch. He's hoping for a spark,
10:12
Speaker 1: and Carson Wentz went in there this past weekend supporting
10:15
Speaker 1: Niners looked pretty good, got the offense moving, the focus
10:18
Speaker 1: was on finishing drives, and Taylor Heneke did so many
10:21
Speaker 1: good things for the Commanders, pulled him out of the ABYSS,
10:24
Speaker 1: got him in playoff contention right at the brink of
10:27
Speaker 1: the playoffs. But you know, as unfortunately happened in the
10:30
Speaker 1: red zone too often. Off the over the last couple
10:32
Speaker 1: of games, they stalled a little bit, and Ron Rivera
10:34
Speaker 1: felt it was time to move on from Tara Haneke
10:37
Speaker 1: to go with Wentz, who began the season as the starter.
10:39
Speaker 1: And I think it's fair to say probably the more
10:42
Speaker 1: talented of quarterbacks. I think that's fair to say. So, yeah,
10:47
Speaker 1: it is going to be Carson Wentz. It's gonna be
10:50
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz moving forward, uh for the Washington Commanders. Okay,
10:54
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz starting this week for the Commanders as they
10:57
Speaker 1: have a clinching scenario, thank you Ian Rappaport here they
10:59
Speaker 1: have to beat the Browns. NFC playoff pictures certainly very
11:03
Speaker 1: fluid here as we continue on ATFL now and we
11:07
Speaker 1: look at the rest of the week seventeen schedule, look
11:09
Speaker 1: at the Raiders and the forty Niners. Let's go live
11:12
Speaker 1: to Vegas. Josh McDaniels on the podium and had a
11:18
Speaker 1: had a good conversation with the quarterbacks this morning, and UH,
11:22
Speaker 1: so we're we're gonna go ahead and and start Jared
11:26
Speaker 1: the last couple of games of the season here. UM.
11:29
Speaker 1: You know, none of us is happy with where we're at, UM,
11:33
Speaker 1: but we think it's an opportunity to UM, you know,
11:37
Speaker 1: evaluate a younger player who hasn't had much time to play. UM.
11:41
Speaker 1: You know, UH talking to Derek, who was great, UM,
11:45
Speaker 1: you know, he understands, uh, the scenario that we're in
11:48
Speaker 1: and the situation, and UM, very supportive of the two
11:51
Speaker 1: young guys that those three guys of us. He had
11:54
Speaker 1: worked together hand in hand all year and UM you
11:57
Speaker 1: know he'll do anything he can to help him. So,
11:59
Speaker 1: UM you know that's what we're gonna do. UM. And
12:02
Speaker 1: obviously we're UM, you know, started into our preparation for
12:06
Speaker 1: what I think probably is um, the best you know
12:11
Speaker 1: football team top to bottom that we've played, UM in
12:14
Speaker 1: in San Francisco, so well coached. UM, you know, extremely
12:19
Speaker 1: highly ranked in every category offense, defense, special teams. I'd
12:23
Speaker 1: say probably playing as good as any team that we
12:25
Speaker 1: faced all year at the time that we're playing them,
12:28
Speaker 1: and UM, excited for the opportunity and looking forward to
12:33
Speaker 1: the challenge of this week. UM, when we talked about
12:36
Speaker 1: the contract situation on Monday, does that play into this
12:40
Speaker 1: and bigger question, what's what's the message in regards to
12:44
Speaker 1: their car moving forward with Yeah? You know, like I said,
12:48
Speaker 1: it's more about the opportunity this. Like I said, we're
12:51
Speaker 1: all accountable to where we're at, and I think this
12:54
Speaker 1: is more about an opportunity to to see a guy
12:57
Speaker 1: that we haven't seen play in a situation like this
13:00
Speaker 1: against a couple of good teams, really good teams. UM.
