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NFL Week 18 Pre: All Or Nothing In Steelers Vs. Ravens · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

0:09
Speaker 1: Hello, everybody, Welcome to the Inside the Birds Week eighteen
0:13
Speaker 1: NFL preview. I'm Jeff Mosher, and hey, look, you enter
0:17
Speaker 1: the final weekend of NFL play, and honestly, I don't
0:22
Speaker 1: think you could ask for more. You go into the
0:25
Speaker 1: final weekend, and this is what the NFL absolutely loves.
0:29
Speaker 1: You go into the final weekend and the number one
0:33
Speaker 1: seeds are not locked up at all, probably more so
0:37
Speaker 1: in the AFC with the Broncos. Are you confident? But
0:40
Speaker 1: there's still ways that they could not get it. They
0:44
Speaker 1: probably will, but the NFC, of course, the number one
0:47
Speaker 1: seed is alive and well and will come down to
0:50
Speaker 1: what happens over the weekend. And then you've got two
0:55
Speaker 1: divisions that you have two teams that are fighting to
1:00
Speaker 1: win the division in that game. Obviously, the NFC South
1:04
Speaker 1: is going to be Tampa Bay and it's going to
1:07
Speaker 1: be Carolina going at it. And then of course you
1:10
Speaker 1: have the AFC South, which could still trage hands between
1:15
Speaker 1: Jacksonville and Houston, and those are big games. And what
1:19
Speaker 1: you have is the NFL, and of course, I'm sorry,
1:22
Speaker 1: the AFC North really between Pittsburgh and Baltimore. And so
1:29
Speaker 1: what the NFL did this week. Very wisely is they
1:33
Speaker 1: created a schedule where enough teams were playing with something
1:37
Speaker 1: on the line at the same time so that it
1:41
Speaker 1: forced them to not know the result and have to
1:44
Speaker 1: play starters. So you have some very exciting games with
1:47
Speaker 1: a lot on the line. And that starts tonight Saturday
1:50
Speaker 1: night or afternoon between the Panthers and the Bucks. There
1:56
Speaker 1: is a weird situation with that that I'll get into
1:59
Speaker 1: in a second. It's not as clear cut as whoever
2:01
Speaker 1: wins is the winner of the division, but it's still
2:06
Speaker 1: probably gonna come down that way. And then of course
2:08
Speaker 1: eight o'clock in the NFC. Continuing at the NFC, we
2:13
Speaker 1: have the NFC West battle between the Seahawks at thirteen
2:17
Speaker 1: to three the Niners at twelve and four, and it
2:21
Speaker 1: is very possible for any of those two both either
2:25
Speaker 1: of those two teams to get the number one seed.
2:28
Speaker 1: It's on the line. In fact, the Rams are now
2:30
Speaker 1: eliminated from the number one seed, so if the forty
2:33
Speaker 1: nine ers win, they become the number one seed in
2:37
Speaker 1: the NFC. And I don't know who had that on
2:40
Speaker 1: their bingo card let alone at the start of the year,
2:43
Speaker 1: but even seven weeks ago, I just think that it's phenomenal.
2:47
Speaker 1: It should be a great game. I don't know a
2:50
Speaker 1: lot of people had the Seattle Seahawks as a potential
2:53
Speaker 1: number one seed going into the year. I think we
2:56
Speaker 1: thought that they would be better in year two under
2:59
Speaker 1: Mike mcdanie Mike McDonald, sorry, too many Mike mcmicks in
3:03
Speaker 1: the NFL. But I don't know if anybody thought the
3:07
Speaker 1: Seahawks would be a thirteen and three team. You know,
3:09
Speaker 1: year one of Sam Darnold, year two of Mike McDonald,
3:14
Speaker 1: and of course they bring Kubiak over to be the
3:16
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator. But certainly, certainly after the year that the
3:20
Speaker 1: forty nine ers had last year, and then after losing
3:23
Speaker 1: Fred Warner and Nick Bosa and several other players that
3:28
Speaker 1: they've lost on their defense, and then not having Brandon
3:31
Speaker 1: Ayuk at all all year offensively, and losing guys like Kittle,
3:36
Speaker 1: and losing guys like Juwan Jennings and losing their quarterback
3:39
Speaker 1: party for I think four to five to six games,
3:42
Speaker 1: and having Max Jones start. I don't think anybody could
3:45
Speaker 1: have predicted that come Week eighteen, the San Francisco forty
3:49
Speaker 1: nine Ers could get the number one seed in the NFC,
3:54
Speaker 1: But it's very possible and they're gonna be two really
3:58
Speaker 1: really good games. Panthers Bucks Seahawks forty nine is more
4:01
Speaker 1: so the NFC West game than the NFC South. The
4:05
Speaker 1: NFC South game feels like two old prize fighters going
4:11
Speaker 1: at it one last time and it's sort of whoever
4:14
Speaker 1: takes the last hit and goes down the other team wins.
4:17
Speaker 1: But even if it's not a great fight, and that's
4:19
Speaker 1: how Panthers Bucks feel. I mean, you have a Panthers
4:22
Speaker 1: team that is eight and eight. Yeah, so if they win,
4:25
Speaker 1: they'll get to nine and eight, and I will say
4:28
Speaker 1: they're not in the same boat that. I think Dave
4:31
Speaker 1: Canalis has done a good job with this Panthers team. Defensively,
4:35
Speaker 1: they can be very very good. Offensively, they can be
4:38
Speaker 1: very erratic the quarterback. I don't know what the quarterback's
4:42
Speaker 1: future there is going to be. And that's why I
4:45
Speaker 1: give credit to Dave Canalis because I think he's done
4:47
Speaker 1: as bout as good of a job that you can
4:49
Speaker 1: do with an erratic quarterback. But they do come into
4:53
Speaker 1: this game lose it. You know, they lost to the
4:54
Speaker 1: Seahawks last week. I thought they would have a chance
4:57
Speaker 1: to make a statement, that was one of the games
4:58
Speaker 1: I picked to lose, but to cover they did not.
5:02
Speaker 1: They lost by seventeen. So if you look at the
5:05
Speaker 1: panthers last three games, you know lost to the Seahawks.
5:09
Speaker 1: They had beat the Bucks two weeks in Week sixteen
5:12
Speaker 1: to sort of take control of the NFC South at
5:15
Speaker 1: the time, but before that they lost to the Saints.
5:18
Speaker 1: Before that, though, they beat the Rams thirty one to
5:20
Speaker 1: twenty eight. So they've been a win loss win loss
5:23
Speaker 1: win loss team ever since Week eight. That is exactly
5:26
Speaker 1: how their schedule is gone. Make it week seven, Week seven,
5:30
Speaker 1: they beat the Jets. Week eight, they lost of the Bills.
5:32
Speaker 1: Week nine they beat the Packers. Week ten, they lost
5:34
Speaker 1: to the Saints. Week eleven, they beat the Falcons. Week twelve,
5:37
Speaker 1: they lost to the Niners. Week thirteen win, Rams lost,
5:41
Speaker 1: Saints beat, Bucks lost the Seahawks. So if this is
5:45
Speaker 1: the trajectory that they're following, and they're coming off a
5:48
Speaker 1: loss to the Seahawks, then they should beat the Buccaneers.
5:51
Speaker 1: And honestly, they're playing a little bit better, a lot
5:53
Speaker 1: better than the Bucks, who have lost seven of their
5:57
Speaker 1: last eight games. They lost to the Dolphins last week
6:00
Speaker 1: the Panthers. The week before that, we just talked about
6:02
Speaker 1: the Falcons the Saints. You know, really, their only win
6:06
Speaker 1: since the start of since their bye week in Week
6:08
Speaker 1: nine is a three point win over the Cardinals. So
6:13
Speaker 1: it's kind of interesting to me that the Bucks are
6:16
Speaker 1: three point favorites at home here against the Panthers. Now,
6:21
Speaker 1: this is very interesting. Unlike the NFC West game, in
6:24
Speaker 1: this game, there is still a path for the Panthers
6:29
Speaker 1: to win the NFC South. If I'm correcting with this,
6:32
Speaker 1: the Panthers can lose this game and still win NSC
6:37
Speaker 1: South if the Saints, I believe, beat the Falcons. It's
6:46
Speaker 1: a strange little permutation. I'm gonna double check on this
6:50
Speaker 1: just to be sure, but there is something about that
6:53
Speaker 1: Saints Falcons game that will impact it. So here's the deal.
