Latest / NFL Now / Jalen Hurts Expected for Sunday, The Future of Kliff Kingsbury, & The Buccaneers Secures Playoff Spot

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Jalen Hurts Expected for Sunday, The Future of Kliff Kingsbury, & The Buccaneers Secures Playoff Spot · NFL Now

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Speaker 1: pick pressure finds Harris. Pittsburgh is taking the lead. The
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Speaker 1: Giant field linked into the postseason. Nobody and I mean
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Speaker 1: nobody thought this Giant team could do that. Touch stops,
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Speaker 1: Hammer Boys, average house free with the box went fire
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Speaker 1: the canvas. We're calling to the playoffs. We have three
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Speaker 1: playoff spots still open. We have home field advantage in
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Speaker 1: the number one overall seed. Also still open in both
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Speaker 1: the NFC and the a f C. Coming up shortly.
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Speaker 1: We are live in Cincinnati ahead of a Monday night
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Speaker 1: game that will have a huge say in who gets
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Speaker 1: it in the a f C. This is NFL Now
1:30
Speaker 1: on NFL Network from our newsroom in Los Angeles. My
1:33
Speaker 1: name is Andrew Cecily. I don't what a week seventeen
1:36
Speaker 1: we had. We k teen hopefully just as great. Happy
1:39
Speaker 1: New Year to you. Let's get some news right out
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Speaker 1: of the gate here, because the Philadelphia Eagles lost again yesterday.
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Speaker 1: They failed Tom Pellicero Ian Rappaport to wrap up the
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Speaker 1: number one overall seed and win the a f C
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Speaker 1: East once again Tom with Gardner minshow at quarterback, and
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Speaker 1: now they looked a week eighteen hoping Tom, but Jalen
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Speaker 1: Hurts can come back. Who knew, Andrew, not having your
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Speaker 1: m v P Canada that quarterback does have an impact
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Speaker 1: on the rest of your football team. The good news
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Speaker 1: for the Eagles is yes, they do anticipate that Jalen
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Speaker 1: Hurts will be available to them for Sunday's game against
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Speaker 1: the Giants. He made significant strides last week he got
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Speaker 1: back into a practice setting. In fact, I was told
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Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts was pushing to play this past week, but
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Speaker 1: the organization's approach all along has been making sure that
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Speaker 1: he is fully healthy with that sprain shoulder the sc
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Speaker 1: joint before he gets back onto the field. This is
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Speaker 1: not an injury that is going to require surgery. It
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Speaker 1: required rest. He got about two weeks of it, and
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Speaker 1: so at this time, with the number one seed still
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Speaker 1: on the line, certainly sounds like Jalen Hurts will be
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Speaker 1: in the lineup against New York. In other quarterback news,
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Speaker 1: the Titans have named a starting quarterback for Saturday's a
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Speaker 1: f C South title game against the Jaguars, and it
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Speaker 1: is Josh Dobbs, who made his first NFL start last
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Speaker 1: week against the Cowboys acquitted himself well overall, twenty completions
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Speaker 1: about two thirty passing yard, not huge numbers, but consider this,
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Speaker 1: leek Willis, in his three starts this season has only
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Speaker 1: thrown for about two or thirty yards total. That balance
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Speaker 1: gave them a little something extra and really Dobbs numbers
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Speaker 1: and maybe even the result of that game could have
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Speaker 1: been different if he hadn't been the victim of some
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Speaker 1: drop passes by his receiver group. So Leek Willis will
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Speaker 1: now back up Dobbs, who just a couple of weeks
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Speaker 1: ago was on the Lions practice squad, had no relationship
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Speaker 1: with anybody on the staff. The Titans needed somebody after
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Speaker 1: Ryan Tannehill or his ankle, and they lost Logan woodside
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Speaker 1: to the Falcons active roster. They settled on Dobbs and
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Speaker 1: now he's started a win or go home for them
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Speaker 1: game up for them on Saturday. It's amazing because the
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Speaker 1: Titans cannot get in as a wild card the Jaguars
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Speaker 1: if they were to lose this game in Tennessee Saturday
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Speaker 1: night Wednesday, AFC South, the Jaguars still have a shot
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Speaker 1: at the seven seat. If everyone else loses, they could
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Speaker 1: get in as a wild card. But Josh Dobbs signed
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Speaker 1: twelve days ago. He signed the Wednesday before Christmas. He's
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Speaker 1: already started one game and now he's named as the
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Speaker 1: starter for the a f C South title game on
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Speaker 1: Saturday night. It's it's truly amazing. Let's get to the
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Speaker 1: Dolphins here, ian They no longer um control their own
4:14
Speaker 1: fate so to speak. They now need to win and
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Speaker 1: have the Patriots lose. And now they have a really
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Speaker 1: big quarterback question week A team. Yeah, all sorts of
4:21
Speaker 1: quarterback questions for the Miami Dolphins. Let's start with the
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Speaker 1: quarterback who played yesterday. Started yesterday, Teddy Bridgewater suffered a
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Speaker 1: dislocated pinky on his throwing hands. You can see why
4:33
Speaker 1: it was an injury that was painful enough and just
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Speaker 1: really not functional enough to let him get out there
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Speaker 1: and finish again. He tried, tried to wrap it up,
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Speaker 1: tried to do all sorts of things, could not finish
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Speaker 1: it up, ended up being on the sideline that Skoyler
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Speaker 1: Thompson finishing the eventual loss to the Patriots. We'll see
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Speaker 1: about Bridgewater status going forward. Still getting imaging and other
4:51
Speaker 1: scanta see if there is something broken. They hope not,
4:54
Speaker 1: but we will see a plus of course to a
4:57
Speaker 1: Tugofalo is still in the NFL's concussion protocol day to
5:00
Speaker 1: day on his status and no word yet on whether
5:03
Speaker 1: or not he will put a or whether or not
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Speaker 1: he will exit the protocol meanwhile, and more quarterback news.