13:03
Speaker 1: You know, Derek's played a lot of ball. There's a
13:05
Speaker 1: lot of evaluating that's gonna take place here once the
13:09
Speaker 1: season is over, in terms of how we make the
13:12
Speaker 1: most progress, what makes the most sense for everybody, UM,
13:15
Speaker 1: and how we move forward. And we knew that was
13:17
Speaker 1: going to be the case. Obviously we're hoping to be
13:19
Speaker 1: in a different scenario than we are currently. UM, But
13:22
Speaker 1: there's no this isn't a uh, this isn't a there's
13:26
Speaker 1: no finality to today. This is just a you know,
13:28
Speaker 1: a decision we thought after talking about it and contemplating
13:31
Speaker 1: it that we thought, you know, would be UM an
13:34
Speaker 1: opportunity for us to see, you know, what we have
13:37
Speaker 1: in him and UM and how we how we do
13:39
Speaker 1: going forward. We'll see, you know what I mean. So
13:41
Speaker 1: there's a lot to be I think there's a lot
13:43
Speaker 1: to be sorted through once the season's over. So that
13:45
Speaker 1: just happened. Jared Stidham, guys, is starting not only Week seventeen,
13:49
Speaker 1: he is starting Week eighteen as well. Derek Carr bench
13:54
Speaker 1: for the last two games of the season where the
13:56
Speaker 1: Raiders still have a mathematical chance at the playoffs. It
14:00
Speaker 1: would be like a twenty team parlay over two weeks
14:04
Speaker 1: to try to get in Vegas. We could say parley,
14:06
Speaker 1: but it is highly highly unlikely. Ian Rappaport. This comes
14:10
Speaker 1: after Derek Carr signed a massive extension to the off season,
14:14
Speaker 1: but one that did not have a lot of guaranteed money. Right,
14:19
Speaker 1: There's a contract decision that is coming for the Las
14:21
Speaker 1: Vegas Raiders, but that's gonna come after the season. We
14:23
Speaker 1: have plenty of time to talk about what it would
14:26
Speaker 1: mean if they do decide to move forward with Derek Carr.
14:29
Speaker 1: The forty million dollars and and there's a lot of
14:31
Speaker 1: decisions that everyone has to make in the offseas regarding
14:34
Speaker 1: the quarterback position. Plenty of time for that. For now,
14:37
Speaker 1: what we know is this, the Raiders want to take
14:39
Speaker 1: a look at Jared Stidham. And obviously this is a
14:42
Speaker 1: staff that is very familiar with them. Both Josh McDaniels
14:45
Speaker 1: and Dave Zego, the general manager, came from New England
14:48
Speaker 1: drafted Stidham there. I know they think pretty highly of them,
14:51
Speaker 1: so they will take a look at him, as they
14:53
Speaker 1: will from some other players at positions where they're taking
14:57
Speaker 1: over for veterans. Of course, Denzel Perriman headed to our
15:00
Speaker 1: Tandler Jones i'm told also going to be placed on
15:02
Speaker 1: I R with his elbow injury. See more young people there.
15:06
Speaker 1: So it just doesn't make sense at this time to
15:09
Speaker 1: play Derek Carr. There's the business, there's the football, there's
15:13
Speaker 1: the want to take a look at younger players. A
15:15
Speaker 1: lot going on here for the Raiders, who you know,
15:17
Speaker 1: do mathematically have a chance, but of course it seems
15:20
Speaker 1: very very far fetched that they will. You got to
15:22
Speaker 1: start thinking him next year. You need to know whether
15:24
Speaker 1: or not Stidhama is in their plans, so they're gonna
15:27
Speaker 1: play him. Okay, this honestly, you know, look, it's it
15:29
Speaker 1: would have to be a six way eight and nine
15:31
Speaker 1: tie for the Raiders to get in. It would have
15:33
Speaker 1: to be specific wins and losses by the other teams here. So, Bucky,
15:36
Speaker 1: they're not making the playoffs. So doesn't this kind of
15:39
Speaker 1: feel like a goodbye to Derek Carr? Bucky? It does?
15:44
Speaker 1: It kind of feels like one of those CDs that
15:46
Speaker 1: I bought E. P. M. D. Business never perfectly business.