6:59
Speaker 1: The Panthers can win the NFC South even if they
7:02
Speaker 1: lose against the Buccaneers. What happens is the Falcons must
7:06
Speaker 1: beat the Saints. So it's the Falcons have to beat
7:08
Speaker 1: the Saints. Which Falcons are playing a really good ball lately,
7:12
Speaker 1: a little too little too late for Raheem Morris and
7:15
Speaker 1: his crew, but obviously they're coming off a huge upset
7:18
Speaker 1: that they just barely hold on to beat the Rams.
7:22
Speaker 1: Rams were a little beat up. But the Falcons have
7:24
Speaker 1: won three in a row. Now the Saints have played
7:26
Speaker 1: some good football too, They've won four in a row.
7:29
Speaker 1: So this one's gonna be really interesting. But if the
7:31
Speaker 1: Falcons win the game, the Panthers can still lose and
7:36
Speaker 1: win the NFC South. Now you're gonna ask, well, who's
7:40
Speaker 1: playing first? Well, obviously the Panthers and Bucks are playing
7:42
Speaker 1: first their Saturday, so that's why both teams are gonna
7:45
Speaker 1: go for it all and let the Chips fall as
7:47
Speaker 1: they may probably be a shame for Todd Bowles and
7:51
Speaker 1: the Bucks if they were to beat the Panthers and
7:55
Speaker 1: then lose the division and lose out on the playoffs,
7:58
Speaker 1: because whoever doesn't win this game is not the playoffs.
8:01
Speaker 1: If Bowles's Buccaneers win and then they see the Falcons
8:05
Speaker 1: beat the Saints anyway, that would probably be just the
8:09
Speaker 1: cherry or the icing on the cake of a really
8:12
Speaker 1: rough season, rough second half for Todd Bowles. This should
8:17
Speaker 1: be a really good game. The Bucks are getting Elijah
8:20
Speaker 1: Cancy back. He is a really good defensive lineman that
8:24
Speaker 1: who has missed most of the year. He's dealt with
8:26
Speaker 1: a lot of injuries since getting into the league, so
8:29
Speaker 1: that's good for them. The Panthers, you just don't know
8:32
Speaker 1: which team, which offense is going to show up. I mean,
8:35
Speaker 1: last week Teed McMillan basically does nothing against the Seahawks.
8:41
Speaker 1: I think he had one catch if I'm not mistaken.
8:43
Speaker 1: I mean, he's a big part of their offense. They
8:45
Speaker 1: couldn't get in the ball. They don't run the ball
8:47
Speaker 1: as well as they were in the middle of the
8:49
Speaker 1: season when Rico Daubell was going crazy. But the Buccaneers
8:53
Speaker 1: have not been a good defensive team at all. You
8:57
Speaker 1: really wonder about that. I don't know if Klaijah Canton
9:00
Speaker 1: coming back is going to be the be all, the
9:02
Speaker 1: end all for them and make that big of a difference.
9:05
Speaker 1: They haven't been terrible, you know. Again, they lost to
9:07
Speaker 1: the Dolphins twenty seventeen, They lost the Panthers twenty three twenty.
9:11
Speaker 1: They did give up twenty nine to the Falcons, but
9:14
Speaker 1: they haven't given up, you know, twenty five to thirty
9:16
Speaker 1: five points a week. But they just haven't made the plays.
9:19
Speaker 1: They haven't closed it out that they need to play
9:21
Speaker 1: and you've seen the frustration. They've heard the frustration from
9:25
Speaker 1: Todd Bowles Seahawks forty nine Ers. I think, you know,
9:31
Speaker 1: weeks ago, I would have said, no matter what, if
9:34
Speaker 1: these teams met up to decide the NFC West and
9:38
Speaker 1: the number one seed, that the Seahawks would win. Going away.
9:41
Speaker 1: Just felt that the Seahawks have played great defense. Sam Darnold,
9:45
Speaker 1: you saw him in his comebacks against the Rams where
9:48
Speaker 1: everybody was burying him, that he made a few throws. Really,
9:52
Speaker 1: that Rams comeback was made possible more so by what
9:57
Speaker 1: I would say is that punt return. Then that had
9:59
Speaker 1: a few big plays where he turns the punt for
10:03
Speaker 1: a touchdown, makes it like a two score game, and
10:06
Speaker 1: then they get a stop and then Sam Donald drives down.
10:09
Speaker 1: Actually there's a one score game after that. Then Sam
10:11
Speaker 1: Donald drives him down, throws a really nice touchdown off
10:14
Speaker 1: play action to a wide open tight end. All of
10:16
Speaker 1: a sudden, they have a tie game, and it's like whoa.
10:18
Speaker 1: Things are going crazy in that game. But otherwise Seattle's
10:23
Speaker 1: defense has been tremendous and is tremendous. Now they've played
10:29
Speaker 1: the forty nine Ers twice, they've lost to him. In
10:31
Speaker 1: Week one seventeen thirteen, So that was a little slugfest
10:35
Speaker 1: in the second matchup. Well, this will be the second
10:37
Speaker 1: match so they haven't played since week one, and week
10:40
Speaker 1: one is kind of a con job. So I can't
10:42
Speaker 1: even take their loss, their seventeen thirteen loss to be
10:45
Speaker 1: anything other than you're just feeling out things in week one.
10:49
Speaker 1: The forty nine ers are different team since week one,
10:52
Speaker 1: probably for the worst, to be honest with you, but
10:54
Speaker 1: yet they've won all their games because of injuries. They're
10:57
Speaker 1: not the same. But the Seahawks are also a team
11:00
Speaker 1: that has really really found its stride two or three
11:04
Speaker 1: weeks into the season with Darnold and excuse me, Smith
11:08
Speaker 1: and Jigba. They've done a tremendous, tremendous job ever since losing.
11:13
Speaker 1: They started off three and two and then they went
11:16
Speaker 1: on and won about ten out of eleven games, so
11:20
Speaker 1: they've been fantastic. They're probably gonna win this game. I
11:24
Speaker 1: think this game comes down to the Seahawks pass rush.
11:27
Speaker 1: The Seahawks are great in the secondary. Their pass rush
11:31
Speaker 1: is good. I don't know that it has anybody up
11:34
Speaker 1: front that you say is a true killer. They don't
11:38
Speaker 1: have like a Micah Parsons type guy. They don't have
11:42
Speaker 1: a guy, you know, a Miles Garrett type guy. They
11:46
Speaker 1: have some really good players in the secondary, their rookie
11:50
Speaker 1: a'men warrior. The safety is a big control point for
11:54
Speaker 1: what they do on the back end. I mean, in
11:56
Speaker 1: a little bit way, they're like those old Seahawks teams
11:58
Speaker 1: that won Super Bowl. There defense and run game orions,
12:02
Speaker 1: but they don't run the ball all that well. They
12:05
Speaker 1: run the ball with Kenneth Walker, they run the ball
12:07
Speaker 1: with Sharponnet, but they don't run the ball explosively. They
12:10
Speaker 1: get most of their explosives in the past game with
12:13
Speaker 1: Jackson Smith and Jig, but even Rashizahed has not been
12:17
Speaker 1: a huge part of what they do. So can they
12:21
Speaker 1: get a good enough pass rush because ever since he
12:24
Speaker 1: came back, Rock Purty has been phenomenal, not only as
12:29
Speaker 1: a passer but as a runner. He has given the
12:32
Speaker 1: rushing offense with his ability to move around the pocket.
