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Nathaniel Hackett, Mike White to be Starter, & Jaguars - Titans Week 18 Matchup · NFL Now

0:05
Speaker 1: NFL Now is a production of the NFL in partnership
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Speaker 1: with I Heart Radio. Well, we had a great holiday weekend.
0:19
Speaker 1: Hopefully you're not back at the office today and maybe
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Speaker 1: sitting on the couch there with the family still stretching
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Speaker 1: that weekend out. We are here because week seventeen is
0:28
Speaker 1: almost here. My name is andrews Ceciliano NFL Now from
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Speaker 1: our newsroom in Los Angeles. We have the playoffs scenarios,
0:34
Speaker 1: everything coming up, and we're live in Indianapolis shortly as well.
0:38
Speaker 1: We're the Chargers can wrap up a playoff spot this evening.
0:41
Speaker 1: Our big story today, however, a coaching change in Denver.
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Speaker 1: Nathaniel Hackett is out fired this morning after the Broncos
0:48
Speaker 1: fell to four and eleven. After the Broncos lost by
0:51
Speaker 1: thirty seven to the Rams yesterday, the worst ever loss
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Speaker 1: by a team quarterbacked by Russell Wilson. It was ugly.
1:02
Speaker 1: There was fighting on the sideline, there were hands thrown
1:05
Speaker 1: on the field. It was really the bottom for a
1:09
Speaker 1: season that it seemingly had a lot of them in Denver.
1:13
Speaker 1: Nathaniel Hackett, like Urban Meyer last year, obviously much different
1:17
Speaker 1: scenarios out without making it to the end of his
1:21
Speaker 1: first season. Tom Pelaso, Iain Rappaport, James Palmer live in Denver. Tom,
1:25
Speaker 1: you had the news this morning. I guess the only
1:28
Speaker 1: real question was did they let Hackett finish these last
1:31
Speaker 1: two games? And they said no. That's right. Andrew and
1:35
Speaker 1: watching that game yesterday, certainly understand why the new ownership
1:39
Speaker 1: group in Denver decided that this was the right time
1:41
Speaker 1: to move on. It was not just losing in blowout
1:44
Speaker 1: fashion and giving up fifty one points. It was also
1:47
Speaker 1: the sideline altercation. It was an altercation between Randy Gregory
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Speaker 1: and an opposing player after the game. It was all
1:52
Speaker 1: those signs of dysfunction that really had not exists even
1:56
Speaker 1: as the losses mounted throughout Nathaniel Hackett's first season with Denver.
2:01
Speaker 1: This was a coach who had managed to hold the
2:03
Speaker 1: players together for the most part, despite the struggles and
2:05
Speaker 1: despite the struggles of the franchise quarterback Russell Wilson, who
2:08
Speaker 1: he was brought in to try to rejuvenate, so to speak,
2:12
Speaker 1: and to add an extra layer to Wilson's career here,
2:15
Speaker 1: which of course came along with a sizeable contract extension
2:19
Speaker 1: after the trade from Seattle. None of it ever fit together.
2:22
Speaker 1: They obviously had a ton of injuries, from Javonte Williams
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Speaker 1: to their top three tackles, to their tight end, missing
2:27
Speaker 1: time to Randy Gregory, missed him most of the season.