15:50
Speaker 1: This is business. This is this is all about the
15:54
Speaker 1: Raid is making decision that you know what, Derek Carr,
15:56
Speaker 1: we don't know if you're right for us. The last
15:58
Speaker 1: four games, Derek Carr is only completing fifty of his passes,
16:02
Speaker 1: six touchdowns, seven interceptions. For a guy that was supposed
16:05
Speaker 1: to be a top ten quarterback. That's not good enough.
16:08
Speaker 1: This team was supposed to compete at a high level.
16:10
Speaker 1: They went to the playoffs this season ago. Josh McDaniels
16:13
Speaker 1: supposed to help this team get over to hump. You
16:15
Speaker 1: have eight one score losses. When you have an elite
16:18
Speaker 1: franchise quarterback, that quarterback is supposed to make some of
16:21
Speaker 1: those things right. Derek Carr hasn't played well, so now
16:24
Speaker 1: you have this forty million dollar decision on whether he's
16:27
Speaker 1: going to continue to be your quarterback going forward. Look,
16:30
Speaker 1: I think they're telling us without telling us, they are
16:33
Speaker 1: in the quarterback market. They're looking at Jared Stidham. But
16:35
Speaker 1: Jared Stidham is just one of many quarterbacks that they
16:38
Speaker 1: may look at before they make a decision on Derek Carr. Yeah,
16:42
Speaker 1: I mean, you were there, You're there. Ian. Here, here's
16:45
Speaker 1: the thing we were taught. We're we're giving them all
16:47
Speaker 1: the cover that they need. Here's the deal. They're not
16:50
Speaker 1: taking a look at Jared Sidhem. They know what Jared
16:52
Speaker 1: Sindhma is. He's not gonna be their long term quarterback.
16:55
Speaker 1: This is the audios to Derek Carr. His contract is
16:59
Speaker 1: guaranteed for injury only, so by them not playing him
17:03
Speaker 1: the final two games, they are saying, Okay, we're putting
17:06
Speaker 1: you in bubble wrap. You're not gonna get hurt. So
17:09
Speaker 1: if we do make the decision to move on, which
17:12
Speaker 1: it seems like they will, unless they don't have a
17:14
Speaker 1: better option, then he's gone. This is a team that's
17:18
Speaker 1: gonna have continued turnover. Josh McDaniels has the blessing of
17:22
Speaker 1: Mark Davis of having time to fix what's gone wrong
17:25
Speaker 1: with this organization. Here's the other picture of this. Right now,
17:28
Speaker 1: the Raiders, they're sitting at number eight in the draft order.
17:31
Speaker 1: As if right now, by taking some of their veterans
17:34
Speaker 1: off the field, they can move up higher in the
17:37
Speaker 1: draft order. Some of these seems like the Falcons, who
17:39
Speaker 1: are still competitive and things like that, may win some
17:41
Speaker 1: games to move themselves behind the Raiders in the draft ord.
17:44
Speaker 1: This could have long implications for them making a move
17:47
Speaker 1: like this now besides just saying goodbye to Derek Carr.
17:51
Speaker 1: So it's a very interesting move. We all understand it,
17:55
Speaker 1: but we might as well to say what it is
17:57
Speaker 1: I mean by Derek Carr and let's see, let's get
18:00
Speaker 1: the quarterback market after the in go ahead. One thing
18:05
Speaker 1: now would add to that is we did this with
18:07
Speaker 1: Jimmy Garoppolo and the San Francisco San Francisco for the
18:09
Speaker 1: Niners several times they officially said goodbye to him. They
18:13
Speaker 1: put out everything, everything was public, and then now he's
18:17
Speaker 1: injured now, but he was still their quarterback after working
18:19
Speaker 1: out on the hab field. So he got he got hurt,
18:22
Speaker 1: he had an injury they didn't know about. Do we
18:24
Speaker 1: know about injury with Derek? I was just there at
18:29
Speaker 1: we have seen and and look, if the Raiders are
18:34
Speaker 1: gonna move on from Derek Carr, which considering what has happened,
18:37
Speaker 1: it's obviously in the realm of possibility, they're gonna have
18:40
Speaker 1: to have a better option. So here's their better option.