12:35
Speaker 1: Scramble had a rushing touchdown the other day on against
12:39
Speaker 1: the Bears on that kind of his zone read when
12:41
Speaker 1: everybody was focused on McCaffrey. I mean, he can move around.
12:45
Speaker 1: And they've won six games in a row now, they've
12:48
Speaker 1: played some cupcakes along the way, there's no no question
12:50
Speaker 1: about it. Titans, the colts't. I won't call the Colts
12:55
Speaker 1: a cupcake, but obviously different with Philip Rivers. You know,
12:57
Speaker 1: they beat the Browns pretty convincingly, and eating the Browns convincingly,
13:01
Speaker 1: as the Steelers found out last week, not very easy
13:05
Speaker 1: in fact, just beating them not very easy, as the
13:07
Speaker 1: Steelers found out. So these are six wins. And in
13:11
Speaker 1: the games where you say they played cupcakes, like the
13:13
Speaker 1: Cardinals and the Browns, they've won by double digits. They
13:16
Speaker 1: beat the Titans by thirteen, so the duble they're supposed
13:19
Speaker 1: to do. That a very impressive win against the Bears.
13:22
Speaker 1: Bears are another team that are very good. They run
13:24
Speaker 1: the ball well, but they don't have a pass rush.
13:26
Speaker 1: If the Seahawks do not get themselves a pass rush
13:32
Speaker 1: against Perdy, they will lose this game. Because the Niners
13:35
Speaker 1: are so well coached, they know how to move the
13:38
Speaker 1: ball against any defense. And McCaffrey has been unbelievable this year.
13:43
Speaker 1: He has ninety six I'm sorry, he has seven touchdown.
13:50
Speaker 1: He has ninety three catches and seven touchdowns just as
13:53
Speaker 1: a wide receiver. Okay, eight hundred and ninety yards as
13:57
Speaker 1: a pass catcher and eleven hundred seventy nine yards as
14:01
Speaker 1: a rusher, so you're getting close to two thousand when
14:04
Speaker 1: you add that up there. That has been an unbelievable
14:07
Speaker 1: year for McCaffrey. He is an unstoppable force. He can
14:11
Speaker 1: give you short yards and give you long yards and
14:13
Speaker 1: catch the ball, and they know how to get the
14:15
Speaker 1: ball to him no matter what kind of defense they
14:18
Speaker 1: But they're not gonna lose this game because McCaffrey doesn't
14:22
Speaker 1: get the ball twenty to twenty three times. That is
14:24
Speaker 1: not going to be the case. So I think it's
14:26
Speaker 1: going to be a very good matchup between an offensive
14:29
Speaker 1: mastermind in Shanahan and a defensive mastermind in Mike McDonald.
14:35
Speaker 1: I would give the Seahawks the advantage. They are two
14:38
Speaker 1: and a half point favorites. They have a lot well,
14:40
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say they have a lot more online, but
14:42
Speaker 1: they've had an unbelievable season and they have a chance
14:44
Speaker 1: to be a number one seed, just like the forty
14:46
Speaker 1: nine ers do. The expectations are there. If they lose,
14:50
Speaker 1: would I be shocked?
14:51
Speaker 2: No.
14:53
Speaker 1: The idea of the forty nine ers being the number
14:55
Speaker 1: one seed in the NFC West is in itself a
14:57
Speaker 1: little bit shocking based on what there expectations we're going
15:00
Speaker 1: into the year, But you give them credit. Kyle Shanahan
15:03
Speaker 1: has done an unbelievable coaching job. So has his defensive
15:08
Speaker 1: coordinator Sala, who might again be a head coaching candidate.
15:12
Speaker 1: We'll get into that in a few minutes. But this
15:15
Speaker 1: is going to be a great game. It's in forty nine,
15:17
Speaker 1: it's in San Francisco, but when it's an NFC West
15:19
Speaker 1: game at these stadiums, I don't know. There was a
15:22
Speaker 1: long time ago the Seahawks had this unbelievable home field advantage.
15:26
Speaker 1: I don't know, the very loud crowd. I'm not sure
15:28
Speaker 1: that's as much of a case anymore because these teams,
15:31
Speaker 1: you know, they're used to each other, they travel well,
15:34
Speaker 1: they're going to have sections of their fans in the crowd.
15:37
Speaker 1: I mean, it's not the only thing is that they
15:39
Speaker 1: haven't played since Week one, all right, so and both
15:41
Speaker 1: teams are different. That That's where I see these teams
15:45
Speaker 1: kind of not It's not that they're familiar with each other, yes,
15:48
Speaker 1: but they're totally different since the last time they played
15:51
Speaker 1: each other. It's not like how you have the Buccaneers
15:54
Speaker 1: and the Panthers who are facing each other for the
15:56
Speaker 1: second time in three weeks. Okay, so it's completely different,
16:00
Speaker 1: and so I expect both coaches to have spent a
16:03
Speaker 1: week really trying to game plan differently than they did
16:08
Speaker 1: for a week one. It's going to be a great game,
16:10
Speaker 1: a very exciting game. And as for the Rams, who
16:14
Speaker 1: at one point were the one number one seed, they
16:16
Speaker 1: can either get the five or the six. They are
16:19
Speaker 1: not eligible to get the number one seed anymore. There's
16:22
Speaker 1: no permutation they've lost out on that. They're going to
16:25
Speaker 1: be a very very dangerous five or six seed, which
16:29
Speaker 1: means they're going to either play the three seed, could
16:31
Speaker 1: be the Eagles if that goes, or if they're the
16:34
Speaker 1: five seed, they'll play the four which means they'll play
16:37
Speaker 1: the NFC South winner. Now, if that's the case, if
16:39
Speaker 1: the Rams wind up becoming the five seed and they
16:42
Speaker 1: have to play the Cardinals, they should be able to
16:44
Speaker 1: beat the Cardinals. They're playing their starters, even though they
16:48
Speaker 1: don't have to, because they're really locked into not the
16:51
Speaker 1: number one and not the NFC West, and it probably
16:54
Speaker 1: doesn't matter to them. Who they travel to go play much,
16:57
Speaker 1: if anything, they should want to stay in the five seeds,
17:01
Speaker 1: So I guess maybe that's why, because they'll have a
17:03
Speaker 1: chance to go play the fourth seed, that will be
17:05
Speaker 1: their impetus to win this game. To be the five seed,
17:08
Speaker 1: that will mean they go to Carolina, where they interestingly
17:11
Speaker 1: just lost a couple of weeks ago, or they go
17:13
Speaker 1: to Tampa Bay. But either way, I'm sure they would
17:16
Speaker 1: rather do that than they go to Philadelphia. So they're
17:19
Speaker 1: playing their starters. They should be the Cardinals. They are
17:22
Speaker 1: at home getting a little healthier on the offensive line.
17:26
Speaker 1: I think that's been a big reason the Rams have
17:29
Speaker 1: not been as good lately. That and they haven't had
17:31
Speaker 1: Quentin Lake, who is their best player in the secondary.
17:35
Speaker 1: They haven't had Devonte Adams. I think this Rams team
17:38
Speaker 1: is going to be fine, folks. I really do think
17:40
Speaker 1: they are going to be as good as a number
17:43
Speaker 1: one seed that isn't a number one seed once they
17:45
Speaker 1: get into the playoffs and they get these four or
17:48
Speaker 1: five injured players back. I really think that's been that
17:52
Speaker 1: and a little bad luck is why they've lost some
17:54
Speaker 1: of these games. They've turned the ball over a little
17:56
Speaker 1: bit more than they had from basically weeks three to
17:59
Speaker 1: week fifteen to sixteen. So I do think once they
18:03
Speaker 1: get healthy and get their players will be stable. They
18:06
Speaker 1: will go into the playoffs as one of the most
18:07
Speaker 1: dangerous five seeds that there could be. Remember you have
18:11
Speaker 1: this last year, right, the Rams were the five seed.
