Latest / NFL Power Rankings / #17: Ravens soaring, Chiefs free-falling!

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#17: Ravens soaring, Chiefs free-falling! · NFL Power Rankings

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  Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
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  Speaker 1: partnership with iHeartRadio.
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  Speaker 2: Hope you had a merry Christmas, everybody, Happy Holidays. Welcome
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  Speaker 2: to a week seventeen edition of the official, the one,
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  Speaker 2: the Only, except no cut rate imitation NFL Power Ranking Show,
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  Speaker 2: presented to you by Energizer from his home office outside Chicago.
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  Speaker 2: On one side of the screen, Eric at home from
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  Speaker 2: my parents' home office somewhere outside our nation's capital, with
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  Speaker 2: a picture of Brian Side lurking over my shoulder. My
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  Speaker 2: name is Andrew Sicilian. I hope everyone had a fantastic
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  Speaker 2: Christmas at home. What did Sanna bring you anything good?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah? A lot of socks, A lot I think I
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  Speaker 3: got another boy, a lot of Yeah, a lot of
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  Speaker 3: books too, So I've really kind of settled into middle
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  Speaker 3: age here. How about you?
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  Speaker 2: What did Sanna bring me a gift card to my
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  Speaker 2: favorite outdoor store?
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  Speaker 3: And how about that Bete?
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  Speaker 2: No, but I could use the oven mitt to now
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  Speaker 2: make something with the new cookbook? How about that? That work?
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  Speaker 2: That's right? I like it all right. Here's what Santa
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  Speaker 2: also brought you? No clarity really other than number one
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  Speaker 2: scan the QR code on the screen. Here we're go
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  Speaker 2: to NFL dot com slash Power Rankings to see the
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  Speaker 2: brand new heading the week seventeen two more weeks to
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  Speaker 2: go Power Rankings. You got the Ravens at number one.
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  Speaker 2: That's where the clarity is because they just thumped the
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  Speaker 2: forty nine ers. San Francisco is too, Miami is three,
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  Speaker 2: Phillias four after an performance on Christmas Day barely hanging
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  Speaker 2: on and beating the Giants. The Lions are five, followed
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  Speaker 2: by the Cowboys, the Bills, and then God's team, the
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  Speaker 2: Cleveland Browns. Let's start with the Ravens. They, clearly, eric
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  Speaker 2: are the best team in football, and they're the team
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  Speaker 2: of the week, and the Team of the Week is
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  Speaker 2: presented to you by Truest. I thought they would beat
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  Speaker 2: the forty nine ers. I didn't think they would demoralize
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  Speaker 2: the forty nine ers. I didn't think that they would
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  Speaker 2: plant a flag, not only for Lamar as MVP again,
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  Speaker 2: but for the clear number one Eric. I think the
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  Speaker 2: gap between number one and number two was huge on
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  Speaker 2: Christmas Night.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely right, and early on they had to kind of
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  Speaker 3: stem the tide a little bit. They had the early
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  Speaker 3: safety Niners had driven down the field twice, so there
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  Speaker 3: was a little bit of momentum and angry crowd, you know,
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  Speaker 3: folks wanting to get back home. But man, it was
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  Speaker 3: an impressive performance that I think was really spearheaded by
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  Speaker 3: that defense. Mike McDonald's done such a great job. I
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  Speaker 3: think k'llby mentioned in head coaching interviews in a couple
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  Speaker 3: of weeks, but right now they're obviously focused on winning
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  Speaker 3: a Super Bowl, and this is the biggest statement I
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  Speaker 3: think they've made all season long. Correct me if I'm wrong.
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  Speaker 3: As you said, it checked off so many boxes, even
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  Speaker 3: without a run game. They didn't do a ton offensively
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  Speaker 3: early on, but didn't need to because they won the
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  Speaker 3: battle in the line at the line of scrimmage. And yeah,
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  Speaker 3: this just says as much of off the Ravens I
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  Speaker 3: think it does about the forty nine ers.
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  Speaker 2: I'm also glad that safety on the grounding from the
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  Speaker 2: first quarter didn't factor, so we wouldn't be talking about
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  Speaker 2: that all week as well. And by the way, lamar,
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  Speaker 2: why are you running twenty five yards backwards into the
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  Speaker 2: end zone. Yes, the official guy in your way, Yes
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  Speaker 2: it should not have been intentional grounding, but come on, dude,
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  Speaker 2: stop running twenty five yards backwards. The road to the
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  Speaker 2: super Bowl in the AFC, I think is pretty clear now.
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  Speaker 2: It is going to run through Baltimore. That is, unless
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  Speaker 2: the Dolphins can beat the Ravens coming up this week
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  Speaker 2: in Baltimore, which I don't think they will do. Ravens
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  Speaker 2: win that game, they wrap up everything, the home field
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  Speaker 2: by and number one in the AFC. They are clearly
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  Speaker 2: the number one team. We'll get to the Dolphins in
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  Speaker 2: a second. The Niners are the best team in the NFC, Eric,
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  Speaker 2: you have them at number two overall. The bonkers stat
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  Speaker 2: for me is the Niners are one and three against
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  Speaker 2: the AFC, nor one of three. They won Week one
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  Speaker 2: in Pittsburgh, destroyed the Steelers. They're ten and one against
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  Speaker 2: everyone else.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and that's going to help them when they go
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  Speaker 3: for the top seed. Obviously, they're still the big favorites
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  Speaker 3: in the NFC to get that first round by you know,
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  Speaker 3: they're nine to one against the NFC right now. So yeah,
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  Speaker 3: it really doesn't sort of, you know, make you feel
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  Speaker 3: better about it, just but it is a little bit
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  Speaker 3: bizarre that they've had such trouble with this one division,
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  Speaker 3: and maybe it's toughness, right we saw the Bengals last weekend.
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  Speaker 3: Man handled things like that, and you say to yourself,
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  Speaker 3: this is still the AFC Nord. This is still a
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  Speaker 3: physical division. So it does kind of paint a picture
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  Speaker 3: of really what the forty nine ers have to figure
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  Speaker 3: out in the trenches, not just defensively losing those two
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  Speaker 3: d tackles, but on the offensive line. A ton of
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  Speaker 3: injuries last Monday night. So yeah, they have some things
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  Speaker 3: to figure out on the line of scrimmage. For all
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  Speaker 3: their skill talent they have, that's a big concern for
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  Speaker 3: me right now.
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  Speaker 2: You are not ready to throw brock perty forget about
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  Speaker 2: it out of the MVP conversation, but out of the
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  Speaker 2: quarterback conversation. You're not one of these go play Sam
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  Speaker 2: Darnold people, are you? No?
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  Speaker 3: I think they handled it the right way, right He
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  Speaker 3: gets a little banged up on the sack and they say, hey,
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  Speaker 3: we're down to linemen here. We're not going to get
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  Speaker 3: you hurt behind a shoddy offensive line. So I understand
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  Speaker 3: the reactionary nature of that, but yeah, I'm not going there.
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  Speaker 3: You don't go from MVP too out of the lineup
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  Speaker 3: when in one week span.
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  Speaker 2: I'm a huge Rock Party fan, I think Christian McCaffrey
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  Speaker 2: clearly showed his value to the national audience, not as
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  Speaker 2: if he had not done that before when he did
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  Speaker 2: what he did last night. My MVP vote, however, does
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  Speaker 2: go for Lamar Jackson. If I did have an MVP vote,
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  Speaker 2: he was the best player on the field. And I think,
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  Speaker 2: as Patrick Queen liked to say or said afterwards, nobody
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  Speaker 2: wants to play our style of football. And surprisingly on
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  Speaker 2: Christmas Night that included the forty nine ers. We have
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  Speaker 2: the Dolphins at number three again they go to Baltimore
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  Speaker 2: this week, and then at number four we have the Eagles.
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  Speaker 2: Let's do future champions now and focus on the Eagles
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  Speaker 2: Future Champions presented by Fan Duel. This is odds to
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  Speaker 2: win the NFC East. The Eagles are minus four ninety.
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  Speaker 2: After the Cowboys lost in Miami and the Eagles win,
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  Speaker 2: this is going to be the Eagles division here. They
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  Speaker 2: are up one spot. They get the Cardinals at home
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  Speaker 2: and then the Giants on the road. Who knows what
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  Speaker 2: the Giants are going to look like by that point
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  Speaker 2: week eighteen, they've already been eliminated. They have a quarterback question,
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  Speaker 2: as Tyrod had to come off the bench when Tommy
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  Speaker 2: DeVito couldn't get anything going. But as we said last week, Eric,
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  Speaker 2: the Eagles are fine, but they don't look like a champion.