2:30
Speaker 1: They trade away Brandley Chubb. None of it came together
2:33
Speaker 1: the way that they anticipated it would. They are tied
2:35
Speaker 1: to Russell Wilson for the long haul here. They were
2:38
Speaker 1: not tied for very long to Nathaniel Hackett. That's why
2:41
Speaker 1: Hackett now is out and we shall see what Denver
2:44
Speaker 1: and general manager George Payton, who the owners say will
2:46
Speaker 1: be involved in the search, brings in with certainly an
2:49
Speaker 1: eye toward how do we fix Russell Wilson. Yeah, no
2:54
Speaker 1: doubt that is gonna be the major thing now which
2:57
Speaker 1: coach is gonna be hired to try to repair this
2:59
Speaker 1: quarterback who was at one point really good and has
3:02
Speaker 1: been nothing at all good this shot. I think that's
3:05
Speaker 1: fair to say. And reality is, Tom and you ran
3:08
Speaker 1: through a lot of the reasons this from the very
3:11
Speaker 1: very beginning just has not worked. The first game. Really,
3:14
Speaker 1: it's a major major clock management issues. The first game
3:17
Speaker 1: with Peyton Manning calling him out on Nashville TV just
3:20
Speaker 1: was just was a terrible look, and it didn't feel
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Speaker 1: like Nathaniel Hackett even recovered from that. They had to
3:24
Speaker 1: hire a game management coach early on. He was hired
3:28
Speaker 1: to to bring in this high powered offense. The offense
3:30
Speaker 1: was anything but high powered. Defense was pretty good, obviously,
3:35
Speaker 1: but the offense was was really just not good. Russell
3:37
Speaker 1: Wilson never looking comfortable, never hitting his stride. But the
3:40
Speaker 1: team still worked. The team still tried until yesterday. And
3:43
Speaker 1: when you see that product on the field giving up
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Speaker 1: fifty points, the players fighting on the sideline, you knew
3:49
Speaker 1: it was over. It had to be over. It's just
3:51
Speaker 1: a matter of when. With the Broncos owner, the new
3:53
Speaker 1: ownership pulling the plug today on the Nathaniel Hackett era
3:57
Speaker 1: at the time when everyone it was very clear it
4:00
Speaker 1: just needed that. Yeah, Ian, you mentioned Peyton Manning there.
4:03
Speaker 1: Since Peyton Manning, James Palmer, you're in Denver, since he
4:07
Speaker 1: led the Broncos to Super Bowl fifty, right with von
4:10
Speaker 1: Miller Beaten Cam Newton and the Panthers in Santa Clara.
4:14
Speaker 1: This team has now lost has rather failed to make
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Speaker 1: the playoffs seven consecutive seasons. They've lost thirteen in a
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Speaker 1: row to the Kansas City Chiefs. This was supposed to
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Speaker 1: be James, a new era, Russell Wilson, Nathaniel Hackett. This
4:29
Speaker 1: was all supposed to be fixed. This team was supposed
4:32
Speaker 1: to be playing James in Glendale. Many people thought, yeah,
4:37
Speaker 1: and they thought they fixed their quarterback issues. And I've
4:39
Speaker 1: covered a lot of training camps over the last several years,
4:42
Speaker 1: Andrew talking to you about quarterback battles in training camp
4:45
Speaker 1: and who's going to be the starter and the revolving
4:47
Speaker 1: door of quarterbacks. They thought all that was fixed with
4:50
Speaker 1: the arrival of Russell Wilson and then pairing him with
4:52
Speaker 1: Nathaniel Hackey. You have to remember early in training camp
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Speaker 1: the off season, we were told repeatedly they were doing
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Speaker 1: everything Nathaniel Hacket and company to design this offense for
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Speaker 1: Russell Wilson, to make him comfortable with his team around
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Speaker 1: the building as often as possible, with having him be
5:07
Speaker 1: as comfortable as possible, And as both of these guys said,
5:09
Speaker 1: the offense just didn't come together. Now, it's not making excuses.
5:13
Speaker 1: I had told a lot of the same things that
5:15
Speaker 1: Tom was, that he was holding this locker room together
5:17
Speaker 1: very well. Nathaniel Hackett. But if you look at everything
5:20
Speaker 1: that he tried to do to fix some of these issues.
5:23
Speaker 1: Ian mentioned the game management issues. He hires a new
5:26
Speaker 1: game manager, he gives up play calling and gives it
5:28
Speaker 1: to Clint Kubiak. That doesn't change anything. He tried a
5:31
Speaker 1: variety of things to change things. They have more money
5:34
Speaker 1: on ir than any other team in all of football.
5:36
Speaker 1: When I talked to other teams, they say, this is
5:37
Speaker 1: a talented roster, just not very deep. But you have
5:40
Speaker 1: to be, you know, wondering in some sense, Andrew, if
5:44
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson was even playing average football at the quarterback spot.
5:47
Speaker 1: They lost eight games this season so far by one
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Speaker 1: score or less. So you know, the thought is, you know,
5:54
Speaker 1: they were right there in a lot of these games.
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Speaker 1: But it kind of finally boiled over yesterday, first ever game,
5:59
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson would throw two picks in the first quarter.
6:02
Speaker 1: He was paid fifty seven million this year on the
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Speaker 1: front end of that multi year deal that they did
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Speaker 1: before he ever played a single game in a Broncos uniform.
