Latest / NFL Now / JJ Watt's Retirement, Tua Tagovailoa in concussion protocol, & The Power Rankings

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JJ Watt's Retirement, Tua Tagovailoa in concussion protocol, & The Power Rankings · NFL Now

0:05
Speaker 1: NFL Now is a production of the NFL in partnership
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Speaker 1: why all three of us I think love our jobs.
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Speaker 1: Welcome to a Tuesday edition at of NFL Now. It
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Speaker 1: is Tuesday, right the holiday Messuay Okay, Ryan Baldinger, Steve White,
0:26
Speaker 1: Imandre's Ceciliano. Thank you for watching. We not only have
0:29
Speaker 1: playoff clinching scenarios for week seventeen, we have equally as
0:33
Speaker 1: significant the elimination scenarios. Who has to win to stay
0:38
Speaker 1: in or all the math that you need to know
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Speaker 1: before Weeks seventeen. Live in Denver momentarily as well, where
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Speaker 1: the Broncos just had a press conference following the firing
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Speaker 1: yesterday of their head coach, Nathaniel Hackett. The news today, however,
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Speaker 1: is out of Arizona, J J. Watt, three time Defensive
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Speaker 1: Player of the Year, is retiring, and he did so
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Speaker 1: with the photo taken on Christmas night of his beautiful
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Speaker 1: family and the little boy there CoA who was born
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Speaker 1: late in October. People saw JJ walking off the field
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Speaker 1: with tears in his eyes after that loss to the
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Speaker 1: Buccaneers Sunday. You knew something might be up and we
1:17
Speaker 1: knew something might be up when we sat down with
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Speaker 1: J J during Inside Training Camp Live in August. J J.
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Speaker 1: Watt being a new dad, does it change your perspective
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Speaker 1: on how long soon to be a new dad? On
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Speaker 1: how long you want to play? It's weel. Um, I
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Speaker 1: haven't thought a ton about that, but I definitely have
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Speaker 1: thought about how excited I am that he's going to
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Speaker 1: be able to see me play, even if he's not
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Speaker 1: gonna remember it in any capacity. Um, he's gonna be
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Speaker 1: able to see me play this season at least and
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Speaker 1: hopefully beyond. And he's to have a photo with my
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Speaker 1: son in my uniform. For me, is one of the
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Speaker 1: coolest things. And I'm really looking forward to that. And
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Speaker 1: who knows, maybe I'll play long enough where he can
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Speaker 1: remember some of my games. You heard it here first.
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Speaker 1: He's not gonna remember the games there, but little Koa
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Speaker 1: did get that photo. Kind of cool that that was
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Speaker 1: the lasting moment UH family on the field there on Christmas.
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Speaker 1: Mike Carefolo, Tom Pellicero, James Palmer with us live here
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Speaker 1: in NFL. Now time start Tom brother, start with you.
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Speaker 1: Why is now the time for J J. Watt to
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Speaker 1: walk away? We're here. I think you see it in
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Speaker 1: that interview. You certainly saw it in his Twitter post today.
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Speaker 1: This is a player in J. J. Watt, who had
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Speaker 1: played twelve NFL seasons, His body had been through a lot,
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Speaker 1: and in his mind, it feels like it's time you
2:32
Speaker 1: think about J. J. Watt. He was one of the
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Speaker 1: most dominant players and still is one of the most
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Speaker 1: dominant players, but truly, in that early stretches his career
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Speaker 1: in Houston, he may have been the most unblockable player
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Speaker 1: on the planet. The guy who was a five time
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Speaker 1: first team All Pro, three time NFL Defensive Player of
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Speaker 1: the Year, also Walton Pater Peyton Man of the Year
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Speaker 1: award winner, and might have had additional accolades if not
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Speaker 1: for a bunch of major injuries through the course of
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Speaker 1: his career that he managed to come back from. Of course,
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Speaker 1: he had the scare with his heart back in October's
3:01
Speaker 1: did not stop him from playing in a game that
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Speaker 1: following Sun Day. Truly one of the most unique individuals,
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Speaker 1: a guy who dwarfs even Kurt Warner sitting next to him,
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Speaker 1: and also a big personality and the guy who's done
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Speaker 1: a lot away from the game as well. James the
3:19
Speaker 1: back off of what you're saying. Yeah, Andrew, let me
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Speaker 1: just jump in here real quick. It's funny. I'm standing
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Speaker 1: here at the Broncos facility where obviously there's headlines with
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Speaker 1: them firing their head coach, Nathaniel Hackett. But J. J.
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Speaker 1: Watts even brought up when I was talking to people
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Speaker 1: inside this building when they were watching the film of
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Speaker 1: him throughout this year. Some of the guys on the
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Speaker 1: offensive side of the ball were like, it doesn't really
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Speaker 1: look like the same J. J. Watt. And then all
3:38
Speaker 1: of a sudden, they play against him last week and
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Speaker 1: he goes out and has three sacks, and they're like,
3:41
Speaker 1: I think we kind of thought maybe this is the
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Speaker 1: end when we saw him just turning it on at
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Speaker 1: the end of this season. That's kind of the perception
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Speaker 1: of some of the guys here in the building in Denver.
