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NFL 2025 | Week 18 Recap | Banter with the Boys - Gridiron Updates · Banter with the Boys

0:00
Let's go! Oh, God. Here we are. We're here, I
0:18
think. Welcome back. Banter with the boys, I
0:20
think, is what's going on. Gridiron updates.
0:22
Is that what we're doing? Yeah. What do we got?
0:24
This is the Week 18 recap episode. Yes. Roberto.
0:28
Oh, wait. I'm Smelty. Yep. What's up? What's
0:30
up, Coach? Yeah. What's going on? Oh, what's
0:32
up? Roberto is right next to me. He's also here.
0:36
Yeah. Playoffs. Playoffs. Jake, also here. No
0:41
playoffs. No playoffs for Jake. If you're a listener
0:45
of the banter with the boys here on Gridiron
0:48
Updates, you know Jake is our Ravens fan. Sad
0:51
day. We'll get to it. Justin, what's up? You're
0:56
in the playoffs. I'm just here so I don't get
0:59
fined. I don't even know what's going on. We'll
1:00
see what happens on Saturday. Barely. I like
1:04
that. Without further ado, let's just jump into
1:06
it here. Oh, Kev, obviously, getting everything
1:08
done for us. As always. Classic Kev. Packers
1:13
traveling to the Vikes. to end the season. Packers
1:17
playing absolutely nobody, so I actually want
1:19
to start with you, Justin. Is there anybody that
1:22
stuck out to you for the Packers number twos?
1:24
Yeah, the kicker and the spread. Oh, my gosh.
1:27
I know that was the talk of everyone. 13 and
1:31
a half, I think. 13 and a half, and it ended
1:33
up a 13 -point game, so LeFleur doing a solid
1:35
for Vegas, but all jokes aside, no one wants
1:39
to get shut out. I know a few times they went
1:41
for that. They went for it on fourth down. really
1:44
good for the Vikes to end the season on a strong
1:47
note. Well, yeah. They kind of did. Yeah, they
1:50
won the game. Nine and eight. There's some question
1:53
marks. Yeah, winning record. Nine and eight.
1:55
100%. 100%. Best division in the NFL? Well, there's
1:59
just a lot of controversy with J .J. McCarthy
2:01
walking off the field. What was going on with
2:02
his hand? Like, what did you think of all that?
2:04
Allegedly, he came into the game with an eight
2:06
and a half out of a ten on the pain scale. Put
2:08
the graphic up, Kev. I'm just kidding. There's
2:10
no graphic up there. Show the hand. The hand
2:15
meter. This is what an eight and a half looks
2:18
like. That would have been gold. Damn it. Justin,
2:21
we need to talk about this beforehand. All right,
2:23
that was good. No, I thought the game was good
2:27
for what it was. It shows you that Toon isn't
2:30
going to probably be in the league unless he
2:32
figures some stuff out. I think the biggest thing
2:35
for me is I struggled with the Packers not starting.
2:38
any of their starters, really. Matt did not listen
2:41
to you from last week. He did not watch the show.
2:44
Jaden Reed started a little bit. You had a couple
2:46
of the defensive starters that started, but the
2:49
thing I appreciated is there's a radio station
2:52
in Wisconsin. They do some podcast stuff as well,
2:55
Cheesehead TV. Oh, yeah, right under the power
2:58
lines. Some of my favorite guys, yeah. They're
3:00
on the Suggestion Watch on the banter at the
3:02
boys' booth. There you go. They should suggest
3:04
us as well, so I'll reach out to them. We'll
3:07
get them on next week. year one of the things
3:09
i appreciated that they said was the packers
3:12
hadn't had a bye week since week five so you
3:14
look at that i think that's the second earliest
3:16
you can have a bye week and so you look at how
3:18
long of a season it's been for you know for the
3:20
boys in green and gold interesting you needed
3:23
to rest some of them so like i understand it
3:26
and they have a lot of confidence in jordan love
3:28
and some of those folks that have been around
3:29
for a while that they can be ready and turn it
3:31
on And what really proved that theory is this
3:34
is really good is they did media today, and Josh
3:37
Jacobs said this is the best he has felt since
3:39
pre -knee injury. He feels ready to go. He feels
3:42
back to 100%. And though week and a half, two
3:45
weeks off that he's – Well, it's not like it
3:48
takes a lot, but that time off has been really,
3:50
really good. You just listen to any Chicago podcast,
3:54
you know they're scared. It's okay. Interesting.