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Speaker 1: We've mentioned the fights in the league. Didn't waste any
6:16
Speaker 1: time handing down punishment. This just came across the desk. Yeah,
6:21
Speaker 1: it wasn't just the Broncos fighting each other on the
6:23
Speaker 1: sideland they were also fighting their opponent. So Randy Gregory,
6:27
Speaker 1: the pass rusher for the Broncos, has been such a
6:29
Speaker 1: disaster his first year in Denver, was suspended one game
6:33
Speaker 1: for punching O Day, a bushity guard for the Los
6:36
Speaker 1: Angeles Rams, who was also suspended. Both these guys suspended
6:40
Speaker 1: without pay for one game. The NFL just announced for
6:43
Speaker 1: violations of the Unsportsmanlike Conduct and Unncessary Roughness rules. As
6:47
Speaker 1: John Runyon wrote in a letter to the players, as
6:50
Speaker 1: you're walking to a group of teammates, you were stopped
6:53
Speaker 1: and swung at each other's heads and or neck. Your
6:55
Speaker 1: aggressive conduct could have cost serious injury and clearly does
6:59
Speaker 1: not reflect the high standards of sportsmanship expected of a professional.
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Speaker 1: I would expect both of these guys to appeal either way.
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Speaker 1: An ugly game, really ugly game, made uglier by this
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Speaker 1: after it was certainly not in the holiday spirit. Randy Gregory,
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Speaker 1: Odeya Boucher from the Broncos and the Rams each suspended
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Speaker 1: one game. Thank you guys. This after Nathaniel Hackett was
7:23
Speaker 1: fired this morning. He is only the fourth NFL head
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Speaker 1: coach of current franchises. Of the thirty two that was
7:32
Speaker 1: fired before the end of his first season, there have
7:37
Speaker 1: been others that have resigned for college jobs and other things,
7:41
Speaker 1: maybe stepping down for health issues. But Mark Ross, Jim Trotter,
7:44
Speaker 1: Hackett is only the fourth to be fired before the
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Speaker 1: end of his first season. What do you make of
7:50
Speaker 1: the mess in Denver? Jim Um, I look at it
7:54
Speaker 1: at broader since Andrew from this standpoint, Um, this was
7:59
Speaker 1: team building gone wrong. In my opinion. You can go
8:02
Speaker 1: back to the beginning when they traded for Russell Wilson,
8:05
Speaker 1: and some of us talked about it at that point,
8:07
Speaker 1: how is he going to mesh with Nathaniel Hackett in
8:10
Speaker 1: terms of his offensive system? Hacket system was a timing system.
8:14
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson has never been a timing quarterback, and therefore
8:17
Speaker 1: there were questions about whether or not those two would mesh,
8:20
Speaker 1: and it did not. And yet for George Payton to
8:23
Speaker 1: give up what he gave up to get Russell Wilson
8:26
Speaker 1: then to give him that contract, all I keep thinking
8:29
Speaker 1: about is the New England situation during it's It's run,
8:33
Speaker 1: where Bill Belichick said, I will pass on more talented
8:37
Speaker 1: players to get players who fit my system and can
8:40
Speaker 1: and who can feel specific roles. We didn't see that here.
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Speaker 1: And so while Denver's roster may be talented in terms
8:48
Speaker 1: of frontline talent, it does lack debt. And now giving
8:52
Speaker 1: up the draft capital that is given up to get
8:55
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson, can you believe that this is going to
8:58
Speaker 1: get better anytime soon? And so also from a coaching standpoint,
9:03
Speaker 1: whoever you bring in here better be able to put
9:06
Speaker 1: in an offensive system that works with what Russell Wilson
9:09
Speaker 1: does well because right now, obviously he is a terrible
9:13
Speaker 1: quarterback mark and I don't see that getting much better
9:16
Speaker 1: um in the immediate future. Yeah, a lot of layers
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Speaker 1: of this, but yes, he is a terrible, terrible quarterback
9:23
Speaker 1: right now. And I haven't seen a quarterback fall so
9:27
Speaker 1: fast that I've seen Russell Wilson. Usually guys get older
9:30
Speaker 1: and you see a steady decline in the things that
9:32
Speaker 1: they can do. But Russell Wilson, remember early last season,
9:35
Speaker 1: was playing at an m VP level, got injured, came back, struggle,
9:40
Speaker 1: and you just kind of pushed it off. Well, it's
9:41
Speaker 1: the injuries. Then he starts out this season and just
9:45
Speaker 1: look terrible and he has continued to look like that,
9:47
Speaker 1: and when I evaluate him, everything is just off his
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Speaker 1: field for the game, his vision, his playmaking, the the accuracy.