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Speaker 1: But I covered him on a daily basis before working
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Speaker 1: in NFL Network in the prime of his career, when
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Speaker 1: he was winning those Defensive Player of the Year awards,
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Speaker 1: winning three of them. I remember after the second one
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Speaker 1: in two thousand fourteen, I was sitting there in a
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Speaker 1: press conference with defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, and I just said, hey, Wade,
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Speaker 1: what do you think of JJ season this year? And
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Speaker 1: he goes, who J J Watt, Oh, greatest season ever?
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Speaker 1: I mean, I'm not joking. The greatest season ever. That's
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Speaker 1: what Wade Phillips thought of that season. I believe that's
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Speaker 1: the one where he had over twenty sacks, twenty batted passes,
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Speaker 1: over twenty tackles for loss. I've never covered a player
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Speaker 1: Andrew and I remember sitting in the press box that season,
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Speaker 1: specifically next to the General John McLean, And where a
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Speaker 1: player doesn't touch the football, they're not at a skill position,
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Speaker 1: yet there's moments that you believe are going to happen
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Speaker 1: to where they will win the game for the team.
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Speaker 1: That happened repeatedly with batted passes or fumble recoveries returned
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Speaker 1: for touchdowns. He caught three touchdown passes that season playing
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Speaker 1: tight end. Just an unbelievable talent in that prime, virtually
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Speaker 1: unblockable and unstoppable during those seasons, and very to the
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Speaker 1: unblockable and unstoppable the other night against the Buccaneers and
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Speaker 1: the game that really didn't mean anything toward the Arizona
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Speaker 1: Cardinals in their playoff hopes which had been diminished already
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Speaker 1: or distinguished already. Excuse me, uh, extinguished, that's the word distinguishes,
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Speaker 1: the word that I'm using for J. J. Watt and
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Speaker 1: his career and the way that he played, the way
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Speaker 1: that he finished the other night. Surely he knew more
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Speaker 1: than we did with regard to that being his last
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Speaker 1: home game. But that was the kind of things you
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Speaker 1: saw on display for his entire career. Now go back
5:19
Speaker 1: to before this season too, there were a lot of
5:21
Speaker 1: new chairs to be filled in NFL broadcasting. Amazon had
5:25
Speaker 1: to fill things out. There were some open spots at
5:27
Speaker 1: some other networks. There was interest in J. J. Watt saying,
5:30
Speaker 1: if you want to hang them up, now, you got
5:32
Speaker 1: a chair at our desk you could just slide into.
5:35
Speaker 1: And by the way, there will always be a chair
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Speaker 1: available for a guy who is a future Hall of
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Speaker 1: Famer and is as good in the media as J. J.
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Speaker 1: Watt has been. So I assume that that is going
5:44
Speaker 1: to be in his near to long term future as
5:48
Speaker 1: far as broadcasting, and he will have networks that will
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Speaker 1: welcome him. But what clearly wanted to come back for
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Speaker 1: one more season. He had like eight and a half
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Speaker 1: million dollars fully guaranteed as well, but clearly wanted to
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Speaker 1: play one more season and clearly had that season left
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Speaker 1: in his body, and also wanted to stay in front,
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Speaker 1: at least for now. His brother T J. On the
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Speaker 1: all time sacklist, who is quickly catching up to his
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Speaker 1: older brother J. J. Watt, former Central Michigan tight end.
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Speaker 1: Thank you, gentleman, decides to hang it up. As a
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Speaker 1: three time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, eight five
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Speaker 1: time first team All Pro, He's a member of the
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Speaker 1: All Decade team from the twenty tens, and most importantly
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Speaker 1: there on the list. We call it the most prestigious
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Speaker 1: honor this league hands out. Let's not forget his Walter
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Speaker 1: Peyton Man of the Year award and everything that he
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Speaker 1: did there in Houston off the field. Brian Baldinger, Steve, which, Steve,
6:42
Speaker 1: You're a Hall of Fame guy, first ballot, ye, I
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Speaker 1: mean yeah, I mean, three time defensive player, the user
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Speaker 1: class hagger. You can start cutting the fabric now for
6:51
Speaker 1: for the gold Jack, and I mean he's look, the
6:53
Speaker 1: Pro Football Hall of Fame put it out there. They
6:56
Speaker 1: they've already put it out there. But of course, I
6:58
Speaker 1: mean this might be we were talking earlier when the
7:00
Speaker 1: greatest draft classes at two thousand and eleven. But you
7:03
Speaker 1: look at j J. Watt. You know you heard all
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Speaker 1: the actings, three time Defensive Player of the Year, all
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Speaker 1: the tackles for loss is, five time first team All Pro.
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Speaker 1: Just just a dynamic player. But you know Tom mentioned
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Speaker 1: something I think that really hit j J hard this
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Speaker 1: year is you know he had that hard issue. He
7:18
Speaker 1: didn't miss a game, but he had to get a
7:19
Speaker 1: quick procedure to kind of get his his rhythmia in line.