5:09
Speaker 1: Nick Foles, who we last saw yesterday laying on the
5:12
Speaker 1: turf boile Cavon Thibodeaux did snow Angels despite the fact
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Speaker 1: that there was actually no snow, was ruled out for
5:18
Speaker 1: this weekend for the Indianapolis coach, which means Sam Ellinger
5:22
Speaker 1: is going to start once again. Nothing broken for Folds,
5:24
Speaker 1: but in the words of Jeff Saturday, he is very sore,
5:28
Speaker 1: so he will not play in the finality. Okay, so
5:31
Speaker 1: Matt Ryan will back up Sam Linger week eighteen for
5:36
Speaker 1: the Indianapolis Colts, who will soon be looking for a
5:38
Speaker 1: new head coach. Jeff Saturday is there on an interim
5:41
Speaker 1: basis here Tom a week from today ian as well,
5:44
Speaker 1: all of us will be here inevitably talking about more
5:47
Speaker 1: coaching changes in Arizona, the Cardinals or four and twelve,
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Speaker 1: and only in the NFC the Bears have a worse record.
5:56
Speaker 1: What is Cliff Kingsbury's status? Andrew I would certainly say
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Speaker 1: it's fair to say there's mounting speculation within league circles
6:03
Speaker 1: that Cliff Kingsbury could be out after this disappointing fourth season,
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Speaker 1: But entering this past weekend's game, owner Michael Bidwell had
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Speaker 1: not informed Kingsbury of any decision He build Will has
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Speaker 1: kept this pretty close to the vest in terms of
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Speaker 1: what his plans are going to be moving forward here,
6:19
Speaker 1: and there are some complicating factors in Arizona as well.
6:22
Speaker 1: General manager Steve Time remains on a health related leave
6:26
Speaker 1: of absence. It's unclear when or if he will ever
6:29
Speaker 1: actually return to the GM job. And also the quarterback
6:33
Speaker 1: Kyler Murray towards a c L a few weeks ago.
6:36
Speaker 1: There's no certainty that he will even be ready to
6:38
Speaker 1: start the three season, so there are a lot of
6:41
Speaker 1: moving parts. Certainly, you would anticipate that any owner considering
6:45
Speaker 1: making a change is trying to figure out is there
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Speaker 1: an upgrade out there over the coach that we have
6:49
Speaker 1: in place Ian with Cliff Kingsbury, they got better from
6:52
Speaker 1: year one to year two to year three. With him
6:54
Speaker 1: and Kyler Murray together, it's obviously gone the opposite direction.
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Speaker 1: Six consecutive losses, albeit amidst a lot of trying circumstances,
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Speaker 1: including Murray's injury and the Chines circumstances really should play
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Speaker 1: into this decision for Michael Bidwell. And to reiterate what
7:08
Speaker 1: you mentioned, it does not seem like any sort of
7:09
Speaker 1: decision has been communicated to anyone in the building. They're
7:13
Speaker 1: still going about their jobs as if they are going
7:15
Speaker 1: to continue them, and that really should be the way
7:17
Speaker 1: things go until an owner makes a firm decision. But
7:20
Speaker 1: you had general manager Steve come who's status obviously changed
7:23
Speaker 1: on a health related leave of absence. Very very very
7:26
Speaker 1: difficult in the building, they're just to maintain work as usual.
7:31
Speaker 1: Was not the kind of working environment that anybody would
7:33
Speaker 1: want how much did that play into the record. How
7:36
Speaker 1: much does Calo Murray's injury going forward play into it?
7:39
Speaker 1: A lot of questions need to be asked for Michael
7:41
Speaker 1: Biddwell makes a firm decision on Cliff Kingsbury this season.
7:44
Speaker 1: A couple of weeks ago, Cliff Kingsbury was asked by
7:47
Speaker 1: a local reporter who's leading into the question by saying, Cliff,
7:49
Speaker 1: you've been a head coach about what ten years now?
7:51
Speaker 1: And it is ten and Cliff cut him off and said,
7:54
Speaker 1: it feels like a hundred. And you have to wonder
7:57
Speaker 1: does Cliff Kingsbury want to be back his head coach?
7:59
Speaker 1: But he did sign a nice new contract in the
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Speaker 1: off season, which certainly changes the math here. Ian Rappapore,
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Speaker 1: Tom Pella Sero, thank you both. Let's get back to
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Speaker 1: the Dolphins and the Patriots. We mentioned that game yesterday.
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Speaker 1: You now know that the Patriots won it. They control
8:15
Speaker 1: their playoff fate. Week eighteen. It all turned here in
8:18
Speaker 1: the third quarter when Teddy Bridgewater gets picked six by
8:21
Speaker 1: Kyle Dugger. But really the impact is the tackle that
8:24
Speaker 1: Teddy attempts right there. He's head snap back, He's okay.
8:28
Speaker 1: Concausion not an issue here, but his hand was banged up,
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Speaker 1: and now he is very much a question mark for Patriots.