9:55
Speaker 1: He looks like a shot quarterback. And as you mentioned,
9:59
Speaker 1: with whoever comes in there, that's the deity at head coach.
10:04
Speaker 1: What's the asion you're gonna have with Russell Wilson? Do
10:06
Speaker 1: you want him on your team? We keep assuming because
10:09
Speaker 1: of the contract they have to keep them. They could
10:11
Speaker 1: cut him, but that's when the ownership says, we're just
10:13
Speaker 1: gonna have to take this brutal cap hit. You're already
10:16
Speaker 1: owing this guy. Are you gonna pay him to be
10:18
Speaker 1: on your team and be bad? Or are you gonna
10:20
Speaker 1: pay him to go away? So that's a larger issue
10:23
Speaker 1: next year. Whoever comes in with this job. If you're
10:26
Speaker 1: a Sean Payton, you have choices like I don't want
10:28
Speaker 1: to deal with that, but there'll be plenty of people
10:30
Speaker 1: that will want to take the job. And Jim, you
10:33
Speaker 1: talked about team building. This leaves the GM George Peyton,
10:36
Speaker 1: who put this team together but also hired Nathaniel Hackett.
10:41
Speaker 1: The two major decisions that a g MS to make
10:43
Speaker 1: if he hasn't quarterback head coach both of those decisions
10:47
Speaker 1: right now look like historic failures, not just average mediocre
10:51
Speaker 1: as Andrew mentioned, if he was just mediocre, I mean,
10:53
Speaker 1: these are historically bad decisions. So do they do ownership
10:57
Speaker 1: group trust him to make decisions or be a part
11:00
Speaker 1: of hiring help hire the new head coach? And why
11:02
Speaker 1: would you believe that that is a wise thing to
11:04
Speaker 1: do or a part of well hire the new head
11:06
Speaker 1: coach and they get rid of him. So it really
11:08
Speaker 1: has to be an all in decision on George Peyton,
11:10
Speaker 1: now what you're gonna do and what his role is
11:12
Speaker 1: in the organization. Jim, you know that's such a great point, Mark,
11:16
Speaker 1: because you're asking the person who was complicit in this
11:19
Speaker 1: situation to now fix it, and can you believe that
11:22
Speaker 1: he can fix it? To your point about moving on
11:24
Speaker 1: from what Russell wiln't potentially I would ask you this, Mark,
11:27
Speaker 1: with the draft capital that they gave up, where are
11:30
Speaker 1: they going to get another quarterback to come in and play?
11:34
Speaker 1: I mean, I just think they're in a very tough
11:37
Speaker 1: position right now in terms of what they do with
11:39
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson, because if you do get rid of them,
11:42
Speaker 1: you don't have draft capital to go out and get
11:43
Speaker 1: a young quarterback. So what are you going to do
11:46
Speaker 1: if you're in that chair? Mark, how do you look
11:48
Speaker 1: at it? Yeah, Jim, And that's always the tough decision
11:52
Speaker 1: when you want to move on from a QB is
11:55
Speaker 1: where are you going to get the next guy? But
11:58
Speaker 1: for the sake of the order, we were looking at
11:59
Speaker 1: this last year with Seattle where we kept hearing they
12:02
Speaker 1: were gonna get rid of Russell, get rid of Russell?
12:04
Speaker 1: Where are they gonna go the q big? Well, here
12:06
Speaker 1: they found the gem and Geno Smith, But it was
12:08
Speaker 1: more about this guy. Russell Wilson is an anchor all
12:12
Speaker 1: that organization and now it looks like it's the same
12:15
Speaker 1: thing where he's an anchor on that organization. And there's
12:18
Speaker 1: just too many negative comments coming out in year one
12:21
Speaker 1: about Russell Wilson, not just his play but all the
12:25
Speaker 1: other things. And does a head coach a new GM
12:28
Speaker 1: whoever the new brain trust in there? I think that
12:31
Speaker 1: can be fixed or is it better off just for
12:33
Speaker 1: the mentality of the team that say, hey, we're gonna
12:36
Speaker 1: win by just removing this guy from the team and
12:40
Speaker 1: then we'll try to find our quarterback to bring everybody together.