18:14
Speaker 1: Last year they went to Minnesota as the fourth seed,
18:19
Speaker 1: and they cleaned the Vikings clock in that game. I'm
18:23
Speaker 1: not mistaken that was that game. Yes it was. So
18:26
Speaker 1: that's really kind of what started the Rams off on
18:28
Speaker 1: their March last year and then carried into this year,
18:31
Speaker 1: getting Devonte Adams and doing some things differently on defense
18:34
Speaker 1: with Jared Verse and Fisk. They're a very very good team.
18:38
Speaker 1: They are going to be a very tough out as
18:41
Speaker 1: a five or a six seed, And with Stafford the
18:44
Speaker 1: way he's available to play at forty two touchdowns this year,
18:46
Speaker 1: I don't think going on the road in the first
18:48
Speaker 1: round to Carolina or Tampa is going to phase him
18:51
Speaker 1: too much. And then we'll see who they would match
18:54
Speaker 1: up with in the second round. So I do like
18:57
Speaker 1: the Rams over the Cardinals. I do like them probably
19:01
Speaker 1: to get the fifth seed. The way things are are
19:03
Speaker 1: gonna work out, they're obviously guaranteed. They know nothing, nothing
19:07
Speaker 1: to worry about. If the Seahawks beat the Niners. If
19:10
Speaker 1: the Seahawks win the game and the Rams win, then
19:13
Speaker 1: the Rams get the five seeds, so to me, that's
19:14
Speaker 1: the likeliest case. If not, then they'll get the six
19:18
Speaker 1: and again they'll go to Philadelphia, and that's that's a
19:20
Speaker 1: whole different animal. If the Eagles wind up being the
19:23
Speaker 1: three seed. So those are the two Saturday night games.
19:27
Speaker 1: Very exciting matchups. And look, even Panthers Bucks is exciting
19:31
Speaker 1: because these two teams, even though they're struggling, even though
19:35
Speaker 1: there's not as much star power, there's a division online,
19:38
Speaker 1: so it's it should be a good game. I you know,
19:42
Speaker 1: Baker Mayfield hasn't played great. He's been being banged up there.
19:45
Speaker 1: The Buccaneers are on two backup guards or third string guards,
19:49
Speaker 1: so clearly injuries have hurt them. They haven't been able
19:52
Speaker 1: to run the ball with Buckery Irving as much. But
19:55
Speaker 1: you know, they were an exciting team for the first
19:57
Speaker 1: five or six weeks. The way Mecca Hukah started his
20:01
Speaker 1: career has been a terrible second half for him. Lost
20:04
Speaker 1: out on Rookie of the Year that's probably now going
20:06
Speaker 1: to go to Teed McMillan. I would think maybe somebody
20:09
Speaker 1: else I'm not thinking of, But either way, Buccaneers, we'll
20:13
Speaker 1: see if they have that switch that they can flick
20:16
Speaker 1: and then turn it on. All right, let's talk about
20:19
Speaker 1: some of the other big games again. The schedule makers,
20:23
Speaker 1: they knew what they were doing. The AFC North will
20:27
Speaker 1: come down to the Ravens or the Steelers. Whoever wins
20:31
Speaker 1: will get the four seed in the AFC. Whoever loses
20:35
Speaker 1: will not be in the playoffs. I think, no matter what,
20:38
Speaker 1: it's a disappointing year for both teams. Whoever, because whoever wins,
20:45
Speaker 1: you're probably not going to expect them to go past
20:48
Speaker 1: the second round. We'll see whoever loses is going to
20:51
Speaker 1: be out of the playoffs. And both of these teams,
20:54
Speaker 1: you know, went into the year with their own expectations
20:56
Speaker 1: of being super Bowl caliber. Certainly the Ravens did. They
20:59
Speaker 1: were my number one team going into the year. So
21:02
Speaker 1: it's been a very disappointing season for them overall, especially
21:06
Speaker 1: on defense. But even with all the injuries and Lamar
21:09
Speaker 1: been banged up all year. But they have an opportunity
21:12
Speaker 1: to get if they get in as the four seed,
21:14
Speaker 1: you probably say, man, if they can get healthy, they
21:17
Speaker 1: can make a run. Because how many quarterbacks in the
21:19
Speaker 1: AFC do you trust more than Lamar? Do you trust
21:22
Speaker 1: Bo Nicks in Denver? Do you trust Drake May who's
21:25
Speaker 1: had an unbelievable MVP caliber year for the Patriots. He's
21:29
Speaker 1: never played in a playoff game before. Do you trust
21:31
Speaker 1: Trevor Lawrence in Jacksonville or CJ. Stroud. I mean, if
21:35
Speaker 1: the Ravens make it in, they'll be interesting, to say
21:41
Speaker 1: the least. If the Steelers make it, I don't know.
21:44
Speaker 1: I could see them losing in the first round of
21:45
Speaker 1: Houston if that becomes their matchup. I just haven't believed
21:49
Speaker 1: in the Steelers all year. I gave them credit last
21:52
Speaker 1: week because I didn't even think they were going to
21:54
Speaker 1: be in this position. They lost a couple in a
21:56
Speaker 1: row earlier in the year, and I thought that that
21:59
Speaker 1: was really going to be it for them. I just
22:01
Speaker 1: didn't think they had the talent. You know, they lost
22:04
Speaker 1: to the Bears and the Bills back to back, and
22:06
Speaker 1: neither game, well, one game was closed, the other game
22:08
Speaker 1: was a blowout, and then they rattled off three straight
22:11
Speaker 1: wins and got themselves right back in, but then they
22:13
Speaker 1: go and loose to the Browns inexplicaby. I know it's
22:16
Speaker 1: a rivalry. I know it's a division rivalry, it's a
22:18
Speaker 1: regional rivalry. I know the Browns can play some good defense.
22:21
Speaker 1: But for the Steelers to have lost that game, and
22:24
Speaker 1: I know, bouncing the ball a couple of calls in
22:27
Speaker 1: that game, but nonetheless, you had to win that game
22:30
Speaker 1: and put that division away, and you didn't. And now
22:32
Speaker 1: you have to fight for your life against the Ravens.
22:35
Speaker 1: So that'll be the Sunday eight o'clock game. I'm tempted
22:40
Speaker 1: to say that the Ravens are going to win. I
22:43
Speaker 1: believe the Steelers are still without Metcalf, who was suspended
22:48
Speaker 1: for going into the messing with that fan Lamar should play.
22:55
Speaker 1: The Ravens are to me the more talented overall team,
22:59
Speaker 1: but they're goofy this year, very very goofy team. You know,
23:03
Speaker 1: they still run the ball well. They finally ran the
23:05
Speaker 1: ball well last week after two weeks ago in expectedly
23:08
Speaker 1: not giving the ball to Derrick Henry. They sure did
23:12
Speaker 1: last week. But they beat a Packers team that's not
23:14
Speaker 1: really competitive right now because of all the injuries. Jordan
23:17
Speaker 1: Love didn't play. I think the Packers are starting tune
23:21
Speaker 1: at quarterback this week. So I mean it was unnecessary
23:23
Speaker 1: and hard and good win for the Ravens, but I
23:26
Speaker 1: don't know if it was a litmus test win. I
23:29
Speaker 1: like the Ravens in the game. It's in Pittsburgh. Ravens
23:33
Speaker 1: are favored by three and a half. They're the better team.
23:36
Speaker 1: Are they going to win? I have no idea. They're
23:38
Speaker 1: the better team. And the beauty of this game is
23:40
Speaker 1: there's no other permutation. Whoever wins is in. Whoever loses,
23:46
Speaker 1: they're going to Cabo and then there'll obviously be some
23:49
Speaker 1: discussions for either team. By the way, whoever loses this game,
23:53
Speaker 1: there will be some discussions as to changes that are
23:56
Speaker 1: going to be made, probably more so on the Steeler
24:00
Speaker 1: than the Ravens. But whatever this this will. I don't
24:05
Speaker 1: want to call it be a franchise defining game for both,
24:08
Speaker 1: but I do think that there will be some big
24:10
Speaker 1: changes for the team that loses, and there may be
24:13
Speaker 1: a big change for the team that wins if the
24:15
Speaker 1: team is won and done so. Really interesting game again,
24:19
Speaker 1: Ravens to me have the upper hand. They're more talented.