8:35
Speaker 1: I mean they have their offensive question marks. But Boby
8:38
Speaker 1: Myers gets a touchdown here, they win. Here's Kyle Dugger
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Speaker 1: with Mike Giardi. You guys have talked all year long
8:44
Speaker 1: about just trying to stay in the fight. Stay in
8:46
Speaker 1: the fight. You did it again today. Just talk about
8:47
Speaker 1: the resiliency of this group. Uh, it's everything. We know
8:51
Speaker 1: what we gotta do. We know what's important. Man. We
8:53
Speaker 1: know we gotta stick stick in every game, and you
8:56
Speaker 1: stay in there, like you just said, so you know
8:58
Speaker 1: they althman is uh chake me through the interception because
9:01
Speaker 1: that was really the turning point in the game. Just
9:03
Speaker 1: we're in the quarterbat, we're in the backs. He saw
9:06
Speaker 1: me coming from the so I'll just able to get
9:09
Speaker 1: my hands on her three touchdowns. Now you're gonna start
9:12
Speaker 1: campaigning to play offense. I'm gonna leave that alone. I'm
9:15
Speaker 1: I'm gonna play before he turn on. Kyle Dugger's Lenora Ryan. Yes,
9:20
Speaker 1: he went to an institution named Lenora Ryan. Google it.
9:24
Speaker 1: He was dangerous anytime he caught the football. The Patriots
9:27
Speaker 1: could be dangerous with their defense as well. They are
9:29
Speaker 1: the seven seed and they are winning in in Week eighteen.
9:33
Speaker 1: If they stumbled, then the Dolphins can get in. The
9:36
Speaker 1: Steelers and the Titans also have other scenarios for the Titans. Obviously,
9:39
Speaker 1: clear shot is when the division. Only shot is when
9:43
Speaker 1: the division Mike Giardi Gidi Batista with me. Now, Mike,
9:46
Speaker 1: start with you talking to Kyle Dugger. There the defense
9:48
Speaker 1: did its job. Has the offense done enough here too
9:54
Speaker 1: to maybe allay some of the fears you're laughing, I
9:58
Speaker 1: guess not. Well. I mean, so twenty seven touchdowns from
10:01
Speaker 1: the offense in sixteen games this year, Andrew, that's one
10:04
Speaker 1: point seven touched per game. That's not enough in the
10:06
Speaker 1: National Football League. Thankfully, the defense has scored a bunch
10:09
Speaker 1: as we've mentioned, that sort of helped them push them
10:11
Speaker 1: over the twenty points per game mark. But they need more.
10:14
Speaker 1: But I will say this, when they absolutely positively had
10:17
Speaker 1: to have in the game yesterday, I thought they had
10:19
Speaker 1: their best drive of the entire season, up sixteen fourteen,
10:24
Speaker 1: eleven plays, eighty nine yards over five minutes on the clock,
10:27
Speaker 1: a couple of huge third down completions from Mac Jones.
10:31
Speaker 1: Jacoby Myers also a pass interference and Myers drew on
10:34
Speaker 1: a well thrown ball by Jones, and I thought he
10:37
Speaker 1: was in command on that drive, changed a couple of plays,
10:39
Speaker 1: just looked really efficient, looked really comfortable, and to me,
10:43
Speaker 1: it's also being in synct with the play calling. I
10:45
Speaker 1: thought there was some coordination there that looked better than
10:48
Speaker 1: it has for a better part of the year. And
10:50
Speaker 1: then when you get down to the goal line, understanding
10:52
Speaker 1: that Riley is out there on an island with Jacobe Myers,
10:56
Speaker 1: somebody screwed up for the Dolphins, and he said, we're
10:58
Speaker 1: changing the play. As David Andrews, the center, said, I
11:01
Speaker 1: snapped the ball. I had no idea that was what
11:03
Speaker 1: was gonna happen, but indeed it does. The touchdown catcher Myers,
11:06
Speaker 1: who by the way, did get banged up on the place.
11:07
Speaker 1: Something to keep in mind as we go for But
11:09
Speaker 1: I thought there was a good amount of control there
11:12
Speaker 1: and the vibe coming off the field as I'm standing
11:14
Speaker 1: there after interviewing Dugger and seeing Matt Patricia and Mac
11:18
Speaker 1: Jones go off the field together, big smiles on their faces.
11:21
Speaker 1: It's been a trying season, but they put themselves in
11:23
Speaker 1: a position where one win gets them in or some
11:26
Speaker 1: help gets them in. But I think they built a
11:27
Speaker 1: little confidence. Yes, I'm curious to see if it carries
11:30
Speaker 1: over in Buffalo next weekend and maybe something there between
11:33
Speaker 1: Mac Jones and and Matt Patricia that can work moving forward.
11:36
Speaker 1: You have to coordinate, as as somebody once said, Um, judy,
11:41
Speaker 1: the Dolphins have to figure out their quarterback situations. Fascinating
11:43
Speaker 1: how Week eighteen or the playoffs in the off season,
11:46
Speaker 1: how it's all kind of linked together here with big
11:48
Speaker 1: decisions coming in the off season. They win three in
11:51
Speaker 1: a row, they lose three in a row, they win
11:52
Speaker 1: five in a row, and now they lose five and
11:55
Speaker 1: row and now they need help. Well, it actually goes
11:59
Speaker 1: all the way back to the last off season when
12:00
Speaker 1: you build a roster that has a lot of great players,
12:03
Speaker 1: but great players who have in histories. Unfortunately, it all
12:07
Speaker 1: came together yesterday for the Miami Dolphins. Lots of injured
12:11
Speaker 1: players not playing and the ones who were playing, like
12:14
Speaker 1: Teddy Bridgewater Um got injured again. So yes, obviously the
12:18
Speaker 1: most pressing question is who's going to play quarterback? Um.