12:43
Speaker 1: That's what Seattle did with Russell. Are we talking about
12:46
Speaker 1: two years in a row that teams will do this.
12:47
Speaker 1: I mean, it's stunning when you look at it. The
12:50
Speaker 1: fall that's happened with Russell here Andrew dead cap hit
12:53
Speaker 1: next year would be nine figures would be like a
12:56
Speaker 1: hundred seven million seven that's million. Now. I always say this,
13:02
Speaker 1: the Broncos do have a one because they traded Bradley
13:05
Speaker 1: Shub to the Dolphins, but that one is the Niners
13:08
Speaker 1: one who was originally part of the trade Lands trade.
13:11
Speaker 1: So if the Niners keep winning, that one's going to
13:13
Speaker 1: be deep into the twenties. It's not it's not really
13:16
Speaker 1: where you go get a quarterback to compete with Russell Wilson.
13:20
Speaker 1: Right now, if not for the trade, their first round
13:23
Speaker 1: pick would be three overall behind the Texans and the Bears.
13:27
Speaker 1: But that three is now in Seattle. Thank you Mark
13:33
Speaker 1: and thank you Jim. Think of the Seahawks. They get
13:35
Speaker 1: the Jets this week, and it looks as if they're
13:38
Speaker 1: gonna get Mike White because he has been cleared to
13:41
Speaker 1: return from that rib injury. So Zack Wilson back to
13:47
Speaker 1: the bench. Chris Traveler, Tom Pella, Sero Ian Rappaport back
13:52
Speaker 1: to the bench. It is Mike White on the white horse,
13:57
Speaker 1: the potentially ian after everything went their way, saved the
14:01
Speaker 1: Jets season. That was very dramatic, but I feel like
14:05
Speaker 1: the drama was warranted because if you're a Jet fan
14:08
Speaker 1: and you're waiting today, and believe me, I feel like
14:10
Speaker 1: all of them texted me this morning talking out what
14:12
Speaker 1: was going on with Mike White's ribs. This was the
14:15
Speaker 1: news they've been waiting for. They don't have to see
14:17
Speaker 1: Zach Wilson out there starting, and he probably would have
14:20
Speaker 1: started had Mike White not been cleared. Now, for Mike White,
14:23
Speaker 1: it has been two games that he missed with three
14:25
Speaker 1: fractured ribs. He needed to be cleared for contact. Obviously
14:29
Speaker 1: wanted to play very badly the last two weeks. It
14:31
Speaker 1: was just not to be. And consider just how different
14:35
Speaker 1: the quarterback position has been when Mike White has played
14:38
Speaker 1: and when he has it, when he's played more than competent. Now,
14:41
Speaker 1: the teams still got a block better, still got to
14:43
Speaker 1: do some other things, but when he's played, they have
14:44
Speaker 1: been fine. When Zack Wilson has played, it has not
14:47
Speaker 1: been fine. And it looked like they did Thursday very
14:50
Speaker 1: good news for Jets fans. And you think back to
14:54
Speaker 1: just a few days ago and Robert Salo was saying,
14:56
Speaker 1: it's far fetched to be talking about the playoffs here,
15:00
Speaker 1: talking about Zack Wilson and lacking confidence. We all of
15:03
Speaker 1: a sudden based on those results over the weekend and
15:05
Speaker 1: now the medical clearance for Mike White, you have to
15:08
Speaker 1: feel like you've gotten a second chance at life here
15:11
Speaker 1: if you're the New York Jets. We know this about
15:13
Speaker 1: Mike White. He's extremely tough. He brings a lot of
15:15
Speaker 1: moxie to the table. One of those guys when they
15:17
Speaker 1: walk in the huddle, the guys around him think we've
15:20
Speaker 1: got a chance to win. Obviously, Garrett Wilson, you would think,
15:22
Speaker 1: is going to be thrilled by this news because he's
15:24
Speaker 1: had a lot of productivity basically with any quarterback not
15:27
Speaker 1: named Zack Wilson this season. They still got to sort
15:30
Speaker 1: out some other things that continue to be beat up
15:32
Speaker 1: at a variety of different positions. Obviously they don't have
15:34
Speaker 1: Bruce Hall, their stud young running back here. But to
15:37
Speaker 1: Jets team, the found way to win a lot of
15:39
Speaker 1: games and play really good defense early in the season
15:41
Speaker 1: if you can just be okay at the quarterback position.