24:24
Speaker 1: If Lamar is healthy enough to play and make plays.
24:28
Speaker 1: He hasn't been running as much and that's that's a
24:30
Speaker 1: big issue for them because he's been banged up. But
24:32
Speaker 1: I still think they are the better overall team and
24:36
Speaker 1: I trust the Ravens to win this game more so
24:40
Speaker 1: than I would the Steelers. Certainly not a slam dunk.
24:45
Speaker 1: Now the AFC South, the AFC South is very interesting,
24:50
Speaker 1: all right. Right now, the Jags are in it and
24:53
Speaker 1: have the number three seed. Okay, they have to play.
24:58
Speaker 1: They get a layup, right, the Jags at a layup
25:00
Speaker 1: against the Titans. The Texans are nipping at their heels.
25:04
Speaker 1: The Texans have I wouldn't call it a layup, but
25:06
Speaker 1: they get to play the Colts. Yes, I will call
25:09
Speaker 1: it a layup because the Colts are starting Riley Leonard.
25:12
Speaker 1: So the Philip Rivers experiment is done. I think that
25:15
Speaker 1: means the Cults are done. They have recognized their reality.
25:18
Speaker 1: They're not in it, so they might as well play
25:21
Speaker 1: the young kid rookie quarterback. See how it goes. And
25:24
Speaker 1: the Texans are not the defense you want to face
25:27
Speaker 1: when you are a rookie quarterback in this league, and
25:31
Speaker 1: especially when there's something on the line. They're both playing
25:34
Speaker 1: at one o'clock, so again, they're both going to give
25:37
Speaker 1: max effort because any slippage on the Jacks jack Jaguars part,
25:41
Speaker 1: then the Texans could take advantage any slippage on the
25:44
Speaker 1: Texans part. And we'll forget that. The Jacksonville Jaguars technically,
25:50
Speaker 1: technically still have a chance to move up in the
25:53
Speaker 1: seedings over Denver and New England. The problem is that
25:56
Speaker 1: Denver in New England, and these teams are all playing
25:58
Speaker 1: at the same time right in New England have layups
26:01
Speaker 1: as well. The Broncos are playing a Chargers team that
26:04
Speaker 1: has decided to rest everybody, so that really should help
26:07
Speaker 1: the Broncos lock up the number one seed. And then
26:10
Speaker 1: the Patriots are playing They're playing the Dolphins, right the
26:16
Speaker 1: Patriots are playing the Dolphins team that's actually a four
26:18
Speaker 1: to twenty five game. They're at home. They should beat
26:22
Speaker 1: the Dolphins. I don't think it's gonna be. It may
26:25
Speaker 1: be close, but I think the Patriots they are eleven
26:27
Speaker 1: and a half point favorites. It's in New England. They
26:29
Speaker 1: know what's on the line now. The only thing about
26:31
Speaker 1: the Patriots is they have had a really rough week.
26:35
Speaker 1: You know, two of their players either in trouble with
26:39
Speaker 1: the laws, Steph Diggs and Barmore. I don't know how
26:41
Speaker 1: that's going to impact the team. And I think Travon
26:43
Speaker 1: Henderson is healthy now, so they should be all right.
26:47
Speaker 1: They really should beat this Dolphins team. But this Dolphins
26:49
Speaker 1: team has pulled out some weird wins along this way
26:51
Speaker 1: this year. So so you know the Broncos will be
26:55
Speaker 1: paying attention, and you know the Jags will be paying
26:57
Speaker 1: attention because if the Patriots lose and go to thirteen
27:01
Speaker 1: and four and the Jags win and go to thirteen
27:06
Speaker 1: and four, I believe the Jags would then get into
27:10
Speaker 1: the number two seed. The Jags would get the number
27:12
Speaker 1: two seed if they win. And if the Patriots win
27:17
Speaker 1: or sorry Patriots lose, Broncos win, they win, yes, they
27:20
Speaker 1: get the number two seeds. So if the Patriots lose,
27:24
Speaker 1: they can get the number two seed as long as
27:25
Speaker 1: they win their game. Not probably the likeliest the scenario,
27:29
Speaker 1: I think they're the likeliest scenario for them will be
27:32
Speaker 1: the number three seed, but there is if they do
27:35
Speaker 1: lose somehow, you know, it's really hard to see them
27:38
Speaker 1: losing this game. If they do somehow lose to the Titans,
27:44
Speaker 1: then that opens up a couple of scenarios where they
27:46
Speaker 1: would fall into a wild card and then the Texans,
27:50
Speaker 1: if they win, would win the division. If they lose
27:54
Speaker 1: and the Texans lose, they still get the number three seed.
27:57
Speaker 1: So I would say that the AFC. In summary, I
28:02
Speaker 1: don't really see anything changing. I think the Broncos will win.
28:05
Speaker 1: I think the Patriots will win. I think the Jacksonville
28:07
Speaker 1: will win. I do think Baltimore will win, so they
28:10
Speaker 1: will jump into the four seed and the Steelers will
28:13
Speaker 1: be out. Houston will win. The Chargers will lose to
28:17
Speaker 1: the Broncos and go to eleven and six. The Bills
28:20
Speaker 1: will probably beat because they're gonna play their starters. They're
28:25
Speaker 1: gonna probably beat the Jets and also get to eleven
28:28
Speaker 1: and six. So there might be a situation where the
28:31
Speaker 1: Chargers fall to the seventh seed and the Bills jump
28:35
Speaker 1: to the sixth seed. That is possible, I believe. I'm
28:39
Speaker 1: gonna double check on that in a second, but it's
28:45
Speaker 1: not really a change much in playoffs. It's just a
28:47
Speaker 1: change in seeding. Yeah, they can get the number five
28:52
Speaker 1: seed if they lose and the Texans, I'm sorry, the
28:55
Speaker 1: sixth seed. If they win, the Texans lose and the
28:58
Speaker 1: Chargers win, or if they win, the Texans win, Jaguars win,
29:02
Speaker 1: and Chargers loose. Okay, that to me is the likelyest scenario.
29:05
Speaker 1: That the Bills win, the Texans win, the Jaguars win,
29:08
Speaker 1: and the Chargers lose. So that would get the Bills
29:12
Speaker 1: the number six seed and then drop the Chargers to
29:15
Speaker 1: the seventh seed. I guess if you're the Chargers, it's
29:19
Speaker 1: just they are so beat up between Justin Herbert's left hand,
29:23
Speaker 1: between their offensive line, They've had injuries on defense, They're
29:27
Speaker 1: so beat up that they would rather just get the rest,
29:31
Speaker 1: and if it means they drop to the seventh seed
29:33
Speaker 1: and have to go play New England in New England
29:36
Speaker 1: as opposed to playing Jacksonville and Jacksonville, they probably don't
29:39
Speaker 1: see that much of a difference. They're going to play
29:41
Speaker 1: a good team regardless. They're a good team, and this
29:46
Speaker 1: is like kind of the Eagles scenario right, a little
29:48
Speaker 1: bit different, But the rest is going to outweigh the
29:53
Speaker 1: risk of who you play because you're already locked into
29:55
Speaker 1: a wildcard and a road game, So at that point
29:58
Speaker 1: it doesn't really matter, so should be interesting there to
30:02
Speaker 1: see what happens. And NFC, you know, the Packers, they
30:07
Speaker 1: are locked in. They're not gonna play anybody. They're locked
30:09
Speaker 1: in to the seventh seed. And again we mentioned that
30:12
Speaker 1: the Rams could be either the five or the six
30:14
Speaker 1: depending on what happens in Seattle and San Francisco. Of course,
30:18
Speaker 1: you know we talked about the Eagles. We've previewed that
30:21
Speaker 1: they're gonna arrest their starters. Could they beat the I
30:24
Speaker 1: think everybody is like, oh, they're gonna beat the Commanders
30:26
Speaker 1: in their backups. I don't know if people are really
30:30
Speaker 1: I get that Tanner McKee has looked really good. People
30:32
Speaker 1: are really taking into account what the Eagles offensive line
30:35
Speaker 1: is going to look like against a Commander's defense that
30:38
Speaker 1: is gonna play its starters and has some pretty good
30:40
Speaker 1: guys up front, not great, but pretty good. But you know,
30:43
Speaker 1: at one point you're gonna have You're gonna have Cameron
30:46
Speaker 1: Williams playing right tackle. This guy's never taken a snap
30:49
Speaker 1: in the NFL. All right, You're gonna have Drew Kendall
30:53
Speaker 1: at center. This guy's never taken a snap in the NFL.