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Speaker 1: That besides, you know the wear tearing his body. That's
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Speaker 1: probably the reality check he so I'm holding his baby
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Speaker 1: with a beautiful family. All that is function with the
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Speaker 1: Arizona Cardinals this year, he probably said, let me go
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Speaker 1: ahead and live the life I want to live. Now
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Speaker 1: I've done everything I can do on a football field.
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Speaker 1: This is the time he has treated us. He's one
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Speaker 1: of the few defensive players you would pay money to
7:40
Speaker 1: see because of his game changing ability. He has treated us. Um.
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Speaker 1: I mean, we can we can talk about him all
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Speaker 1: I want, but what he's giving back to this game.
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Speaker 1: But he's given us his fans and viewers. Baldi, you
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Speaker 1: know you can't. You can't straight class, straight class. And
7:53
Speaker 1: so you know, you think about j J. Watt, you
7:55
Speaker 1: think about all the accolades, but just studying him on film,
7:58
Speaker 1: you know, just watching his ability to dominate games. I mean,
8:02
Speaker 1: he was Aaron Donald before Aaron Donald, and you know,
8:05
Speaker 1: teams were game planning, but the way that they moved
8:08
Speaker 1: him around the moons that he had the ability to
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Speaker 1: just affect the quarterback weekend, week out. He was the
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Speaker 1: most dominant player defensively in this league for four straight
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Speaker 1: years in a row. And he had all decade team,
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Speaker 1: all that kind of stuff, still playing at the highest level.
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Speaker 1: I just like when players decide to exit with a
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Speaker 1: smilder face, he won't look back. Uh, we'll all have
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Speaker 1: a chance now to really feed him properly. But really,
8:32
Speaker 1: I mean, J J. Watt can walk away from this
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Speaker 1: game knowing that he gave it everything he had. I
8:37
Speaker 1: think about it. He broke his own news that he
8:40
Speaker 1: was going to Arizona. Remember all the speculation where j
8:42
Speaker 1: J walk home. He broke it himself. He also controlled
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Speaker 1: the narrative this time around. Broke it with the photo
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Speaker 1: this morning, and there were people that saw him walking
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Speaker 1: off the field Sunday night, Christmas night with tears in
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Speaker 1: his eyes, and there was some speculation, well, maybe he
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Speaker 1: knows things are gonna be a lot different next year
8:58
Speaker 1: in Arizona. His contract is up. This might be his
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Speaker 1: last game there. No, it's his last game. Period. What
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Speaker 1: a career for j J. Watton? Is Steve mentioned book
9:10
Speaker 1: it now for Canton, Ohio. You saw James and Denver
9:13
Speaker 1: is not the only news. Here's the Broncos news I
9:15
Speaker 1: mentioned earlier day after the Fanuel Hackett was fired the
9:18
Speaker 1: day after Jerry Rossberg was named the interim head coach.
9:22
Speaker 1: We heard earlier today from Broncos CEO and owner Greg
9:27
Speaker 1: Petter and the GM George Kayton. The main message I said,
9:33
Speaker 1: as from the beginning is I'm sorry to the fans.
9:37
Speaker 1: You know, I think the frustration obviously of a number
9:40
Speaker 1: of losing seasons is high, but I think this season
9:43
Speaker 1: it's even higher because of the expectations that we had
9:45
Speaker 1: going in. Uh we felt like we had a lot
9:49
Speaker 1: of pieces in place to have a very successful season.
9:51
Speaker 1: I know the players in this in this building or
9:54
Speaker 1: we've got good players, and we didn't put the pieces together,
9:58
Speaker 1: and our fans have been patient. I think We've got
10:01
Speaker 1: the best fans in the world, but but we need
10:03
Speaker 1: to put a better product on the field. Russ even
10:06
Speaker 1: said he didn't play up to his standard. But you
10:09
Speaker 1: know the first half of the Chargers game, the first
10:11
Speaker 1: half of the Raiders game, you know he finished strong.
10:13
Speaker 1: And so you can go through the season that you
10:15
Speaker 1: do see flashes, and he'll be the first one to
10:18
Speaker 1: tell you he didn't play up to his standard, didn't
10:19
Speaker 1: play up to our standard. He needs to be better.
10:23
Speaker 1: I don't think we made a coaching move based on Russ.
10:25
Speaker 1: You know, that wasn't what it's all about. That's why,
10:27
Speaker 1: that's not why we're getting a new coach to turn
10:29
Speaker 1: around Russ. It's about the entire organization. It's about the
10:33
Speaker 1: entire football team. It's just not one player. It's not
10:36
Speaker 1: whether Russ is fixable or not. We do believe he is.
10:40
Speaker 1: We do. You would hope, James Palmer, you were there
10:44
Speaker 1: for that price tag that yes, he is fixable. Obviously,
10:47
Speaker 1: that hangs and looms large here over this coaching search.
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Speaker 1: What else did you take away from the presser, Andrew,
10:55
Speaker 1: The biggest takeaway is we got to see CEO and
10:57
Speaker 1: owner Greg Penner operating in that role for the very
11:01
Speaker 1: first time, and we got to see kind of his
11:03
Speaker 1: makeup in that role a little bit, and talking to
11:05
Speaker 1: people in the building after the press conference, it was
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Speaker 1: this he means business, and I think we saw that
11:11
Speaker 1: in the press conference if you watch it in its entirety.