15:45
Speaker 1: Why wouldn't you think that we've got a shot here?
15:47
Speaker 1: They have a shot here. Listen, you're gonna have two
15:49
Speaker 1: teams in at least from the a f C North,
15:51
Speaker 1: the Ravens and the Bengals, or in one of them
15:53
Speaker 1: will be a wild card. If the Chargers win tonight,
15:55
Speaker 1: that's another wild card that has been locked up. So
15:58
Speaker 1: for all intents and purposes, there's one a f C
16:01
Speaker 1: playoff spot legitimately left as a wild card. I not
16:06
Speaker 1: Mike White and the Jets. Let's get to the Christmas
16:11
Speaker 1: Eve games. The Giants have a clinching scenario this week.
16:16
Speaker 1: It's win and in for the Giants, despite the fact
16:20
Speaker 1: that they lost in overtime to the Vikings. C kwon
16:24
Speaker 1: Barkley big run up the middle. The Giants forced the ot.
16:29
Speaker 1: I'm sorry they didn't didn't go over time. It looked
16:31
Speaker 1: as it was gonna go to over time before Greg
16:33
Speaker 1: Joseph hit a sixty one yard field goal. I mean,
16:36
Speaker 1: we had so many games over the last couple of days.
16:38
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, They're all kind of one game in my head.
16:40
Speaker 1: Greg Joseph sixty one yard field goal. The Vikings find
16:45
Speaker 1: a way to win their eleventh one possession game and
16:50
Speaker 1: the Vikings are still alive for first in the NFC
16:54
Speaker 1: because without Jalen Hurts, the Eagles could not close it out.
16:58
Speaker 1: Dak Prescott here to Ceedee Lamb with a fourth quarter touchdown,
17:02
Speaker 1: a thing of beauty to rally and back after they
17:04
Speaker 1: fell behind ten nothing early. And then what a pick
17:07
Speaker 1: here by dron Bland, the rookie rips it away from
17:11
Speaker 1: Quez Watkins. Cowboys take the lead on a field goal
17:14
Speaker 1: thirty seven thirty four by Brett Maher and then on
17:17
Speaker 1: fourth down Gardner Minshew to his credit, got it away
17:21
Speaker 1: back of the end zone, but nobody could get that
17:23
Speaker 1: and the Cowboys get that win, get to eleven and
17:27
Speaker 1: four and hand the Eagles only their second loss of
17:30
Speaker 1: the year. This might be the first of two times
17:34
Speaker 1: here late in the year that we're gonna have to
17:35
Speaker 1: play these guys, and uh, it's just about I think
17:38
Speaker 1: that was a good win. I think that was a
17:39
Speaker 1: good win, just for for the team. Complimentary win. Uh.
17:42
Speaker 1: I know obviously they're gonna think about that next time
17:44
Speaker 1: that we play them, and that that's what you want. Hey,
17:46
Speaker 1: if they go and help us out and drop a
17:48
Speaker 1: couple of games. Hell, yeah, we're gonna take the title.
17:50
Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's awesome. But um, we have no
17:53
Speaker 1: say so in that at this point. All we can
17:54
Speaker 1: do is um continue to win out and hope on that.
17:58
Speaker 1: All right, So the NFC plat picture to what Dak
18:00
Speaker 1: was saying, they're the only way for the Cowboys to
18:03
Speaker 1: win the division is if the Eagles loose too and
18:06
Speaker 1: the Cowboys win too, then Dallas would win the NFC
18:09
Speaker 1: East two. Dallas loses on Thursday night this week to Tennessee,
18:13
Speaker 1: then the Eagles would win the division before they even
18:15
Speaker 1: take the field this weekend. What a crazy game we
18:19
Speaker 1: saw Saturday in Dallas. Jane Slater was there, Mark Ross
18:22
Speaker 1: with me as well, A game in which it was
18:24
Speaker 1: tend nothing early but Dak found a way to overcome
18:26
Speaker 1: bat pick six and rally back in did so Jane
18:30
Speaker 1: with a third and thirty conversion? Did t Y Hilton?