30:58
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, I mean I know the Eagles are good,
31:00
Speaker 1: and I know the Commander's stink, but you can have
31:02
Speaker 1: two linemen on an offensive line has been great all year,
31:06
Speaker 1: two linemen who've never played a snap in the NFL
31:09
Speaker 1: go and play in this game against a mad Commander's
31:11
Speaker 1: team that's going to play as many healthy starters as
31:15
Speaker 1: they have. That's why I actually picked the Commanders to win.
31:18
Speaker 1: It's no disrespect to the Eagles. I just think we're
31:21
Speaker 1: underestimating a little bit how hard it's going to be
31:25
Speaker 1: for the Eagles to move the ball. They're obviously not
31:27
Speaker 1: going to play Saquan behind that offensive line, and you
31:31
Speaker 1: know you're talking about defense that will have what Byron
31:33
Speaker 1: Young playing and Gabe Hall against a good Commander's offensive
31:37
Speaker 1: line that has a few guys out. But I don't know.
31:41
Speaker 1: I just I'm curious to see who the edge rushers
31:44
Speaker 1: are going to be for the Eagles. You know, the
31:46
Speaker 1: linebackers will be trot and smile the mon and they'll
31:48
Speaker 1: be fine. But I just think, like people in Philadelphia
31:53
Speaker 1: area have thought about this game as the Commander's stink
31:55
Speaker 1: and the Eagles, you know, last year they beat the
31:56
Speaker 1: Giants backups with Tanner mcan, But this is a different situation.
32:00
Speaker 1: I don't think it's going to be nearly as easy
32:02
Speaker 1: as some have thought, but it doesn't really matter. I
32:05
Speaker 1: do think the Bears will wind up beating the Lions.
32:08
Speaker 1: That's a tough game. The Lion's gonna play their starters.
32:10
Speaker 1: The Bears are three point favorites. The Lions are gonna
32:13
Speaker 1: be The Lions are not the type of team that
32:15
Speaker 1: just lay down. Dan Campbell will never allow that. They're
32:18
Speaker 1: gonna play golf. They're gonna play Gibbs, They're gonna play
32:20
Speaker 1: whoever's healthy. They're gonna play Hutchinson. So the Bears are
32:24
Speaker 1: gonna have to earn this number two seed for sure.
32:28
Speaker 1: And I'm still I like the Bears, and I thought
32:31
Speaker 1: they were really valiant in that game against the forty
32:34
Speaker 1: nine ers, but their lack of edge rush and pass
32:37
Speaker 1: rush scares me and concerns me about their long term viability.
32:42
Speaker 1: And we've all seen if you play the Lions and
32:45
Speaker 1: you don't have a good pass rush against Jared Goff,
32:47
Speaker 1: he has enough weapons to carve you up. And so
32:50
Speaker 1: this is not a gift wrapped win for the Bears
32:53
Speaker 1: at all. It's not a gift wrap win, they're gonna
32:56
Speaker 1: have to earn it, which and again makes you wander
33:00
Speaker 1: if the Eagles are doing the right thing. I think
33:02
Speaker 1: they are. The Lions did beat the Bears pretty handily
33:06
Speaker 1: in Week two, fifty two to twenty one, but that
33:09
Speaker 1: really did start all the bear you know, the Bears
33:11
Speaker 1: were zero to two and then they won you know,
33:14
Speaker 1: basically eleven of their next fourteen games, So that kicking
33:19
Speaker 1: ass kicking that they got from the Lions kind of
33:22
Speaker 1: changed things for them. Came back that next Sunday and
33:25
Speaker 1: beat the Cowboys, which was a surprise win for them
33:28
Speaker 1: at the time. They had some you know, other big
33:32
Speaker 1: wins along the way that people probably didn't think they beat,
33:35
Speaker 1: you know, obviously beat the Eagles, beat the Steelers, beat
33:38
Speaker 1: the Browns considerably. I've talked about how hard it is
33:41
Speaker 1: to really beat the Browns. They pounded the Browns in
33:43
Speaker 1: Week fifteen, beat the Packers in that all important game
33:46
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago, and then this game against
33:48
Speaker 1: the forty nine ers, very valiant. They kept responding, they
33:52
Speaker 1: kept responding. Forty nine Ers would score, Bears would come back,
33:55
Speaker 1: forty nine Ers score again, Bears come back and score again.
33:58
Speaker 1: So Ben Johnson has this offense clicking, but the defense
34:01
Speaker 1: is going to have to play well. They've been a
34:03
Speaker 1: turnover creating defense all year long. That is how they
34:07
Speaker 1: survive without a pass rush. Can they get Goff and
34:11
Speaker 1: the Lions to turn the ball over a couple of times?
34:13
Speaker 1: Think it will be a challenge, I really do. Should
34:16
Speaker 1: be an exciting game, no wonder. This game is also
34:20
Speaker 1: a four to twenty five game, all right, So they're
34:23
Speaker 1: gonna they will know. They won't know what the Eagles
34:27
Speaker 1: game is gonna do because the Eagles are playing at
34:29
Speaker 1: the same exact time. But if the Bears win, the
34:32
Speaker 1: bottom line is the Bears win, they get the number
34:34
Speaker 1: two seed. If they lose, the Eagles win, the Eagles
34:36
Speaker 1: get the two seed and the Bears get through the
34:39
Speaker 1: excuse me, the Bears would get I believe the three
34:41
Speaker 1: seed there. So that is how that will shake out.
34:46
Speaker 1: That is the NFC and other than that, there's no
34:49
Speaker 1: other permutations or machinations that we need to speak about.
34:54
Speaker 1: Monday will be a big day in the NFL. It
34:56
Speaker 1: always is Black Monday. They call it that for a reason.
35:00
Speaker 1: There will be several coaching changes. When I went through it,
35:05
Speaker 1: I figured at least five, if not more. Now there's
35:10
Speaker 1: already two teams that need head coaches. The Titans need
35:14
Speaker 1: a head coach. The Giants need a head coach. All right,
35:19
Speaker 1: teams that I think are likely likely to also need
35:24
Speaker 1: a head coach. Tough call. Let's just go through the
35:29
Speaker 1: teams that you can see it happening. Arizona. Jonathan Gannon
35:34
Speaker 1: for sure where it is, he's going to be safe,
35:36
Speaker 1: but you never know, so that would be three on
35:39
Speaker 1: certain scenarios. I talked about Raheem Morris's Atlanta Falcons too little,
35:43
Speaker 1: too late. Even if they win, even if they beat
35:45
Speaker 1: the Saints, they'll finish eight to nine. More was expected
35:47
Speaker 1: from them, And to be honest with you, there were
35:50
Speaker 1: stretches of the year where the offense did not look good,
35:53
Speaker 1: even when it was healthy, even when they had Michael
35:56
Speaker 1: Panics didn't look great. And the defense at times look
36:00
Speaker 1: it's pretty good and at times look terrible. So the
36:02
Speaker 1: best they'll finishes eight and nine. They could certainly move
36:05
Speaker 1: on from Raheem Morris. That would be number four. Vegas.