3:56
So he's picking the Bears when we get to – The
4:00
preview game, obviously. Yeah, totally. Yeah,
4:03
for nail polish, but neither here nor there.
4:06
Rob, J .J. McCarthy walking off the field. Allegedly,
4:10
his hand was still hurting. He allegedly could
4:13
no longer grip the ball. I know Ben Lieber and
4:15
P .A. were kind of getting into it a little bit
4:18
about it. I mean, it is what it is on that. I'm
4:22
trying to just take more of the positive thought
4:23
process moving on to next year. His hand is his
4:26
hand. You good with him coming back next year?
4:29
Yeah, for sure. I want him another year definitely
4:31
in my thought process for the Vikings. Did you
4:34
see Jetta's interview? No. It was something along
4:38
the lines of he's really excited. They asked
4:40
him if he wanted McCarthy back as quarterback.
4:44
In a nutshell, pretty much, like, why not? Yeah,
4:46
I mean, you know, we just need that offseason
4:48
to break some of those habits that he talked
4:51
about that he didn't like and all this and blah,
4:52
blah, blah, you know. But, I mean, you could
4:54
ask Jenna, hey, what if, like, would you be interested
4:56
in the Vikings trading for Joe Burrow? For Joe
4:59
Burrow. Yeah, he'd be like, he's like, I don't
5:02
care as long as they throw me the ball. Right.
5:05
So that's just Jenna saying the right answer.
5:07
Yeah, yeah. Throw me a white bread. I'll catch
5:09
it. I'm open. Half, half, half. The other half
5:11
is him being a leader, I think. Other interviews
5:14
he's had throughout the season have been, I don't
5:16
know, he's a lot more mature than other receivers.
5:20
Than number one for the Bengals? Is that what
5:22
you're trying to say? No, I'm not saying that.
5:24
Other receivers we've had. I'm not saying names.
5:29
I'm saying them. And they're friends too, right?
5:32
So he's standing up for his buddy. I mean, this
5:35
is his first year. I don't want to make excuses
5:37
for McCarthy, but he was hurt last year. This
5:39
was his first. And all intending purposes rookie
5:41
year. He played 10 games. And he played 6 and
5:44
4. Yeah. 6 and 4 is the starter. I think there's
5:48
a lot of hope there. For sure. I mean, I'm taking
5:50
JJ getting 1 ,000, which I really like. That's
5:53
huge. And he had a bunch of catches, actually.
5:57
I wanted to give a big shout out to Ham and then
6:00
probably HOF, you know, Harry the Hitman playing
6:03
his last game. You think so? Hopefully not. Oh,
6:06
yeah. Hopefully not. That was special. Yeah,
6:09
that was cool. And then they called the timeout.
6:10
I liked all that. You know, fans were there.
6:13
The intro was awesome. Just him walking out of
6:16
the tunnel and just the ovation he got. I think
6:20
that's why I enjoyed the game, too. If you appreciate
6:22
the NFL history, just the history of the Vikings.
6:26
Smith and Ham in particular and what they've
6:28
meant to the community, what they've meant to
6:30
the Vikings. It was really cool to see the fans
6:33
pay it back to them and what it meant to them.
6:36
It was really cool for Shizzle. With that, we
6:38
got to wrap that. You know, Skull Vikes. But
6:41
you guys are in the playoffs, so good luck, I
6:43
guess. And we'll see. I mean, we were, now if
6:46
you think about it. Nah, nah, nah. Yeah, yeah.