18:34
Speaker 1: It was the Eagles. I was thinking of Freddie Mitchell
18:36
Speaker 1: slightly different obviously. Freddie said I would like to thank
18:39
Speaker 1: my hands. I think t t Y would like to
18:42
Speaker 1: thank his speed, which he showed he still has hey
18:49
Speaker 1: and he told us this leading up to this game.
18:52
Speaker 1: I think he was probably a little disappointed that when
18:54
Speaker 1: they went to the Jacksonville Jags, he found out early
18:56
Speaker 1: that morning that he would not be playing. You know,
18:58
Speaker 1: keep in mind, two weeks ago, he visited the Star
19:00
Speaker 1: in Frisco, went through a workout that he described was
19:03
Speaker 1: pretty easy and simple. The staff basically said we've seen enough.
19:07
Speaker 1: They signed him and he was spending about ten hours
19:09
Speaker 1: a day learning the playbook. When I asked him about
19:11
Speaker 1: his conditioning, then he said, I'm never out of shape.
19:14
Speaker 1: All I do is run. But he says he's the ghost.
19:16
Speaker 1: If they want to play press man coverage, they're gonna
19:18
Speaker 1: get beat. Not only was that third and thirty that
19:21
Speaker 1: you're looking at right, they're huge in this game because
19:23
Speaker 1: it put the Cowboys back in it and tied tied
19:25
Speaker 1: this one up. But how about the second quarter performance
19:28
Speaker 1: where it was a crucial third down that they needed,
19:31
Speaker 1: he drew an illegal contact from Darius Slay And even
19:34
Speaker 1: though he only had eleven snapped this game, he was
19:36
Speaker 1: quite impactful in just those two particular ones. And I
19:39
Speaker 1: would anticipate that we'll start to see him a little
19:41
Speaker 1: bit more as we move in with these two final games.
19:44
Speaker 1: And of course the postseason. But with all this talk
19:46
Speaker 1: about oh b J, here was that thirty three year
19:48
Speaker 1: old out on the street. Cowboys bring him in and
19:51
Speaker 1: he certainly made the Eagles paid this week. Indeed, bat
19:55
Speaker 1: him page. And let's talk about the Eagles offense all week.
19:58
Speaker 1: We're talking about Jalen Hurts is not going to play.
20:00
Speaker 1: How will they look? Well, the offense was just fine,
20:03
Speaker 1: but they just made too many mistake similar to the
20:06
Speaker 1: eagles last loss, the only loss of the season against Commanders,
20:09
Speaker 1: where they just made too many mistakes. Yesterday, men Shoo's
20:12
Speaker 1: first interception, uh, really I thought it was a pass interference,
20:15
Speaker 1: but he got bullied there his he fumbled the snap,
20:19
Speaker 1: the Miles Sanders fumble, and then also Mentshow's second interception
20:23
Speaker 1: where Quez Watkins got bullied again. Uh and then as
20:26
Speaker 1: you so, the offense was fine, but they the turnovers
20:28
Speaker 1: were the big issue. The big thing for me was
20:31
Speaker 1: the defensive let down where Dallas kind of did what
20:34
Speaker 1: they wanted to do despite the early pick sick by
20:37
Speaker 1: Sweat and then the third and thirty was just the
20:39
Speaker 1: most egregious play. I thought the game was over by then,
20:42
Speaker 1: even though the Eagles had a chance to come back. Uh,
20:44
Speaker 1: and they should think now, I should think that's safety too.
20:47
Speaker 1: He looked like he never played a ball in his life,
20:49
Speaker 1: the way he didn't get over there and get t
20:51
Speaker 1: Y to knock that out. So I think the Eagles
20:53
Speaker 1: will be fine. I know we're talking about Jail and
20:56
Speaker 1: Hurts possibly playing this week, but you gotta feel good
20:58
Speaker 1: after the Eagles, like we can go roll and put
21:00
Speaker 1: forty points up even without Jail and keep him healthy.
