Latest / NFL Power Rankings / #18: Buying or Selling the Buffalo Bills?

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#18: Buying or Selling the Buffalo Bills? · NFL Power Rankings

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  Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
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  Speaker 1: partnership with iHeartRadio.
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  Speaker 2: New Year, Everybody, It is our first twenty twenty four
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  Speaker 2: edition of the NFL Power Ranking Show, presented to you
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  Speaker 2: by Energizer from our studio in Los Angeles. My name
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  Speaker 2: is ANDREWS. Siciliano. On the other side of the screen
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  Speaker 2: at the home of the first pick of the twenty
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  Speaker 2: twenty four NFL Draft, Eric at home, Happy twenty twenty
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  Speaker 2: forty you.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, all my neighbors seem very excited about that fact.
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  Speaker 3: Bears are playing well. Times are good around here.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. What's worth more? Trading justin fields or trading the
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  Speaker 2: number one pick or maybe he knows anyway, we'll get
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  Speaker 2: to that in a little bit. And to nobody's surprise
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  Speaker 2: for the new year, the Baltimore Ravens, who molly wopped
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  Speaker 2: the Dolphins are still number one, followed by the team
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  Speaker 2: the molly wop last week. The forty nine or two
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  Speaker 2: are two. Then the Cowboys, who are up three somehow,
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  Speaker 2: the Dolphins, who are down only one despite getting laughed
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  Speaker 2: at in Baltimore. The Lions are five, the Bills are six,
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  Speaker 2: the Browns are seven, and the Kansas City Chiefs are
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  Speaker 2: number eight. The team of the week, not surprisingly at
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  Speaker 2: home the Baltimore Ravens. The Team of the week is
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  Speaker 2: presented by Truest. They're the team of the week. They're
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  Speaker 2: the team of the year, the year being twenty twenty four.
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  Speaker 2: I honestly, Eric, don't know who can beat them.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's the question we're sort of left to ask ourselves. Right,
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  Speaker 3: you start with all these teams in playoff contention, you say,
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  Speaker 3: not that one, that one's already lost to them, and
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  Speaker 3: you go down the list and it is hard to
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  Speaker 3: find them.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 3: We know the Browns have beaten we know the forty
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  Speaker 3: nine Ers got to whip by him a few weeks ago.
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  Speaker 3: Maybe a rematch in the super Bowl looks a little different.
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  Speaker 3: But still, as you said, I just think the list
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  Speaker 3: is very small, and that's what makes them the clear
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  Speaker 3: cut number one, even though I still feel like they
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  Speaker 3: are kind of in their own tier with the forty
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  Speaker 3: nine Ers being second, but not as far down as
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  Speaker 3: the number three team.
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  Speaker 2: I know this is the power ranking show, not the
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  Speaker 2: MVP ranking show, But do we agree that Lamar locked
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  Speaker 2: up the MVP on Sunday's is?
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  Speaker 3: I think it is? Yeah? He's sort of the big
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  Speaker 3: favorite now anyway. But yeah, people need to see that
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  Speaker 3: big performance. They got it two weeks ago against the Niners.
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  Speaker 3: They got it again Sunday against the Dolphins. So when
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  Speaker 3: you stack those big performances like that and you play
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  Speaker 3: the position he does, you start winning over the people
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  Speaker 3: who for years have denied that Lamar should be a
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  Speaker 3: second time MVP. He's gonna get it done this year.
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  Speaker 2: I suspect and they say it's going to be different
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  Speaker 2: than it was in twenty nineteen with last he won
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  Speaker 2: the MVP. That's good. They are at home. They only
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  Speaker 2: have to play two games to get to Vegas. I
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  Speaker 2: just can't see anyone going in there. The only team
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  Speaker 2: that really has done that is the Browns this year.
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  Speaker 2: We'll get to them coming up at a second. The
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  Speaker 2: team that the Ravens ripped on Christmas Night, Eric, let's
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  Speaker 2: get to them. Are the one seed in the NFC.