18:42
Speaker 1: Who's going to be quarterback for the Raiders. A lot
18:44
Speaker 1: of things we don't know, So when Josh McDaniels says
18:47
Speaker 1: things need to be sorted out, part of it is
18:49
Speaker 1: who actually is playing quarterback for the Raiders. I think
18:53
Speaker 1: that's a very real question. I don't know all the answer,
18:56
Speaker 1: And that's a great point. There's a quarterback that Josh
18:59
Speaker 1: McDaniels has worked with, it's going to be a free
19:01
Speaker 1: agent that's currently trying to win the NFC South. There's
19:04
Speaker 1: a quarterback that McDaniels um has worked with that is
19:07
Speaker 1: now injured in San Francisco. We're throwing those out there
19:10
Speaker 1: as well. I mean, why not, Um, But to your
19:12
Speaker 1: point about putting him a bubble wrap. Chase Carbers is
19:15
Speaker 1: going to be the number two quarterback this week, all right.
19:17
Speaker 1: The undrafted rookie had account so it's gonna be Chase Carbers.
19:20
Speaker 1: So it won't be Derek Carr. He will be watching
19:24
Speaker 1: and inactive. Okay, Bucky No. I think the interesting thing
19:31
Speaker 1: is not only Derek Carr. But now we've got to
19:32
Speaker 1: think about the ramifications with Davante Adams came over to
19:35
Speaker 1: the Raiders to play with a guy that he considers
19:38
Speaker 1: one of his best friends in Derek Carr. How does
19:40
Speaker 1: that play in the locker room if Derek Carr is
19:42
Speaker 1: no longer there. I know they paid him and they
19:45
Speaker 1: brought him over as a lifelong dream. But when you
19:47
Speaker 1: think about some of those things and how some of
19:49
Speaker 1: those people may have come on board because they thought
19:51
Speaker 1: Derek Carr was going to be not only the franchise quarterback,
19:54
Speaker 1: but the leader of the team going forward. I just
19:56
Speaker 1: wonder how is Josh McDaniels going to handle all of
19:59
Speaker 1: these things that may take place in the locker room
20:02
Speaker 1: as he continues to try and rebuild Desivering Black and
20:05
Speaker 1: And I just want to come back to you real quick,
20:07
Speaker 1: don't the Raiders have to make a decision with within
20:09
Speaker 1: five days or a week after the playing of the
20:11
Speaker 1: Super Bowl on Derek Carr. Yeah, that is when remember
20:16
Speaker 1: that big extension that he signed before the season. Really,
20:20
Speaker 1: the guarantees on that kick in right after the Super Bowl,
20:24
Speaker 1: which actually is a really smart thing for all parties
20:27
Speaker 1: because if they are going to move on, if they're
20:28
Speaker 1: gonna find a trade partner or maybe cut him, I
20:31
Speaker 1: guess that's certainly possible as well, then it's gonna happen
20:34
Speaker 1: well in advance of the opening of free agency. If
20:38
Speaker 1: Derek Carr is released, let's say five days after the
20:41
Speaker 1: Super Bowl, he will be one of the top free agents,
20:44
Speaker 1: maybe the top agent free agent plus able to sign
20:47
Speaker 1: right away. So there's a lot going on here more
20:51
Speaker 1: than just well the Raiders are playing judged him. Well. Yeah,
20:54
Speaker 1: and there's a Niners angle here as well. San Francisco's
20:57
Speaker 1: eleven and four currently the three seed here. It's the
20:59
Speaker 1: Niners in the Raiders Sunday in Vegas. If the Eagles
21:03
Speaker 1: were to face plan here, San Francis can get the
21:06
Speaker 1: wins and can get the tenant two in the conference.
21:09
Speaker 1: So the seating here in the NFC could very well
21:13
Speaker 1: be affected by this decision. Jarrett Stidham starting for the
21:18
Speaker 1: Raiders and this week and next. All right, Bucky, the
21:21
Speaker 1: Raiders can be picking top five. You're gonna be busy
21:23
Speaker 1: to in your quarterback analysis for them. Like I said,
21:25
Speaker 1: every day, it's something new. This one, it's a quarterback
21:28
Speaker 1: change in Vegas. Thank you, Ian, Thank you, Bunny. I
21:35
Speaker 1: don't like to blow things out of proportion. That is
21:37
Speaker 1: not my style. But this might be the biggest and
21:40
Speaker 1: best Monday night game we've ever seen. Is that hyperbole?