36:13
Speaker 1: I mean, Pete Carroll's handed a terrible roster. He made
36:16
Speaker 1: a terrible decision hiring Chip Kelly get backfired fired him
36:20
Speaker 1: before the year was over, Whereas where have we heard
36:22
Speaker 1: that one before? They're gonna have the number one pick.
36:26
Speaker 1: And the question that the Mark Davis is going to
36:28
Speaker 1: have to ask himself is, even if he doesn't hold
36:31
Speaker 1: it against Pete Carroll, how bad the Raiders were this year?
36:34
Speaker 1: If he says it was a roster problem, do you
36:35
Speaker 1: want Pete Carroll in charge of your franchise when you're
36:39
Speaker 1: gonna have the number one pick, probably use it on
36:41
Speaker 1: a quarterback? Is Pete Carroll the quarterback developer that you
36:45
Speaker 1: want leading your franchise? He's more of a run game, defense,
36:49
Speaker 1: special teams guy. I think that there are some real
36:53
Speaker 1: candid conversations that have to be had in that building
36:57
Speaker 1: about Pete Carroll's future. So that would be if he
37:01
Speaker 1: gets fired. Cleveland Kevin Stefanski obviously the best they can finish,
37:06
Speaker 1: you know, five and twelve, probably gonna finish four and thirteen,
37:11
Speaker 1: very very disappointing year. The whole Deshawan Watson thing backfired
37:15
Speaker 1: on him. You know, he was in the playoffs with
37:17
Speaker 1: the Browns. He could take the Browns to the playoffs
37:19
Speaker 1: a couple years ago, impressively with Joe Flacco as their quarterback.
37:24
Speaker 1: So there's that he's a good coach, and I think
37:26
Speaker 1: I'll have a job in five minutes. He might be
37:28
Speaker 1: the one of the few guys who gets fired and
37:30
Speaker 1: has a job immediately after. But nonetheless he could be fired,
37:35
Speaker 1: so that would be seven. I don't think the Bengals
37:39
Speaker 1: are gonna move on from Zach Taylor. Dolphins could move
37:41
Speaker 1: on from Mike McDaniel. It sounded like he was safe
37:43
Speaker 1: for a little bit, but you just never know. They
37:45
Speaker 1: bringing in Troy Aikman now as a advisor. He's gonna
37:50
Speaker 1: help them out. Usually, when you're bringing in people to
37:52
Speaker 1: help you out from the outside to the direction of
37:55
Speaker 1: your franchise and you take what they say in serious consideration,
38:00
Speaker 1: that often can lead to a regime change. So now
38:03
Speaker 1: you have to consider Mike McDaniel on the fence. That
38:05
Speaker 1: would be eight. Potentially. I don't know what's going to
38:08
Speaker 1: happen in Indianapolis. I think it's a wild card because
38:13
Speaker 1: of the ownership. Obviously after passed away, you know his
38:17
Speaker 1: daughters took over the team. One of them is running
38:19
Speaker 1: the team and you've seen her on the sideline taking
38:23
Speaker 1: notes with the headset on you have no idea. I
38:26
Speaker 1: don't think you will be right to fire Stich, and
38:28
Speaker 1: it's not his fault. But the bottom line is they
38:30
Speaker 1: haven't been in the playoffs. They've been disappointing, and they
38:33
Speaker 1: had a total collapse this year. It's an understandable collapse
38:38
Speaker 1: when they lost their quarterback, but a total collapse and
38:41
Speaker 1: there once again not in the playoffs. So he could
38:44
Speaker 1: be gone, and then I think you have to look
38:47
Speaker 1: at the loser of the Baltimore Pittsburgh game. I don't
38:51
Speaker 1: This is to me the biggest wild card. Will Will
38:54
Speaker 1: Mike Tomlin or John Harbaugh be fired? My gifts would
38:59
Speaker 1: be no, no matter what happens, my guess would be
39:01
Speaker 1: neither are fired. More likely that there will be major
39:05
Speaker 1: changes made on the coaching staffs. Yes, I could see that,
39:09
Speaker 1: but I can't just completely rule it out that one
39:15
Speaker 1: or both might be fired. And then, of course the
39:18
Speaker 1: last one being Bowls in Tampa Bay. If they lose
39:22
Speaker 1: this game, could he be fired? I don't think it's likely.
39:26
Speaker 1: He had signed a contract extension through twenty twenty eight.
39:29
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay is not one of those, just like Arizona
39:32
Speaker 1: with Gannon, They're not a team that gives money away.
39:35
Speaker 1: Some teams will fire, you know. The Eagles will do that.
39:37
Speaker 1: They'll fire a coach. They'll eat the dead money. They
39:39
Speaker 1: don't care. They need print money, all right. Tampa Bay
39:42
Speaker 1: has never operated that way. It's more likely to me
39:45
Speaker 1: that they will make some changes on their coaching staff.
39:49
Speaker 1: Maybe the first year of coordinator Josh Grizzard gets replaced.
39:53
Speaker 1: Maybe Todd Bowles takes more of a hand in the
39:56
Speaker 1: defense than he already does. I don't know. And putting
40:00
Speaker 1: him on this list, which will make about ten I
40:03
Speaker 1: think I'm up to but I don't believe he'll get fired.
40:07
Speaker 1: We'll see. I just don't think it'll happen even if
40:10
Speaker 1: they lose. But I would think major changes along the way.
40:14
Speaker 1: So that's about nine or ten spots that could open.
40:18
Speaker 1: What I think will happen is it'll be more like
40:20
Speaker 1: five to seven. That's what I think. Five to seven.
40:24
Speaker 1: Who will be It's not a great year for coaching candidates.
40:27
Speaker 1: We'll get into this more maybe next week when I preview, well,
40:30
Speaker 1: when we find out who's employed and who's not. I
40:33
Speaker 1: don't think it's a great year for head coaching candidates.
40:36
Speaker 1: You got a lot of young guys who like Jesse Minter,
40:40
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator for the Chargers. Krishulas done a great job
40:43
Speaker 1: presiding over the defense for the Rams. Who are some
40:49
Speaker 1: other head coaching kids you're gonna hear about. You may
40:52
Speaker 1: hear at one point. You probably could have heard about
40:55
Speaker 1: Todd Mounkin. But the Ravens offense, he's the offensive coordinator
40:57
Speaker 1: for the Ravens just hasn't been that good. Jeff Hafley,
41:01
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator for Green Bay, will be a hot commodity.
41:05
Speaker 1: This guy has been an excellent defensive coordinator with the
41:08
Speaker 1: Packers the last two years, and he's got a head
41:10
Speaker 1: coaching experience with the You know, he was the head
41:13
Speaker 1: coach of Boston College and did a pretty good job there.
41:15
Speaker 1: He just left because he didn't love the college coaching
41:20
Speaker 1: anymore and everything that entails with the portal and you know,
41:23
Speaker 1: re recruiting your guys. He came to the NFL, so
41:25
Speaker 1: he'll be a candidate. Robert Sala may have earned himself
41:31
Speaker 1: a look again with the job he's done with the
41:33
Speaker 1: San Francisco forty nine ers defense with all the injuries
41:36
Speaker 1: that they've had. You know, the Eagles, I don't know.
41:39
Speaker 1: I think Christian their defensive backs coach, Christian Parker may
41:44
Speaker 1: get an interview or two. He might earn a look.
41:47
Speaker 1: Maybe Clint Hurt, with the job he's done with the
41:49
Speaker 1: defensive line, will get a little bit of a look.
41:51
Speaker 1: I'm not sure that they have true head coaching candidates,
41:54
Speaker 1: but they probably have guys who will get interviews and
41:57
Speaker 1: get explored in the college ranks. Sounds like Marcus Freeman's
42:01
Speaker 1: going back to North Carolina. I'm sorry too, a Notre Dame,
42:04
Speaker 1: so I don't think that's going to be the case.