6:49
Cope. Coping over here. It's okay. It's all right.
6:51
He's excited about next season. Yeah, I get it.
6:54
There's just one particular play in the season
6:56
that could have completely changed our season.
6:58
The Bears. I know what you're talking about.
7:01
I was screaming at my TV at that game. Seahawks
7:07
traveling to San Francisco, getting the win 13
7:09
-3, but that was a hard -fought game on both
7:13
sides. High power. I know. I mean... I still
7:20
liked it heading into the playoffs for both teams,
7:22
to be honest with you. And you saw the Seahawks
7:26
defense be one of those top defenses that they've
7:31
been the entire year. And so they showed up and
7:35
they showed out and just stymied everything that
7:38
San Francisco tried to do. And if you're any
7:42
other team in the NFC, look out. You're going
7:48
to have to come to them, and they're going to
7:49
punch you in the mouth when you show up. They're
7:50
your NFC favorite? They're the ones, dude. Yeah,
7:53
so it's hard to say otherwise. Yeah, on paper.
7:57
Maybe the Rams give them a run for their money
7:59
again. It would be close. But I think the Seahawks
8:02
showed everybody who they are and what they're
8:05
capable of doing. Just continuing to play the
8:08
ball that they're playing. Right? Yeah. Their
8:13
identity. Defense, run the ball. There it is.
8:16
Win games. 39 rushes out of them. I mean, Sam
8:19
Darnold kind of doing one of those, doing just
8:21
enough to get it done and didn't turn the ball
8:24
over. You know, went 20 for 26. I mean, you can't
8:26
argue with that. On the 49ers side of things,
8:30
is there any concern there offensively, or did
8:33
they just came up against one of the better defenses
8:35
in the NFC? I think they just came up against
8:37
a really good defense. Don't want to take anything
8:40
away from Seattle. They're great offensively,
8:42
but I'm curious how much of that game had to
8:45
do with the injuries finally catching up to the
8:47
49ers on the defensive side. And can they do
8:50
that same thing if they happen to have to play
8:52
the Rams, if they have to play another team that
8:54
maybe doesn't have those injuries in those same
8:57
spots? Not saying they won't win or they won't
8:59
be competitive, but I think they made it look
9:01
pretty easy to show they are the class between
9:03
those two. The matchup I really want to see is
9:06
Rams and Seahawks. I think if you end up getting
9:08
that again, we've seen how it can look. That'll
9:12
be interesting. I'm not concerned about the Niners.
9:16
I think their Achilles heel is the fact that
9:20
they haven't played together a full season because
9:22
of all the injuries, and that might end up coming
9:24
up to hurt them on the offensive side. But they're
9:27
a huge... I don't know if I'd bet one way or
9:30
another if they're going to win or lose a game.
9:32
They're a complete wild card when it comes to
9:34
these playoffs. Well, good thing you got to talk
9:36
about it here in the preview episode still to
9:38
come after our tent talk episode. I did speed
9:43
up right there. Anyway, Roberto, anything stuck
9:47
out to you here? Obviously, Seattle's defense.
9:50
Playing at home is going to be a huge thing moving
9:51
on. But, yeah, running the ball, Sam not making
9:55
any things. That defense has been dominant. I
9:57
think we talked to you in the preseason show,
9:59
probably one of the best secondaries. I'm a little
10:01
more surprised how well the front sevens really
10:03
played coming out of it. I think the 49ers probably
10:07
played their worst game of the year, maybe? and
10:10
get it out the way. It was one of those games
10:13
where when you see McCaffrey only have eight
10:16
carries, they're not effectively moving the ball.
10:19
I'll give the Seachickens their cake here. They
10:23
did play a really well game, but San Francisco
10:26
goes up to the Eagles next week. Do you think
10:29
the bye is going to affect the Seachickens in
10:31
a negative way, or do you think it's fine? You
10:34
know what I mean? Because you see some teams,
10:35
it affects them. If their offense is rolling,
10:37
I would say, yeah, but their offense is not rolling.