21:43
Speaker 1: I don't know. Let me look at it here ever, ever,
21:46
Speaker 1: and I'll explain why. Steve White cheese and see the scenarios.
21:49
Speaker 1: Buffalos try to hang onto the number one seed. If
21:51
Speaker 1: for some reason the Broncos beat the Chief's not gonna happen,
21:54
Speaker 1: then you know, Buffalo can clints that seed, the number
21:57
Speaker 1: one seed on Monday Night. The Bengals can wrap up
21:59
Speaker 1: the North if for some reason, the Ravens lose to
22:03
Speaker 1: the Steelers on Sunday night. Here's why, Bucky, Steve, this
22:06
Speaker 1: could be, according to NFL research, the best Monday Night
22:09
Speaker 1: game ever. I know we had a hundred and five
22:10
Speaker 1: point game of the Colors seem in twenty good. I
22:13
Speaker 1: know that. But okay, these two teams have combined for
22:16
Speaker 1: twenty three wins. That is the most we have ever
22:19
Speaker 1: had in a Monday night game. There's a game between
22:22
Speaker 1: the Broncos of the Niners in eight seven or ninety seven, right,
22:25
Speaker 1: but the most we have ever had ever. And all
22:30
Speaker 1: everything that's at stake, yes, and everything that's at steak,
22:33
Speaker 1: give me the key here for the Bengals ever. Ever. Look, hey,
22:36
Speaker 1: but you know one thing we're gonna hear about all
22:38
Speaker 1: the quarterbacks and wide receivers. I'm looking at the safeties
22:41
Speaker 1: in this game. There are playmakers on both teams at safety,
22:45
Speaker 1: but when it comes to the Bengals, Von Bell and
22:48
Speaker 1: Jesse Bates, these guys are takeaway stalwarts. They are turnover forcers.
22:55
Speaker 1: Between the two safeties, they've got seven interceptions. Von Bell
22:58
Speaker 1: is also forced two fumbles as you see there. Jesse Bates,
23:01
Speaker 1: he's always in the frame. Wherever the ball is, there's
23:03
Speaker 1: there's Jesse Bates. And in von Bell a big hitter
23:06
Speaker 1: in the run game. Also, those two can really be good.
23:09
Speaker 1: It's not just the center of the field, but to
23:11
Speaker 1: take away someone like Dawson Knox in this game, So
23:14
Speaker 1: I think the safeties are gonna be in big time
23:16
Speaker 1: play can help determine the outcome of this game. Buck Also,
23:19
Speaker 1: maybe just potentially, if the Bills could run the ball
23:22
Speaker 1: like they did last week Bucky, which was their best
23:25
Speaker 1: single game rushing performance in six years, that's going to
23:31
Speaker 1: be the key for the Buffalo Bills going forward. Steve
23:33
Speaker 1: is talking about the safeties for Cincinnati Bengals, and let's
23:35
Speaker 1: be honest. When you play the Buffalo Bills, what you
23:37
Speaker 1: want to do, particularly as you get into the playoffs,
23:39
Speaker 1: you can park the safeties in the parking lot, take
23:41
Speaker 1: away the deep balls, test Josh Allen being disciplined as
23:45
Speaker 1: an underneath thrower, the way you run people out of
23:48
Speaker 1: there too deep coverage. You gotta run the football and
23:50
Speaker 1: it can't just be with Josh Allen. So you need
23:53
Speaker 1: Devin Singletary, you need all of you guys, James Cook,
23:56
Speaker 1: you need everybody to be ready to be able to
23:58
Speaker 1: be effective running the football, because when you can run
24:01
Speaker 1: the football, you now can dictate the terms. You can
24:03
Speaker 1: get those shots that you lie from the Bills that
24:06
Speaker 1: you're big play offense. But running the football will help
24:09
Speaker 1: him make more big place. Okay, I just want to
24:11
Speaker 1: point out here and again it's research adding up the wind,
24:14
Speaker 1: Steve saying that this would be the best Monday Night
24:16
Speaker 1: came ever, potentially just the wind total. Judy Batista listening
24:20
Speaker 1: in New York right now, not pictured, but Judy texting
24:22
Speaker 1: while we're talking. Don't forget about the Monday Night in
24:25
Speaker 1: December when Bears undefeated went to Miami. Okay, their win
24:31
Speaker 1: total was twenty no, No nineteen heading into the game. Okay,
24:37
Speaker 1: so this is twenty three on the wind total. Yes,
24:39
Speaker 1: that game had major historic signific it did it did?