42:07
Speaker 1: Obviously with North Carolina, Belichick, his name is always going
42:10
Speaker 1: to be there. We'll see if somebody wants to take
42:13
Speaker 1: a shot there. I don't know. I think Clint Kubiak
42:15
Speaker 1: might be. He's the offensive coordinator for the Seahawks. It's interesting.
42:19
Speaker 1: I don't think he's gotten enough sort of national buzz
42:23
Speaker 1: for the job he's done. With Sam Donald and Smith
42:25
Speaker 1: and Jigba, it's a it's a very potent offense that
42:28
Speaker 1: really has two people in the driver's seat. You look
42:31
Speaker 1: at the Eagles offense, they got talent everywhere. You look
42:33
Speaker 1: at Seattle's offense and you say Donald, Smith and Jigba
42:37
Speaker 1: if you could take him out, you win. But guess what,
42:39
Speaker 1: nobody takes him out week after a week, so they've
42:42
Speaker 1: done an excellent job. So those will be some names. Again.
42:46
Speaker 1: I think that I think Kevin Stefanski would be a
42:48
Speaker 1: guy who'd have a job as a retreat immediately. You know,
42:53
Speaker 1: I think if Harbaugh Tomlin aren't back with their teams,
42:55
Speaker 1: they'd have a job immediately as well. But in general,
42:59
Speaker 1: especially on offense, it doesn't see there's not this McVeigh
43:04
Speaker 1: like or Shanahan like. All those assistants have gotten their jobs.
43:08
Speaker 1: There's not too many guys who are going to come
43:10
Speaker 1: out of those programs now and just automatically become head
43:14
Speaker 1: coaching jobs or head coaches because they, you know, spend
43:17
Speaker 1: some time with either mcveay or Shanahan. That seemed to
43:19
Speaker 1: be the thing three to five years ago, but it's
43:22
Speaker 1: dried up a little bit. It seems like defensive coaches
43:25
Speaker 1: are more the case. They're going to be the flavor
43:28
Speaker 1: of the week. And you know, if you got a
43:29
Speaker 1: number one pick, or if you're starting over with a quarterback,
43:32
Speaker 1: you may not want a defensive coach to be your
43:34
Speaker 1: head coach. That's the conversations that have to be had
43:37
Speaker 1: in the building.
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47:04
Speaker 1: let me give you my picks for the week now.
47:05
Speaker 1: Last week two and one, second straight week I was
47:09
Speaker 1: two and one, so I don't know. I guess I'm
47:11
Speaker 1: on a roll. I've been salvaging a horrendous year picking.
47:15
Speaker 1: Last week, I had the Niners as three point favorites
47:18
Speaker 1: over the Bears. They did, they covered the three. I
47:20
Speaker 1: had the Jags covering the five and a half against
47:22
Speaker 1: the Colts. I took the Panthers getting seven against Seattle.
47:26
Speaker 1: I didn't think they'd win, but I thought they would
47:27
Speaker 1: keep it close. They did not, so two and one
47:30
Speaker 1: for a total of twenty one and thirty. Yikes. I'll
47:34
Speaker 1: give you my picks this week. I'd like the Vikings
47:37
Speaker 1: as nine and a half point favorites over the Packers.
47:40
Speaker 1: The Vikings are still trying to win every game they can.
47:43
Speaker 1: I forgot to mention Brian Flores by the way, another
47:46
Speaker 1: good head coaching candidate. The only issue is he's still
47:50
Speaker 1: suing the NFL, and I don't know how that's going
47:52
Speaker 1: to interfere with him getting an NFL head coaching job.
47:58
Speaker 1: It's an interesting dynamic. I imagine I'll get some interviews.
48:02
Speaker 1: He's gotten some interviews, you know, the last few years,
48:05
Speaker 1: but has been passed up. I feel like the Miami
48:09
Speaker 1: experience for him tainted him a little bit because there
48:12
Speaker 1: was all these reports of friction between him and Tua
48:15
Speaker 1: and how he handled it. But he is a fantastic,
48:18
Speaker 1: fantastic defensive coach, and he is the type of guy
48:22
Speaker 1: who you bring into your system, and especially if you
48:26
Speaker 1: already have a decent quarterback. Let's say you're the Titans.
48:29
Speaker 1: You got a number one quarterback in cam Ward. You
48:31
Speaker 1: probably want a QB developer. But if you don't see
48:33
Speaker 1: one out there, and you know, you actually have some
48:35
Speaker 1: pretty good personnal on defense starting with Jeffrey Simmons, right,
48:39
Speaker 1: They've actually had a pretty good defense all year the Titans.
48:42
Speaker 1: Then maybe you bring in a guy like Flores, you
48:45
Speaker 1: make sure he brings in a really good quarterback guru,
48:48
Speaker 1: and away you go and you have your next you know,
48:50
Speaker 1: maybe Mike Rabel type coach who's going to be a
48:53
Speaker 1: defensive oriented coach and be great. I mean it's worked
48:56
Speaker 1: for the Texans and Demico Ryans, so I just think
49:02
Speaker 1: Flores probably deserves another shot. We'll see if he gets it.
49:06
Speaker 1: But either way, they're playing the Packers. The Packers are
49:08
Speaker 1: going to start Tune as their quarterback because they're all
49:10
Speaker 1: beat up. They don't have you know, obviously Micah Parsons.
49:13
Speaker 1: They're locked into their seven seeds, so there's nowhere to go.
49:17
Speaker 1: I don't know how hard they're going to try. They're
49:19
Speaker 1: on the road against a Vikings team still trying to
49:22
Speaker 1: develop JJ McCarthy, still trying to end the season well.
49:25
Speaker 1: So it's a big number nine and a half, but
49:27
Speaker 1: I think the Vikings will cover it. The Texans another
49:30
Speaker 1: big number. They're ten point favorites over the Colts. I
49:32
Speaker 1: already told you the Coults are starting Riley Leonard. This
49:35
Speaker 1: is not the defense that you want to play against
49:38
Speaker 1: when you are a rookie quarterback making your first start.
49:41
Speaker 1: The Texans started to show you some some semblance of
49:45
Speaker 1: an explosive offense last week. They jumped early in their game.
49:51
Speaker 1: They had four it was think fourteen to nothing. They
49:53
Speaker 1: had two long touchdowns. So it looks like the Texans
49:57
Speaker 1: are starting to come together offensively a little bit, and
50:01
Speaker 1: this should be a breeze for them. You know, starting
50:03
Speaker 1: against Riley Leonard. That was the Chargers that they jumped
50:06
Speaker 1: on early and then really didn't do anything after that.
50:08
Speaker 1: But that's a good Chargers defense, really good Texas won
50:11
Speaker 1: a lot of games in a row, and covering the
50:14
Speaker 1: ten against this Colts team should not be that difficult.
50:17
Speaker 1: They'll probably force a few turnovers against Riley Leonard. And
50:20
Speaker 1: I like the Bills. The Bills are going to play
50:22
Speaker 1: their starters. They're seven and a half point favorites against
50:25
Speaker 1: the Jets. It's in Buffalo again, they're playing their starters.
50:30
Speaker 1: We'll see if Dalton Kakaid gets back for the game,
50:32
Speaker 1: but regardless, coming off that loss to the Eagles, I
50:35
Speaker 1: think that they'll be motivated. You know, they have a
50:39
Speaker 1: chance to improve a seating a little bit so. But
50:42
Speaker 1: the bottom line is they're playing the Jets, are at home,
50:44
Speaker 1: and they're a far better team, and it's really only
50:46
Speaker 1: seven and a half points spread. Ordinarily, the Bills playing
50:49
Speaker 1: the Jets, and you're looking at a number of thirteen fourteen,
50:51
Speaker 1: especially in Buffalo, it's seven and a half. So I
50:55
Speaker 1: will take the Bills at seven and a half point favorites,
50:58
Speaker 1: and those are my picks this week. So as I
51:01
Speaker 1: tell you every week. Enjoy your football watching