11:13
Speaker 1: He mentioned at points one specifically where he was talking
11:16
Speaker 1: about their issues with injuries and how that's been a
11:19
Speaker 1: thing here for several years, that he's an impatient man,
11:22
Speaker 1: that that is an aspect of his personality. And we
11:24
Speaker 1: saw maybe a little bit of that with how they
11:27
Speaker 1: did go and move on from Nathaniel Hackett after that
11:29
Speaker 1: game on Sunday, to which he called an embarrassment. General
11:33
Speaker 1: manager George Payton also called it embarrassing. Now, they went
11:36
Speaker 1: into that week and Penner said this that they were
11:39
Speaker 1: not planning on moving on from Nathaniel Hackett, but after
11:42
Speaker 1: what transpired on the field one of the worst losses
11:45
Speaker 1: in franchise history. But more importantly, Penner said, what happened
11:48
Speaker 1: off the field in terms of the altercations among teammates
11:52
Speaker 1: with Randy Gregory hitting opposing player and what happened after
11:55
Speaker 1: the game, all of those things are why Penner said
11:58
Speaker 1: they moved on from Nathaniel Hackett. Now you heard George
12:00
Speaker 1: Payton say they didn't move on from Hackett because of
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Speaker 1: Russell Wilson in that aspect that it's an entirety of
12:06
Speaker 1: the organization. George Peyton said Andrew that they do not
12:09
Speaker 1: have an identity as an offense that needs to be corrected,
12:11
Speaker 1: no identity as a special teams that needs to be corrected.
12:14
Speaker 1: This next coaching search will be led by Greg Penner,
12:17
Speaker 1: his wife Carry Walton Penner, his father in law Rob Walton.
12:21
Speaker 1: Also he mentioned Condoleeza Rice will be a part of
12:23
Speaker 1: the process. He specifically stated her Andrew, because of the
12:27
Speaker 1: history she has with being part of searches at Stanford
12:30
Speaker 1: as one of the more recent ones. And also he
12:33
Speaker 1: did mention that a jero Evro, the defensive coordinator who's
12:37
Speaker 1: coach very well in his first year as a defensive coordinator,
12:40
Speaker 1: will have an opportunity to interview for the head coaching
12:42
Speaker 1: position here in Denver if he so chooses to interview
12:45
Speaker 1: for that head coaching opportunity here. Obviously the interim thing
12:50
Speaker 1: was up in the air as well. Thank you James Palmer.
12:52
Speaker 1: They're live in Denver. The word that I heard repeatedly
12:56
Speaker 1: from Greg Penner was accountability. George Payton said accountability as well,
13:00
Speaker 1: the offensive numbers, the sax aloud, look who is ugly?
13:03
Speaker 1: Both men today point about special teams. Both men wanted
13:07
Speaker 1: to praise the defense. At one point Peyton said, look,
13:09
Speaker 1: my fourteen year old can look at the defense guys
13:12
Speaker 1: and say the defense is playing well. The offense, the
13:13
Speaker 1: special teams, the entire operation not so much. So where
13:17
Speaker 1: do you go because if you interview for this job,
13:20
Speaker 1: right you're gonna have to say that I can fix
13:23
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson or Baldy. We're talking about this off of
13:26
Speaker 1: the year. Do you go in there and go now lost?
13:29
Speaker 1: Cause you know what, do whatever you can do to
13:31
Speaker 1: get out of that contract now, next year, whatever. But
13:34
Speaker 1: I'm telling you right now, I don't think it's fixable.
13:38
Speaker 1: We've heard Sean Payton's name throw it out there, other
13:40
Speaker 1: big name coaches. Where do you go with this? Well,
13:43
Speaker 1: I can't remember a time when a team had such
13:46
Speaker 1: a disparity between how good the defense was and how
13:49
Speaker 1: bad the offense was until Sunday when it all collapsed.
13:52
Speaker 1: And so then you gotta clean it all out. You
13:54
Speaker 1: fire the coach. I think he's the fall guy here.
13:57
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson was awful this year from really the very beginning.
14:00
Speaker 1: So there's a lot at play right here. But I
14:04
Speaker 1: think THEA is why you get rid of uh Nathaniel
14:07
Speaker 1: right now? As you get a head coaching search, get
14:10
Speaker 1: it started now, start getting the list of names and
14:12
Speaker 1: start recruiting. But uh, Russell Wilson needs a lot done
14:17
Speaker 1: right here. Maybe you know, an offensive line and running game,
14:19
Speaker 1: all those things can help him, but you know, just
14:22
Speaker 1: basic reads right now. He wasn't functioning basics, basic reads
14:26
Speaker 1: that he couldn't perform last week and has struggled with
14:29
Speaker 1: throughout the season. So was that the offense? And what
14:31
Speaker 1: Nathaniel Hacker was asking to do? Was that Russell? Because
14:35
Speaker 1: it's been going on all year long, Steve, look at
14:37
Speaker 1: this contract and again, get out of the contract. It's
14:41
Speaker 1: a hundred and seven million dollars on the dead cap
14:44
Speaker 1: next year. Now you can go post June, post June
14:47
Speaker 1: one and spread it out, but then you're sixty one
14:51
Speaker 1: on the cap next year, forty six on the cap
14:54
Speaker 1: in twenty four. The moral of this story here is
14:58
Speaker 1: you have at least one more year, correct if they
15:01
Speaker 1: were to get rid of him, she would happen to
15:03
Speaker 1: Atlanta Falcons this year when they had a sixt million
15:05
Speaker 1: in dead money. That's your team next year. You just
15:08
Speaker 1: went through that this year, So you don't want that.
