Latest / 3 Guys, 6 Balls NFL Podcast / EP 47: NFL Award Finalists For & Against Cases (MVP, OPOY & DPOY) & Bill Belichick Not In The Hall Of Fame?!?!?!

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EP 47: NFL Award Finalists For & Against Cases (MVP, OPOY & DPOY) & Bill Belichick Not In The Hall Of Fame?!?!?! · 3 Guys, 6 Balls NFL Podcast

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3 lifelong friends, 6 trusty balls and endless NFL ticks.
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Welcome to Three guys 6 Balls NFL Podcast.
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Welcome to episode 47 of Three guys 6 Balls NFL Podcast.
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I'm your host Joel and I'm here with my Co host Will Avery is
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not joining us today because he is in the process of moving to
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Vegas. He missed Mark Davis's haircut
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so much that he wanted to move back.
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So he is moving this week. So he's not with us, but
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hopefully he'll be back with us next week.
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How you doing today? Will how you doing after that
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conference championship game? How you holding?
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Oh man, we're just going to start with this.
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That's fine. I'm doing I'm doing I'm doing
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OK, so so you're doing great. No, hold on.
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I I was I was expecting to get into this.
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I was not expecting to get in this right off the RIP.
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I have not fully corrected my thoughts here for show worthy
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but I know what I want to say. So I I as known by our eight
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watchers and I grew up a Dallas fan.
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Dallas Cowboys were my life for the 1st 31 and whatever amount
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of my life it was Dallas Cowboys throwing through.
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I bled blue and silver. I then made an adult choice to
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change teams and picked what? When do we pick our new teams?
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It was before Christmas. It was well before Christmas
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too. Like that was early.
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In the season, it was the week of of I think it was week five.
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I think it was week 5 because it was the week that the Eagles
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beat the Bucks. I remember that.
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OK, so we we recorded that episode after that week had
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happened. Right.
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OK. So yeah, early in the season,
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right? Week 5, there's still 12 weeks
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up in the season. I and my family, except for my
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son, as noted here, takes the Rams and then the Rams go on and
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all they do is have who's going to be hopefully the MVP of the
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league as their quarterback, who's got a very strong
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contender for offensive player of the year.
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They've got a coach that should be in consideration for coach of
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the year. But he is, he's this is just
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what's expected. And so he's not going to be in
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consideration for because it's just expected now.
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And so they've got they've got that going for him.
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They've got they made an NFC championship run.
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This is nothing I've ever experienced in my life before.
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The anticipation the I have had the Cowboys made a division
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around more than one time when I was an active football fan, I
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think at least one time. So I experienced that before.
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But but winning that game and moving to the conference
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championship game is nothing I've ever experienced in my
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life. Active adults like I'm a
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football watcher. Life.
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And so that entire week from Bears and the highs and lows of
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that Bears game, the 4th and four from the 14 yard line when
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Caleb Williams threw that 52 yard patch into the end zone to
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tie the ball game with under a minute left.
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The highs and lows of that game left me a bit hungover for the
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week. And such high anticipation.
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The Seahawks Ram game Rams games throughout the season had been
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such again, high emotional games, highs and lows with the
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the backwards pass that led to the two point conversion that
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then went on to them winning that there was there was just a
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a series of tough thought football games right there that
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all culminated the end where it was Ram Seahawks again, the
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conference championships game. And I let myself believe that,
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okay, the Seahawks, they had a bye week and they had a second
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bye week with the 49ers that that Rashid Shaheed took the
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opening kickoff back then they scored the extra point and they
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didn't need to score any more points.
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But what did the Seahawks do? They did the exact opposite of
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the Falcons in the Super Bowl. They kept the foot on the gas
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bowl. They kept going.
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They did not stop relentless. That Seahawks team was
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throughout that entire game. And I think that is a key moment
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as to why they were able to persevere through and beat the
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lamps. I think had they just coasted
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through and OK, well, we're up. I don't know what the score was
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at halftime of that game, but we're at Bay halftime.
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We're just going to play to not lose and playing to not lose, I
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think still beats the 49ers. But because they didn't, Mike
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McDonald went ahead and said, no, we're going to we're going
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to make it hurt. This is a this is a division
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rival. We're going to make this hurt.
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And they did. And then I I think that all fine
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tunes the elements when they got to the Rams game, they were
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ready. This Rams team had a hard fought
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Panthers game in the playoffs. They had a hard fought bears
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game in the playoffs. They came in round 3 after 2
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hard fought regular season games against the Seahawks to what was
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going to be the NFC championship.
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I think that was going to is going to be a better game in the
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Super Bowl is going to be. I mean, it's been said before a
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lot of times. I think the same case can be
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made for say the Seahawks against the Broncos Super Bowl,
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right? Unless you're a Seahawks fan,
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that super was kind of dookie that that first snap over Peyton
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Manning's head and then it was a safety and then it was just
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relentless from there. I mean, it was just rough for
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and he was like, this isn't even entertaining from football
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anymore unless you're a Seahawks fan.
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But I do believe the NFC championship game was a hard
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fought game. The Seahawks came down to the
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wire to win. Now, I could be remembering that
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wrong, but that's how I remember it.
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And that's how I'm going to remember this, too, because I
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don't give the, and this is spoiler alert here, we're
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talking about this next week. I think I don't give the
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Patriots much chance here. I don't think anybody's giving
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the Patriots much chance here. The opening line was 4 1/2
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points in favor of the Seahawks, like they're already more than a
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few little favorite in the Super Bowl.
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And so going back to your original question of how am I
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doing after the NFC Championship game, I'm doing good because I
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think amidst all the controversy, I actually think
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the better team won that game. I think, and I've, I've said it
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so many times, that Rams secondary is abysmal.
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That Rams secondary is so bad. Oh man, they they gave up so
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many yards to the Panthers in the playoffs.
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They let up a fourth and 452 yard pass in a 14 yard line to
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Caleb Williams and Cole Command like they, they just let up
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passes. And when you're playing elite
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wide receivers such as at JSN this year and Cooper Cup has
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been in the past, that doesn't just go away.
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Sure, your your skills and ability fade that he is still a
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top caliber wide receiver just to have on your team because
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what he can do, you have to respect him through it through.
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I mean, he won the Triple Crown, God darn it like, and it didn't
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let anybody forget about it when watching NFC championship game
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is Oh yeah, former Rams Super Bowl MVP now for the Seahawks.
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Dude, he made a three yard catch.
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Can we just not say that every time he touches the ball?
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Can we pick something? They they pound that stuff like
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during the last game of the season with the Bucks and
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Panthers. I cannot tell you how many times
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I heard them say, well, if the Saints win this game, then the
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Bucks go to the playoffs and if the Falcons win this game, then
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the Panthers go to the playoffs. Literally about 1000 times.
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I'm sure they said it throughout the game.
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Like how many times do you guys have to say this?
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We already know that and say that that That and glazing
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Patrick Mahomes well in every single game.
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Yeah, well, that it will drop challenge, you know who's in.
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So yeah, I'm doing pretty good. It's bittersweet because my son
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has decided he's a Seahawks fan. So it's really cool that in the
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first year of my son liking football, his team is going to
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the Super Bowl. And he did pick them during the
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regular season. And he, as I mentioned out here,
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only picked him because it was a team I was going against.
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So he just naturally picked opposing me rather than for me,
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which is fine. Boys will be boys.
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It's cool for him his first year his team gets to the Super Bowl.
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But I'm doing good. I'm doing, I'm doing good.
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So there's that. There's that whole model on
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about how I'm doing and my take on the AFC championship game.
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I've got more thoughts, but I feel like we'll dive into it
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later. I'm just like stealing the show
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here. Oh, you're good.
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The more you talk, the less I have to so feel free.
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But yeah, I don't really have much thoughts on the Rams and
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Seahawks game aside from that other than just it was a fun
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game to watch that. That's all I'll say.
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So let's move on to Patriots at Broncos, though, we'll just
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cover that game real quick. Hold on if.
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We're if we're talking about the games, have we got some more
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questions here? Have we got some more takes?
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Have we got some more questions before we move on?
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OK, OK. Cooper Cup didn't catch that
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ball. He did.
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He did catch it. He did not catch that ball.
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He did. He did 100% he caught it.
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He did not catch that ball. If he caught that ball, Brandon
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Cooks caught the ball and it was not an interception.
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No so so because Brandon Cooks did not make Brandon Cooks did
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not make a OK, I hope this is I kind of know if Avery was.
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Here from this, because we were on the opposite side of this,
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I'm good going toe to toe right here with you.
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OK, So what was the football move that Cooper that yeah,
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Cooper cut made? Well, there's two that you could
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say he was hit in stride, so he was running when he and when he
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caught the ball and then he was tackling, he took a step.
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And. Then.
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But. But Cooks was in the air.
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Cooks was in the air, so he couldn't take a step because he
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was in the air. Cooper, he landed.
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He got 2 feet down. He got 2 feet down on his way to
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the ground. But but getting 2 feet down
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doesn't count unless you're on the sideline, then you have to
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control the ball. It's different.
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Cooper Cup was in stride, so he took a an additional step when
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he was getting tackled. He also extended the ball to try
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and get the first down, which is an act common to the game.
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Brandon Cooks did not do that. OK.
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Hold on though, because we, in my opinion, and I've already, I
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already had this argument with Kirk today.
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So so I I'm willing to keep having it because I feel like if
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one is going to be true, then both have to be true.
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Conveniently, I have a football right here.
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It's very flat, obviously, as you can tell, very dented in
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DeMarcus Ware signed that I probably shouldn't be touching
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it, but here we are. If extending the football is an
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act, then tucking the football in should also be an act common
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to the game gaining possession. You see, one that the argument
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Kirk made was that when you extend the ball you have
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possessed, you're you're ending your catch and you have
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possession and you are now making a football move.
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OK, But when you have when you catch the ball and are tucking
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it, you are ending your catch, maintaining possession and
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bringing the ball into your body.
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But when somebody is tucking the ball in and it gets it out, that
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is not a catch. That is an incomplete pass.
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So if you extend the ball, that can't possibly be a catch
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because extending the ball and tucking the ball are exact
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inverses. You are moving the ball either
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closer to or further away from your body.
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After you've made the catch and secured possession, you are now
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adjusting the position of the ball.
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That's all you're doing is adjusting the position either
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further away from your body or closer to.
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Additionally, when he went down, that ball was not across the
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first down line and it is not. That is true.
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That part I agree with. It is not the goal line.
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It is not count when it just crosses the the line and it
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comes back. It is not the goal line.
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And unless that ball was pushed backwards by a defender,
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bringing that ball back by yourself is not forward
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progress. You can run backwards all you
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want if you're not touched. Excuse me, This is why.
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This is why Dan Orlotsky ran out of the back of the end zone and
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it was called a safety because he was untouched and ran
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backwards out of the back of the end zone.
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That is not forward progress on the 1 yard line.
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He brought that ball back on his own and it was no longer across
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the first down. So the fact that McVeigh had to
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burn a timeout, I agree with that, because if the clock is
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running and you want to speak to a referee, it is your
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responsibility to use a time out.
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That I agree with. But it looked like the
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explanation he got was that he can't challenge it without using
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his other time out. And who on earth would do that?
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I'm not going to possibly challenge this and and possibly
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lose my other time out. And so he didn't get his time
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out back. They didn't let him challenge
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it. They didn't they didn't
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expedited review it, although I feel like they probably should
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have done that too. Very crucial call.
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Give it the expedited review in the in the booth and and then
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let's all just OK, after expedited review, confirm first
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down and then and then whatever. So I, I feel like that that play
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was very mismanaged by the NFL because of how controversy,
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controversial, excuse me, these catches in the playoffs.
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Have been once again we're brought right back to the
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officiating sucks. Yeah, and, and I've said this
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before and I don't mind saying it again, the referees contract
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is up. They have one more game, there's
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one more referee crew, and then the NFL referee's contract is
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up. If you are in your contract
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year, at the pinnacle of it, you are at the very end of it.
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There are two games on TV and both of them are on separate
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times and America is going to be watch it.
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Well, those that watch football are going to be watching each of
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those games individually. All eyes are on you.
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There's no red zone channel where you're just flipping
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through every single game the entire day.
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It is. This is it.
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And so you would think you'd be putting better tape out there.
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Hey, look how good we're doing. Hey, look how consistent we are.
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Look at how good we are over here.
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I'm scared for the Super Bowl, for the referees because these
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guys are going to be on absolute.
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I don't want to say death threats, that's not the right
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thing, but they're going to be. People are going to be watching
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like a hawk. That's going to be crazy that
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you Scrutiny, that's the word. The scrutiny.
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These referees are going to be under the entire Super Bowl, any
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back home. Britney is the performer in the
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halftime show will be under. That's absolutely true.
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I just think people won't pay attention to him.
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That's, that's what I think. Like if I, if I was paying 10s
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of thousands of dollars for a commercial, I would make sure it
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was not during the halftime show because I, I, I have no interest
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in watching it. And that's, that's a me thing.
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It's not my style of music. I'm not a big hip hop fan of any
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genre. Whether it's I think he's
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Brazilian, is that right? I know Spanish, I just really
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don't know. I don't really know either.
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I don't listen to Bad Bunny. I don't.
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I don't like his music at all. Yeah, I but, but the difference
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there, Joe, is the Bad Bunny does not, I think, have an
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effect on the outcome of the game.
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The referees make that same call on 3rd and eight with 3:15 left
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in the game and a four point game in the Super Bowl when the
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Seahawks are down and they're going to lose the Patriots,
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let's just say the entire Pacific Northwest like these
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guys, these guys are to blame. Are we have a good enough team?
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These guys are to blame. I just given the scenario, I
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feel like they should have given it more of a look again and
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we're just a two weeks in a row, we're saying that if it's taken
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longer to review. It Yeah, I agree.
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Well, do you have any specific thoughts on Patriots and Broncos
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real quick or do you want me to just go so you can talk to 15
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minutes or? Yeah, you, you can go.
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You can go. I'm like, I want to talk now.
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I said I didn't want to go for it, but now I do.
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But now I do. Please, please talk.
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So really the only thought that I have on this game is what I
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said last week about Jared Stidham being compared to Nick
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Foles for the 2017 Eagles was 100% correct.
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Not the same thing. And you saw it with his
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inexperience, with Stidham's inexperience.
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I don't think if you have an experienced quarterback in that
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game, whether it's Bonex or Nick Foles or somebody else, that he
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makes that dumb turnover that led to the only touchdown for
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the Patriots. His inexperience showed in that
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play. And so I, I think if you take
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that Nick Foles from 2017, who had 36 starts, he's not making
16:44
that play. But a guy who hasn't started in
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two years, hasn't thrown a pass in two years, has four career
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starts. He makes that play.
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So what I said about his inexperience versus Nick Foles
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experience in 2017, it showed in that game and ultimately it
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cost, it cost the Broncos the game.
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So that's all I have to say. But if you have any other
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thoughts, go. Ahead a couple things here I
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mean we'll let's go on over 2 from field goal that is that's
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pretty bad now Borg Alice went one for three so like you both
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missed 2 field goals but the weather was bad all right, sure
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we'll let you play in Denver. You should be better at this.
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Additionally, Drake may put up another sub 50%.
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Well put up a sub 50% pass for completion percentage.
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In that game he was 20 or 10 for 21.
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This guy Drake may has been bad in the playoffs.
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I don't even know how to say it. He has not been the same Drake
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regular season Drake May and and I think it comes down to
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inexperience and just being maybe uncomfortable in the
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playoffs because he hasn't been there before.
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And I think we're going to and, and the fact that he has played
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two top five defenses in a row with the Texans and in the
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Broncos. And the problem is he's also
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going up against the top five defense again in the Super Bowl
18:10
with the Seahawks. I expect more of the same.
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He had 82, excuse me, 86 passing yards in the Super Bowl.
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In in the AFC championship game, he was 10 for 2186 yards.
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He took 5 sacks for 21 yards. Now, additionally, he did
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scramble 10 times for 65 yards. That's pretty good.
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And you got to touch on that a bit.
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But I just, I don't think the Seahawks are going to give up
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the same, the same areas. I, I, I think that defense is
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just better. I I I don't like the Patriots
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chances in the Super Bowl. Stop giving it all away before
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we talk about it. No, I like to repeat myself, so
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it's fine to say it again. All right.
18:55
Well, anyways, the NFL revealed the NFL award finalists this
19:00
week. And So what Will and I are going
19:02
to do today is talk about not all of the awards, but we're
19:06
going to talk about maybe 3 or 4 of the awards.
19:09
And we're going to make for and against cases for some of the
19:13
candidates for these awards. And when I say some of the
19:15
candidates, I mean each award has five finalists.
19:18
We narrowed it down to two finalists for MVP and three for
19:22
Offensive Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.
19:25
And then we might get to offensive and defensive rookies,
19:29
but we're going to for sure do MVP, Offensive Player of the
19:31
Year and Defensive Player of the Year.
19:33
And so we've narrowed it down to a more select group.
19:36
We're going to make a case for these guys and against these
19:39
guys. And then we'll give our
19:41
predictions for who wins the award at the end of each award.
19:45
So to start, we'll start with MVP.
19:49
So the finalists for this award are Josh Allen, Trevor Lawrence,
19:53
Christian McCaffrey, Drake May, and Matthew Stafford.
19:57
Will and I narrowed it down to Matthew Stafford and Drake May.
20:00
I feel like nobody would have a problem with that.
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I feel like everybody knows it's those two guys and nobody else
20:06
even has a chance. So we'll actually, before we
20:09
start this, for anybody listening, Please remember that
20:13
these awards are based off of the regular season.
20:17
Before you get upset at anything we say, these are regular season
20:20
awards. The playoffs has nothing to do
20:23
with these awards. So no, Sam Darnold will not be
20:26
MVP because he's in the Super Bowl.
20:28
OK, that it's just sorry Seahawks fans, that's just not
20:31
how it works so well. You can start make your case for
20:36
and against Matthew Stafford. Matthew Stafford my guy, my new
20:40
guy I guess I should say. I mean heck of a season right?
20:43
He had he went on a with A56 game run, something like that
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12345678 game run without throwing a seagull.
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A reception season stats this year completed 388 passes on 597
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attempts, just over 4700 yards, 46 touchdowns, 8 interceptions.
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He led the league in passing. I do believe that is accurate.
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He did. He led the league in passing
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yards, yes. He also led the league with
21:07
touchdown passes with 46. Which nobody else is close.
21:11
To by the way. Right, he is.
21:15
I mean there it is. Led the league in passing yards
21:18
was top. Oh, see, here's the other
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problem with these awards and trying to find stats is that
21:25
when you look it up, anybody who's trying to single pass
21:29
starts skewing numbers. So, Oh yeah, 32 back, 32 yard
21:33
average. OK, he threw one pass.
21:35
Can I get 110 minimum here, please?
21:38
Anyway, so let the league in passing yards, let the league in
21:42
touchdowns. And I don't know what the number
21:44
is technically, but usually when the guy's doing that, they're
21:47
going to end up winning a VP. Like, like that's all the NFL
21:50
cares about right now is who is doing the best in the
21:53
quarterback position. And doing the best currently
21:56
means most yards, most touchdowns, and and least amount
22:01
of turnovers. Now, Stafford didn't have the
22:03
least amount of turnovers. Actually, even Caleb Williams
22:06
did less interceptions than Matthew Stafford this year.
22:08
But with interceptions. No, it's factually accurate.
22:13
Jordan Love also threw less. Jalen Hurts also threw less, so
22:19
he actually threw less interceptions on more attempts.
22:23
So there's nothing to complain about there.
22:26
Whatever. But I, I just you watch the
22:29
games, you watch the competition, you watch this man
22:34
run his team. There's just no other way to do
22:37
it, right. He, he commanded the elephants,
22:40
he was up against hard competition.
22:41
He he put his players in the right position to make the place
22:46
they need to make. The one drawback he has going
22:49
for him is he doesn't run the football.
22:51
Now if you only watch the NFC Championship Game, you would
22:54
disagree with that fact because he had a couple.
22:56
Well, I think he had two good scrambles in the NFC
22:59
Championship game. Crush the over for his roughing
23:01
yards for sure, but he doesn't have the same.
23:05
I think he had no, I know he had during the regular season.
23:08
He had one single rushing yard on the whole season.
23:10
Oh yeah, so so he doesn't have that to back it up, doesn't have
23:15
the rushing touchdowns. He doesn't get the 1 yard touch
23:17
pushes that Josh Allen gets or that Jalen Hurts get.
23:22
He doesn't run the football like Josh Allen or even Drake may.
23:25
So that is a drawback that I think when it comes down to pure
23:29
your numbers throwing the football wise, there's no one
23:33
better than Matt Stafford. And and this the fact that he's
23:35
doing it at 37 years old and doesn't show signs of slowing
23:39
down currently, especially when if you remember to begin the
23:43
season, there was thoughts if he was even to be able to play this
23:46
year. Hey, he's got he's got back
23:48
problems. We're going to see a lot of
23:50
Jimmy Garoppolo this year with the Rams and that's just that
23:53
just didn't happen. He played every game.
23:55
I don't know if he played every snap, but he played every game
23:58
and and was there in and out. So I also think his eight game
24:02
stretch of 0 interceptions and he had some unreal amount of
24:06
touchdowns during that time. I could do the math here if we
24:10
really wanted me to. 358101418 and 5 is 232427 30 touchdowns no
24:23
picks in that stretch. I mean that's really good like
24:27
like that's that's really good by all accounts.
24:31
So and to finish it off week 18, he had another no interception
24:35
game. He only had 123455 interceptions
24:39
5 games interceptions of the season.
24:41
His major drawbacks going to be against the Falcons.
24:43
They lost the last two games of the season, which was not great
24:46
against the well excuse me two of the last three games of the
24:49
season against the Seahawks and the Falcons in that week 17 game
24:52
against the Falcons, he only he he did end up throwing 3 picks
24:55
that game. So he's got some major drawbacks
24:58
in recency when it comes to to voting.
25:03
It's like, what have you done for me lately?
25:04
You look at this Week 17 game, it's the Falcons.
25:07
It was not great, but the rest of his, the rest of his season
25:11
pretty good. Pretty good, if I do say so
25:13
myself. I agree.
25:15
Before I save my for and against case here for Matthew Stafford,
25:18
I just want everybody to know when I make my against case.
25:22
I really tried hard to find things to say against Matt, not
25:26
only Matthew Stafford, but all of these guys.
25:28
Like I really spent a lot of time, like way more time than I
25:32
should have to find an against case for these guys.
25:35
So when I say these things, don't think that I'm hating on
25:38
Matthew Stafford. It's just I've spent a lot of
25:41
time just trying to find something to put in the against
25:45
category. So we already kind of talked
25:47
about it. For Matthew Stafford, the reason
25:49
why he should win MVP is because he led the league in passing
25:52
yards and he led the league in passing touchdowns with 46,
25:55
which nobody else was even close to.
25:57
I believe the next guy was Jared Goff, who had 34 touchdowns
26:01
passing, I believe. So nobody else was even close to
26:05
Matthew Stafford when it comes to passing touchdowns.
26:08
So there's the four case against Matthew Stafford.
26:12
His completion percentage wasn't even in the top 15.
26:15
He had a worse completion percentage than guys like
26:17
Spencer Rattler, Tyler Shuck, and Geno Smith.
26:20
And then we've seen this before from Matthew Stafford, right?
26:22
Although this is the most touchdown passes he's ever
26:24
thrown. We've seen Stafford throw 40
26:27
plus touchdowns in two different seasons before this.
26:30
And we've also seen him throw for more yards than he threw
26:33
this season 3 different times before.
26:35
The reason why I say that is because when you look at Drake
26:38
May, this is the first time that we've seen this level of play
26:41
from Drake May. And so it's new and it's
26:44
exciting. Everybody knows that Stafford is
26:46
one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL and they knew that
26:49
before this season. They knew that going in, they
26:51
knew that the Rams would be contenders because they have
26:53
Matthew Stafford on the field. They've seen this before from
26:56
Matthew Stafford. We have not seen this from Drake
26:58
May prior to this season. And so I think that goes in
27:02
Drake May's favor versus Matthew Stafford when it comes to MVP
27:05
voting because it's a lot of it is a popularity contest.
27:09
Let's be honest. It's a popularity contest.
27:11
And Drake May is the more exciting player because he not
27:15
only does it through the air, but he does it on the ground as
27:17
well, which Matthew Stafford does not do unless you're in the
27:20
conference championship against the Seahawks.
27:22
So that's my against case for Matthew Stafford.
27:25
Now let's get into Drake May, unless will you have anything
27:28
else to add there? I do not.
27:31
OK, cool. So I'll start on Drake May.
27:34
The four case for Drake May, he had the highest completion
27:36
percentage during the regular season in the league with 72%.
27:40
He had a total of 4846 yards, which is more than Stafford.
27:46
He had 4394 passing yards. He had 450 rushing yards.
27:51
He also had two receiving yards. So Matthew Stafford doesn't do
27:55
the receiving aspect like Drake May does.
27:57
OK. So also he had the highest
28:00
average yards per pass attempt with 8.9.
28:03
He had the highest pass rating in the league with 113.5 and he
28:06
had the highest adjusted QBR at 77.1.
28:10
Also, the Patriots had a better record than the Rams.
28:13
So if you're voting for MVP and you're looking at all this stuff
28:16
that Drake May did, not only is it more exciting than what
28:19
Matthew Stafford is doing because we haven't seen it from
28:21
Drake May before and we have seen it from Stafford, but he's
28:25
got all these numbers to back it up.
28:26
The completion percentage, the passer rating, the adjusted QBR,
28:30
the record. He's got all that stuff over
28:33
Matthew Stafford. My against case is kind of short
28:36
for Drake May, but I would say that he only had a total of 35
28:40
touchdowns compared to Matthew Stafford's 46.
28:43
So Stafford may not have the yards and he may not have the
28:46
excitement, but Stafford has the touchdowns, which ultimately is
28:50
what matters because you're helping your team score points,
28:53
which then helps you win the game.
28:55
Drake made any good a good season, right?
28:57
Great season, second Pro Bowl in a row, although he won't be
29:00
making it. Well, he he made it, but he
29:02
won't be attending, right, going to the Super Bowl figures team
29:04
over the Super Bowl, but they had quite possibly the easiest
29:08
possible schedule, right? They didn't cross Mississippi
29:10
until going to play the Broncos. And then what do you do against
29:14
the Broncos? And that's playoffs doesn't
29:16
count the other two for 86 yards.
29:19
I, I feel like he has been carried by his team a lot when
29:22
he's needed to, which is great. I'm glad they've been able to do
29:25
that. But he's done well against quote
29:30
UN quote easier competition. And so yes, he had a 72%
29:35
completion percentage, but he he only threw 4300 yards.
29:38
He only had 31 touchdowns. Same on interceptions, 31
29:42
passing times, 80 interceptions. And yes, he ran the ball for 450
29:47
yards this season and four touchdowns.
29:50
But, and this is an old curmudgeon human opinion, I want
29:54
my quarterback to stand in the pocket.
29:55
I don't want him running around. If they're running around, then
29:58
they're trying to do too much. So I although it is helpful and
30:02
it's the reason that these quarterbacks are winning is
30:04
because of what else they can do besides just throw the ball.
30:08
I just don't think it brings it up to the same eye tests pass
30:13
because like you said, it's a popularity contest.
30:16
You have to pass an eye test as well.
30:17
Yes, the stats matter, but also how did it look while you were
30:21
doing it? And I I just don't think Drake
30:23
may have looked as good as Matthew Stafford did doing it.
30:25
The competition was better for Stafford.
30:28
I mean, everything, right? But you can also say for
30:30
Stafford, well, his receivers are better than the receivers
30:33
that that Drake may had until he was working until he had to.
30:36
I've kind of split myself a whole web here of yeah, butts
30:39
for the other guy, which is kind of what we wanted to do.
30:42
And, and that's kind of where I met I, I think it's 72% complete
30:45
representative is the biggest thing to hang his hat on.
30:47
And again, thank goodness it's a regular season award.
30:51
The problem is, is will the voters, I do believe votes were,
30:54
are, are already currently in because they have to make the
30:56
awards and put the names on it and do all that stuff.
30:58
And so I, I, I think that the awards are already due, But if
31:02
voters let playoff appearances and playoff performances sway
31:07
their voting, it's definitely going Stafford's favor.
31:10
But I, I, I think what really matters is that last game of the
31:15
season, Drake May 14 for 18191 yards, one touchdown against the
31:19
Dolphins. I do believe he came out early
31:23
in that game. I don't think he played the
31:24
whole game because they're 138 to 10.
31:26
Whereas Matthew Stafford in his final game this season, they won
31:28
3720. Stafford went 25 for 42159
31:32
yards, 4 touchdowns, no picks. So that final four touchdown, no
31:36
pick game of the season. And it was the one thing that
31:38
met that sealed it for in Matthew Stafford's favor.
31:42
Although Drake may only had I think five games where he threw
31:45
less than 250 passing yards. So the majority of his games
31:49
he's throwing the ball 250 or more, which is great.
31:53
And like, that's that's not easy.
31:56
That's not easy by any means, especially with with a sling of
31:58
receivers that you had. But I didn't give the award to
32:00
Stafford for a couple of reasons.
32:02
One, because it's the Angel adage that, well, Drake makes
32:08
young. He still hasn't shot to win it.
32:11
Stafford getting old. Maybe he doesn't.
32:13
So let's just give it to the old guy just to kind of give it to
32:17
him. I don't think anybody would be
32:18
mad about Stafford getting it this year.
32:20
Whereas Drake May still has time to do it.
32:22
No, they should not do that. If it's just because Stafford's
32:26
old and Drake May's young, that should not be a reason Stafford
32:29
Stafford wins. I would like to be clear about
32:31
that, but I think it may weigh on some of these voters.
32:35
I agree. I think Matthew Stafford's going
32:36
to win it, but I do think that either way, whoever wins, that
32:40
they deserve it. So I'm good with it either way,
32:42
but I do think that Matthew Stafford is going to be the
32:44
winner before we move on here. Go ahead.
32:48
I have a bold prediction here. I was incredibly bold.
32:52
I think Matthew Stanford wins and in his MVP speech he
32:57
retires. Oh, that'd be a good way to do
33:00
it. All right, moving on to
33:02
Offensive Player of the Year, the finalists are Drake May,
33:05
Christian McCaffrey, Puka Nakua, John Robinson and Jackson Smith
33:09
and Jigba Will. And I decided that the three
33:11
candidates that are most likely to win the award are Jackson
33:15
Smith and Jigba, Puka Nakua and Christian McCaffrey.
33:18
I don't think Drake May is going to win it even though he has a
33:23
legitimate case to win it. But I also think that the fact
33:26
that Matthew Stafford is not on this list and Drake May is just
33:29
already tells us who the MVP is, which is kind of ridiculous that
33:33
they would do that. But anyways, so let's make the
33:36
case for and against Puku Nakua, Christian McCaffrey, and JSN.
33:41
We'll, we'll start with Puku Nakua.
33:42
Make your case for and against Pukukukua to be the Offensive
33:45
Player of the Year. OK, Buku Nakua led the league in
33:50
receptions. He had 17115 yards on the
33:54
season, 13.3 yards per reception, 10 touchdowns because
33:58
he was getting vultured a bit by Devante Adams throughout the
34:01
season, but hey, you know what, that's OK.
34:03
He also had 80 receptions for first downs into the season with
34:07
107 yards per game as a receiver.
34:10
Catch percentage is 77.7% yards for target 10.3.
34:15
He had the other reading the stat list of anybody can read
34:18
the stat list. I think this kind of goes hand
34:20
in hand rushing yards. He ended with this is rushing.
34:25
This is receiving rushing yards. He had 10 attempts for 105
34:30
rushing yards and no rushing touchdowns, which is fine
34:34
because he's not a he's not a runner, he's a receiver.
34:37
I mean, you watch this guy play and he he's got like glue for
34:42
hands. The ball comes to him, he
34:45
catches it. I'm not sure the playoffs he
34:48
he's making extra yards after the play.
34:50
I think that's the biggest thing for me is that he doesn't just
34:53
catch it and go down the usual tie or walk it, which again
34:56
saves your body. You can play longer, but you
35:00
don't help your team right now as much.
35:02
He's catching the ball and he's moving up field and getting
35:04
yards after the catch and doing everything he can to make every
35:07
reception a touchdown. If he can't get a touchdown, he
35:11
seems to be mad about it. He also keeps a pretty positive
35:14
personality on the field. He pops up, he's always smiling
35:17
and whether he's smiling under the skin of the defense or he's
35:20
actually smiling because he's happy.
35:22
He seems to just be having a good time out there.
35:24
I, I like everything this guy does.
35:26
He brings. He brings an extra dynamic to to
35:31
the offense of the Rams. He makes it so you have to
35:34
double cover him, but then you double cover him.
35:36
Devonte Adams and single coverage.
35:38
And then there you go there. And so he's a clear one, number
35:41
one, my receiver who is number 1 targets but turns it into #1
35:45
receiver receptions and then #1 receiver yards too.
35:49
And so he's got everything going for him.
35:52
I don't think he wins the award, but I think he has a very fair
35:56
case because without without puka on the Rams this year, they
35:59
are just not near as good. He did miss two games, Yeah, he
36:03
did miss two games, and I think that's going to be a drawback
36:05
for him. But you can't win them all.
36:08
Right, all right, so for me, for the four reason for Pukunuku is
36:12
he had the second most receiving yards in the league with 1715,
36:15
which already said which is actually 36.4% of the team
36:19
receiving yards. He had the most receptions in
36:22
the league with 129 and he had six games this year with 10 plus
36:27
catches. He had 69 more receptions than
36:29
the next guy on the team and he tied Jackson, Smith and Jigba
36:34
with the most 20 plus yard receiving plays this year.
36:38
He was third in the league with yards after catch which this
36:41
will be the reason that he does not win the award because his
36:44
yards after catch were 666. So he is cursed and he had the
36:49
most receiving first downs this season.
36:51
The reason against Pukunukua for Offensive Player of the Year is
36:55
he has Devante Adams on the other side.
36:57
When you have Devante Adams on the other side, it increases
37:00
your ability to do basically whatever you want opposite from
37:04
him. So Devante Adams had 789 yards
37:07
this year and 14 touchdowns in 14 games.
37:10
When you have Devante on the other side of you versus a guy
37:13
like JSN who doesn't, that's going to be a case against you.
37:17
Although your numbers look great and Pukunukua is great, but you
37:21
also have Devante Adams to make things a lot easier for you
37:25
because the defense has to worry about Devante Adams on the other
37:28
side. So I also don't think Pukunukua
37:31
wins this award, but I do think that what he did this season was
37:35
very impressive. All right, let's move on to
37:38
Christian McCaffrey. The four reason for Christian
37:40
McCaffrey is because he had 1200 rushing yards.
37:44
He had 924 receiving yards for a total of 2126 yards.
37:49
He had 10 rushing touchdowns and seven receiving touchdowns for
37:53
17 total touchdowns. He was one of seven players to
37:56
have 100 receptions this season and he was the only running back
37:59
to do so. And then this is this is crazy.
38:03
He had 413 plays where he either ran or caught the ball, which is
38:10
an incredible amount of ball touching.
38:17
Christian McCaffrey touched the ball a lot this year, 413 times.
38:22
That is insane. They pounded Christian McCaffrey
38:25
into the ground. That and.
38:28
Is irresponsible Kyle Shanahan? He's Kyle Shanahan has been
38:33
questioned about that. He played four games last year
38:36
and got hurts. Excuse me, He played in four
38:39
games. He started the season.
38:41
Those weren't the end of the year.
38:43
Excuse me, I've got this backwards.
38:45
He started the year hurt last year and played four games
38:48
throughout the season. Man, I'm remembering his season
38:50
all wrong, but it was not at the beginning.
38:52
So this, he was hurt a lot last year and then this year you give
38:56
him a a career high for him of touches of ball touches.
39:03
That's irresponsible. My only against case for
39:09
Christian McCaffrey would be that he averaged 3.9 yards per
39:12
carry, which was tied for 17th in the league.
39:15
So there were 38 other players in the league who averaged more
39:18
yards per carry than he did. But I think his 4K is heavily
39:21
outweighs his against case because of how much he produced
39:26
for that offense. I personally think that
39:29
Christian McCaffrey is going to win Offensive Player of the Year
39:32
because of how much he meant to that offense.
39:35
He was the 49ers offense. He had all those yards over 2000
39:39
yards combined. He had 17 touchdowns.
39:42
The guy was just incredible throughout the season, carried
39:45
the 49ers on his back, got them to the playoffs despite all
39:49
those injuries. So that's why I think Christian
39:51
McCaffrey is going to win Offensive Player of the Year.
39:54
What about you? Will what's your for and against
39:55
case for Christian McCaffrey? I mean, you kind of said it all
39:58
but but I I think the biggest thing and the reason he is also
40:02
on the MVP list is because without Christian McCaffrey, we
40:06
saw it last year this team was not nearly as good and this year
40:10
the entire Niners team was crumbling.
40:13
Except for somehow Christian McCaffrey.
40:16
I stayed away from this guy in fantasy football.
40:18
Had no interest in drafting it. 0 might have drafted active
40:22
Genti over him. That man, that's a bad work now.
40:25
I ranked him #2 By the way, you guys didn't listen to me.
40:28
No, I did not because I was like, OK, well, he's going to
40:31
play three games and he's going to be done for the season
40:34
because the Niners have to hand in the ball every time and it's
40:37
just not going to go well, except for this year it did go
40:40
well. He got handed the ball 311
40:42
times. Like you mentioned, He got 102
40:48
receptions. Yeah, 102 receptions on 129
40:51
targets. That is incredibly efficient,
40:54
121, nine targets, 102 receptions.
40:57
That means every time the ball was coming to him now, not every
41:00
time, but almost every time the ball was coming to him, he was
41:02
getting a ball and doing something with it.
41:05
That is so efficient for him. 2100 scrimmage yards.
41:10
I don't know if that's the emotionally this year, but it's
41:12
got to be down near closer to the most scrimmage yards if it's
41:16
not the most. The only person who could be
41:18
close to that is Robinson. Let's see, he had almost 1500
41:22
rushing yards and then he had receiving.
41:27
No, Robinson did have more yards than him.
41:29
Not as many touchdowns though, so he's probably not going to.
41:31
Win it. I mean, he did do it more
41:32
efficiently. But his team didn't make the
41:34
playoffs. His team didn't make the
41:35
playoffs, and so that's what really matters.
41:36
And so, yeah, but Sean had more more total yards, but but I
41:42
didn't have a butt. I mean, that's just depressive.
41:45
I mean, that's just a breath. I mean, I I think what's going
41:49
for for Chris McCaffrey, he said there's more touchdowns.
41:51
I think more receptions matters, more receiving yards matters.
41:53
He had more attempts. He did have less rushing yards.
41:56
But I don't think that is going to play too heavily on it
41:59
because that that's just what happened, right?
42:02
413 touches, 2100 yard scrimmage yards, 17 total touches on the
42:07
season. I also think he wins it and I
42:09
don't think this is the only award he wins this year.
42:12
He made first team all pro. There's no other cases against
42:15
Grisham we have for this year besides the fact that he played
42:17
for the Niners and they should be put under scrutiny.
42:21
Scrutiny for giving the ball 413 times.
42:25
Again, a lot of ball touching. The next highest, sorry, just in
42:29
perspective, the next highest this season for touches in one
42:32
season was Jonathan Taylor, who touched the ball 369 times.
42:38
McCaffrey was 4/13. Next highest was 369.
42:44
That's that's what we're lying too, relying too heavily on one
42:47
guy very much. He's in your quarterback to
42:49
subpar. That's what you have to do.
42:51
All right, well, let's move on to JSN.
42:53
Make your far and against case for Jackson Smith and Jigba for
42:56
Offensive Player of the Year. Jack Smith and Jigba 119
42:58
receptions so second in receptions I believe and 1st in
43:02
yards with a 17193. He had 10 total touchdowns.
43:07
So same as Puka, less receptions, more yards, same
43:10
touchdowns rushing. He had 36 yards and 36 rushing
43:16
yards. Again doesn't really matter.
43:17
First team went pro, Puka also first team went pro.
43:20
For that to mention it for him, he did fumble 3 times where Puka
43:24
only fumble once. McCaffrey fumble twice.
43:27
So he fumble the most out of these guys.
43:28
But again, it comes down to what he did for his team.
43:31
I think that matters a lot. Individual yardage, 7000 and 93
43:36
receiving yards is so much. Yards that's so much.
43:40
I'm sure you have the percentage of team yardage that you did for
43:43
Puka, yes? 44.3% of the team receiving
43:47
yards. That's so many.
43:49
That's so many. Incredible.
43:51
That's incredible. And, and so I, I think he is, I,
43:55
I think he's 2nd place. Like that's just what it is.
43:58
I think it's good to be, I've seen it Christian McCaffrey in,
44:01
in a year where Jackson Smith and J Buck could do no wrong.
44:04
They shipped off title Lockett. They shipped off DK Metcalf and
44:08
said, all right, you third year, you're up.
44:11
You're the guy. Yeah, you are the guy now.
44:14
And he said, yes, Sir, may I have another?
44:17
He did everything for his team he could, just like Puka.
44:20
He was fighting for a few yards when he could, but he also
44:22
played it smart. And he took near as many big
44:24
hits as Puka did, except for the NFC championship game, where he
44:28
took that shot. But the hell under the ball.
44:31
And got up and went, all right, next down, let's do it again,
44:35
let's do it again. And so if you're Seattle, you
44:39
should be batting your chest hard to get this guy the award.
44:42
I just don't think it's going to happen based on if if Christian
44:45
McCaffrey had 2% less stats, I think JSN wins.
44:51
But that's just not the way the season went.
44:53
Right. Yeah, I agree.
44:54
I think JSN is going to be second and voting.
44:57
But the reason that JSN should win Offensive Player of the year
45:00
is because he was the leader in receiving yards.
45:03
He had 44.3% of his own team's receiving yards, which is just
45:07
crazy that it was that high. That's incredible.
45:10
He had 9 games with 100 plus receiving yards.
45:13
He had 67 more receptions and exactly 1200 more receiving
45:16
yards than the next guy on his team, which is nuts.
45:21
That's nuts. And also he doesn't have Devante
45:24
Adams on the other side like Puku Nakua does.
45:26
Like we already mentioned for the against case for GSN, I
45:29
don't really have much aside from the fact that he didn't
45:31
have a double digit reception game, which I think might
45:35
actually work in his favor because he had that many
45:39
receiving yards without double digit receptions.
45:41
So he was a bigger play guy. So that's really the only case I
45:45
have against him. There's not really much of a
45:47
case against honestly. Like the dude was just
45:49
incredible all season long. Again, if you're working at
45:52
stats, playoffs don't matter here.
45:54
He had 10 receptions against the CR or excuse me, against the
45:57
Rams in the championship game, but playoffs don't matter here.
46:00
I just try to already feel somebody in the comments.
46:03
Well, actually he had 10 receptions last game in the
46:06
championship game. Regular season award.
46:09
Yes, exactly. All right, let's move on to our
46:13
last one of this episode. We are going to talk a little
46:16
bit more about some of these awards in the next episode as
46:18
well before they reveal who wins the awards next week when
46:22
Avery's back with us. So we'll do like the Coach of
46:24
the year and all that stuff next week.
46:26
But the last one for today's episode, since we're long time
46:29
is going to be Defensive Player of the Year.
46:30
So the finalists for Defensive Player of the Year are Will
46:33
Anderson, Miles Garrett, Nick Benito, Aiden Hutchinson and
46:37
Micah Parsons. Will and I determined that the
46:39
three most likely candidates to win the award are Miles Garrett,
46:43
Will Anderson and Nick Benito. So we're going to make the case
46:46
for and against these three guys.
46:47
So we'll start with Miles Garrett and I'll go first on
46:51
this one. The case for and against Miles
46:53
Garrett to win Defensive Player of the Year.
46:55
The four, He had 23 sacks. He broke the single season sack
46:59
record. He had 6 1/2 more sacks than
47:01
Brian Burns, who was the second guy in sacks this season.
47:04
And after Miles Garrett on his own team, the leader in sacks
47:08
for the Browns had 6 1/2 sacks. Miles Garrett had 16 1/2 more
47:12
sacks than the next guy on his own team.
47:15
That is incredible what he was able to do this year.
47:19
If I had to make an against case for Miles Garrett to win
47:21
Defensive Play of the Year is that he needed an extra game to
47:24
break the sack record. Now it's not his own fault that
47:28
he has to play 17 games, but it just doesn't make it seem as
47:31
cool when the previous record was set in 16 games and he
47:35
needed an extra game to do it. On top of that, when he did
47:38
break it, Joe Burrow just laid down and gave him the sack.
47:42
It's not like Miles Garrett came around the corner and he.
47:45
Rocked Joe Burrow from. Behind and got that extra sack
47:49
Joe Burrow just laid down. OK, so it just doesn't make it
47:53
seem as cool when you think about it in that way.
47:56
Now, the final case I have against Miles Garrett winning
47:59
defensive player of the year is his team didn't make the
48:01
playoffs. If you're not going to give it
48:03
to Joe Burrow last year, which many people thought you should,
48:06
if you're not going to give it to Joe Burrow last year, the MVP
48:09
because he didn't make the playoffs, why are we going to
48:12
give Defensive player of the year to a guy who didn't make
48:14
the playoffs? You you just can't do it.
48:17
I get it. One's MVP and one's defensive
48:19
player of the year. And this is a it's a individual
48:22
award, but so is MVP. It's not a team award.
48:24
It's an individual award. So if you're not going to give
48:27
MVP to Joe Burrow last year, like many people thought he
48:30
should have been the MVP, why are we going to give defensive
48:33
player of the year to Miles Garrett when his team did not
48:36
make the play offs? