Latest / NY's Sports Loud Mouth (VIDEO) / NFL Playoff Picture: STEELERS and PANTHERS in, BUCS and LIONS out?

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NFL Playoff Picture: STEELERS and PANTHERS in, BUCS and LIONS out? · NY's Sports Loud Mouth (VIDEO)

0:00
You're going to have a ton of money to spend.
0:01
Why not putting in one of the top three offensive players in
0:05
the league? We're going to be looking at
0:14
Aaron Judge and saying that you can't win the big game, Michael
0:17
Jordan said. I played 82 games.
0:20
You don't see Levon doing that. A.
0:22
Game where you got to. Go before I told you, Giant
0:25
fans. Saquon Parker, this
1:26
Let's do it. You're listening to Jabba and
1:28
the mouth. Mouth.
1:31
Yes, yes, yes. We are back.
1:34
Ladies and gentlemen, it is wonderful.
1:36
Outside. It's about 33° here in New York,
1:40
Long Island, Nesconset, if you know where that is.
1:43
Smithtown area. Yes, you're listening to a new
1:46
show of Jabba and the Mouth. You know who I am.
1:51
They call me the Mouth. Mr. Arrow Marks and my Co host,
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hopefully soon Jabba Chamberlain and Speedy PD executive producer
2:00
Mr. Aaron Fish Fishman on the board.
2:02
Mr. Tommy Poops and on the back end there is no more Jared.
2:07
I want to give a shout out to Jared.
2:08
Merry Christmas to him, happy Hanukkah, happy Kwanzaa to all
2:12
the fans, including Jared. I hope everything is going well
2:15
for him. He's been a great intern.
2:16
Shout out to him in the NRRR himself, our PR manager, Mr.
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Niff himself, Niffen Romochandra, Yes, I got that
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right. I think I'm pretty good on that
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one. Remember, you can go to our
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website at www.worldwidesportsradio.com.
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Check out all our shows throughout the week, including
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631-672-3108 is the number to call for a 5 hour show.
2:59
There will not be a Christmas show this week.
3:02
I want everybody to enjoy their holidays with their friends and
3:04
their family. And why would they want to
3:06
listen to my crazy voice attack what's going on in the NFL or
3:11
the NBA or the NHL or the MLB with the offseason on its way to
3:18
a complete could splat as the New York Mets trading off pieces
3:23
and the Yankees not signing anybody.
3:24
But that's a whole nother story. And that's why I said could
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splat, because it's not a word. It makes no sense.
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But that is why I said it, because the Yankees and the Mets
3:35
are falling in those areas. But anyways, yeah, I want to
3:38
wish everybody a happy Kwanzaa, happy Hanukkah, happy or Merry
3:43
Christmas. I almost said happy Christmas.
3:44
But maybe if you're happy and you, you love Christmas, if you
3:47
love the Santa Claus movies or you love Rudolph the Red Nosed
3:51
Reindeer, or you're like Frosty the snowman and you like to plow
3:55
things, you know the snow, if you know what I mean.
3:58
Anyways, this is the time of year.
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Hopefully we get some snow. I'm hearing that Connecticut is
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going to be hit with snow tonight, might be hit with
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couple of flurries tomorrow or the next day.
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So maybe we'll have a white Christmas.
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But yeah, so I don't know what's going on with over there with
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Jabba, Nebraska, but I heard through the Grapevine, I want to
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give a shout out to Adam Vyrant, the director of the Savannah
4:23
Bananas. I I was speaking to him today
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and he was telling me that it's 55° in Nebraska right now.
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So it's like beautiful weather. It's like spring weather over
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there. So Jabba's enjoying himself and,
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and I'm here with my enjoyment. I love the cold.
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I love putting on the nice jackets.
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I don't like it when it gets frisky out like it.
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It's like just I, it's just so it gets windy and cold.
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You get that chill. I don't like that kind of
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weather. But as the winter comes along,
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you like the snow. I don't like the cold rain.
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But you like that opportunity to, to experience going to a
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football game, which I was if Kansas City, if the Chiefs made
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it to the playoffs this year, I was definitely going to a Kansas
5:08
City Chiefs game, a playoff game.
5:10
Me and Wes were talking about it over the last couple of weeks
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and I, I told him if Kansas City makes it to the playoffs this
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year, I'm in, I'm in like Flynn all the way to Kansas City.
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I've got some time. I, I would have enjoyed my time
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over there in Kansas City. Go check out the bars.
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And even though I don't drink, ladies and gentlemen, I like to
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go and check out and sightsee all the beautiful places.
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Maybe go check out Travis Kelsey and yeah, Patrick Mahome
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Steakhouse, which is very, very expensive.
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And we'll get into something Travis Kelsey said over the
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weekend that makes you shake your head a little bit later in
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the show. I, I, I'm really wondering if
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he's been hit too many times to the head or his brain trauma
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because he actually believes this.
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But nevertheless. And there was other people,
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there were other radio shows that said that Travis Kelsey and
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Taylor Swift might be pregnant. So very interesting story.
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So maybe Travi might be Ghani at the end of the season.
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On Sunday, Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers beat Dan
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Campbell's Detroit Lions 29 to 24 with help of controversial
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calls at the end of the game. This loss drops the Lions to
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8:00 and 7:00 on the year, which their only way into the playoffs
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is winning their last two games and the Packers losing both of
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their last two games. The Steelers on the other hand
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are now nine and six would clinch the AFC North next week
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if the they win or the Ravens lose.
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So very interesting at the end of the game with Jarrett Goff
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driving the Lions into the red zone, a crazy play where St.
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Brown caught the ball short of the goal line pitched it back to
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Goff who scored the apparent game-winning touchdown.
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Unfortunately for the Lions, the play was called back on what
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appeared to be a questionable passing interference call on
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Saint Brown. In a back and forth battle, the
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Panthers beat the Buccaneers 23 to 20 to take a one game lead in
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the NFC South. The Panthers play at home next
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week versus the Seattle Seahawks, while the Buccaneers
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play on the road against the Dolphins.
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Oh what an interesting game that will be.
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A late interception by Baker Mayfield as the Bucks were
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entering field goal range. Ending ended the Bucks hopes as
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now they know they no longer control their own destiny.
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If the Panthers win and the Bucks lose next week, the
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Panthers clinch the NFC South. If the Panthers don't win, both
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teams will meet again in Week 18 in Tampa with the division and
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playoff spot on the line in a winner take all rematch.
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First I want to get into the Panthers and Lions game.
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The Pittsburgh Steelers all season long have been back and
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forth. You wonder what type of team
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this is going to be. DK Metcalf has been actually
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very good for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who is going to be
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suspended for the next two games.
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We will get a little bit, we'll get into that a little bit
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later, but that's a whole nother story.
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But Aaron Rodgers played one of those games that you would
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expect Aaron Rodgers to play now.
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Was he substantially sensational?
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Was he unbelievable on Sunday? No, he was not.
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But Aaron Rodgers did what he needed to do to keep his team in
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the game, and Aaron Rodgers did what he needed to do, even being
9:01
hurt to get his team into the playoffs.
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Now, Pittsburgh is definitely going to clinch a playoff spot.
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There's no way in hell they're not making the playoffs now, and
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they should win the division. If they if the Ravens lose next
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week and Pittsburgh wins, they should win the division.
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But are these Pittsburgh Steelers good enough to make a
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run all the way to a Super Bowl this year?
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And the answer would probably be no.
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TJ Watt is not 100% healthy, as we all know.
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What happened to him a couple of weeks ago with the lung
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situation, He had surgery. I don't know it did he, did he
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play this week? I don't think he did, no.
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He didn't play. He is the same thing that Justin
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Herbert had back in 20. 20 so he'll probably be back sometime
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in the playoffs if they go further into the playoffs.
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I don't know if he's back in week one.
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We all know they're not going to have a bye week because they're
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not one of the better teams in the AFC, but they've played good
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enough to make the playoffs. They've had a pretty good
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running game this year with Warren and obviously Gainwell.
10:08
Gainwell has been impressive. The addition of Gainwell and if
10:12
anybody doesn't know, Gainwell came from the Philadelphia
10:16
Eagles and was like a third or fourth string on the Eagles
10:20
depth chart. But ever since he's been with
10:22
the Pittsburgh Steelers, slowly but surely he's been built or
10:25
been adding to this offense and they've been a completely
10:29
different team. When they've used him as a wide
10:31
receiver or even running back slot type of running back that
10:38
can do so many things in the backfield and the open field
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game will has been very impressive.
10:43
Their offensive lines been very impressive too.
10:45
All season long. They've been fairly better than
10:48
I expected them to be and when they got healthy with high Smith
10:53
and the additions that they've added in the offseason in the
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draft and Porter Porter junior's been sensational too, playing
11:01
against some of the league's best wide receivers.
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This defense is played substantially better than what
11:08
they had played in the first half of the season.
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I remember in game #1 Pittsburgh almost lost the gets to New York
11:15
Jets. They made a lot of mistakes.
11:17
The Jets obviously have only won three games this year.
11:20
They're not offensively sound. And honestly, there were a
11:23
couple of games Pittsburgh should have lost this year
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because the games were so very close and they were playing
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teams that were practically handing the Pittsburgh Steelers
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the game. And Pittsburgh and Aaron
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Rodgers, if they want to make a run this year, and we don't know
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what, what's going to happen to Mike Tomlin?
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Is Mike Tomlin going to decide after the season?
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Is he going to move on? Is he going to retire?
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Is he going to step down from Pittsburgh?
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Does he take another job? Who knows?
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Does Pittsburgh decide that they've gone as far as they can
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with Mike Tomlin? Mike Tomlin has gone to 8
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consecutive playoff runs, 8 and have been eliminated in the
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first round all eight times. And that is alarming when you
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have Aaron Rodgers, who wants to make that final run, maybe win
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his second Super Bowl and ride off into the sunset like Peyton
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Manning did. Peyton Manning could never get
12:18
over the hump. He can never win that second
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Super Bowl. He went to the Broncos.
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He had one of those great seasons, obviously one of the
12:26
greatest seasons we've ever seen a quarterback have.
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And then slowly but surely, the neck injury started to come back
12:35
in his back injuries. And then finally the Broncos
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became an old world defensive team with Von Miller and the
12:43
talent that they had. And they went on that run and
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eventually won a Super Bowl and then Peyton Manning after that
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Super Bowl. And remember, Peyton Manning was
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not the starting quarterback all season.
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He took over at the tail end of the season, last two games of
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the season, and then went on that run.
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Was Peyton Manning great? No.
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Now Aaron Rodgers is much better than Peyton Manning was at that
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time. Now the question is, is Aaron
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Rodgers going to be able to be the old Aaron Rodgers when he's
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playing against some of those elite teams in the AFC?
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Now this might be the most open season we've seen.
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The AFC has been. Now I know you look at New
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England and you look at Drake May and you look at some of the
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talent that they have over there.
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They don't have a number one wide receiver.
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I don't want to hear that Stefan Takes is the number one wide
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receiver. He's more, he's more of a #2
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Anywhere else he'd be a number 2 with good wide, with a good wide
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receiving core. Even with The Jets, he'd be a
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number 2. He is not a number one anymore,
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but they have a great running game with Henderson and and some
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of the the veteran players that they have over there.
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Their offensive line is much better than it has been.
13:55
Vrabel's going to be up for coach of the year.
13:58
They the way they run their offense is that old style Bill
14:01
Belichick offense as we all know who is there running the
14:05
offensive side of the ball. This is Pittsburgh Steeler team
14:11
that might have the easiest opportunity to go all the way in
14:17
an AFC that's so wide open. You look at obviously the
14:22
Chargers. I love Jim Harbaugh.
14:24
Am I really worried about the Chargers?
14:26
The Chargers have more injuries than anybody did in the AFC.
14:29
Their offensive line are pretty much second or third Derry
14:32
players. They lost Slater, they lost Alt
14:35
for pieces of the season. Johnson's been out, but Kai
14:39
Beckton's been out. Their whole offensive line
14:42
hasn't been healthy all season long, but found a way to win.
14:45
Their running game hasn't been healthy all season long.
14:48
They brought guys from the scrapheat to be their starting
14:51
running backs, but for some reason, Justin Herbert with a
14:57
broken wrist, a broken hand, is still going out there making the
15:00
throws, keeping his team in the game.
15:02
And you have guys like Keenan Allen, who has been really, it
15:07
was like turn back the clock in the beginning half of the
15:11
season. He was unbelievable.
15:12
second-half, he hasn't been as good.
15:14
But you're you're seeing the difference of the way they're
15:17
going to run their offense. And you can see that Jim
15:20
Harbaugh is a a winner. He knows how to win these games.
15:25
And that's why the Chargers are dangerous, not because of the
15:27
talent and what they have on their roster right now because
15:29
they're injury prone. It's because of Jim Harbaugh in
15:32
the way he calls games and their defensive coordinator, which is
15:37
probably going to be up for a coaching job at the end of the
15:39
season. But you, you again, the Buffalo
15:44
Bills to me has the biggest opportunity than any of these
15:48
teams. And one of the main reasons why
15:50
is because the AFC has a lack of depth.
15:55
And that's why we go back to the Pittsburgh Steelers and we look
15:58
at what happened on Sunday for the Detroit Lions alliance team
16:02
that was fighting for their playoff lives.
16:05
You have the Green Bay Packers, you have the Chicago Bears that
16:09
made that unbelievable comeback on Saturday.
16:16
And you, you, you wonder, was losing Aaron Glenn and was
16:22
losing Ben Johnson the reason why this Detroit team might not
16:29
make the playoffs this year and probably won't make the playoffs
16:31
this year? It's not the lack of talent.
16:34
I think this team has a tremendous amount of talent.
16:36
Jameer Gibbs is a star. Montgomery, I, I don't know if
16:40
his contract's up this offseason, but there'll be a lot
16:43
of teams looking for a veteran running back.
16:45
He could be up for grabs in the offseason.
16:48
If a team needs a veteran, they've got a great wide
16:51
receiving core. Williams is kind of falling out
16:55
of the team offense, but he's a definitely a a dangerous player
17:02
and we all know what St. Brown isn't and we saw a couple
17:05
of good tight ends on Sunday. Ferks are played a big part in
17:10
the offensive side of the ball. You could see that the way they
17:15
were running their offense, they were running their offense
17:17
through him early in the game. And then when Pittsburgh was
17:20
figuring things out, they in the fourth quarter, they started to
17:23
use Jameer Gibbs. They started to use their
17:25
running backs in the open field. And if they started to use that
17:29
early in the third quarter, I think Detroit wins the game.
17:33
I thought there were a lot of mistakes that Detroit made.
17:36
Dan Campbell made a couple of judgement calls. 4th down early
17:41
in the game and you're on the 5 yard line, A4 yard line of the
17:45
Pittsburgh Steelers and you decide to go for it when you
17:48
should have just kicked the field goal.
17:49
If you kick the field goal, obviously you're still down, but
17:52
maybe you would make you change your mind on going for it with
17:57
Jared Goff at the end of the game in the questionable game
17:59
where it was a passing interference, they kicked the
18:02
ball and they win the game. Maybe that changes the
18:05
everything. It changes the whole outlook of
18:07
the game. If they went with the field goal
18:09
kick in the early first quarter, there was just a lot of mistakes
18:14
or it wasn't a first or second quarter, but it was early in the
18:16
game. There was a lot of mistakes that
18:18
Dan Campbell made. Now Dan Campbell was coach of
18:20
the year last year. I'm not going to press in and
18:23
have Dan Campbell's head because they lost and they might miss
18:27
the playoffs. But you you question where is
18:31
this team heading losing, like I said, Aaron Glenn to The Jets
18:35
and Ben Johnson to Chicago right now Chicago has a chance to go
18:39
for a Super Bowl this year in the same division and they're
18:43
making a run for themselves and they're they're showing why I
18:46
believe Caleb Williams is going to be a star player in this
18:49
league for many, many years to come.
18:51
He all he needed it was the right coach there that was going
18:53
to make the right play calling and and put him in the right
18:55
position to succeed and use his strengths and try to correct his
19:00
weaknesses. Dan Campbell is really falling
19:05
off when it came to the Lions this year in certain aspects of
19:09
the game. And, and again, Dan Campbell's
19:11
not going to change the way he plays the game or calls the
19:13
game. Coaches don't do that.
19:15
They do it the same way they've done it from the beginning.
19:18
They don't like to change things around because it throws them
19:21
off. It throws the momentum, it
19:22
throws the tempo of the game, but you have to worry that Dan
19:27
Campbell when making the play calls and putting himself in
19:30
harm's way and putting himself in the position to make calls
19:34
that could be could be very costly to the team and the
19:37
organization. Making a run into the playoffs,
19:40
then you got to worry. You got to worry if Dan Campbell
19:43
is putting his team in the right position to succeed.
19:46
And I, and I'm not going to say anything about Dan Campbell
19:49
because I like Dan Campbell. I know Fish likes Dan Campbell.
19:51
I know you like Dan Campbell's Speedy.
19:54
Everybody likes Dan Campbell. So you he's not, nobody has his
19:58
his his neck on the line, his head's not going anywhere.
20:01
He will be there next year. But what happens if this, the
20:04
same thing happens next year? What happens in an NFC North
20:08
that's wide open? We don't know what Minnesota's
20:10
going to be next year, but they should be better.
20:13
O'Connell, we don't know if JJ McCarthy is going to be there or
20:15
he's going to have a a veteran quarterback playing or trying to
20:18
win the job or take the job from him, or maybe they draft another
20:20
quarterback. Who knows what O'connell's going
20:23
to do in the offseason. What we do know is Green Bay is
20:26
going to be better next year because they'll have Michael
20:29
Parsons back sometime next year. And Wyatt, I expect the Bears,
20:34
they have a lot of money. They can use some of that money
20:36
next year and get better. They have a tremendous amount of
20:38
draft stock. So you're wondering it is this
20:43
the last of these runs that we're going to see the Lions?
20:45
And this is a Lions team that was one of the best in the NFC
20:49
for what, five years? Four years and now you have a
20:53
window with the NFL, you have a window.
20:56
And once the window closes, it's very hard to get back on track.
21:01
And, and, and that usually means the coach is going to be let go
21:04
or they're going to fire defensive or offensive
21:07
coordinators or they're going to move away from their
21:09
quarterback. Who knows?
21:10
Now, Jared Goff still had a very good season.
21:13
Was he as good as he was last year with Ben Johnson?
21:16
The answer would be no. He wouldn't be and he isn't.
21:20
He hasn't been, maybe because of injury, maybe because the
21:23
offensive line is not the same, maybe because they're center
21:26
retired in the offseason, who knows.
21:30
But the Lions are not the same team they were last year, and it
21:34
could only get worse moving forward.
21:37
As far as the Panthers and the Buccaneers, The Panthers have
21:41
been the most impressive team this whole season.
21:46
The growth of Canales and the Bryce Young.
21:51
Bryce Young has not been the number one star pick that
21:54
everybody thought he was going to be from Alabama.
21:57
Nobody. And remember, Carolina moved up
22:00
to get him and maybe some people would still think that it was a
22:05
mistake that they went all in on Bryce Young.
22:08
But slowly but surely, ever since they've added McMillan and
22:13
they've added pieces in the offseason, Canalis has had his
22:16
run and fixing the offensive line.
22:19
They added a running back that's become a star.
22:21
Thank you to the Cowboys. This Panther team is completely
22:27
different than they have been over the last three years.
22:34
And that has a lot to do with coaching because there was a
22:37
coach there for less than a year who was successful as an
22:41
offensive coordinator, that was a part of Super Bowl champions
22:45
as a coordinator, but couldn't get over the hump, couldn't
22:51
really get the Carolina Panthers to play his style of football.
22:55
And that's why Canales is there another Buccaneers guy, another
23:00
Todd Bowles guy. Think about it.
23:03
Look at what the Jacksonville Jaguars are doing right now in
23:05
the second-half without Travis Hunter, the AKA the Gremlin.
23:10
Travis Hunter. I mean, Travis Trevor Lawrence
23:13
is having one of those years that it kind of brighten or
23:17
opens up your eyes. Is this kid going to start to
23:20
transition into that star quarterback that everybody
23:23
thought he was going to be? And that has something to do
23:26
with Cohen, another Buccaneers coordinator.
23:32
I look at the Bucks right now, I don't know what they are.
23:39
I don't. I love Mike Evans.
23:42
I love when he plays. I love his, his length.
23:45
I love his, his, you know, the way he plays, the game he
23:49
played, he goes up there for the ball.
23:51
He plays like a a basketball player.
23:53
He he doesn't, he's not afraid of anything.
23:55
He goes up there and he he makes every single play.
23:58
You throw the ball up to Mike Evans, more than likely he's
24:00
coming down with it. And Abuka has been sensational
24:06
at one point, was Offensive Rookie of the Year, has kind of
24:09
taken 2 steps back ever since Mike Evans's comeback.
24:15
But here's the problem right now with the Bucks, and I've said
24:18
this over and over and over again, and I'll say it again,
24:22
Bucky Irvin has finally come back.
24:25
He's come back. He should be touching the ball a
24:28
lot more times than he has. They should be running the ball,
24:33
running the ball, punching it right inside and then opening up
24:38
the field for Mike Evans and some of the weapons that they
24:40
have over there. And they're not.
24:43
And now teams are starting to figure Baker Mayfield out.
24:46
He holds the ball too long. He steps into the pocket.
24:49
And then he usually, I don't know if anybody watches Baker
24:52
Mayfield, he runs to the right side.
24:54
If you watch film, and I know Fish does, and I watch Baker
24:58
Mayfield a lot because I love Baker, Baker Mayfield does not
25:01
really run to his left side. He runs to his right.
25:06
And when he does that, he puts himself in harm's way because
25:08
teams already know probably 65% of the time, if Baker moves
25:13
outside of the pocket, he's running right.
25:15
And that's the same thing in basketball.
25:19
If you're a predominantly going right as a point guard, what are
25:23
teams going to do? They're going to defend to the
25:24
right and force you to go left. So what are teams doing right
25:29
now in the NFL? Baker knows.
25:31
They know he's going to go right.
25:33
So what is he doing? He's going left and teams are
25:36
reading him on certain plays or he's making the running back run
25:40
to the left side. Bucky Irvin go to the left and
25:44
and and they're using all these plays and they're trying to, you
25:48
know, change up ways the way Todd Bowles likes to call things
25:51
and and make things happen in the open field now that Mike
25:54
Evans is back and their offense is back to a full strength.
25:58
And it just doesn't work like that in the NFL.
26:00
And and I'm going to tell you this about the Carolina
26:02
Panthers. Horn has been healthy this year.
26:06
He's been one of the best corners in the league.
26:08
And everybody expected this kid to develop into the one of those
26:11
players, but he couldn't stay healthy.
26:13
And now all season long he's been fairly healthy.
26:17
This is probably one of the healthiest seasons we've seen
26:19
Horn has been and you can see the difference in this defense.
26:23
The secondary is much better this year.
26:25
Their front 7 has been putting pressure on quarterbacks all
26:28
season long and making teams become one-dimensional.
26:32
Go ask the Dallas Cowboys when they beat the Dallas Cowboys.
26:36
When you watch teams run their offenses and then they start to
26:41
transition their defenses as the season moves forward and you see
26:45
that the coach actually knows what he's doing.
26:48
The way Canalis has really run his off.
26:51
And Canalis knows Baker Mayfield, he coached them.
26:55
Baker Mayfield chance transition into a good quarterback when he
26:59
came to the Buccaneers and when Canalis was his coach, was his
27:03
offensive coordinator for two years.
27:06
The only reason why Canales has a job right now is because of
27:09
the way Baker Mayfield became a number one quarterback on a
27:14
roster. So Canales should pat himself on
27:19
the back and Canales right now should be patting himself on the
27:21
back the way Bryce Young is playing because I do not believe
27:25
Bryce Young will be an elite quarterback.
27:26
I don't think he'll ever be a top ten quarterback.
27:29
But if you could get Bryce Young in the top 15, top 12, you can
27:33
win with a running back like that.
27:35
I mean, you can win with a quarterback like that if you
27:38
have a good running game. He got a good offensive line and
27:41
you can play defense. And Carolina does all those
27:45
things very well. And that that's the reason why
27:49
right now the Buccaneers all season long was everybody
27:54
believed, especially the experts and all the betting people, the
27:57
betting man, Vegas, everybody thought that the Buccaneers were
28:02
going to win the NFC South. And now they're falling out of
28:07
the NFC South. And the only way they win is if
28:10
certain things happen now. Because now the Bucks, I mean,
28:14
now the Carolina Panthers are in the driver's seat if they win
28:17
out their games and they beat the Bucks.
28:19
Actually, if they if they win out their next game and lose
28:25
against the Bucks in the final game, I think Carolina wins.
28:29
I think Carolina makes the playoffs and the Bucks fall,
28:31
fall short. It's it's been an incredible run
28:36
for Canalis. He should be up for coach of the
28:38
year. But there's so many good coaches
28:39
this year, especially in the NFC.
28:41
Look at McDonald's in Seattle, they've been unbelievable.
28:44
Mcveigh's been very good. I mean, there are a lot of
28:47
teams. How about the Bears?
28:49
Ben Johnson, he's had a great year.
28:52
And then then there's the AFC there.
28:55
There's just it's wide open. Rabel's definitely going to be
28:58
up for Coach of the Year you. Got to think Cohen's going to be
28:59
in there too. Cohen with the Jaguars, they
29:02
could win their division this year after going up and you
29:05
know, they've been up and down all season long.
29:07
Travis Hunter goes down and then everything changes for them.
29:10
Could you, could you imagine that your number one pick, your
29:14
first pick, when you moved up from 5 to 2, gave up a boatload
29:18
of draft stock? You thought this guy was going
29:21
to be an everyday wide receiver and half of a corner.
29:25
He was going to give you that, that that potential slot
29:28
defensive corner that could be a shutdown slot corner.
29:31
And he goes down early in the season, only had what, 200 yards
29:35
and one touchdown all season long.
29:37
He played like almost 10 games and the guy couldn't buy a
29:40
touchdown. He goes down and then they start
29:43
winning and now they could win the division.
29:45
Who would have thought? What?
29:46
What a cool winky dink. What a cool winky.
29:49
Dink yeah, it's one of those teams, when you look at a lot of
29:52
the young players transitioning all at once with a young coach.
29:55
And Jacksonville was a good example of that.
29:56
And I think you're seeing a lot of that same kind of thing from
29:58
the Panthers. This draft class for the
29:59
Panthers, which a lot of our draft guys was calling one of
30:01
the best draft classes, has really been even ahead of
30:03
schedule, especially for their defensive standard and for their
30:06
offensive line, which was the two question marks I had with
30:08
them coming into the year. I really liked him.
30:09
The year before, I was one that I believe Bryce Young was always
30:12
going to be a great quarterback, and he hasn't really been that,
30:14
but now at least he's a capable starter.
30:16
Like he had some really bad games since they got swept by
30:18
the Saints and they've lost some other bad teams this year.
30:20
So it's never to the beat gets the full potential with him.
30:22
But the offensive line's there, the defense is there at to that
30:26
level, you can make a difference.
30:28
It can make a difference for you when you have all the offensive
30:30
skill players already there. And then you look at a case of
30:33
Dave Canal. It's like you're saying, growing
30:35
the quarterback and growing the offensive concepts in this game.
30:38
Rico Dowdle was one of the worst efficient running backs last
30:41
year and even in the beginning of the season was not great.
30:44
Tuba Hubbard goes down and he starts playing well.
30:46
These receivers have really been a revolving door of Young
30:48
youngsters with Coker and Laget and now at McMillan.
30:52
Like, this is not like an overly talented team, but they've made
30:54
that kind of thing work. As far as the Buccaneers, yeah,
30:57
I think they're them. And the Lions are very similar.
30:59
Like, they both had offensive line injuries that they've never
31:01
been able to recover from yet. Detroit, especially the Jared
31:05
Goff, his biggest weakness in his career has been interior
31:07
pressure. And you saw at the Rams, the
31:10
Patriots exposed that in the Super Bowl when they were
31:12
bringing all this interior pressure.
31:13
And now the Lions losing Ragnow, losing Tate Ratledge, their
31:16
star, their star offense alignment.
31:18
It was a rookie this year played very well.
31:19
Zieler, they lost. Like there's a lot of guys that
31:22
it's really. Affected.
31:23
Everybody has injuries at this time of year.
31:25
Nobody's 100% healthy. So there's no excuse for any of
31:29
these teams. I don't want to hear it.
31:31
I mean, the Eagles haven't been healthy all season long.
31:34
Are they crying all the way into the playoffs?
31:36
No, they haven't played well. Now, the Eagles could change
31:39
everything if they make a run and they go all the way to the
31:41
Super Bowl where everybody is counted them out because A.J.
31:44
Brown doesn't like Jalen Hurts and and Coat the coaching staff
31:47
don't like each other and and the offense and the defense
31:50
can't stand each other on one side of the locker room.
31:52
I mean, this happens all the time.
31:54
You got to go out there and play the game.
31:55
And, and I have to give Canals a lot of credit because he took
31:59
over a team where the coaching staff was practically fired
32:03
before the season ended. And then they they were going
32:06
into the offseason, what, two years ago wondering who you
32:10
going to bring in now? You brought in an offensive guy
32:13
that was very well known in the NFL, was a good offensive
32:16
coordinator that really couldn't finish the season.
32:20
And then you had to use your your your coordinators to take
32:23
over at the end of the season. And then you went in.
32:25
You went in. You bring a rookie coach where a
32:27
lot of people were questioning, is this guy going to help him?
32:30
Remember, Bryce Young was not his guy.
32:33
Bryce Young was not drafted by Dave Canales.
32:36
He took this job knowing that he was going to have to figure
32:40
Bryce Young out and figure out how he could get him to play
32:44
pretty decent football where he could get him playing at a level
32:48
where he can win with. And I got to give Dave Canales a
32:50
lot of credit because I didn't think anybody could take over
32:54
for a guy like Bryce Young who was already coming into the
32:57
league too small. His hands, they were saying, how
33:00
does he look over the offensive line?
33:02
I mean, he didn't have, he didn't have a very good strong
33:05
arm. They just thought that he was
33:07
consistent and he played for the Alabama Crimson Tide.
33:10
Like we've seen so many quarterbacks come from Alabama
33:13
and fail when they come into the NFL.
33:15
The other thing that I think mutual with both the Bucks and
33:17
the Lions, why they've been struggling limits to these these
33:19
injuries too, is the is exactly what you were saying, Like
33:21
they've lost so many assistant coaches.
33:23
And I think the scheme's a little different.
33:25
It seems like the Lions, when you take out Gibbs, to an
33:28
extent, they have not been the same team.
33:29
And the Bucks, I think in the second-half of the season when
33:31
they've taken out, when teams have taken out Ibuka, then they
33:34
haven't been the same either because Godwin's still
33:36
recovering. Evidence has been up and down
33:37
with injuries in his own right. Like you said, Bucky Irving
33:39
really hasn't gotten back into full form besides one game so
33:42
far this year. And I don't think these other
33:44
coaches have been able to adjust that kind of thing.
33:46
So I think there's a lot of mutual things for why these two
33:48
teams probably won't make the playoffs.
33:49
I want to finish it off before you go fish with the Steelers.
33:51
And two very suspect things. You look at the Ravens game a
33:55
couple weeks ago, a touchdown that was overturned and this St.
33:59
Brown penalty which didn't look like much of anything
34:02
overturning it. You wonder, you've said it all
34:04
the time, Meryl is the NFL rig type thing.
34:06
You wonder if. Aaron Rodgers percent.
34:08
Aaron Rodgers, maybe one last hurrah.
34:10
Mike Tomlin, maybe one last hurrah in Pittsburgh, they want
34:12
to get him into the playoffs and two very like shady calls at the
34:16
end of those two games for, like you said, a mediocre team like
34:19
trying to help them. Get.
34:20
So what? Wait a second.
34:21
The NFL wants to see Pittsburgh make a run with Mike Tomlin and
34:24
Aaron Rodgers instead of seeing Dan Campbell, St.
34:27
Brown and some of the young talent that they have, Jameer
34:29
Gibbs, who's one of the best young running backs in the
34:31
league. You would rather see Aaron
34:33
Rodgers in the playoffs than the Lions?
34:35
I don't think they should. It doesn't make any sense.
34:38
And but again, the NFL doesn't make any sense.
34:41
For over the last couple of years, you wonder if the NFL
34:44
knows what they're doing as an organization.
34:46
They know how to make money. There's no question they do.
34:48
Rodger Goodell knows how to bring in money through
34:51
endorsements. I think me and you and Fish can
34:54
figure out ways to bring in endorsements from one of the
34:56
biggest empires of all, all of the world and all of the
35:00
country. What worries me about the NFL is
35:04
they don't really put the their, the their, their strengths of
35:08
the organizations like the Lions or even some of the other big
35:12
organizations over the years in a position to succeed.
35:15
Even though it is Aaron Rodgers, one of the greatest quarterbacks
35:18
of all time, or it is Mike Tomlin who's been one of the
35:21
more successful coaches as far in the regular as far as the
35:25
regular season, but one of the biggest failures in NFL history
35:28
when they get into the playoffs. Well, let me let me start there
35:32
with Tomlin because you can say what you will about him and
35:35
you're right since that early championship in his his run,
35:39
they just don't get past the first round and they don't have,
35:42
I would argue they don't have a ton of talent.
35:45
You know, I would I would say they don't have the best roster
35:48
in football and Tomlin just finds a way every year to be
35:52
over 500 to get into the playoffs.
35:55
I think with a lesser coach, they're they're not over 500.
35:59
Many of these seasons in the last handful of years dating
36:02
back to like the last two years of Roethlisberger when he was
36:05
God awful, right? They he was bad and he still
36:09
kept them around 500. They had no business being
36:13
anywhere near 500. Of course, 500 doesn't win any
36:16
championships, right? That's what we want.
36:18
And but is that really a Tomlin thing?
36:20
And look at what Tomlin did to Dan Campbell in this game.
36:23
I love Dan Campbell. Dan Campbell has a problem.
36:27
Dan Campbell is an offensive coordinator, is a very limited
36:31
offensive coordinator. He wants school football.
36:33
He wants to get the lead. He wants to run the ball.
36:36
He wants to control the clock. But what happens when you take
36:39
these fourth down gambles and you don't make them?
36:43
Now you're behind. Now you can't run the ball.
36:47
Now you have to open up the passing attack.
36:48
You can't do play action with Jared Goff to prevent him from
36:51
getting that pressure because they know the pass is coming
36:55
because he'll get killed if you do that.
36:57
So guess what? Now you have to open up the
36:59
passing attack. And Dan Campbell is not a spread
37:01
offense guru. They don't pass the ball very
37:05
well with him now. He's got trick plays.
37:08
He's a lot of fun and he's convicted and the guys run
37:12
through walls for him, so he makes it close every time.
37:14
That last play was crazy. That last play was crazy.
37:18
Where Amin Raj St. Brown catches it on the like
37:21
inside the one he gets driven back.
37:23
He laterals it to Goff. Goff jumps into the end zone
37:27
only for them to call it ticky tack offensive Pi on Brown
37:31
pushing off on the guy who kind of flopped.
37:33
I mean, pretty wild. That's how they don't make the
37:37
playoffs because it doesn't look like they're making the playoffs
37:39
this year. But to me, they had a couple of
37:42
injuries, less like everybody. But the biggest loss was Ben
37:46
Johnson in this offseason just so Dan Campbell didn't have to
37:50
make, you know, to try to run the offense without having all
37:54
the tools in the bag to run a more spread offense if he had
37:57
to. And I just don't think he wants
37:59
to. And Tomlin knew it.
38:00
Guess where the time of possession was in this game?
38:03
The Lions always dominate the time of possession.
38:05
Well, they lost this 134 to 26. They were smoked by 8 minutes of
38:10
time of possession and they're never going to win that way.
38:12
Errol I think. I think the big loss in the
38:15
offseason was Rag. Now he was a big part of that
38:17
offensive line. He was the leader of that
38:20
offensive line and him stepping away and and retiring in the
38:23
offseason, I think it absolutely affected this offensive line.
38:26
This was the best offensive line in football.
38:29
Pinay Seoul, We all know what he is as a tackle.
38:31
We know how dominant years and everybody knows how good the
38:35
Lions team could be when this offensive line runs and and does
38:39
what it does every single year with that running game.
38:42
And that running game is still one of the best running games in
38:44
all of the NFL, which Amir Gibbs and Montgomery, but is I think
38:48
Montgomery's contract is up now. I think he signed.
38:50
Yeah, it's going to be it for Montgomery.
38:52
You know, they've definitely featured Gibbs a lot more this
38:55
year, but Gibbs got nothing going against the Steelers.
38:57
No, he didn't. And in the last.
38:58
Couple he had by 10 catches as they were trying to reach, you
39:02
know, come back as it was just emergency mode, but it was dink
39:05
and dump, dump off stuff because they were playing a deep zone
39:08
and that's not really, you know, they played right into Tomlin's
39:12
hands. They did.
39:13
Tomlin ate up Dan Campbell. 'S game plan and I will say that
39:17
Highsmith was unbelievable yesterday in the running game,
39:20
in the open field, there was every everything, everywhere
39:24
they were trying to put the ball, Highsmith was there.
39:27
And and you can see when Highsmith plays at the top of
39:29
his game, even without Watt, he is one of the most important
39:33
pieces to their defense. And Porter junior did very, very
39:36
well in the open field against St.
39:37
Brown. There was a lot of plays at
39:39
Porter. Junior.
39:40
Yes and you could see the difference when when this kid
39:43
plays at a top level. So I I think that Pittsburgh is
39:46
dangerous because of their defense and they have a dual
39:50
threat running game. They gain well to catch the ball
39:52
in the backfield. We've seen what they saved on
39:54
with him, especially with Aaron Rodgers being hurt every time
39:57
Aaron Rodgers isn't healthy, they're using more and more gain
40:00
well in the back, in the backfield.
40:02
And then Warren, we've seen what Jalen Warren can do in the open
40:05
field. We've seen what he does in the
40:07
running game. He's Smash Mouth running back
40:09
and go obviously North and South, but also could do things
40:13
east and West. This this team.
40:15
If one thing I could say about playoff runs and making playoff
40:19
runs, you need a good defense and you need a good running game
40:22
and that is what Pittsburgh has. Aaron Rodgers is to me is like,
40:26
I don't know if it's a gift or it might be the soul that could
40:31
be taken or out of the Pittsburgh Steelers when they
40:34
make the playoffs. Because Aaron Rodgers for some
40:36
reason, as good as he is in the regular season, there are times
40:39
that he disappears in the playoffs and he depends too much
40:42
or he puts too much on his arm strength and he puts his team in
40:46
harm's way. We've seen it how many times
40:48
against, with, with the Saint, I'm sorry, San Francisco 49ers
40:51
in the playoffs when he was playing for the Packers, made a
40:54
lot of mistakes. He just had such like supreme
40:57
belief in his body mechanics. Nobody in the history of
41:00
football, in my opinion. This is what they said about
41:02
Rodgers when he was at the top of his game.
41:05
Look, we were talking about Baker Mayfield a second when I
41:08
wanted to get to this. He wants to roll out to the
41:10
right. Now, the hardest thing to do for
41:13
a right-handed quarterback is to roll out to the left and get
41:16
your shoulders around, take the proper path, flip the hips so
41:20
that you can get enough mustard on the football.
41:22
The greatest of all time doing that is Aaron Rodgers.
41:24
Aaron Rodgers made his bread and butter rolling out on scramble
41:28
drills, flipping his hips, going against, you know, the, the flow
41:32
of the play and just getting these balls on the money when
41:36
doing that. So what do they do to Baker?
41:38
They rush him so he has to roll out left or he steps up and they
41:42
collapse the pocket on him or he ends up having to throw
41:45
something where he can't see that over the pocket because I
41:47
think he's only 6162 and he throws a pick And the last at
41:51
the end of the game, he thought Mike Evans was going to go, you
41:55
know, he was going to sit down and he Mike Evans kept going to
41:57
the to the sideline. He just didn't see it.
42:00
And obviously he's been out for a while.
42:01
So maybe they're not on the same page.
42:03
But God damn, you know, to lose the game that way when they were
42:06
almost in field goal range to tie it up.
42:08
Could he went to overtime and look at on the other side of the
42:12
ball, look at what Canalis has done.
42:14
Look at what and you said like how do you fix Bryce Young?
42:17
You don't. You fix the offensive line.
42:20
That's what he did. He fixed the offensive line.
42:22
You give him a running game, you take a guy like Dowdle, like you
42:25
said, speeding, not an efficient runner.
42:27
Now there's holes for him. Guess what?
42:29
He's an efficient runner now. And guess what else now Bryce
42:33
Young can do? Play action.
42:34
Now Bryce Young has more time when they're dropping back and
42:38
he can actually see what's going on.
42:39
Well, coaching. Guess what?
42:40
And guess what? When Bryce Young has time and
42:43
there's guys open, because guess that's what Canalis is really
42:45
good at scheming guys open as well.
42:47
You know, that's what they said about Brian Dabel that got me
42:49
excited. Canalis is definitely better
42:51
than him. They guys are open all the time
42:53
and it's really impressive. And I, I think that's not,
42:56
there's no surprise they've gotten that way.
42:58
And on the other side of the ball, I mean, Errol, it's your
43:02
old buddy Todd Bowles. I don't know if he survives.
43:06
He's done. I think Todd Bowles, I think
43:09
Todd Bowles is done and I don't, I don't know if the Buccaneers
43:11
make the playoffs. I'm going to bet on Carolina now
43:14
after pulling off that win. Carolina has to really screw up.