12:21
Speaker 1: That was a somewhat encouraging report from Ian and Tom
12:25
Speaker 1: about potentially Teddy's availability that they don't believe that the
12:28
Speaker 1: finger is broken, so maybe he can go, but certainly
12:31
Speaker 1: you would think that might affect his ability to throw accurately. Mike,
12:35
Speaker 1: you already mentioned this when we spoke about a half
12:38
Speaker 1: hour ago, and that was somehow. No matter who the
12:41
Speaker 1: quarterback is, they got to figure out a way to
12:43
Speaker 1: get the ball in the hands of their most dynamic playmakers,
12:46
Speaker 1: Jalen Waddle and Tyreek Hill. They didn't really do it
12:49
Speaker 1: much yesterday. They were held to their few as combined
12:52
Speaker 1: yards since week five. Um, nobody expects expects if it's
12:56
Speaker 1: Teddy Bridgewater to go downfield with those big passes the
12:59
Speaker 1: way to it can do, but they do need to
13:02
Speaker 1: get the ball into their hands and let them create something.
13:05
Speaker 1: They had no explosion like that. They were taking all
13:07
Speaker 1: of those short, checked down passes. That was working for them,
13:11
Speaker 1: but of course they weren't able to roll up the
13:13
Speaker 1: points that they needed. So lots of things to see
13:16
Speaker 1: as the week progresses. If Teddy can go, if not,
13:20
Speaker 1: we will see the third string quarterback again. It is
13:23
Speaker 1: a very tough go for the Miami Dolphins, but again
13:25
Speaker 1: they have a relatively easy path still to the playoffs
13:29
Speaker 1: would be Skyler Thompson potentially here against Mike White, but
13:33
Speaker 1: the Jets are eliminated. It's fascinating here the Dolphins, by
13:37
Speaker 1: the way, that losing streak there the second team in
13:40
Speaker 1: the last seven seasons to follow a five game win
13:43
Speaker 1: streak with a five game losing streak. You know. The
13:46
Speaker 1: other one was last year was the Dolphins. G Batista
13:49
Speaker 1: Mike Giardi and hats off to Adrian Research for that
13:51
Speaker 1: great note. Broncos in Chiefs here, Jerry Rossberg making his
13:55
Speaker 1: interim head coaching, gave you sixties seven years old, finally
13:58
Speaker 1: gets his shot here and look, Russell Wilson and the
14:00
Speaker 1: Broncos made some plays. They made this game interesting, as
14:03
Speaker 1: they did in Week fourteen. But this interception to the
14:05
Speaker 1: fourth quarter by Legarius Sneed would lead to Patrick Mahomes
14:08
Speaker 1: kidding Jerick mckinnons, who continues his touchdown splurged the second
14:13
Speaker 1: half of the season, and the Chiefs win again. It
14:15
Speaker 1: was a close one, but they have a shot at
14:17
Speaker 1: number one. I mean just the fact that we battled through.
14:24
Speaker 1: I mean the team, the defense played their tell off
14:27
Speaker 1: and put him in a lot of bad situations and
14:28
Speaker 1: they kept making stops, especially in that second half. Um,
14:31
Speaker 1: I thought that the olon played well. I thought the
14:34
Speaker 1: receivers and tight ends played well, and I just gotta
14:37
Speaker 1: be better at putting the ball on them in good spots.
14:39
Speaker 1: I feel like I didn't play at the top of
14:41
Speaker 1: my game today, um, And I thought guys around me
14:43
Speaker 1: stepped up. So, I mean, that's the best thing I
14:44
Speaker 1: took from it was I'm always had my best up
14:47
Speaker 1: and the best stuff, and when guys around me step
14:48
Speaker 1: up and we can still win football games. It's a
14:50
Speaker 1: good song. We don't let him know what's it mean.
14:57
Speaker 1: You gotta show him. I'm a fighter. I mean down
15:01
Speaker 1: want a good coming town, I got. I mean right there, listen,
15:26
Speaker 1: the Bills are gonna win the MS East Cincinnati seventh
15:29
Speaker 1: win came. Yeah, this game is big. This game is
15:37
Speaker 1: on paper as good a Monday Night game as we
15:39
Speaker 1: have had since the seventies where they started Monday Night
15:43
Speaker 1: Football and the Browns played the Jets in Cleveland, week
15:46
Speaker 1: number one of Monday Night Football. It's the Bills, It's
15:50
Speaker 1: the Chiefs. It's a battle of Josh Allen and Joe Burrow.
15:53
Speaker 1: It's Camp Wolf getting great weather in Cincinnati. Camp let's
15:57
Speaker 1: talk about these quarterbacks. Let's talk about Burrow, who, after
16:00
Speaker 1: that slow start there oh and two and the sky
16:03
Speaker 1: is falling, has turned in it on. What are they
16:06
Speaker 1: saying about him? They're in Cincinnati. Yeah, this Bengals offense
16:09
Speaker 1: is taken off because of Joe Burrow's command at the
16:12
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage, but also his ability to make quicker
16:15
Speaker 1: decisions with his offensive line. But the overwhelming trade when
16:18
Speaker 1: I talk to people here is Joe Burrow's mentality. And
16:21
Speaker 1: Bengals center Ted Carriss told me, look, Joe is very
16:24
Speaker 1: level headed, but he's a killer inside, so much so
16:27
Speaker 1: that in pregame workouts, I do my handshake with them,
16:30
Speaker 1: take a few snaps, and then I get out of
16:32
Speaker 1: the way. I do not want to bother that guy.
16:34
Speaker 1: But during the week in the locker room, we play
16:36
Speaker 1: a card game called Talk and Burrow usually wins, but
16:39
Speaker 1: I won this week and he was not happy about it.
16:42
Speaker 1: And also another nugget from Carriss, who spent four years
16:45
Speaker 1: with Tom Brady in New England, now nine months with Burrow.