24:43
Speaker 1: You're just trying to ruin my hype. No, No, I
24:46
Speaker 1: love the hype. I love the hype. Don't believe the hype.
24:48
Speaker 1: It's the sea angles in the Bills are an ever game, Okay. Never.
24:52
Speaker 1: The Bengals are tweeting about it. The Bengals are saying,
24:54
Speaker 1: hide your tables got fired. Those fans like Mike rob
24:58
Speaker 1: like the chump on tables. You know what I'm saying. Here,
25:01
Speaker 1: Nick shook his here as he is every Wednesday with
25:03
Speaker 1: his underdogs. Hell oh, Nick, The Bengals are one and
25:06
Speaker 1: a half point underdogs at home. According to Draft Kings,
25:11
Speaker 1: would you hide your tables? As the Bengals say, uh yeah,
25:16
Speaker 1: potentially for the tailgate, But you know, I'm on board
25:18
Speaker 1: with you, Andrew. Let's let's hype this up as much
25:20
Speaker 1: as possible. Let's give this half of a Super Bowl
25:23
Speaker 1: coverage because it's that big of a game. It's potentially
25:26
Speaker 1: a preview of what could be the a f C
25:27
Speaker 1: title game depending on how how seating goes and determine. Yes,
25:33
Speaker 1: exactly that too, which is highly important as the Bills
25:35
Speaker 1: have learned in recent years running into the Chiefs. But
25:38
Speaker 1: I really like the Bengals here because it's the team
25:40
Speaker 1: that people I still feel like aren't really paying attention to.
25:43
Speaker 1: Everybody talks about the Chiefs, they talk about the Bills,
25:46
Speaker 1: and they still say we'll see about the Bengals. They
25:48
Speaker 1: haven't lost since Halloween. They have the second longest active
25:51
Speaker 1: win streak in the NFL. Right behind them is the
25:53
Speaker 1: Bills in third with six straight win They're facing the
25:55
Speaker 1: number two scoring defense in Buffalo, but Joe Burrow does
25:58
Speaker 1: have a good track record in such matchups and top
26:01
Speaker 1: against top five scoring defenses. He's two and out the
26:04
Speaker 1: last time he faced such a team week seventeen, two
26:06
Speaker 1: thousand twenty one against the Chiefs. That was the game
26:09
Speaker 1: the Bengals won and put them on the radar of
26:11
Speaker 1: everybody else in the NFL. I can see a similar
26:13
Speaker 1: thing happening again. Okay, once again, Nick, It's a Wednesday,
26:16
Speaker 1: and we're saying the Vikings are an underdog three point
26:20
Speaker 1: dog yep against the Packers, a team they beat back
26:24
Speaker 1: in September. Your thoughts, Yeah, beat them fairly handily, way
26:28
Speaker 1: back in the early part of the season. This is
26:31
Speaker 1: a twelve and three team that's an underdog, and I
26:33
Speaker 1: guess they understand to a degree because the Vikings are
26:36
Speaker 1: one of the least impressive twelve and three teams except
26:39
Speaker 1: for the last two weeks, where they found ways to
26:41
Speaker 1: win to Greg Joseph, game winning field goals producing victories
26:45
Speaker 1: for them. That's who they are. They're eleven or now
26:47
Speaker 1: in one score games this year, and they're facing a
26:49
Speaker 1: Packers team that they've already beaten this season, and quite frankly,
26:53
Speaker 1: I don't care you know how optimistic Aaron Rodgers is
26:56
Speaker 1: about the Packers chances. I like the Vikings more. I
26:59
Speaker 1: understand that their point differential is not on the side
27:02
Speaker 1: that would lend a lot of you know, optimism in
27:04
Speaker 1: their favor her, But I still go with the Vikings here.