10:40
It hasn't been for the last five weeks other
10:42
than one game against the Rams that they should
10:43
have lost. Their offense doesn't need to roll,
10:48
too, with the way that that defense goes. And
10:50
I know that we say defense wins championships.
10:53
Everybody says that. I think everybody believes
10:55
that. And if you've got a defense that can hold
10:59
opponents to, like, three points, seven points,
11:03
even 10. It's like if the magic number is for
11:06
like the Seahawks to put up 12. Okay. They could
11:11
do that even with a sluggish or slow offense.
11:14
Yeah, I think the key there when you think about
11:16
defense, when you think about the run game, the
11:19
time of possession in this game was 37 minutes
11:21
to 22 minutes in favor of Seattle. So you start
11:24
to look at some of those numbers. That's not
11:26
going to change in one week off, right? So I
11:28
think that's what they need to lean into. They
11:30
don't need to change who they are. They need
11:31
to stay consistent, run the ball. Don't put it
11:35
in Sam Darnold's hand unless you need to because
11:37
he can make the plays. I think the difference.
11:39
between him being on the Vikings to the Seahawks
11:42
is he doesn't need to be that guy and play hero
11:45
ball in those moments on the road. It's home.
11:48
It's your stadium. It's at least at the beginning.
11:52
He fell on cruise control. It's going to be the
11:55
worst team in the playoffs he's going to end
11:57
up playing that makes it to the second round
11:59
versus having to prove it out, go on the road,
12:01
and play one of the worst teams. Are you blaming
12:03
the lack of a running game for the reason why
12:05
the Vikings did so? Poorly last year. Kev, we're
12:09
at time. We're at time. We've got to move on
12:11
to the next game anyway. Leave that to interpretation.
12:14
But let's move on to another team that controlled
12:17
the time of possession by a big margin as well.
12:21
But also some controversial calls that people
12:24
have gone back and forth on, whatever. But the
12:27
Bucs getting the win at home to keep their season
12:29
alive for a couple hours. Getting the win 16
12:32
-14. What a kick in the old. Yeah, to win the
12:38
game, and then, well, it wasn't enough. But it
12:41
should never have came down to that. At the beginning
12:43
of the season, I think we talked about the Buccaneers,
12:45
at least most of us did on this show, for probably
12:49
winning the South, probably by a good margin,
12:54
too, at that. So I don't feel bad for the Bucs
12:58
at all. Now, they ran into a number of injuries
13:00
this year as well throughout the season. Yeah,
13:02
they were receiving core and running backs. And
13:04
as we see, Didn't big old de -tackle, too. He
13:08
missed some time, too. So, I mean, that stuff
13:12
just adds up by the end of the season. So they
13:15
won the game, sure. They gave them a chance to
13:18
make the playoffs, and then the Falcons just
13:20
had to ruin it for them. But I don't know. It's
13:27
good to see the Panthers back in the playoffs.
13:28
That's all I want to say, really. Curious to
13:31
see what Bryce Young does with that opportunity.
13:33
They're going to face a tough opponent, and we'll
13:36
touch on that in the wild card preview episode.
13:38
But what do you guys think of this game here?
13:42
It was amazing. Amazing. I thought that fourth
13:46
quarter was pretty entertaining. Some of the
13:49
stuff, some of the lapses in... the Buccaneers
13:53
defense kind of at the end of the game, even
13:56
letting Ted Arroyo and McMillan get behind him.
14:00
He's going to be good. Yeah. I'm liking to see
14:04
there. Offensive rookie of the year, probably.
14:08
Ted Arroyo, yeah, I think so. At this point.
14:11
Over Mbuka? Yeah, because. I think he missed
14:14
too much time, and when he came back, it was
14:15
just different. And then when Mike Evans. and
14:21
Godwin came back, you saw Mbuka's productivity
14:25
dip down, too. So he ended up becoming the three,
14:29
whereas Tetereau is, like, the one the entire
14:32
season. Has been for most of the season. So,
14:36
I mean, you saw some lapses in the Broncos' defense.