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  Speaker 2: The Niners wrapped their home field advantage up as well
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  Speaker 2: on Sunday because they want and obviously the Eagles lost
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  Speaker 2: to the Cardinals. The Eagles are in the B block
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  Speaker 2: TV term of this show. Wow, we'll get to them
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  Speaker 2: at a second here. The forty nine ers have their
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  Speaker 2: injuries though, which is what derailed them middle of the
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  Speaker 2: season for that three game losing streak. They say, McCaffrey's
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  Speaker 2: not that bad, but Eric, he's going to sit out
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  Speaker 2: Week eighteen because it means nothing.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's why I think it was so huge for
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  Speaker 3: the obviously for them to win, but also for the
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  Speaker 3: Philly aspect, for them to be able to clinch in
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  Speaker 3: Week seventeen. They can go into this game probably would
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  Speaker 3: have done it anyway, but they can go into this
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  Speaker 3: game knowing they don't need to play Christian McCaffrey. You'll
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  Speaker 3: have an additional week after that, you know, defense, offensive line,
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  Speaker 3: other spots, and it's another chance for Elijah Mitchell to
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  Speaker 3: get an opportunity. I mean, remember, he had a really
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  Speaker 3: nice rookie season has been kind of lost in the
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  Speaker 3: shuffle since CMC came on board. But it's a player
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  Speaker 3: they may need to lean on at some point, so
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  Speaker 3: I think it's important for him to build off what
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  Speaker 3: he did last week. And again, I just felt like
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  Speaker 3: that clinching scenario last week was a nice little bonus,
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  Speaker 3: even though a lot of us figured it would eventually happen.
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  Speaker 3: So they get an extra week essentially to play.
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  Speaker 2: With, and now they get the Rams in Week eighteen.
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  Speaker 2: The annual Rams Niners Week eighteen game does not mean
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  Speaker 2: that much, although the Rams could fall to the seven
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  Speaker 2: if they were to lose and the Packers were to win.
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  Speaker 2: Right now, it looks like la which is not in
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  Speaker 2: your top ten understandably but is in, could be going
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  Speaker 2: to Detroit in the first round. Detroit lost to Dallas,
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  Speaker 2: and the Cowboys are your number three team. They are
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  Speaker 2: up three. So if Taylor Decker had reported properly, or
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  Speaker 2: maybe if Brad Allen had heard through the noise and
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  Speaker 2: gotten the call right and who was reporting properly, would
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  Speaker 2: they be up three to three?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I thought about moving Miami below Detroit. I couldn't
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  Speaker 3: quite do it. I mean, I have a thing about
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  Speaker 3: moving teams up after they lose. It can happen, right,
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  Speaker 3: But yeah, that's probably as close to a victor as
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  Speaker 3: you can come with that actually winning. Everyone knows the
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  Speaker 3: story controversial play, you know, some feel like the Lions
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  Speaker 3: were kind of jobbed on this thing. Whatever the case,
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  Speaker 3: they went toe to toe with him, and Dallas is
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  Speaker 3: still a good football team. I want to remind people
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  Speaker 3: of that. I understand they lost a close one at Miami.
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  Speaker 3: I understand they got beaten pretty badly at Buffalo, but
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  Speaker 3: I still think with their road now changing, Philly losing
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  Speaker 3: in the NFC East, almost falling into their laps, so
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  Speaker 3: to speak, look, that benefits them greatly. We know how
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  Speaker 3: much better they've played this year and last year for
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  Speaker 3: that matter, in Dallas as opposed to on the road.
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  Speaker 3: And so you know, you've got you know, Lamb breaking records,
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  Speaker 3: You've got Cooks coming up with clutch catches. So let's
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  Speaker 3: look at the other side of the coin, which is
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  Speaker 3: that Dallas played pretty well and I think out played
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  Speaker 3: Detroit for more of that game than Detroit did.
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  Speaker 2: And Mike McCarthy still to throw on second down, giving
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  Speaker 2: Dan Campbell an extra forty seconds to then call the
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  Speaker 2: play to have the wrong guy report eligible, take the back,
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  Speaker 2: the right guy report eligible, the wrong guy was reported.