15:10
Speaker 1: You are stuck with Russell Wilson. To your point, I
15:13
Speaker 1: have never in any sport I've covered, ever heard of
15:15
Speaker 1: coach say he can't fix anybody. That is a standard line.
15:19
Speaker 1: Every coach stinks his Fengali and can fix somebody. So
15:22
Speaker 1: whoever comes in, they're gonna say they can fix Russell Wilson.
15:26
Speaker 1: But what I took out of this press conference today
15:28
Speaker 1: was that they want their head coach to be the CEO.
15:31
Speaker 1: You need to put your arms around every aspect of
15:34
Speaker 1: the on field prospect, which leads me to believe they're
15:37
Speaker 1: going to go after experience candidates. Okay, so Sean Payton,
15:41
Speaker 1: you're absolutely gonna hear that name. But the Sean Payton
15:43
Speaker 1: want to go there because can he fix Russell? Remember
15:46
Speaker 1: when Russell said he could be traded from Seattle. The
15:49
Speaker 1: Saints when Sean Payton was coaching them, was one of
15:51
Speaker 1: the four teams he listed on his shortlist. Also another
15:54
Speaker 1: name to stay really tuned into he's not an offensive guy.
15:58
Speaker 1: Dan Quinn. Danikin was a finalist from the Broncos job
16:01
Speaker 1: last year. Tight relationship with Russell Wilson. He brings in
16:04
Speaker 1: the right o's that's another name. I also hope Leslie
16:07
Speaker 1: Fraser is somebody who could put his arm drown this
16:10
Speaker 1: organization and gets consideration for a lot of openings because
16:13
Speaker 1: he has earned that opportunity. Dan Quinn remember obviously was
16:17
Speaker 1: with Russell Seattle defensive coordinator before Quinn, he was closed
16:22
Speaker 1: last year to to get in this Bronco shop exactly.
16:25
Speaker 1: Um the idea, I mean, just think of where we've
16:28
Speaker 1: come since March March. They make the trade. Later in
16:32
Speaker 1: the summer, they give him the contract, and then here
16:34
Speaker 1: we are between Christmas and New Year's with George Payton
16:38
Speaker 1: saying we believe Russell Wilson is fixable, which means he
16:42
Speaker 1: also believes exactly it's not fixable unless he's broken. Yep,
16:46
Speaker 1: that's a big statement from your general manager. Is there'll
16:50
Speaker 1: be interesting coming up next? What's going on in Miami?
16:55
Speaker 1: The latest on to a tongue of Iloa now in
16:59
Speaker 1: concussion protocol with Teddy Bridge water waiting in the Winds.
17:08
Speaker 1: You're watching the NFL now NFL Network and in Miami,
17:11
Speaker 1: where the Dolphins are fighting for a playoff spot. They've
17:14
Speaker 1: lost four in a row to a tongue of Blois.
17:16
Speaker 1: Status for this weekend's game in Foxboro is very much
17:19
Speaker 1: up in the air. He is officially now in the
17:21
Speaker 1: concussion protocol. After the Christmas loss, no one um recognized anything,
17:29
Speaker 1: uh with with regard to any sort of UM hit.
17:34
Speaker 1: I can't really tell you exactly what it was. I'm
17:37
Speaker 1: not totally positive on that, UM, but it was it
17:40
Speaker 1: was something that um, you know, he met with the
17:43
Speaker 1: doctors uh um today and discussed um some symptoms and
17:51
Speaker 1: they from from that, as you guys know, from there on,
17:55
Speaker 1: that's between two and the doctors and UM, we'll we'll
17:59
Speaker 1: move forward as information is projected towards us. All Right,
18:03
Speaker 1: it's Mike McDaniel, Yes today, Camp Wolfe was there for
18:06
Speaker 1: that Live with Us now in Miami. Tom Pella Sero
18:09
Speaker 1: as well, Cam. What's the latest. Yeah, Andrew spoke with
18:13
Speaker 1: members of the Dolphins organization over the last thirty six hours,
18:16
Speaker 1: including players, and most of them said what Mike McDaniels said,
18:19
Speaker 1: They didn't know at all. On Sunday that Toa had
18:22
Speaker 1: any symptoms, and they didn't learn of this concussion protocol
18:26
Speaker 1: deal definitively, and so most of us did. Monday afternoon,
18:29
Speaker 1: as McDaniel mentioned, to A reported to doctors that he
18:32
Speaker 1: was filling symptoms. But up until then on Sunday, there
18:35
Speaker 1: was not really a conversation about the concussion protocol as well.