14:41
The run game, well, Bucky Irving did pretty well.
14:44
I'm sorry for Carolina. Yeah. That's a recipe
14:48
for success for what the Rams need to do to beat
14:51
the Panthers going into the wild card weekend.
14:57
But, yeah, even though they got the win, you
15:00
saw all of these deficiencies. And I'm bummed
15:05
that Baker Mayfield's not in there because I
15:07
know he'd give it a run for the money because
15:09
he would have a chip in a chair. I do like the
15:12
Bucs against the Rams. That matchup better than
15:14
the Panthers against the Rams again. I know the
15:16
Panthers beat them, and we'll touch on that game.
15:18
We're getting too into it already. We just want
15:20
to talk about the playoffs. God. Anyway, all
15:25
right. We should just move on from this one.
15:27
Nothing else. I mean, do you want to mention
15:28
anything about this game other than amazing?
15:30
No, honestly, it was. Actually, I watched this
15:34
whole game. It was a good, fun game. Nothing
15:36
to say about it. There you go. That's how exciting
15:38
this game was. It was three syllables, so, I
15:40
mean, there's that. Yeah. But, I mean, the Bucs
15:44
kind of wrote their own, you know, buried themselves
15:47
here. They had a stretch. They started off 5
15:49
-1, and then I think that's when Evans got hurt.
15:52
Godwin was trying to get back, but then when
15:54
he finally did, he got hurt. Didn't Bucky Irving
15:56
miss in time? No, he missed in time, and then
15:59
they lost like five in a row, and they kind of
16:01
fell apart. Baker just didn't look good. And
16:04
the Baker, I think, is hurt. He had 20 -some
16:06
-odd touchdowns and 11 interceptions, so that's
16:09
not a recipe to. make the playoffs and even if
16:11
you are in the playoffs to make a splash part
16:14
of that's injury injury to him injury to others
16:16
but you know to your point they kind of dug themselves
16:18
into this hole yeah so it is what it is is what
16:22
it is but again bucks getting the win 16 14 atlanta
16:25
getting the win 1917 putting the panthers in
16:28
the playoffs even though they lost so as you
16:30
said last week rob a good Good example of how
16:34
you back into the playoffs a little bit. And
16:36
why every game matters. 100%. Why every game
16:40
matters. Week one. Every game always matters
16:43
in Vegas. Okay. Next game here. This is a toughie.
16:49
Ravens getting the win in Pittsburgh. I'm sorry.
16:51
We're going to go there. No, actually, my numbers
16:55
did switch around on me here, whatever that's
16:57
called. Did they go to the right, or what happened?
16:58
Oh! Anyway, sorry, we're done. We're done. We'll
17:03
bring you back up in just a minute. Steeler's
17:04
getting the win, 26 -24 with a missed field goal
17:10
at the end, but I have a feeling Jake will tell
17:14
us here in a minute. I know I almost did. He'll
17:17
tell us here in a second as to why it should
17:20
not have came down to that field goal. What do
17:25
you mean why I think it shouldn't have come down?
17:26
You don't think the Ravens should have won that
17:28
game earlier? In the game? Not giving up on it?
17:33
The fourth quarter was horrible. Right, the fourth
17:35
quarter was horrible, but the biggest reason
17:37
for that was the... Kyle Hamilton getting knocked
17:43
out of the game with a concussion by his own
17:45
teammate. Unfortunate that those things happened,
17:50
but that just goes to show you how important
17:52
Kyle Hamilton was to that Ravens defense and
17:54
that scheme. With him in, the Steelers weren't
17:57
able to really do anything, and as soon as he
17:58
got out of the game, Aaron Rodgers just started
18:00
picking them apart. Another Vikings miss, by
18:05
the way, on the draft. A lot of teams could have
18:09
had Kyle Hamilton. You could have had Aaron Rodgers,
18:11
too. I expected this game to come down to the
18:19
wire, so it wasn't surprising to me. That fourth
18:22
quarter was stupid electric, though. With all
18:24
of the crazy things that were happening. The
18:26
slips, the missed extra point. Isaiah Likely's
18:31
fourth and seven catch. That was crazy, by the
18:34
way. Lamar Jackson splitting that sack, the two
18:41
players, and then still getting that out to Zay
18:44
Flowers. So that fourth quarter was super wild.