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  Speaker 2: You get what I'm saying. We talked this thing out
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  Speaker 2: a thousand times. But what it does mean is that
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  Speaker 2: if the Cowboys, as you point out, hold serve here
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  Speaker 2: and they beat the Commanders, they do get the two
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  Speaker 2: seed and they don't have to go on the road
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  Speaker 2: until potentially they get that two to one NFC Championship
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  Speaker 2: game in San Francisco against a team that whooped them
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  Speaker 2: two months ago in San Francisco. So the Cowboys are three,
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  Speaker 2: the Dolphins are down one to four after getting just
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  Speaker 2: demoralized in Baltimore. The Bills are five. I'm sorry, the
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  Speaker 2: Lions are five, but let's look at four to six here,
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  Speaker 2: because the Bills are six, and we get the Dolphins
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  Speaker 2: and Bills again. This is the final game of the
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  Speaker 2: year on NBC on Sunday Night. It's for the AFC
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  Speaker 2: East title. If the Dolphins win it, obviously they are
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  Speaker 2: the two seed here. But if the Bills lose it, Eric,
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  Speaker 2: there's a chance they don't make the playoffs.
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  Speaker 3: And that's one of the reasons why I've kind of
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  Speaker 3: held back from promoting them all the way up to
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  Speaker 3: number three. I've even seen them an other power ranks
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  Speaker 3: as high as number two, ahead of the Niners. So
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  Speaker 3: you know, I mean, look, I get how dangerous this
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  Speaker 3: Bills team is, but there's also a scenario where they
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  Speaker 3: miss out. Yes, there's a scenario where they got a
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  Speaker 3: home playoff game too, So so many permutations at stake here.
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  Speaker 3: Such a wide swing in a wide range of outcomes,
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  Speaker 3: So you know, again it fits in with in line
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  Speaker 3: with the season. They've been living on the razor's edge
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  Speaker 3: all year long. We've seen Josh Allen torch people the
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  Speaker 3: last two weeks kind of come back to earth a
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  Speaker 3: little bit. And I don't know how much that first
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  Speaker 3: meeting matters, but it was only a close game for
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  Speaker 3: about twenty minutes, and then the Bills absolutely bote raced him. So,
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  Speaker 3: you know, does does Jalen Ramsey help in covering Stefan
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  Speaker 3: Diggs who killed him in that first matchup? Does you know,
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  Speaker 3: do any of the other players who are missing from
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  Speaker 3: that matchup affect the outcome? Probably yes, And I think
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  Speaker 3: we'll get a closer game, but fascinating one for sure.
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  Speaker 2: I'll be honest with you. I don't have a lot
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  Speaker 2: of faith in the Dolphins. I've said it all year.
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  Speaker 2: They had a good chance against a premium opponent. The
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  Speaker 2: Ravens are the best team in football, and they got whooped.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, they were close in the first half. The
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  Speaker 2: second half was just demoralizing, and then you lose Bradley Chubb. Now,
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  Speaker 2: the Bills nightmare scenario, for those who need to know,
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  Speaker 2: goes like this. If the Steelers win, the Jaguars win
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  Speaker 2: to take the AFC South, and the Texans and Colts
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  Speaker 2: do not end in a tie, then the Bills need
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  Speaker 2: to win the division and beat the Dolphins to get in,
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  Speaker 2: because if those other things happen and they lose, then
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  Speaker 2: the Buffalo Bills, who some think could and should win
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  Speaker 2: the Super Bowl, will be out. All right, let's double
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  Speaker 2: back to the Lions here. You don't have them moving.
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  Speaker 2: They are still your fifth best team, although that loss
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  Speaker 2: was really deadly to them when it comes to their
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  Speaker 2: playoff standings.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, obviously a lot of people are talking about what
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  Speaker 3: it means to the city to have one home playoff game,
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  Speaker 3: but the difference between one and two potentially would obviously
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  Speaker 3: be huge as well. So, you know, a lot of
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  Speaker 3: things have gone right for Dan Campbell since that that
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  Speaker 3: awful start last season. He has turned this thing around.
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  Speaker 3: You probably had a you know, a game that he
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  Speaker 3: should have won on Sunday. Do they use this as fuel?
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  Speaker 3: Do they use this as motivation that you know, us
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  Speaker 3: against the world type of thing, perhaps, But you know,
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  Speaker 3: all the good things that came out of that game,
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  Speaker 3: Goff's great final drive. You know, Laporta. I'm on Ross
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  Speaker 3: Saint Browns, fake punt. A lot of good stuff just
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  Speaker 3: wasn't there in the end, though, And uh, you know,
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  Speaker 3: you hope the results are better for them because you
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  Speaker 3: know the arrow has been porting up so high for them.