16:48
Speaker 1: He said Burrows not on Tom's level of stardom yet,
16:51
Speaker 1: but he will be. And two things that stand out
16:53
Speaker 1: on both of them is their urgency and rapport with
16:56
Speaker 1: everyone inside the building. And as I mentioned at the top,
16:59
Speaker 1: one thing to watch today, how Burrow gets the ball
17:02
Speaker 1: out of his hands quickly and takes those checkdowns is
17:05
Speaker 1: something he's been really proficient on, particularly since the mid
17:08
Speaker 1: level of the season. And so sacks have gone down,
17:11
Speaker 1: offensive production is going up. They'll need that a lot
17:13
Speaker 1: today with right tackle Al Collins out, and the Buffalo
17:17
Speaker 1: wants to take advantage of that. Absolutely Collins a c l.
17:20
Speaker 1: He is not coming back this year. Meantime, let's talk
17:24
Speaker 1: nice things about the other quarterback, Josh Allen. I mean,
17:26
Speaker 1: the numbers are off the chart. I think the numbers
17:28
Speaker 1: obviously tell a story. Also the fact that when you
17:31
Speaker 1: turn on the tape, all the guys doing is taking
17:32
Speaker 1: the team on his back cam Josh Allen, special quarterback.
17:36
Speaker 1: I spoke with some Bingals players and coaches this week
17:39
Speaker 1: who told me, look, this guy is similar to Patrick
17:42
Speaker 1: Mahomes and how he is thins plays and looks down
17:45
Speaker 1: field at all times. One Bengals player told me he's
17:48
Speaker 1: the best in the league and backyard football creating those
17:51
Speaker 1: players off of broken place. And so what do you
17:53
Speaker 1: do about that well. Their motto this weekend meeting rooms
17:56
Speaker 1: has been to minimize the damage. Give up yards but
18:00
Speaker 1: not points. And one thing about Alan is he breaks
18:04
Speaker 1: game plans. One matchup that I would circle today is
18:07
Speaker 1: Alan and Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson. They were teammates at
18:11
Speaker 1: the University of Wyoming, and Wilson told me this week, look,
18:14
Speaker 1: I was not allowed to hit him in Wyoming. He
18:16
Speaker 1: was off limits. But I've been looking forward to this
18:19
Speaker 1: game since the schedule came out, and Alan's ability with
18:22
Speaker 1: his legs is something Bengals have talked about all week.
18:24
Speaker 1: Wilson said, I heard Alan say in the media this
18:27
Speaker 1: week that he'll slide instead of leaping or trucking me.
18:30
Speaker 1: Those are all mind games. When we're on the field,
18:32
Speaker 1: we're gonna be ready to play. And one more thing
18:35
Speaker 1: to watch here, Andrew very warm in Cincinnati today. It's
18:38
Speaker 1: in the sixties, should be fifties all the way up
18:40
Speaker 1: into a game day, but around eleven o'clock there's a
18:43
Speaker 1: heavy chance of raining the forecast, and so fourth quarter
18:46
Speaker 1: we may have a little bit of a different different
18:48
Speaker 1: temperature and uh acclament change that the players have to do.
18:52
Speaker 1: Interesting here, also looking at the top of the standings here,
18:54
Speaker 1: Buffalo two wins and you get the number one overall seed.
18:58
Speaker 1: If the Bengals can win tonight, did win next week.
19:01
Speaker 1: In case loses next week, then that building where and
19:05
Speaker 1: Wolf stands right now, will be home field advantage in
19:09
Speaker 1: the a f C playoffs. Thank you, Cam Huge. Monday
19:12
Speaker 1: Night King playoffs are not on the line in Denver
19:14
Speaker 1: and the Broncos were eliminated a couple of weeks ago.
19:17
Speaker 1: Nathaniel Hackett has been fired their own one with Jerry Rossberg,
19:21
Speaker 1: and now evidently Jim Harbaugh has entered the chat. Yeah,
19:25
Speaker 1: Jim Harbaugh seems like he's been in the chat for
19:28
Speaker 1: the Denver Broncos, maybe for the Indianapolis Colts. It seems
19:31
Speaker 1: this is something I've reported with my good friend and
19:34
Speaker 1: colleague Tom Post here, who's right over there. Uh, that
19:37
Speaker 1: NFL teams are kind of taking the temperature of Jim Harbaugh,
19:40
Speaker 1: and it doesn't seem like those temperatures have been entirely rebuffed.
19:44
Speaker 1: We'll see how much interest Harbor actually for real has
19:48
Speaker 1: in the NFL. I know this is something he's kind
19:50
Speaker 1: of danced with the past couple of years. Last year
19:52
Speaker 1: at an interview with the Minnesota Vikings did not go
19:54
Speaker 1: great obviously, but maybe back in the same spot, and
19:57
Speaker 1: it does seem tom the Denver Broncos want to swing big.
20:01
Speaker 1: Some other big names out there, but Harbor would definitely
20:05
Speaker 1: would be one of them. Sean Payton and Dan Quinn
20:07
Speaker 1: also on the list expected to be among the top
20:09
Speaker 1: targets for the Broncos. But Jim Harbaugh is intriguing for
20:12
Speaker 1: a lot of different reasons. He has won every place
20:15
Speaker 1: he's been. Of course, that includes that stint with the
20:18
Speaker 1: forty Niners where they got the three NFC title games
20:20
Speaker 1: on a Super Bowl in Harbaugh's four seasons there. He's
20:23
Speaker 1: got the natural connection to Indianapolis, where of course he's
20:26
Speaker 1: in their Ring of Honor as a player, and for
20:28
Speaker 1: the Broncos there are some connections there too, including the
20:30
Speaker 1: fact that the member of the Broncos ownership group, Conda
20:33
Speaker 1: Leeza Rice, who's also going to be part of their
20:35
Speaker 1: search committee as deep ties at Stanford, which is where
20:38
Speaker 1: Harbaugh was coaching prior to his first in the NFL.