43:18
If Carolina wins one of these games, they're done.
43:22
I, I, I just, I can't see the Bucks making it.
43:24
There would have to be some kind of things fall together for the
43:27
Buccaneers to win the division. And I, I just don't see the
43:31
Carolina Panthers losing out now after what we saw on Sunday.
43:36
I I just as good as the Buccaneers could be at the top
43:39
of the game. They're not the same defense
43:41
they were 3-4 years ago. This is a completely different
43:44
defensive team and they depend too much on the offensive side
43:48
of the ball. And guess what?
43:49
Todd Bowles is the defensive coordinator.
43:51
He's not an offensive coordinator and he lost his two
43:54
offensive coordinators back-to-back years.
43:56
He lost Canalis and then lost Cohen.
43:59
And both of them are doing doing very, very well on respectable
44:03
sides of of each team, one in the AFC and one in the NFC.
44:07
If Cohen fixes Trevor Lawrence, give him Coach of the year right
44:11
now. I mean, it's crazy.
44:12
And there's so many guys that deserve it.
44:14
You realize they're 11 and 4? Yeah.
44:17
That's crazy and. Without and without Travis
44:21
Hunter, too. Well, without your boy, the
44:24
gremlin, Travis Hunter, who I thought you know is a great, for
44:28
now at least in his career, that like 4th receiver gadget player
44:31
that you want to have for a handful of plays in the game
44:33
that could just make a play. And eventually, I think that's
44:36
what he's going to be. So and so hold on one second.
44:39
So hold on one second. So you moved up from 5:00 to
44:42
2:00 for a gadget wide receiver. Come on.
44:46
Fish are you? Are you saying this is a good
44:47
move? Fish are you?
44:49
Implying that he's good for a bunch of gizmos.
44:51
I mean. Well, I don't know about gizmos
44:54
or widgets or anything like that, but you know, it reminds
44:57
me of a guy that was drafted high for no reason, Tavon Austin
45:01
years ago. And Tavon Austin was a very
45:04
similar offensive player. He's really fast.
45:06
He was really dynamic, shifty, but he didn't have a route for
45:10
Rams, right? Rams and end up on the Cowboys.
45:13
But he was a fourth receiver, never anything more than that.
45:16
A return guy a little bit, but you know it, it just wasn't.
45:19
And it was, I think it was a good as a good return guy, but
45:22
that if you're trading up or taking that in the top 10 picks
45:26
of the NFL draft, I mean, just a little short sighted.
45:29
Now, The thing is that if it gets fixed, if Travis Hunter
45:32
becomes a great cornerback in the league, in which case you
45:34
justify it and now you have a corner that can also be a gadget
45:37
receiver, you take that pretty high.
45:39
But it's kind of wishful thinking.
45:40
But I've been telling you this, I remember when we went back and
45:44
forth and you were saying that he he would fit better as a wide
45:47
receiver. And I said many, many times he
45:50
fits better as a corner in the NFLI.
45:52
Just don't think the game and the speed of the game as a wide
45:55
receiver fits the way he plays. He's too thin.
45:58
He is long. I met him.
46:00
He is a long guy and he does run routes pretty good.
46:03
But in the NFL when you're playing, when you're playing
46:07
with these guys that are just as fast as you and it just as rough
46:09
as you and is going to play up under you at every point of the
46:13
game, you're not going to be as open in college.
46:16
You you don't have you need to have two feet in, not one foot
46:19
in. It's a different game.
46:20
The game is completely different from college football to the
46:23
NFL. And and I'm going to tell you
46:25
this right now. I would love to hear Travis
46:28
Hunter now and his take on his first NFL season because he was
46:33
very, very cocky at the Heisman Trophy dinner.
46:36
He was very cocky about him, you know, and he was very reluctant
46:40
to say that his game fits the NFL style game.
46:44
I, I didn't see it guys. I did not see it at any point
46:48
this year. I know it was early.
46:49
I didn't only only play 10 games.
46:51
I didn't have to see anymore. I know what Travis AK the
46:54
Gremlin is as an NFL player he needs.
46:57
He needs muscle. Needs muscle and he needs he
47:00
needs to move to the cornerback position.
47:03
That is the only way he's going to have a successful at least
47:06
seven years in the NFL. I don't know if he he's going to
47:08
last seven years in the NFLI already predicted he won't.
47:11
So we'll see how that all works together.
47:13
But I will say this, if Cohen can't fix him, nobody can
47:18
because we've seen what he's done with Trevor Lawrence.
47:20
That's all I'm going to say about that.
47:21
Thank you to all the fans tuning in and listening to us.
47:23
Thank you to our very special guest, Daniel Winkler for
47:27
joining us. It was a sensational interview,
47:29
gave us his take with steroids and all that other stuff.
47:32
If you missed it, go to Spotify and Apple.
47:35
Go check out the video, go check out the audio.
47:37
We're in the top 200, a jab in the mouth.
47:40
Go to X, go to Instagram, go to TikTok jab in the mouth and
47:44
ladies and gentlemen, you can go to Facebook Worldwide Sports
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Radio network, go to YouTube, subscribe to jab in the mouth
47:51
and worldwide sports radio network.
47:53
It's it's been a crazy, crazy year.
47:56
We got one more show before the new year.
47:58
Next week it'll be another 5 hour show.
48:01
How fun. Don't I love these but no job at
48:05
tonight. Shout out to the job.
48:07
Shout out to the Chamberlain family.
48:09
Hopefully they had a fun time in their family get together.
48:12
And yeah, who do we have on next week?
48:16
'S nothing yet for the Monday we actually on the following week
48:19
though on January 5th do have a 9:00 Bobby Valentine will be
48:23
joining us that'll. Be fun.
48:24
Oh yeah, that's awesome. Bobby V Mr. V as AV for
48:31
vendetta, Because I'm sure he has a vendetta for the New York
48:35
Mets, I'm sure. Good movie.
48:36
Yes, I actually like that movie, too.
48:39
All right, that's it. Good night.
48:40
Thank God. Farewell.
48:41
It is the Worldwide Sports Radio network.
48:44
Radio Network.