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  Speaker 2: All right, Let's get to the best team in football
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  Speaker 2: at home here, and they are seven, I'm kidding, seven
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  Speaker 2: in your rankings, and that would be God's team, the
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  Speaker 2: Cleveland Browns. They're the only team of the NFL to
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  Speaker 2: beat the two teams with the home field. They beat
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  Speaker 2: the Niners, and they beat the Ravens and they did
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  Speaker 2: they beat the Ravens in Baltimore. Yet you have them
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  Speaker 2: at only seven. I've been cheating on You'll be honest.
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  Speaker 2: I looked at somebody else's power rankings. Oh site that
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  Speaker 2: rhymes with athletic. They are number three. Yeah, you have
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  Speaker 2: them seven? Is it about me?
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  Speaker 3: It is every week I try to slip in at
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  Speaker 3: least one barb in your direction. And the Browns thing
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  Speaker 3: has been working so well. I wanted to ride it
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  Speaker 3: until we get off the rails here. But in reality,
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  Speaker 3: I mean, you know, obviously they've had losses to the
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  Speaker 3: Rams where you know Flacco's first start and they were
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  Speaker 3: just getting adjusted. I don't think Flacco's interceptions have hurt
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  Speaker 3: them yet. He's got a fairly beefy total through his
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  Speaker 3: five games, but at some point they might now his
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  Speaker 3: You know, you got to live with the low completion
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  Speaker 3: percentage at times. You got to live with the fact
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  Speaker 3: the run game may not be there every single week,
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  Speaker 3: you know. But again, like you said, when it comes
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  Speaker 3: to those elite matchups, they've been able to stay in
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  Speaker 3: toe to toe with some of the best. And I
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  Speaker 3: think if there's one team the Ravens, I wouldn't say fear,
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  Speaker 3: but no can come into their building and do it.
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  Speaker 3: It's the one that's already done it in Cleveland. So
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  Speaker 3: you know, I'm prepared to be proven wrong on this one.
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  Speaker 3: I do have slight reservations, But to me, the difference
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  Speaker 3: between three and about nine really isn't that big.
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  Speaker 2: Right now, I'm kidding, it's not about me. I don't
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  Speaker 2: know why I made it about it it is. I'm
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  Speaker 2: not the host that always makes it about himself. But
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  Speaker 2: they are a team that I think could beat anybody,
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  Speaker 2: and they did beat the Niners, and they did beat
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  Speaker 2: the Ravens. They're the only team of the NFL that
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  Speaker 2: beat both of those teams. Granted, when they beat the
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  Speaker 2: Ravens in Baltimore, it was with Deshaun Watson. He played
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  Speaker 2: a perfect second half, didn't have it incompletion, rallied them back.
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  Speaker 2: The defense helped a little bit, and that was his
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  Speaker 2: final game of the year because it was revealed two
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  Speaker 2: days later that he had a broken shoulder. The Browns
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  Speaker 2: are the five seed. They cannot move. They will be
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  Speaker 2: on the road wild card weekend at whomever wins the
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  Speaker 2: AFC South, which will be the Jaguars they are winning
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  Speaker 2: in and if it's not the Jaguars, then it's the
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  Speaker 2: winner of the Colts and Texans game on Saturday. And
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  Speaker 2: then we get the Kansas City Chiefs. Eric they are
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  Speaker 2: number eight. They put together a second half when it
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  Speaker 2: looked as if all was lost. They beat Jake Browning
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  Speaker 2: of the Bengals, and they are up one as AFC
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  Speaker 2: West champions.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, small move up. Yeah they were good. Obviously, Bucker
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  Speaker 3: was great in the second half. Defense, didn't allow touchdown
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  Speaker 3: the last thirty six minutes or so. Isaiah Pacheco, I
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  Speaker 3: really think he's got to be a bigger part of
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  Speaker 3: the offense. I know he missed a game a couple
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  Speaker 3: of weeks ago, but if he's back, I mean, look,
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  Speaker 3: no offense to Patrick Mahomes. In the passing game, we
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  Speaker 3: saw Rice do some good things. Watson had a big play,
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  Speaker 3: but really has to be about Pachecko. He really took
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  Speaker 3: control of that game early on and made his imprint
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  Speaker 3: and helped finish it off in the second half. So
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  Speaker 3: I'd love to see him be a twenty five touch
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  Speaker 3: gay going forward.