18:39
Speaker 1: And of course there will be a lot of questions
18:41
Speaker 1: about how this happened. But if I can take you
18:43
Speaker 1: into the locker room, I was there on Sunday. I
18:46
Speaker 1: was there in post game and Ta was sitting at
18:48
Speaker 1: his locker for about several minutes, and in contemplation of
18:51
Speaker 1: this loss, he threw three interceptions in the fourth quarter,
18:54
Speaker 1: and several members of the team came up to give
18:57
Speaker 1: him some encouragement, Dan Marino, Jay Len Wattle among them,
19:00
Speaker 1: and I had an interaction with two as he was
19:02
Speaker 1: headed to his postgame press conference, where I asked him,
19:05
Speaker 1: how are you feeling? He said, I'm good man. Merry Christmas,
19:07
Speaker 1: and I said, Merry Christmas back. And so you know,
19:09
Speaker 1: as we know, concussions can have later on set symptoms,
19:13
Speaker 1: but right now the focus is on to us health.
19:16
Speaker 1: They are prepping this week as if Teddy Bridgewater will
19:19
Speaker 1: be the starter, and right now, to us, health is
19:22
Speaker 1: the number one priority for to his team and the Dolphins. Cameron,
19:28
Speaker 1: my understanding is it is considered unlikely that to a
19:31
Speaker 1: tongue of Valoa is going to be available for that
19:33
Speaker 1: game against the Patriots. He is in the concussion protocol,
19:37
Speaker 1: which involves a series of steps different tests, tests, escalated
19:42
Speaker 1: exercise through the course of the week, and then ultimately
19:44
Speaker 1: clearance from an independent neurologist. But based upon to his history,
19:48
Speaker 1: certainly this is a little bit more of a complicated
19:51
Speaker 1: type of a process here. Of course, he had the
19:53
Speaker 1: concussion back in Week four in Cincinnati, was carted off
19:56
Speaker 1: the field, missed several games after that, had a previous
20:00
Speaker 1: incident a few days before that in which led to
20:03
Speaker 1: ultimately changes to with the NFL NFL p A concussion protocols. Certainly,
20:08
Speaker 1: as you said, there's going to be a focus here
20:10
Speaker 1: on to his health moving forward. The last time around,
20:13
Speaker 1: he sought additional opinions from concussion experts around the country.
20:17
Speaker 1: I would fully anticipate that they do that as well.
20:20
Speaker 1: When exactly he gets back onto the field, that is
20:23
Speaker 1: going to depend on medical advice, not the football considerations
20:27
Speaker 1: here and obviously the medical advice here too, the human being,
20:30
Speaker 1: as people have said, by far the most important thing camp.
20:34
Speaker 1: The Dolphins are fighting for the playoffs because of that loss.
20:36
Speaker 1: Now they could get in this week with a victory
20:39
Speaker 1: and then a Jets loss in Seattle later in the afternoon.
20:43
Speaker 1: It's Teddy Bridgewater this week, maybe Teddy Bridgewater next week. Right,
20:46
Speaker 1: don't want to speculate here, but if you're gonna take
20:49
Speaker 1: your time with two of this is Teddy Bridgewater, South Florida. Kid,
20:52
Speaker 1: get your team into the playoffs. Yeah, Andrew. The team
20:56
Speaker 1: players and coaches have been prepping for Teddy Bridgewater to
20:59
Speaker 1: start this week. Mike make daniel mentioned that he will
21:01
Speaker 1: get most of the starter reps and for to as
21:04
Speaker 1: Tom mentioned, two words I've heard is caution and thorough
21:07
Speaker 1: and so they will not rushing back on the field.
21:09
Speaker 1: And so everybody's thinking about a timeline that should not
21:12
Speaker 1: be the focus right now is getting to a fully
21:14
Speaker 1: healthy So McDaniel mentioned, this is why we went out
21:17
Speaker 1: and got aggressive in signing a Teddy Bridgewater. You mentioned it.
21:21
Speaker 1: The playoffs are really much in the discussion here. The
21:24
Speaker 1: Dolphins have a one game wild card lead, but they're
21:27
Speaker 1: playing the Patriots and the Jets, two teams that are
21:29
Speaker 1: vying for those spots over the next two weeks. And
21:32
Speaker 1: so while two of focuses on his health, he has
21:35
Speaker 1: a baby boy, he has a wife. That's the priority there.
21:37
Speaker 1: The Dolphins will be trying to overcome this adversity in
21:40
Speaker 1: a four game losing streak with Teddy Bridgewater as their quarterback.
21:43
Speaker 1: The Dolphins not having elimination scenario this week, but they
21:46
Speaker 1: need this win to avoid going to Week eight teen
21:49
Speaker 1: on a five game losing streak. OH precincts finally reported.
22:04
Speaker 1: DeMarcus Robbers makes the cat on the red zone. Drought
22:07
Speaker 1: is over. Picks to the end zone, easy traps down
22:11
Speaker 1: Buffalo buff All this how that should be on Now,
22:15
Speaker 1: I want to leap the catch Michael Cattle touchdown, com
22:19
Speaker 1: says defense answer the call. Merry Christmas, up, Sweet Caroline.