18:48
An amazing game to watch. I loved and appreciated
18:51
how Baltimore stuck with their game plan, stuck
18:55
with their identity. Continuing the run of the
18:58
ball with Derrick Henry, he wasn't that effective.
19:00
He had a couple of big runs that kind of inflated
19:02
his yards per carry over the course of the entire
19:05
game. He had 120 yards, which is respectable
19:08
on the 20 carries. Pittsburgh respected Derrick
19:14
Henry so much that they purposely kept seven
19:16
on the line pretty much the entire game. And
19:19
we're forcing and daring Lamar Jackson to beat
19:25
him over the top. And he did that in the fourth
19:27
quarter twice to him. Well, three times. The
19:29
likely one also. It was in between some guys,
19:34
but we'll let you slide on that. All right. Great
19:36
catch. Yeah, it was amazing. Great catch. As
19:39
soon as it happened, I was like, quick, everybody
19:41
check replay and make sure he's got three feet
19:43
down. Yeah. Dang. I know. Dang. This is why we
19:50
can't have nice things. It's just been that way,
19:51
huh? And everything felt really good because
19:54
after the likely catch. For sure, Raven's had
19:57
it at that point. Yeah, you feel really good
19:59
about it. Way too much momentum going your way.
20:00
I don't. I'm not – I don't disagree with just,
20:05
like, taking the knee and setting yourself up
20:08
in the center of the field to go and, like, make
20:10
that game -winning kick, letting time run out.
20:12
Because there's a lot of people out there that
20:14
are like, oh, you should have run one more play
20:15
to try and gain a couple more yards. But you're
20:18
introducing so many additional, like – What if
20:21
you fumble? Yeah. Fumble the exchange. Like,
20:23
the Bill Vikings game will always remain in my
20:25
brain. Even Lamar's one interception was – a
20:28
really great defensive play where Hightower tips
20:31
it and randomly falls into TJ's arms. Yeah. Nope.
20:35
Like, anything can happen in a Steelers -Ravens
20:39
game. Like, anything can happen. So it's just
20:41
like, let's not leave this up to chance where
20:43
we turn the ball over. Let's just try and get
20:46
the win. That tip pick's one of those plays I'm,
20:48
like, mad, and they'd really be pissed off. Like,
20:50
that never happens. And then it happened, right?
20:52
It does. He just had his hands open, and it just
20:56
fell. It literally just fell. So do you think
21:00
that Ravens' identity's gone now? With Harbaugh
21:04
gone? I don't know the answer to that question
21:07
right now. Because you don't know the replacement?
21:09
Because he's got mixed reviews. Let's save that
21:12
for the tent talk episode. No, that's you. Anyway,
21:17
sorry. Just call him up. So anyway. Aaron Rodgers
21:26
getting another shot at it as he makes the playoffs.
21:29
Quick small shout out. Thielen had a pretty good.
21:33
He looked excellent. He had a real good catch.
21:35
Oh, my gosh. Right in the basket. That was Rodgers.
21:39
That wasn't Thielen. That was all Rodgers with
21:42
that dime. Listen here. That was insane. It still
21:44
says three receptions for 43 yards next to his
21:48
name. My wife didn't love it because she loved
21:52
when he was with the Vikings. And she's like,
21:54
oh, you're. too good for the Vikings, so every
21:56
time he had a good play, he was like, all right,
21:58
well, that won't happen again. Then it kept happening.
21:59
Then it kept happening. He had a great game.
22:01
Yeah, yeah. Good for him. All right. We'll talk
22:04
more about Pittsburgh. Don't worry about it.
22:05
We'll never talk about the Ravens again the rest
22:07
of the season. Oh, no, we will. We'll talk about
22:10
it. That's your fault. Yeah, it is. It is. What
22:14
draft picks are going to happen? It's so much
22:15
harder when I'm not the one saying it. All right,
22:19
all right, all right. Let's see. Last game. Indianapolis
22:22
Colts traveling to the Houston Texans, Riley
22:24
Leonard getting the start but taking the L. But
22:28
he looked all right. He looked all right against
22:30
the defense. He looked really good. Better than
22:32
we thought, yes. That we're putting on a pedestal
22:34
here. I'd like to say I brought this up last
22:36
week, and we have a quarterback controversy potentially
22:39
in Indianapolis. Just between him and AR or whether
22:43
or not to start right? If they bring Danny Dimes
22:47
back, what is? What do you do now after? I don't
22:50
think they do now. I don't think they're making
22:52
him an offer anymore. They don't have to. I don't
22:54
think you do. You can't. Yeah. Coming off Achilles,
22:57
too. Correct. Exactly. And we saw Kirk Cousins
23:00
at least started not to bring him up. Always,
23:02
I do. But he started to look at least a little
23:04
better towards the end of the season. Like, we
23:07
see how long it took him to start trusting that
23:09
Achilles again. Matt, who came on our show last
23:13
season, is the one that pointed it out a ton.
23:15
It's just how... You know, when he was dropping
23:17
back, it just wasn't the same drop back anymore
23:20
because of that Achilles. You saw the same thing
23:21
with Rodgers. What were you about to say? Yeah,
23:23
that's what I was going to say. It took Rodgers
23:25
quite a bit of time. I don't feel like until
23:27
the last month or two he probably felt a little
23:31
bit more like himself, free. Right. So who knows
23:35
how long it's going to take Danny Dimes to feel
23:36
that way, and that's why I don't think. It just
23:39
sucks. It sucks timing for him. That's how the
23:40
business works. And I don't think he gets enough
23:43
from the Colts, but somebody's going to sign
23:45
him. But probably not with the thought that he's
23:47
going to start week one. Yeah, I was really excited
23:50
for Riley Leonard, especially with all the rookie
23:52
cards I have. Super pumped about how he did.
23:56
So you might want to sell him now because then
23:58
maybe after week two it might be a whole different
24:01
story. 100%. Those are being celebrated now.
24:03
I'm going to go look through mine, see if I have
24:05
any hiding around. Houston, Brooks kind of came
24:10
on there. I haven't heard his name a ton this
24:12
year. Is he just kind of coming on, or has he
24:16
kind of been like this all year for them? I don't
24:17
think so. No, he's been pretty quiet. It's been
24:19
Woody Marks. Yeah, I know Woody Marks has been
24:21
there, but if Brooks can play like this in the
24:23
playoffs so they can have a little bit of a two
24:25
-headed monster here with that defense, and C
24:28
.J. Stroud's still going to give you... Better
24:31
than Sam Darnold play, most likely. I'm taking
24:33
that all day, and the Texans team's going to
24:35
be tough in the playoffs. They're so much like
24:38
the Seahawks when you look at how they run. It's
24:40
heavy defense, heavy run game, throw when you
24:44
need to. We all know C .J. Stroud's good, but
24:46
when you look at his stats, they don't pop off
24:48
of a screen or they don't pop off the paper.
24:51
They don't have to. Jalen Hurts. 100 % they don't
24:54
have to. Just doesn't rush his meeting in for
24:57
fantasy reasons. I think that's a lot of people
25:02
look at stuff like that. How do you judge C .J.
25:05
Stroud versus another quarterback? Other than
25:11
Super Bowl wins. Eli Manning. So Colts fans got
25:17
to be feeling pretty good about Riley Leonard.
25:19
But taking the L, Houston Texans getting the
25:22
win, and obviously we're already heading to the
25:24
playoffs anyway. What seed did they end up with
25:26
now? Five. So traveling to take on the Pittsburgh
25:30
Steelers. But we'll touch on that in our wild
25:32
card preview episode. Any closing remarks here,
25:36
gentlemen, on Week 18 as a whole? Week 18 as
25:42
a whole? Yeah, before we close it out. I think
25:45
it was, we saw a lot of wild and crazy things
25:48
as we did throughout the course of the entire
25:50
year. There were some wild weeks. A pretty unpredictable
25:53
NFL season. I think there were a lot of stuff,
25:56
a lot of things that happened and teams doing
25:59
well or not well that we didn't have on our bingo
26:02
cards this year. Yeah, like the Mike Stingles,
26:04
16 and all. What the heck are they doing? Kansas
26:07
City Chiefs aren't even in the playoffs. That
26:09
was wild. Guarantee nobody saw that coming. I
26:13
mean, we really talked about the Chiefs, really.
26:15
It was just not winning the division, let alone
26:17
not making the playoffs. Right. Yeah, no kidding.
26:20
I mean, for Week 18, I still love what the NFL
26:22
did with this divisional matchup towards the
26:24
end. There was probably three solid games that
26:27
didn't actually really matter. If you throw that
26:29
Falcons game in there, which I guess technically
26:30
matters. The division game is always going to
26:32
feel a little different, even if you got... Neither
26:34
team's got nothing to play for, kind of like
26:36
the Falcon Saints game. But then you also get
26:39
the Vikings -Packers game. Same deal. You get
26:42
the Bears -Lions game. That one meant a lot to
26:45
both of those teams for different reasons, right?
26:47
So it was fun to see some teams that weren't
26:51
in it play for pride, finish strong, and kind
26:54
of hopefully see that launch into their next
26:57
year and how they come out week one. Pack up
27:00
your locker with a smile on your face, probably.
27:02
Well, I know. St. Brown did that for sure with
27:05
like a million catches and 100 yards, whatever
27:08
he ended up with. For sure, for sure. Justin,
27:11
our local Packer fan, thanks for being here,
27:14
fam. Appreciate you. Jake, sad day, but... Future
27:19
to look forward to, which we'll touch on in the
27:21
next episode with the whole coaching situation.
27:24
Curious to hear your thoughts. Off -air, you
27:27
said you have mixed reviews. Curious to hear
27:29
those mixed reviews. Mixed emotions. Roberto?
27:34
It was great. I love it. Definitely like Panthers.
27:37
Not Panthers, but Patriots. A lot of surprises.
27:40
Overall, how did we think the kickoff return?
27:44
Do you like that rule? First year? Whatever.
27:46
The current one? Yeah, I think it's pretty good.
27:49
I think it's better than last year. I mean, would
27:51
you adjust much? Definitely don't think there
27:52
was as many injuries. The kickoff, but the onside
27:55
still needs a lot of work. Yeah, that needs to
27:56
change. Declaring it sucks. Yeah. But how else
28:00
are you supposed to do it? Exactly. You just
28:02
go out there and line up for an onside, and then
28:04
it's like, okay, well, the other team either
28:06
takes a timeout or they're just like, well, screw
28:08
it and just send everybody up there and hope
28:10
for the best. I think the Saints can show people
28:12
how that looks. You mean Sean Payton. Yeah. Oh,
28:16
my God. Great year. Fun year. Can't complain.
28:20
I'm excited for playoffs. Playoffs. Yeah. All
28:22
right. Anyway, don't forget to like. Oh, Kev,
28:25
thanks for being here, of course, as always.
28:27
Like he has a choice. Don't forget to like, comment,
28:29
subscribe, or you listen to the banter, whether
28:31
that's YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or iHeartRadio.
28:33
And we will see you in our next episode here
28:36
on Gridiron Updates. Peace. Don't forget to follow,
28:42
like and subscribe. Tune in next time for more
28:46
banter with the boys.