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  Speaker 2: The Chiefs are locked in as the three seed in
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  Speaker 2: the AFC, and I think eight feels right because they
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  Speaker 2: have now won eight consecutive AFC West Crowns. They will
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  Speaker 2: play I think the sixth seed in the AFC Wildcard weekend,
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  Speaker 2: which could be the Dolphins. By the way, if the
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  Speaker 2: Bills win that game in Miami, wouldn't that be bonkers
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  Speaker 2: for a wild card game? You know who we haven't
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  Speaker 2: hit on yet. The Philadelphia Eagles, the defending NFC champions,
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  Speaker 2: were the first time all year they are not in
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  Speaker 2: the A block of this show. Where are they? That's
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  Speaker 2: revealed next on the NFL Power Ranking Show for zenebi Energizer.
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  Speaker 2: It is the NFL Power Ranking Show presented by energizer again.
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: The QR code on the left of your screen can
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: get you to NFL dot com and get you the
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: rest of the rankings, which had the Eagles for the
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: first time all year. This is week eighteen, dropping out
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  Speaker 2: of our first portion of the show. They are now
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  Speaker 2: number nine. They are down five spots after losing at
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  Speaker 2: home to the fighting Jonathan Gannons and then the Rams
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: at ten, the Texans at eleven. Rams are in Jaguars, Colts, Bucks, Steelers,
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  Speaker 2: and the Green Bay Packers at home. If you had
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: told me six weeks ago that the Tuesday of Week eighteen,
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: Nick Sirianni would be on the radio in Philadelphia being
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  Speaker 2: asked about his job status, I would have laughed at you.
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: I'm laughing at you right now because, first of all,
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: I can't believe it's still happening. But you're right, obviously,
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  Speaker 3: it's been a horrible December one in four record outscored
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  Speaker 3: by forty two points over that span one and two
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  Speaker 3: at home. And I don't care how you spin Sunday's loss.
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  Speaker 3: You know, Jonathan Gannon knows their personal blah blah blah. Look,
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  Speaker 3: I thought that was obviously horrible, especially having the lead
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: you know, scoring a ninety nine yard defensive touchdown, the
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  Speaker 3: whole bit, and now DeVante Smith's injured. I mean, we
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  Speaker 3: don't know his status right at this moment. The run
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  Speaker 3: defense is supposedly a team's strength, has been really tested
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  Speaker 3: the last three games, especially Sunday. James Connor absolutely ate
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  Speaker 3: him up. So a host of problems. Now. A year ago,
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  Speaker 3: they weren't playing their best football in December, but they
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  Speaker 3: cranked it back up for the playoffs. Can they do
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  Speaker 3: it again, sure, but we just haven't seen much evidence
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  Speaker 3: of it in the last five weeks. Has been bad
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  Speaker 3: football by a very talented team.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and they're gonna have to go on the road now,
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  Speaker 2: obviously barring something truly unforeseen with the Cowboys lose and
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  Speaker 2: they win, and we can flip it again in the
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  Speaker 2: NFC East, they're gonna go on the road, and they're
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  Speaker 2: gonna go on the road to the four seed the
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  Speaker 2: NFC South champion. So you could have like Philly and Tampa,
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  Speaker 2: which is what we had a couple of years ago
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  Speaker 2: when Hurtz was just a kid. You could have Philly
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  Speaker 2: in New Orleans. You could have Philly in Atlanta. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: imagine that for a wild card game right now. The
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  Speaker 2: Eagles haven't proven they could beat good teams or bad
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  Speaker 2: teams in the last month, so they got to turn
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: things around. They are number nine. The team behind them
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: is exactly the opposite. Right now, they are beating good
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  Speaker 2: teams and bad teams, although probably a little bit too
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  Speaker 2: close for comfort with the Giants. This past Sunday at home,
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: the Rams are in. They are in the postseason, and
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  Speaker 2: they are number ten this week.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, we didn't even know it when the game ended,
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  Speaker 3: right and eventually they secure the playoff spot. The last
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: three games have been a little bit bizarre where they've
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: gotten out to big leads. Had to kind of hold
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: on for dear life. Especially Sunday came down to a
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: they know pretty well and Mason Crosby had him in
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: and you know, highlights their kicking issues too. They've got
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: to make another move there. It's obviously been a big
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: problem for weeks now. But don't forget. I mean, they
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: went toe to toe with the Ravens in Baltimore, played
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: them very well, went to overtime. It's a team that
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: has been super competitive. Kyron Williams coming back huge difference.