22:25
Speaker 1: The Panthers are going to Tampa wait for first place
22:28
Speaker 1: in the NFC. Sall Buccaneer's Pete Arizona n O G.
22:32
Speaker 1: He cannot be stopped. He's in again. If the blossing
22:36
Speaker 1: is shocking, that's so five Stadium. The scepter. There is
22:42
Speaker 1: your tager joy one. What a weekend. It was just
22:50
Speaker 1: a crazy weekend Christmas Eve and if Christmas last night,
22:54
Speaker 1: that's a crazy look whatever. The new power rankings according
22:57
Speaker 1: to Dan Hanzus Loocky look he look, he look me
23:02
Speaker 1: Gardner minshow and the Eagles drop to two at Rock
23:06
Speaker 1: Purty at the San Francisco forty Niners, Dan and zws,
23:10
Speaker 1: you're new number one. They are. The Niners are a
23:13
Speaker 1: fully formed death machine crushing everything in their way right now.
23:17
Speaker 1: Merry Christmas, Mary, fully formed death machine. Yes, okay, so
23:22
Speaker 1: their number one because of the number one defense is
23:24
Speaker 1: it is an essence kind of sort of. It's it's
23:26
Speaker 1: a bunch of things that have come together here for
23:28
Speaker 1: the Niners. Obviously, the defense led by Nick Bosa is dominant.
23:31
Speaker 1: Damiko Ryan's got them coached up. They're playing out of
23:34
Speaker 1: their minds. We know what's going on with Rock Purty,
23:36
Speaker 1: who stepped in and done exactly best case scenario what
23:39
Speaker 1: they could have hoped for from a rookie seventh round pick.
23:42
Speaker 1: So the offensive stated flowed with oh, by the way,
23:44
Speaker 1: Deebo Samuel out of the lineup, and the reason they
23:47
Speaker 1: jump out of the Eagles. It's simple. It's just this
23:49
Speaker 1: team is playing at a top level on both sides
23:52
Speaker 1: of the ball. While the Eagles now are going through
23:53
Speaker 1: a little bit of stuff with Jalen Hurts out of
23:55
Speaker 1: the lineup. One week they lose to the Cowboys, Lane
23:58
Speaker 1: Johnson's injuries huge, We're gonna see what that means for
24:00
Speaker 1: their running game and they're passing games. So Niners jump
24:03
Speaker 1: a spot. I still love the Eagles, but this is
24:05
Speaker 1: where it is, okay. I know on the podcast for
24:07
Speaker 1: those who don't listen to the Around the NFL podcast,
24:09
Speaker 1: shame on, good Mark Cesslor big Star Wars guy. And
24:12
Speaker 1: then you always sound confused, so so you say, what
24:15
Speaker 1: was a fully formed death machine? All? So Sessler would
24:19
Speaker 1: then say this battle. I'm sorry, this battleship is fully operational,
24:24
Speaker 1: right right, But I don't get it battle, get the
24:26
Speaker 1: ref comperation. I once you missed the Star Wars boat,
24:30
Speaker 1: you're confused and pop culture for the rest of your life.
24:32
Speaker 1: And that's what's happened to Sadden by your childhood. The
24:34
Speaker 1: Jaguars Dan are up to and into the top ten.
24:37
Speaker 1: The Jacks about the Jaguars are a top ten team.
24:40
Speaker 1: That's the first time. We've been doing this for four
24:41
Speaker 1: years now, Andrew, and it's the first time the Jags
24:43
Speaker 1: are in the top ten. This is coming a week
24:45
Speaker 1: after the Lion's got in the top ten for the
24:47
Speaker 1: first time. And what we saw against the Jets, I
24:49
Speaker 1: thought just more of the same of a team kind
24:51
Speaker 1: of on the rise. I know they only scored nineteen,
24:54
Speaker 1: but that offense again looked very good. They they Jets
24:58
Speaker 1: were vulnerable on short stuff over the middle, and they
25:01
Speaker 1: kind of picked them apart that way. Trevis Attn moved
25:04
Speaker 1: the ball well and the d sense obviously gave up
25:06
Speaker 1: a field goal on a short field after an early turnover.
25:08
Speaker 1: So this team has got to be feeling itself. And
25:11
Speaker 1: I know things a little funky with the Titans in
25:13
Speaker 1: this week sixth team, but I just love the Jaguars
25:16
Speaker 1: win in this division and making noise in the playoffs,
25:18
Speaker 1: regardless of what happens to your point here with the
25:20
Speaker 1: Jaguars or the Titans for that matter, Week seventeen, Week eighteen,
25:25
Speaker 1: the rematch Jaguars beat the Titans a couple of weeks ago,
25:28
Speaker 1: will determine who wins the a f C South. At
25:30
Speaker 1: an all likelihood, there gets the Actually, no, we'll get
25:34
Speaker 1: the fourth seed. And that is a sub five hundred
25:36
Speaker 1: team in the top ten of the power rankings. And
25:38
Speaker 1: that just speaks to the madness of this season. Andrew,
25:40
Speaker 1: It's been a strange year in the NFL. But I'm
25:43
Speaker 1: embracing the absurdity of it all, and I think you
25:45
Speaker 1: should too. I always do embracing the absurdity of the
25:49
Speaker 1: sub five potentially Jaguars hosting a playoff game against the
25:54
Speaker 1: five seed in the a f C. In the NFC,
25:57
Speaker 1: the Packers are trying to get in as the seven seed.