27:07
Speaker 1: It's hard to argue with twelve and three they could
27:08
Speaker 1: send the Packers to an early vacation and put really
27:10
Speaker 1: put a bow in this regular season. All right, all
27:12
Speaker 1: these lines here, according to Draft Kings. DraftKings also has
27:15
Speaker 1: the Panthers as three point dogs at the Pirate Ship
27:19
Speaker 1: as they call it, against the Buccaneers as they battle
27:23
Speaker 1: for the NFC South. You kind of like the road
27:25
Speaker 1: team here, Nick, Well, it's been a subbar season in
27:28
Speaker 1: the NFC South, which kind of leads us to this
27:30
Speaker 1: very important Week seventeen game between these two teams. You know,
27:33
Speaker 1: the Panthers, if they went out, they win the division.
27:36
Speaker 1: The Buccaneers win this game, they can win the division. Now,
27:38
Speaker 1: the Panthers, the numbers aren't in their favorite right there.
27:40
Speaker 1: One in five in road games this year, they have
27:41
Speaker 1: a negative forty five point differential. But Steve Wilkes had
27:45
Speaker 1: this team playing good football. There are three and one
27:47
Speaker 1: since Week twelve, plus four in the turnover deferential category,
27:51
Speaker 1: and they're facing a Buccaneers team led by Tom Brady
27:55
Speaker 1: who has been responsible for eight giveaways since Week fourteen,
27:58
Speaker 1: So I don't think it's gonna look like it did
27:59
Speaker 1: against Detroit last week, which is two Hubbard and Deontay
28:02
Speaker 1: Foreman going off on the ground and Sam Donald with
28:04
Speaker 1: the deep strikes over the middle. He saw their DJ Moore.
28:06
Speaker 1: But I do think that if they create those turnovers early,
28:09
Speaker 1: they can protect a lead on the road and continue
28:11
Speaker 1: their unlikely marched to the postseason. And Steve Wilkes could
28:14
Speaker 1: potentially win the NFC South. How about that? Along with
28:18
Speaker 1: this Carolina Panthers. Thank you Nick Shook, whose article every
28:21
Speaker 1: week is on NFL dot com slash Underdogs. So we
28:28
Speaker 1: had our conversation earlier about the number one overall see
28:31
Speaker 1: the Bills the Bengals the game on Monday night. No,
28:33
Speaker 1: I am not yet forgetting about the team currently holding
28:36
Speaker 1: the two seed in the a f C, the Kansas
28:39
Speaker 1: City Chiefs, the team trying to be the Broncos for
28:41
Speaker 1: the fourteenth consecutive time this week, winners of seven consecutive
28:45
Speaker 1: a f C West champions And while many of you
28:48
Speaker 1: banged the table for Jalen Hurts, as the m v
28:51
Speaker 1: P A Pro Football Focus deeper diver the numbers as
28:54
Speaker 1: we get every week on Wednesday. Hi there, Mike renner
28:57
Speaker 1: um shows that you guys think or Mike, let's say
29:00
Speaker 1: you specifically think Mahomes is the m v P I do,
29:05
Speaker 1: And truthfully, I don't really think it's that much of
29:07
Speaker 1: a race right now. Obviously a couple more weeks left,
29:10
Speaker 1: but Patrick Mahomes is number one in the NFL a
29:13
Speaker 1: month quarterbacks and e p a per dropback in. The
29:15
Speaker 1: difference between him and second place is the same difference
29:18
Speaker 1: as second place in seventh place. That's how far and
29:21
Speaker 1: away he has been efficiently leading the scan che Chiefs offense.