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: Puka Nakua all season long. I love so many elements
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: about this team, including Matthew Stafford, who you know. You
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: and I were talking about what about if he had
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: to go to Detroit. I think he'd handle himself great.
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: I think he'd be outside in that spot.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he might have to.
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: You're right, there are flaws, but something fascinating about this
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: team that I don't think will be an easy out
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: in any way possible.
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: No, nobody wants to play the Rams period. Yeah, maybe
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: the Lions do. They would love it. I think they
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: would welcome that challenge for those two quarterbacks. Going back
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: at it here, But Kyron Williams has fifteen touchdowns in
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: twelve games. He has been hard to stop. The Rams.
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: If they had a kicker, I mean, they might be
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: looking at the three seed here. Yeah, obviously that would
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: mean winning the division and beating the forty nine ers.
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: But they have missed fifteen kicks this year, fifteen field
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: goals and extra points. That is just bonkers. Tell you
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: what another team, Eric, Nobody wants to play the Houston Texans.
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: Now that CJ. Stroud is back, you have them at eleven.
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: Yeah, past the eye test, I thought, I mean just
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: watching him back everything seemed to flow much more rhythm
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: than it had with his replacements in there. So I
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: think they go into this game against the Colts with
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: a little bit of an edge because Stroud is back.
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: He ripped him for almost four hundred yards in Week two,
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: his second NFL game, so you know, it's the most
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: they've given up to anybody in the NFL this season.
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: I think he'll come and prepared, But Colts are tough too.
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: I mean, this is not a Texas team that goes
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: out and dominates people on the regular, so fascinating to
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: see if he can rally them on the road in
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: a huge game in Week eighteen.
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, this game in September was so much different. Here
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: you have the Texans ahead of the Jaguars and the
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: Colts at twelve and thirteen. The Jaguars are winning, they
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: get the division. If they lose, however, then the winner
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: of the Texans and the Colts will take the AFC South.
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: The Bucks are at fourteen. They are down at four
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: because they could not close out the NFC South. And
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: then the Steelers, who are going with Mason Rudolph, who
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: are somehow still alive, are number fifteen at home up
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: to unbelievable.
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: I had him dead and buried. I'll be honest, right,
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: I really didn't expect them to crack this part of
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: the of the list here. Mason Rudolph's played well. The
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: question is why didn't he go instead of Trubisky in
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: the first place. You can hold that against Mike Tomlin fairly,
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: I think. But Tomlin obviously with the win nine and
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: seven guarantees yet another non losing season. Only a few
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: guys in NFL history have had more consecutive non losing seasons,
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: and he's done it from the start of his head
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: coaching career. I get it, haven't had a playoff on
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: in a while, but he's found a way to motivate
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: them late in the season. Is it too late, We'll see.
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: But again, another pretty good late season coaching job, even
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: if there have been a lot a lot of issues
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: along the way. And this quarterback situation Andrew is just
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: fascinating to me.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, isn't it. It's also fascinating that, seemingly now the
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: Packers have found their guy because Jordan Love was just
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: slinging it all over the yard of New Year's Eve.
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: He was your New Year's Eve fireworks and the Packers
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: are win and in now week eighteen, Eric.
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: Pretty big one, right Bears they met in week one.
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: We know the history there. Justin Fields is playing well.
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: Love as you mentioned, so obviously Jordan Love, I don't
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: think it's gotten the respect nationally. Obviously missing you know,
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: missing passes early in the year, thirty touchdowns. Now he's
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: getting everything going. One of the best statistical seasons by
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: a Packers rookie ever. Yeah, it's all there for them
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: when we didn't think it was possible, Jay r Alexander Misses.
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: The defense played well last week. So again another team
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: that's been topsy turvy but has the firepower to get
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: in the playoffs and in this massive game on Sunday
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: on CBS.