26:00
Speaker 1: Here you have them up five now to twelve. Yes,
26:04
Speaker 1: and the Packers, I vos a team in the power rings.
26:06
Speaker 1: At the beginning of the year, I believe I had
26:08
Speaker 1: them in the top five. I saw them as a
26:09
Speaker 1: team that can make a Super Bowl run. I think
26:11
Speaker 1: most people saw them that way. And then the defense.
26:15
Speaker 1: I know there's been issues all over the field for
26:16
Speaker 1: the Packers this year, but notice how they've slowly figured
26:19
Speaker 1: things out. The running game's gotten better, Christian Watson has
26:23
Speaker 1: changed that offense, Aaron Rodgers is healthy and playing better now.
26:26
Speaker 1: And now the defense. What they were able to do
26:29
Speaker 1: with the three interceptions of two and the last three possessions.
26:32
Speaker 1: That just shows you that they're finding their way a
26:34
Speaker 1: little bit. Uh, and you put it all together in
26:36
Speaker 1: a wide open NFC in that back into the wild
26:38
Speaker 1: card race, they feel like a team that deserves a
26:41
Speaker 1: spot in the dance. Get Aaron Rodgers in the playoffs.
26:43
Speaker 1: I think that would be fun. I think everybody would
26:45
Speaker 1: like to see. That certainly makes for better television here.
26:47
Speaker 1: We don't often look at the bottom of the power rankings,
26:49
Speaker 1: but this stood out to me. The Texans, fresh off
26:52
Speaker 1: their second win of the year they still hold right
26:55
Speaker 1: now the number one overall pick for next season, are
26:58
Speaker 1: not number thirty two. You have them up to twenty seven. Yes,
27:03
Speaker 1: why it's the holidays, Okay, So it's a gift. In
27:06
Speaker 1: some ways, it's a reward more than a gift, because yes,
27:09
Speaker 1: they finally clause yeah exactly. They got the win, uh
27:13
Speaker 1: this past weekend, which is great against the division rival.
27:16
Speaker 1: But they've been playing well in recent weeks and and
27:18
Speaker 1: hanging tough and lost some tough games down the stretch,
27:21
Speaker 1: and I just think it's gonna be interesting to see. Obviously,
27:24
Speaker 1: there's a lot of change coming for Houston. I think,
27:27
Speaker 1: you know, fans want them to kind of hold right
27:29
Speaker 1: where they are and get that number one overall, pick
27:31
Speaker 1: a lovey Smith, get another shot at this. I think
27:34
Speaker 1: they've had now eight games where they went into the
27:36
Speaker 1: fourth quarter either tied or ahead. They have fought all
27:39
Speaker 1: season with limited town. It's time to start building that
27:42
Speaker 1: roster backed up. But yeah, we give them a little
27:43
Speaker 1: pop because they're playing well at the end of a
27:45
Speaker 1: long season. Okay, so they're not thirty two. If you're
27:47
Speaker 1: wondering at home, who has or who does Dan have
27:50
Speaker 1: at thirty two, that would be the we believe our
27:53
Speaker 1: quarterback is fixable Denver Broncos. Yeah, and that's you know,
27:57
Speaker 1: I guess I could take an elks. I had them
27:59
Speaker 1: at eight to start the season and here they are.
28:01
Speaker 1: But that's the way everyone had them. Yeah, that's the
28:03
Speaker 1: way it goes. Sometimes I think they're yourself some grace
28:05
Speaker 1: at the holiday's day and give myself a gift. Yes,
28:08
Speaker 1: I like that. Yeah, that was obviously a place after
28:11
Speaker 1: fifty one to fourteen, a's so far the way things went.
28:15
Speaker 1: The coach gets dismissed, and it's just like this is
28:17
Speaker 1: the low point. You can't go lower and I thought
28:20
Speaker 1: thirty two is appropriate for them. I hope that's a
28:23
Speaker 1: great fan base, and I hope they get some things
28:24
Speaker 1: figured out. This off absolutely, and the word embarrassing was
28:28
Speaker 1: thrown around by Hackett on the podium immediately after the game,
28:31
Speaker 1: and then by both Peyton and Greg Penner earlier today
28:35
Speaker 1: as they say, and again to quote George Peyton, that
28:38
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson is fixable. The idea that that even had
28:41
Speaker 1: to be set out loud at a press conference at
28:43
Speaker 1: the end of this season, considering all the hype we
28:45
Speaker 1: put into leading into the start of the season, is
28:48
Speaker 1: just wacky. That means he's broken. You can't say someone's
28:54
Speaker 1: fixable unless you think correct that he's broken. The power
28:57
Speaker 1: rankings are never broken. They're always right. To guarantee slash
29:01
Speaker 1: power rankings and NFL Now is a production of the
29:06
Speaker 1: NFL in partnership with I Heart Radio. For more podcasts
29:10
Speaker 1: from my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app,
29:13
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.