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  Speaker 2: They don't look like a Super Bowl team here.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, are they truly future champions? Obviously last season came
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  Speaker 3: so close to winning it all. I think entered this
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  Speaker 3: year with the you know, even higher expectations in some cases,
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  Speaker 3: but it hasn't always quite added up. The defense has
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  Speaker 3: been a problem. They've let teams back in games, like
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  Speaker 3: you see with the Giants game up twenty to three.
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  Speaker 3: Backup quarterback comes in kind of rallies them, hurts making
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  Speaker 3: a couple of bad decisions, So you know, there's still
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  Speaker 3: all these loose ends. I feel like they have a
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  Speaker 3: tie up, but they took care of business. They're now
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  Speaker 3: the big favorites to win that division, and obviously the
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  Speaker 3: spoils that come with at the home field advantage and
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  Speaker 3: all of that. But yeah, I still have to tighten
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  Speaker 3: up the whole operation, even with some witable games Arizona
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  Speaker 3: and Giants again coming up.
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  Speaker 2: So the Eagles win the NFC East if they win
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  Speaker 2: this week and the Cowboys lose, as you have them here,
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  Speaker 2: they're the number four team and the look they can
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  Speaker 2: still take and still make a run here. But the
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  Speaker 2: early noise in September, from what I thought were just
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  Speaker 2: bitter angry Eagle fans and writers who are looking something,
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  Speaker 2: looking for something to be bitter and angry about, seemingly
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  Speaker 2: was right all along, because the Eagles do have some issues,
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  Speaker 2: but who knows what's going to happen once they do
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  Speaker 2: get in and they are in in January, the Lions
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  Speaker 2: are in as well, Eric, and the Lions are in
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  Speaker 2: as champions of the NFC North. They are up to
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  Speaker 2: they are now number five. What an amazing moment there,
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  Speaker 2: Dan Campbell after they beat the Vikings and they won
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  Speaker 2: the division for the first time in thirty years. That
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  Speaker 2: party in the locker room, there was a lot of cursing.
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  Speaker 2: But you know what, Dan Campbell, the cartoon, I think
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  Speaker 2: that many people thought he was forget about it. This
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  Speaker 2: guy's real and his team believes in him.
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  Speaker 3: It was easy to jump on him as sort of
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  Speaker 3: a caricature, as you said, and the biting decaps and
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  Speaker 3: all that. But you know, there was a point a
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  Speaker 3: couple of weeks ago where this team looked really, really
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  Speaker 3: shaky in heading into big divisional games. Heading into a
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  Speaker 3: game against the Vikings that turned out to be a classic,
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  Speaker 3: you may not thought they had the mental toughness to
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  Speaker 3: do it. They really sort of firmed up there. Defense,
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  Speaker 3: made the four interceptions, just enough of plays offensively, you know,
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  Speaker 3: Saint Brown and Jamier Gibbs has been terrific. Of course,
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  Speaker 3: Jamison Williams chipping in every week now, which is a
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  Speaker 3: great development. But yeah, this is a terrific moment for
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  Speaker 3: the Lions. Fans have waited so long. I still think
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: there's work to be done though, Andrew, and obviously a
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  Speaker 3: big test this week with Dallas, so you know, they
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: continue to prep for the playoffs. Now that you're in,
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  Speaker 3: you put all that behind you. You take the pressure
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  Speaker 3: off of you. But you also have to realize that
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  Speaker 3: defense gave up a lot of yards to Nick Mullins
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  Speaker 3: and company. So there's still work to be done to
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  Speaker 3: make this thing humming at full operational speed.
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  Speaker 2: Here and Nick Mullins did not play well, but they
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  Speaker 2: were still in that game to the very end. Obviously,
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  Speaker 2: Lions get the big pick late and they celebrate and
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  Speaker 2: they are NFC nors champions and they will get a
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  Speaker 2: home playoff game. I am happy for them. I'm also
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  Speaker 2: fascinated Eric to see what happens this week when the
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  Speaker 2: Lions go on the road. They're five, and then this
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  Speaker 2: week they visit the six. In your new Power rankings,
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  Speaker 2: the six are the Dallas Cowboys, who are down three
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  Speaker 2: after losing in Miami to the Dolphins. That game, for me,
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  Speaker 2: was kind of a battle of paper champions, a battle
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  Speaker 2: of two teams that really hadn't beaten anybody. The Cowboys
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  Speaker 2: can't beat anybody on the road. The Dolphins just couldn't
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  Speaker 2: beat anybody. The Dolphins finally did beat somebody that was
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  Speaker 2: a Dallas team that couldn't win on the road. So
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  Speaker 2: I have no idea what to make of this team,
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  Speaker 2: or either of these teams or this game. All I
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  Speaker 2: know is you have the Cowboys last week at three
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  Speaker 2: and now they're at six.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm with you. I had a hard time sort
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  Speaker 3: of placing the right spot for them. You're right, you know,
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  Speaker 3: the road woves continue. They are terrific at home. Obviously
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  Speaker 3: the lines are great on the road. So I think
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  Speaker 3: this game is going to be really interesting. As we mentioned,
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  Speaker 3: I think both teams have something to play for. Obviously,
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  Speaker 3: Dallas is kind of up against the division wise, but
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  Speaker 3: got to get better on third downs on offense, can't
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  Speaker 3: miss those possessions. I think teams are going to try
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  Speaker 3: to turn into you know, eight possession games, and you
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  Speaker 3: fumble on the one yard line on the first one,
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  Speaker 3: you're already up against it. That's the position Dallas found
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  Speaker 3: themselves in. Left too much time on the clock there
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  Speaker 3: after the late touchdown and gave up the winning drive
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  Speaker 3: on defense. So yeah, it just four or five plays
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  Speaker 3: went the wrong way. I don't think this is by
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  Speaker 3: any means a bad team, but I do think they have,
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  Speaker 3: you know, just enough problems right now to where you say,
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  Speaker 3: in an elite matchup, possibly away from home. You know,
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  Speaker 3: that's what they're staring at right now. They may not
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  Speaker 3: be the best team on the field.
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  Speaker 2: No, I'm torn because part of you there are no
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  Speaker 2: moral victories here. Part of you wants to say, hey,
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  Speaker 2: they went on the road, right, this is a much
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  Speaker 2: different performance than what we have seen on the road
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  Speaker 2: from the Cowboys against good teams. But you still lost
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  Speaker 2: on the road right in good weather for the most part,
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  Speaker 2: against a team that can't beat good teams. So I
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  Speaker 2: mean it's almost as like, does that did the game
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  Speaker 2: actually happen? Did I learn anything? I'm not sure, And
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: I've said all along, I don't know that I'm going
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  Speaker 2: to learn anything about the Cowboys until we get to January.
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  Speaker 2: Whatever they do in the regular season, it's nice, that's fine.
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  Speaker 2: You know what, Call me in twenty twenty four, call
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  Speaker 2: me in January, and then we'll figure out whether or
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  Speaker 2: not your season was a success. Which sounds unfair, but
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  Speaker 2: I don't know that it is, because that's how we're
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: all judge, and that's how anyone is judged in the
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: NFL's what you do in the postseason, all right? Sam
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: goes for the Bills. Nobody wants to face the Bills.
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  Speaker 2: You have them this week at number seven in the
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  Speaker 2: New Power rankings. They are up one. Dude. They barely
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: survived against Gifts Smith and East and Stick.
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: I'm just glad I know how to pronounce Gifts Smith.
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: Now I've been wondering for weeks. Yeah, har g Suckgy,
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: what is it? You know? Look this this Bill's team
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  Speaker 3: can be soft against lesser competition. I mean that's the thing.
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: I feel like they do sort of play up or
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: down to the team they're facing sometimes and I'm gonna
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: say all the positive momentum that they've racked up over
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: the past couple of weeks has been undone. But it
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  Speaker 3: does remind you that you know, at their worst, they
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  Speaker 3: can blow a game like this. Almost did enough place
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  Speaker 3: from Josh Allen, you know Ed Oliver, you know Rasul Douglas.
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  Speaker 3: They got it done. But you know, this is the
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  Speaker 3: sort of the reality they're facing right now, especially with
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  Speaker 3: the same prospect as the Cowboys. Probably have to go
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: on the road if you want to get to a
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: super Bowl or come darn close. So you know, again,
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: they might have a wider variety of outcomes and Josh
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: Allen can give you an MVP like performance, But it
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: still worries me that this team is having these kinds
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  Speaker 3: of issues.
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  Speaker 2: But flip it around. If you're the team that wins
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: your and then finds out that Josh Allen and the
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: Buffalo Bills are coming to town and you're hosting that
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: wild card game, that would make me worried because that
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: is the last wild card team I want coming to town.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: It looks as if the Browns are a wild card team.
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: You have them at number eight, ers in the building
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: calling it for Browns Radio when Amari Cooper put up
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: one of the best performances you'll ever see in any
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: game at any time from a wide receiver head home.
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: They with Joe Flacco can clinch on Thursday night against
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: the Jets.
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  Speaker 3: Pretty incredible. Yeah, I mean, he's lit a fire under
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: this team. He's changed the complete trajectory of what we
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: thought was possible. So, you know, an amazing development in
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: season that I don't think anyone could have seen coming.
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: And you know, the defense continues to do great things.
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: A lot of those points came as we were talking
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: about after the starters had left the game had to
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: come back. But you know this, this seems like a
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: team that, for different reasons, might be just as dangerous
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: as the Bills are. They get in so I wouldn't
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: want to face the Browns and that defense either. Flaco's
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: thrown with nothing to loose, right, He's a guy who
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: came off as couch and said let's have some fun,
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: and they are, and Cooper and those other guys are
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: making enough plays and joke, who's come alive. I really
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: like what I'm seeing here. I'm not saying they're just
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: some sort of Cinderella that you know, we give a
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: nice bow to and say, Okay, good job. You know
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: they're gonna be a tough out in the playoffs, no
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  Speaker 3: doubt about it.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, you're not giving them a laurel and hearty handshake.
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: We talked last week about the possibility of Matthew Stafford
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: going to Detroit right to face Jared Goff and his
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: old team. We could have a scenario, likely not in
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: a wild card round, maybe in the divisional round where
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: Joe Flacco goes back to Baltimore Wow to face the Ravens.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: Book love. All right, We're the Chiefs. Have you noticed
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: they're not on your screen? How far did they fall
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: when losing at home on Christmas Day of the Raiders.
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: That's coming up next on the NFL Power Ranking Show
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: presented by Energizer. NFL Power Ranking Show presented to you
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: by Energizer. This looks weird, doesn't it? Kansas City is
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: barely in the top ten. The Chiefs after losing at
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: home to the Raiders to open up the Christmas Football
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: Ball three to number nine. How are the Tampa Bay
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: Buccaneers the tenth best team in football? Thank you, Baker Mayfield.
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: They're number ten, followed by the Rams at eleven, the
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: Texans at twelve, Jacksonville is thirteen, Cincinnati is fourteen after
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: laying an egg in Pittsburgh on Saturday evening, the Colts
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: are fifteen and the Seahawks are sixteen. But Eric at Holme,
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: who obviously puts these together, it's the NFL Power Ranking
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: show at home. We all watched the Chiefs to open
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: up the Christmas Day football just look awful. I don't
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: know how else to say. Don't blame Taylor Swift. She
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: had nothing to do with this, Okay, nothing at all.
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: They look lost and Patrick Mahomes is as frustrated on
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: the field as I think I've ever seen him.
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we've seen that frustration boil over on the sideline,
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: not just obviously in that game, but in other games
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: this season. You know, team that was seven and two
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: at the buy now looking great, but you felt like, okay,
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: they're going to be the Chiefs of Old in December.
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: This is as reliable as stock you can buy the
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: last five years. But it's been tanking, Andrew and just
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: a big picture, I didn't expect this much movement, especially
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: in this part of the board, this late in the season.
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: But yeah, I mean, teams like the Chiefs are lacking
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: an offensive identity, and you know, we can't assume that
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: they're just gonna find it. I mean, it's been fifteen
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: weeks now and they haven't been able to kind of
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: crack this code of how to be more explosive offensively,
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: how to be more reliable offensively. Look, the defense was terrific.
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: They did its job. I mean it was a good performance.
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: The offense let them down once again. I don't know
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: what to do. Are they broken? That's the question I'm
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: left with.
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: I think they are, because like, look right now they
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: have Cincinnati and then week eighteen in LA to face
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: the Chargers, and you go, oh, they're gonna win those two.
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: Are you sure? They should have beaten the Raiders? Antonio
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: Pears probably and deservedly won the full time job with
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: that performance at Arrowhead. They're throwing helmets. And by the way,
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: again I was kind of joking, but if you're blaming
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: Taylor Swift, grow up. It has nothing to do with her.
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: But I can't look at these two games and so oh,
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: I know they're gonna win them. The division hasn't even
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: been wrapped up and we're in the week between Christmas
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: and New Year's Yeah, I honestly don't think they want
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: a playoff game. I don't. I think that's the kind
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: of team we're looking at right now. They're number nine,
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: and then we have the team making the Power Move,
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: the team that is somehow number ten overall Power Moves
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: presented by Energizer Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: are up five. Okay, they are up fourteen. Eric since
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: week thirteen, you are shaking your head. Do you believe
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: this ranking that you wrote or were you pressured into
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: it by Baker? Like? How did you do this? Yeah?
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: It was tough.
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: I mean I felt like I may have kind of
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: undersold them a little bit last week. Same with the
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: Rams who were right behind them, obviously. But you know,
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: this is another impressive performance. And again it's sort of
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: not a standings reading, right, this isn't the power standings.
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: We look at who is playing right now and how
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: they're playing in the past couple of games, momentum, right,
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: and they have a ton of it right now. Four
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: straight wins, and like you said, I think this has
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: been Baker's best season, you know, I mean, I really
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: think that if we look back his most complete season,
• 18:33
  Speaker 3: that has been trending in the right direction, even with
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: some scattershot accuracy. You know, even a couple of games ago.
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: You look at that defense, the number of plays they
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: made in that game against the Jaguars, it's pretty incredible.
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: So for a team that in week thirteen, as you
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: pointed out, when I had him number twenty four, that's
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: about the percent chance they had to make in the playoffs,
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: twenty three to twenty four percent. Now they're in a
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: really good footing. You got to win one of these
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: last two. You win the division, you host a playoff game,
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: maybe against the Cowboys. But still, you know, this looks
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: completely different to me than it did a month and
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: a half ago.
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: Look, they hosted the playoff game last year, hosted the Cowboys.
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: Cowboys obviously waxed them at Raymond James. But this team
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: feels a little bit different. And I can't believe I'm
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: saying they are the tenth best team right now in
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: the NFL, and they are one spot ahead of the
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: team with which Baker Mayfield ended last season. The Los
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: Angeles Rams, who hung on big leads, survived and they
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: beat the Saints to open up here week sixteen. This
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: is another team Eric that nobody wants to face in January.
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: I agree, right, And you heard Sean mcvay's kind of
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: response to the question even bringing the question up. He
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: prompted it himself when he said, boy was sure to
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: make it tough on ourselves. And you know, I think
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: he's got to have a little bit of a sense
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: of humor about it because he knows he has an
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: explosive team. And I think Kyron Williams has really kind
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: of brought this whole group together. You've seen him up
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: close a lot this season. Stafford's kind of having a
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: throwback year. Nikoua obviously rewriting the the rookie record books
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: at receiver, and the offensive line has not been an issue.
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: It's been a stable group. I would like to see them,
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: you know, stem that two week trend of letting a
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: bad team or a lesser team back into the game.
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: But boy, I tell you what, that No Name defense
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: has stepped up at times, and yeah, that offense is
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: humming and they're a legit threat. How about that?
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: You know they are, They're totally legit. Even with that
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: sweep over the Seahawks, Seattle is legit here as well. Eric,
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: you have them up one to sixteen, and the schedule
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: favors them home for the Steelers and then at Arizona
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: to close it out.
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: Yeah, they're a strange one to me. You know, they've obviously,
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: you know, had some weeks where yet you're kind of
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: scratching your head some of the red zone stuff. Gino's
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: been up and down, but he was there, he was money.
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: He got it done when he had to get it
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: done against the Titans, and two late drives got it done.
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: And you know, coming off the Drew Locke game and
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: was some questions swirling about Gino's future and whether he's
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: going to be the Seahawks starter next year, he delivered
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: a performance that tabled that talk and got them in
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: a good position for the playoffs. So, you know, their
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: lack of discipline does worry me a little bit. So
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: they are prone to some bad games and bad moments.
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: But those playmakers, they've got a chance as well.
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: Uh yeah, and now it's Gino and Mason Rudolph week
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: seventeen at a game that means something. Well, all right,
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: coming up, speaking of those Steelers, do we take them seriously?
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: Do we take the Raiders seriously, and where are they
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: in the brand new power Rankings coming up next year?
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: As we are presented to you as always by Energizer.
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: But wait, there are more more numbers here. On the
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: NFL Power Rankings show forsd by Energizer, the Steelers are seventeen,
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: up three, followed by the Vikings and the Packers. The
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: Falcons are twenty, the Raiders twenty one, Denver, New Orleans,
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: and Chicago at number twenty four at home, the Steelers
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: are up three and Rudolph looked really good on Saturday evening.
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: They're not eliminated somehow.
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: Pretty amazing, right, and Rudolph in the picture for this
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: week obviously. And you know, just when we write them off,
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: they pull us back in, right. I mean, Mike Tomlin
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: hasn't lost this team yet apparently. And yeah, I mean
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: they probably need two to get in, right. That's that's
• 22:25
  Speaker 3: the probably the and some help. But you know, it's
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: just such an interesting club. They've battled so much adversity
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: all season long. You know, it's hard to really know
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: whether this is a team that's you know, close to
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: contending or or you know, kind of doing it with
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: smoke and mirrors so every week I come out of
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: it kind of shrugging a little bit. But again, I mean,
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: they did what they had to do, and Rudolph has
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: kind of lit a fire under this team, and we
• 22:49
  Speaker 3: saw what it did for Pickens, we saw what it
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: did for other guys, and yeah, I mean that's that's
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: making us question whether Mitch Strubisky should have been had.
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: The ball in his hands. Oh yeah, exactly. Speaking of
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: lighting a fire, that is what Antonio Pierce has done.
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: The Raiders are up two to twenty one. Are you
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: with me? He's earned He's done enough during this job, right.
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: I would think. So, here's my only reservation. A couple
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: of years ago, you know, Rich Pasacia was in sort
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: of a similar position, had more games to work with.
• 23:17
  Speaker 3: I believe he went seven and five, got to the playoffs.
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: Now they were I think a three and two team
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: or something when John Gruden was let go, but still
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: he didn't get the job. Now, I don't know if
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: he has the magnetism, the connection with the locker room
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: that Pierce seems to have with this group. You saw
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: him get emotional after the game postgame interview. You know,
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: I believe he's building something special here. A lot of
• 23:38
  Speaker 3: loud wins since he's taken over, but a couple of
• 23:41
  Speaker 3: curious losses too. Might need one more, but I think
• 23:44
  Speaker 3: you might be onto something. Maybe, you know, maybe Mark
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: Davis saw what happened last time, realized I can't let
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: Antonio Pierce go because he's got his playing great football
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: right now.
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: Did he learn from I don't want to call it
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: a mistake. Maybe it wasn't a mistake to get rid
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: of Asacia, but it clearly was a mistake because they've
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: already fired McDaniels to bring him in as the placement.
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: Let's get the rest of the rankings here. Your seasons
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: may be over, but you still do make an appearance
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: on the Power Ranking show. The Jets are a twenty five,
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: That Titans, the Chargers, the Giants, and the Patriots, and
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: then the Cardinals, the Commanders and the Carolina Panthers are
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: at number thirty two. Eric, I have good news for you. Yeah,
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: only two more regular season shows to go. Also good news.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: We're doing this in the playoffs, buddy.
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: Are we are? It's going to look a little different right,
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: Fewer teams to talk about, but I still want to
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: talk Power rank Man. I got a little energy left
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: in the tank. How about you.
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: Of course, because we're presented by energizers. See what we
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: did there, Look what you did. Talented broadcast professional doing
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: all the transitions like that. Hey, everyone out there, thank
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: you for listening, Thank you for watching. Happy New Year, Eric,
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: Happy New Year to your family as well. Everyone they're
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: in Chicago. Was safe and happy one. See you next week,
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: so long.
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: partnership with I heart Radio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
• 25:07
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• 25:10
  Speaker 1: your podcasts.