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: Speaking of topsy turvy, how about the NFC South rules
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: dictate somebody has to win it and somebody gets a
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: home playoff game. How about the Bucks and the Saints?
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: Where are they? How do we make sense of them?
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: Coming up on the NFL Power Ranking Show fors ed
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: by Energizer. The NFL Power Ranking Show presented by Energizer
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: continues here with the Saints up six after ruining the
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: Buccaneers party. They are seventeen Bengals, eighteen Hawks, nineteen Bears
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: are at twenty, Vikings, Broncos, the Raiders, and then the
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: Falcons at twenty four, who somehow might host a playoff
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: game wild Card Weekend. The team making power moves though,
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: up six those power moves are presented by Energizer are
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: the New Orleans Saints. The Buccaneers had a chance. The
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: Saints just ruined it for them.
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: Eric, Yeah, they sure did. I probably admittedly had them
• 20:58
  Speaker 3: a little too low. Outside of that Rams game, they've
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: played pretty good football. I know, wins over the Giants
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: and Panthers don't get people all louthered up. Almost beat
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: the Lions though, Remember so you pair that with a
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: pretty dominant first three quarters against the Bucks and it
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: reminds you they have a defense. They have Derek Carr,
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: who look pretty good on Sunday. They have Juwan Johnson,
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: the guy we've been wanting to break out this season.
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: He did on Sunday. So still an open door. Obviously
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: they need a little luck, but there is a path
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: for them to get into the postseason. I mean, we'll see.
• 21:26
  Speaker 3: They've at least timed it up where they've played their
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: best football when they absolutely had to have it.
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: It's not actually that difficult a path here for them
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: to get in. They win the South if they beat
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: the Falcons and the Buccaneers lose to the Panthers, although
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: that seems unlikely. They also have a path in as
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: a wild car. They are seventeen, the Bengals are eighteen.
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: The Seahawks are down three to nineteen. They also have
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: a pretty clear path into the postseason. But that was
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: not a good look for them against the Steelers at home.
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: It was a lot clearer had they taken care of business,
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: win and then win an eighteen, they would have been okay. Instead,
• 22:03
  Speaker 3: they lose and they lose it. They lost the physical battle,
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: which again for Pete Carroll can't sit very well. I
• 22:08
  Speaker 3: think he's always sort of prided his teams on being
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: more physical upfront. Didn't see it. Sunday. We saw the
• 22:13
  Speaker 3: Steelers really get that run game cranking early and then
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: the one crucial turnover in the second half. G know
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: smith sacked deep in their own end zone. Just couldn't
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: get enough going here. So there are a lot of
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: things to like about the Seahawks team. We saw the
• 22:26
  Speaker 3: Drew Loka step in last week and have an emotional game.
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: This one didn't turn out quite as well, and so
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: I don't know what. I'm not sure what to make
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: of this team. They've been outscored on the season, have
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: some things working against them. They got to get that
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: defense tightened up if they have a shot.
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: They're in the wild card waiting room in the NFC.
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: If the Packers win, they are in. If the Packers
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: were to fall, the Seahawks could get in with a
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: win over the Cardinals. The rest of the power rankings
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: here real quick twenty five on down the Jets, the Titans,
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: the Chargers, the Giants, the Arizona Cardinals, the New England Patriots,
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: the Washington Commanders, and then the Carol Aada Panthers. Who
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: are they are? And the worst record of the NFL.
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: And as mentioned earlier, Eric, those fireworks on New Year's
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: even Chicago were because the Bears wrapped up the number
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: one pick.
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: So that's what was getting everybody, keeping everybody awake. I
• 23:17
  Speaker 3: got you now, Yeah, the arrow's pointing up for Matty Eberfluss,
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: for Justin Fields, for Chicago Bears draft fans. I mean,
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: they've played their best football down the stretch. They have
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: a ton of ammunition, but also a lot of key decisions.
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: What do they do with Justin fields? I say they
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: keep them. Not sure where you stand.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: We have four months to figure this out. I'm not
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: going to commit to an answer right now, but I
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: can't commit to this. We're back for the playoffs. This
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: isn't the final show. We're going to rank them in
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: the playoffs. We are back super wild Card Week next
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: week for Eric Ahola andrews Aciliano, Happy Near, Everybody So Long.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
• 23:58
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• 24:02
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