20:41
Speaker 1: And Colts finished their game yesterday with Sam Ellinger wearing
20:44
Speaker 1: a Jim Harbaugh jersey and they were losing yet again.
20:48
Speaker 1: Thank you, Tom Pellicero and Ian Rappaport Coming up next
20:53
Speaker 1: that Aaron Rodgers Jersey looks right, looks pretty good right now.
20:57
Speaker 1: Ten's not on the field, twelve is and they're winning
20:59
Speaker 1: and they control their own playoff destiny, for whatever that's worth.
21:03
Speaker 1: The Green Bays story coming up X all right, didn't
21:12
Speaker 1: you used to be a team that was out of it?
21:13
Speaker 1: And Jordan's love is gonna have to play? Yeah, that
21:16
Speaker 1: that's no longer than narrative fear for the Green Bay
21:18
Speaker 1: Packers who continue to win. They've won four in a row.
21:21
Speaker 1: They did it with special teams yesterday, did it with
21:23
Speaker 1: defense yesterday. Here's a Darnell Savage pick six. He had
21:29
Speaker 1: a convoy a seventy five yard Darnell Savage touchdown. They
21:34
Speaker 1: get a kick return touchdown, but Keshaw Nixon to pick
21:37
Speaker 1: six in the same game for the first time since
21:41
Speaker 1: nineteen sixteven. And Aaron Rodgers is doing this. He's got
21:45
Speaker 1: a run game, he's finding Robert Touny in they're a
21:47
Speaker 1: winning And now, if you believe in destiny, Aaron, do
21:50
Speaker 1: you believe in destiny, you control your own destiny? I
21:56
Speaker 1: know not many people in that locker room, and definitely
21:59
Speaker 1: not many of you people, uh believe we'd be sitting
22:03
Speaker 1: here at eight and eight with control our own destiny
22:06
Speaker 1: going into week eight. Team pretty special. I definitely had
22:10
Speaker 1: faith I was going to go down scrapping for sure.
22:15
Speaker 1: I do believe in the power of manifestation, and uh,
22:20
Speaker 1: I do believe in momentum. I believe of the I
22:24
Speaker 1: believe strongly in the force of the mind. And when
22:30
Speaker 1: you start to believe something strongly, that some miraculous things
22:35
Speaker 1: can happen. The fact that we came back from four
22:38
Speaker 1: and eight and put ourselves in a position to make
22:42
Speaker 1: the playoffs is pretty special. Now. I believe that a
22:46
Speaker 1: lot has happened in our favor, and that's pretty obvious. Um.
22:51
Speaker 1: Every game that needed to go away just about went
22:54
Speaker 1: our way, including shout out to a VP and the
22:58
Speaker 1: Browns today, you know, with a big win in Washington.
23:03
Speaker 1: I was definitely watching it in the back equipment room,
23:09
Speaker 1: cheering along. The Browns were becoming a more dangerous team.
23:12
Speaker 1: And you know, we've all seen some of the commentary
23:15
Speaker 1: outside as we went from four and eight to five
23:18
Speaker 1: and eight to six and eight, and nobody's worried about
23:19
Speaker 1: the Packers and blah blah blah blah blah ah. Now
23:23
Speaker 1: what are you gonna say? Honestly, I could do an
23:27
Speaker 1: hour deconstructing that. I really think we should. Here's the
23:30
Speaker 1: NFC playoff picture. The only two teams locked into the
23:33
Speaker 1: spots right now. The Niners are bigger part the Bucks
23:37
Speaker 1: and the Giants. The Bucks of the four seed, the
23:40
Speaker 1: Giants of the sixth seed. That can't change. Everything else
23:42
Speaker 1: can change, including the Packers winning and getting in. They
23:45
Speaker 1: beat the Lions, they are in. Tom Tella Sero was
23:49
Speaker 1: there at Lamba Mark Ross with me as well. Packers
23:52
Speaker 1: have won four in a row. They've silenced their doubters. Tom.
23:55
Speaker 1: For a while there it sounded like Kevin Costner's speech
23:58
Speaker 1: as Crash Davison Bull Durham. He wants the constitutional amendment
24:02
Speaker 1: outlawing AstroTurf and the designated hitter. He believes in in
24:06
Speaker 1: everything he says he believes, And how are they here?
24:09
Speaker 1: That's a great question, Andrew. I think a lot of
24:11
Speaker 1: the credit goes not just to Aaron Rodgers and the
24:13
Speaker 1: guys in the locker room, but also to coach Matt Lafleur,
24:16
Speaker 1: who was answering questions a month ago about when he
24:19
Speaker 1: was gonna sit Aaron Rodgers down should they be turning
24:22
Speaker 1: to Jordan's love. Rodgers has beat up what's wrong with
24:25
Speaker 1: the offense, certainly what's wrong with the defense, and the
24:28
Speaker 1: fleur just kind of pushed through and encourage that the
24:30
Speaker 1: other guys to attack it as well. It got going
24:33
Speaker 1: around the time of that first game against the Bears,
24:35
Speaker 1: of course where they went to Chicago, and one before
24:37
Speaker 1: they're very late week fourteen by I talked to Alan
24:40
Speaker 1: Lazart last week and he said that bye when it
24:43
Speaker 1: came with a really big rejuvenation for everybody in the building.
24:46
Speaker 1: So they needed to get healthy. They had been beat up,
24:49
Speaker 1: particularly along the offensive line. One of the few times
24:51
Speaker 1: yesterday they actually had David Botr and Elton Jenkins playing
24:55
Speaker 1: together up front. You saw them run the ball right
24:58
Speaker 1: down the throats of that Vikings defense there. And they've
25:01
Speaker 1: kept together as a group amidst difficult circumstances. Now game
25:05
Speaker 1: to win it and uh knock off the Lions getting
25:07
Speaker 1: to the postseason, yep. And that I'm gonna guess is
25:10
Speaker 1: the Sunday night game. We don't know for certain that
25:12
Speaker 1: will be announced a little bit later today game two
25:16
Speaker 1: seventy two, as it will be in the regular season. Mark.
25:19
Speaker 1: The other side of this is the Vikings can no
25:21
Speaker 1: longer get to the one seed. The Vikings have had
25:24
Speaker 1: so many doubters and so many critics all year long,
25:28
Speaker 1: and yesterday they started well, I mean they had the
25:30
Speaker 1: fake I mean the block punt, they get the end zone,
25:32
Speaker 1: everyone's happy, and then seemingly they proved the doubters right
25:36
Speaker 1: the you people's as Aaron Rodgers will call the doubters.
25:39
Speaker 1: So yes, the Vikings team with the eleven win by
25:42
Speaker 1: one score. But all season long we're talking about is
25:45
Speaker 1: this team legit? Are they for real? Well, and when
25:48
Speaker 1: they've got to Buffalo and got to eight one, when
25:50
Speaker 1: he went to Buffalo and beat Buffalo, it was yes, finally,
25:53
Speaker 1: yes they are legit. We'll remember the next week. Then
25:56
Speaker 1: they went and got the doors blown off by Dallas
25:58
Speaker 1: and they looked bad. They fell apart. Since that they've
26:01
Speaker 1: been four and three, so they've been kind of regrets.
26:04
Speaker 1: To the mean, really what most people thought almost a
26:07
Speaker 1: five dred team, and then when you go and have
26:09
Speaker 1: a performance like that yesterday where they look bad in
26:13
Speaker 1: all phases started out with the block punt. Yes, the
26:16
Speaker 1: Viking is gonna start strong. Well, it was all downhill
26:18
Speaker 1: from there. Gave up the kick return touchdown, pick six
26:22
Speaker 1: is four turnovers, penalties at inopportune times, and they just
26:26
Speaker 1: look like a bad football team in all phases. So
26:30
Speaker 1: where did the Vikings go from here? Can they get
26:32
Speaker 1: back and get back to the team that beat Buffalo
26:36
Speaker 1: miraculously but still a wain? Or are they? Are they
26:39
Speaker 1: this team that has got completely blown out. Every team's
26:42
Speaker 1: gonna lose, but they have looked spectacularly bad when they've
26:45
Speaker 1: had these two losses against Buffalo and Green Bay. So
26:48
Speaker 1: where what team is going to show up the rest
26:49
Speaker 1: of the way. The Eagles have dropped tune in a row.
26:52
Speaker 1: The Vikings dropped an ugly one yesterday. Fortys keep on winning.
26:57
Speaker 1: We'll get to them in a little bit. NFC top
26:59
Speaker 1: of it is fascinating. Thank you Mark, Thank you Tom.
27:06
Speaker 1: So there was a point yesterday where it looked as
27:09
Speaker 1: if Tom Brady and the Buccaneers would not win the
27:12
Speaker 1: NFC South, that they would be fighting for a wild card,
27:16
Speaker 1: that they that they would just have a horrible end
27:20
Speaker 1: of their season. They're down fourteen to nothing. Then they're
27:23
Speaker 1: down twenty one to ten, and it's all Brady and
27:26
Speaker 1: Mike Evans and the third and fourth quarters here, Mike
27:29
Speaker 1: Evans had over two hundred yards receiving three touchdowns, Tom
27:33
Speaker 1: Brady four hundred thirty two yards passing. It's into the
27:37
Speaker 1: eleventh career game with over four hundred and three touchdowns,
27:42
Speaker 1: and hey, look they won the division again. They rally
27:47
Speaker 1: and beat the Panthers thirty twenty four. What today from
27:50
Speaker 1: Mike Evans here he is with Sarah Walsh, It just
27:54
Speaker 1: makes it all worth it. You know, the ball hasn't
27:55
Speaker 1: been bounced on our way this year, penalties being on discipline,
27:59
Speaker 1: guy's getting injured, losing games that we should win, and
28:02
Speaker 1: it feels really good to you know, put point our
28:04
Speaker 1: tickets to the postseason. I feel like we played better
28:07
Speaker 1: when our backs against the wall. It feels like that.
28:09
Speaker 1: It's been that scenario for most of this year too.
28:12
Speaker 1: Today though, the deep ball for you for Brady three
28:14
Speaker 1: touchdowns of Monster game, two hundred and seven yards. What
28:16
Speaker 1: was the difference for you guys on that connection. Tom
28:20
Speaker 1: was giving me a lot of opportunities and he just
28:23
Speaker 1: kept telling me, I'm gonna keep coming to you, and um,
28:25
Speaker 1: you know, I run some good routes and he threw
28:27
Speaker 1: some unbelievable passes and then they give me right in
28:29
Speaker 1: the bread baskets. And the Tampa Bay Bucceteer has been
28:34
Speaker 1: back to back division titles for the first time in
28:36
Speaker 1: franchise history. And they are locked in as the four seed.
28:40
Speaker 1: They're not moving. They are the four seed and they
28:42
Speaker 1: will host whichever team doesn't win the NFC East. Right now,
28:47
Speaker 1: it's the Cowboys, and all likelyho the Cowboys, right if
28:50
Speaker 1: the Eagles were to stumble somehow, that Philadelphia would fall
28:53
Speaker 1: down to that five seat. Sarah Walsh, they're talking to
28:55
Speaker 1: Mike Evans. We're in the old school. Jordan Jersey now
28:57
Speaker 1: with us live in Tampa and Mark Ross as well. Sarah.
29:02
Speaker 1: I know we've we've said so many times in our
29:04
Speaker 1: converse stations. Well we say this every week. So here's
29:07
Speaker 1: another one. We say this every week. If the Bucketeers
29:10
Speaker 1: can just bottle like a couple of minutes of offense
29:13
Speaker 1: here that they put together in the second half, then
29:16
Speaker 1: they can keep on winning. Do they think they can
29:18
Speaker 1: do that? Here's why they think that they can do that.
29:22
Speaker 1: There has been this since all season long. If they
29:25
Speaker 1: could just get on the same page, if they could
29:27
Speaker 1: just hang on to get into the postseason and then
29:30
Speaker 1: get guys healthy, that maybe, just maybe this Bucks team
29:34
Speaker 1: can make the runs we've seen them make before. And
29:36
Speaker 1: here's why you have reason for optimism. They put up
29:39
Speaker 1: thirty points yesterday. We haven't seen that since Week four.
29:41
Speaker 1: They've only done it twice this year. But man, it
29:44
Speaker 1: looked real easy between Brady and Evans and even Brady
29:47
Speaker 1: and Godwin yesterday. And then you look at his offensive
29:49
Speaker 1: line and some of the reason that Todd bowls so
29:51
Speaker 1: that he was able to hit Mike Evans is because
29:53
Speaker 1: he had time to let things develop down field. Well,
29:56
Speaker 1: Tristan Worth, their pro bowler, offensive lineman, he's been battling
29:59
Speaker 1: through injuries. He was out there, he left the field singing.
30:02
Speaker 1: Yesterday he's back. Donovan Smith was back. And then the
30:04
Speaker 1: big guess piece to perhaps this puzzle on the offensive
30:07
Speaker 1: line that has troubled the Buccaneers is their center. Bryan Jensen,
30:10
Speaker 1: the pro bowler who went down on day two of
30:13
Speaker 1: training camp practice, came back last week and just started practicing.
30:17
Speaker 1: It was thought he was going to be lost for
30:18
Speaker 1: the year, and then there's been this sense of hold on,
30:21
Speaker 1: maybe if there's a playoff run, we can get them back.
30:23
Speaker 1: Todd Bowles was asked just a little while ago today
30:26
Speaker 1: if there's a chance you see Jensen next week against
30:29
Speaker 1: the Falcons, and he said he didn't think so, not yet,
30:31
Speaker 1: but he'd see how the week progresses. And it's just
30:34
Speaker 1: like another piece of this storyline that these Bucks think
30:37
Speaker 1: that they can get these guys back and be ready
30:40
Speaker 1: to make a run. And I want to go some
30:41
Speaker 1: back to something you just said Andrew right now, it
30:44
Speaker 1: would shake out that they would play the Dallas Cowboys. Well,
30:47
Speaker 1: the best the Buccaneers have played this entire season was
30:49
Speaker 1: against the Cowboys, probably in Week one. It was a
30:52
Speaker 1: huge victory in Dallas. So you want to talk about
30:54
Speaker 1: confidence and why they think that they can do it,
30:56
Speaker 1: They've already done it to the Cowboys once before, so
30:59
Speaker 1: you better believe that this team is on swinging in
31:01
Speaker 1: the right direction and feels like they perhaps could do
31:04
Speaker 1: it in And that help boils down to is the talent, Sarah.
31:09
Speaker 1: And that's because they've got a ton of talent, and
31:11
Speaker 1: despite their missteps this year and looking at disorganized that
31:15
Speaker 1: bad coaching decisions. We saw some of that yesterday as well,
31:18
Speaker 1: right before the half not calling time outs. There's still
31:21
Speaker 1: some of that. There's still that hope because you do
31:23
Speaker 1: have Tom Brady at quarterback the greatest ever, You still
31:26
Speaker 1: have Mike Evans at receiver on top tier receivers still,
31:31
Speaker 1: and you have the talent to take advantage of those
31:35
Speaker 1: missteps that you have. Unlike some other teams, you say, well,
31:37
Speaker 1: they get better at this, get better at that, but
31:39
Speaker 1: if you don't have the talent to do it, you
31:41
Speaker 1: can't improve. The Bucks have that talent if they bring
31:44
Speaker 1: it all together, start playing consistently, stop making mistakes. You
31:49
Speaker 1: saw what they what they performance that they had yesterday,
31:52
Speaker 1: and take advantage of what other teams do. Inexplicably, the
31:55
Speaker 1: Panthers kept playing man on Mike Evans after playing so
31:59
Speaker 1: great on defense. For that stress. Tom Brady and Evans
32:01
Speaker 1: took advantage of that, and you'll see more of that
32:04
Speaker 1: if they can just it on the same page, play consistently.
32:07
Speaker 1: You could see more performances like that from Tampa Andrew
32:09
Speaker 1: and if the Bucks lose wig a team Todd Bowls
32:11
Speaker 1: like like Sarah said, said He's gonna play as many
32:14
Speaker 1: guys as he can for as long as he can here.
32:16
Speaker 1: They would go into the playoffs as a as a
32:18
Speaker 1: losing team at eight and nine. We we still could
32:20
Speaker 1: have three losing teams in the playoffs because if Tennessee wins,
32:25
Speaker 1: they win the South with a losing record, Jacksonville could
32:28
Speaker 1: back in even with the loss as the seven seed. Collectively,
32:32
Speaker 1: we have had three teams with losing records ever make
32:35
Speaker 1: the NFL playoffs. The Bucks could be one of three
32:38
Speaker 1: to do it this year and could still win a
32:41
Speaker 1: home game. Thank you, Sarah, Thank you Mark. NFL Now
32:51
Speaker 1: is a production of the NFL in partnership with my
32:54
Speaker 1: Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit
32:57
Speaker 1: the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
33:01
Speaker 1: get your podcasts.