29:24
Speaker 1: And you will look at the sort of talent around
29:26
Speaker 1: him compared to what other guys have. This isn't like
29:29
Speaker 1: a top five top ten. These aren't Tyreek killed jail
29:31
Speaker 1: and while I'll get nop, this is a a j
29:32
Speaker 1: Brown about it. This isn't objectively like a good but
29:35
Speaker 1: not elite receiving corps. And he's playing within instructure finally,
29:38
Speaker 1: not honing out on one Tyreek kill, spreading the ball
29:40
Speaker 1: around top five and big time to throw rate bottom
29:42
Speaker 1: five and turnover where they play rate to meet Homes
29:45
Speaker 1: your MVP. Okay, no one is saying that Kenny pickets
29:47
Speaker 1: to the m v P, but he's at least in
29:48
Speaker 1: the conversation here for a Rookie of the Year specifically
29:52
Speaker 1: because of the way he has played the last same month.
29:56
Speaker 1: Hasn't exactly been lighting it up statistically, but he has
29:59
Speaker 1: found Mike o way for the Steelers to keep winning
30:02
Speaker 1: and stay in it. What have you seen I've seen, Pois.
30:06
Speaker 1: I've seen a rookie that's playing well beyond his years
30:10
Speaker 1: in terms of playing winning football and doing the things
30:12
Speaker 1: it takes to win these games. Over his last six games,
30:15
Speaker 1: he's thrown only one interception and has only four turnover
30:18
Speaker 1: worthy plays over that span, so he has done his
30:20
Speaker 1: job and obviously over that span out also is when
30:23
Speaker 1: you got t J. Watt back, who's a big difference
30:25
Speaker 1: maker for this defense. But this is why he was
30:28
Speaker 1: the guy they targeted because he was the most NFL
30:30
Speaker 1: ready of this bunch in terms of what he could
30:33
Speaker 1: bring to the table right out of the game. So
30:35
Speaker 1: I do think Kenny Pickett, you know, not riding home
30:37
Speaker 1: as and then like I said, an MVPGS yet or
30:39
Speaker 1: an elite quarterback just yet, but knows how to operate
30:42
Speaker 1: the quarterback position. The Steelers are back in it, and yes,
30:45
Speaker 1: Jets fans, I know Garrett Wilson is also having a
30:47
Speaker 1: very nice rookie season. The Packers are back in it,
30:50
Speaker 1: Mike as well. What do you guys see, pff Angel
30:54
Speaker 1: They have now finally guys Rogers trusts and Aaron Rodgers
30:58
Speaker 1: plays the quarterback position a little differently than a lot
31:01
Speaker 1: of guys, and he obviously relies on guys he trusts
31:04
Speaker 1: in that offense. One of the biggest factors in losing
31:06
Speaker 1: Davante Adams was that go to guy when you see
31:09
Speaker 1: man coverage, your man principles. Rogers just wasn't letting it rip.
31:12
Speaker 1: And when you see man coverage, you basically have to
31:14
Speaker 1: throw it on breaks, you have to throw with anticipation. Broos,
31:17
Speaker 1: the windows closed in the NFL. Wasn't trusting guys like
31:19
Speaker 1: Sammy Watkins, Christian Watson, Romeo Dobbs earli in the season.
31:22
Speaker 1: Watkins obviously leaves and the two rookies have stepped up.
31:26
Speaker 1: Christian Watson six straight games with at least six targets,
31:28
Speaker 1: and yeah, he went out this past week. Hopefully he's
31:30
Speaker 1: healthy down the stretch. But when Romeo Dobbs has been
31:32
Speaker 1: in five targets each the last two games. He's thrown
31:35
Speaker 1: to these rookies. We've seen the talent, We know that
31:37
Speaker 1: those guys can play. Now he's trusting it. That's the
31:40
Speaker 1: biggest difference to me. Defensive side of the ball has
31:42
Speaker 1: been good enough all year long. It's the offense that's
31:45
Speaker 1: finally coming out at the pf F app easy for
31:49
Speaker 1: me to say, Mike, Rent are also easy to say,
31:52
Speaker 1: Happy New Year, catching next week. NFL Now is a
31:58
Speaker 1: production of the NFL in partnership with my Heart Radio.
32:02
Speaker 1: For more podcast from my Heart Radio, visit the heart
32:05
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