21:04
Speaker 1: Just way too many miss days yesterday, and Andrew loved
21:06
Speaker 1: the fred X reference there fourth in the Packers at
21:10
Speaker 1: home there in the playoff. We went on to lose
21:13
Speaker 1: an NFC championship game. Though after that, I know it
21:16
Speaker 1: wasn't a playoff game, but it was a playoff atmosphere
21:18
Speaker 1: certainly this past Saturday, did you also think of Freddy
21:21
Speaker 1: Mitchell there, Mark, because I as soon as it happened,
21:23
Speaker 1: I thought pretty bit. I know, very different scenario, Yeah
21:26
Speaker 1: I did not, But great reference though, great reference. I
21:29
Speaker 1: like it, Love love fred X. Let's go back to
21:34
Speaker 1: Christmas Eve again. The Texans, the Titans in Nashville. Derrick
21:37
Speaker 1: Henry owns the Texans. It's like two hundred and two
21:40
Speaker 1: touchdowns seemingly every time he faces them. However, this game
21:45
Speaker 1: did not go Tennessee's way. Here's a Derrick Henry fumble,
21:49
Speaker 1: his third this season, all in the last three weeks,
21:53
Speaker 1: and at the end, Houston did enough to win. Malik
21:56
Speaker 1: Willis did not look good. Here here's a Christian Harris pick.
22:00
Speaker 1: And so now it doesn't matter what Mike Rabel does
22:02
Speaker 1: on tn F. The division's gonna come down to Week eighteen.
22:08
Speaker 1: We got some guys that have played a lot of
22:10
Speaker 1: football for us that are are far less than and
22:14
Speaker 1: it's those guys that I appreciate that, no matter what,
22:18
Speaker 1: find a way to be here, um, you know, for
22:22
Speaker 1: this team. So we'll try to figure out who we
22:26
Speaker 1: who we have and who is available and then make
22:28
Speaker 1: some decisions. So they're both seven and eight right the
22:32
Speaker 1: Jaguars one on Thursday. Jacksonville's in first because they have
22:35
Speaker 1: the head to head. Assuming we don't have a tie
22:39
Speaker 1: week seventeen, it doesn't matter what happens Mark Ross week eighteen, Jacksonville,
22:46
Speaker 1: Tennessee will decide the division. So if Mike Brabels got
22:49
Speaker 1: a short week they play the Cowboys on t n F,
22:53
Speaker 1: wouldn't he rest a bunch of guys. Well, that's always
22:58
Speaker 1: the dilemma when you play at the end of the season.
23:01
Speaker 1: What's the philosophy. When I was with Philly, with Annie Reid,
23:04
Speaker 1: he'd like to best guys. But with Tom Coughland with
23:07
Speaker 1: the Giants, he was like, we're gonna play you guys
23:09
Speaker 1: will be up there and go play. So and it
23:11
Speaker 1: worked out kind of both ways for us where we
23:14
Speaker 1: kind of kept a man, I'm going into playoffs end
23:16
Speaker 1: of the season with Philly, but we also did the
23:17
Speaker 1: same with the Giants where we played through and then
23:19
Speaker 1: got of course on our Super Bowl runs. So I
23:22
Speaker 1: would think he will not rest players. You can't go
23:25
Speaker 1: into that game thinking well, we're just gonna get crushed
23:27
Speaker 1: by the Cowboys, so let's rest our guy and get
23:29
Speaker 1: ready for that last game. That kind of throws off
23:31
Speaker 1: your time and throws off the practice schedule, throws off
23:33
Speaker 1: sort of the mentality of are we giving up on
23:36
Speaker 1: this season? So I would fully expect him to play
23:40
Speaker 1: most of his players. Now, if there's an exception there
23:42
Speaker 1: where a guy is really injured, you really want to
23:44
Speaker 1: get him ready, yes, one or two. But for the
23:46
Speaker 1: most part, I think you'll see most of those guys,
23:49
Speaker 1: but Jacks Titans. At the end, one team is sending
23:52
Speaker 1: with the Jags, one team going down with the Titans.
23:54
Speaker 1: I would expect the Jacks and still pull this off
23:57
Speaker 1: and take that crowd. Andrew and again just recapping. Unless
24:00
Speaker 1: we have a tie for either the Jags are the
24:03
Speaker 1: Titans this week, Week eighteen, it's winned in for either
24:08
Speaker 1: to take the a f C South. NFL Now is
24:13
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24:17
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24:20
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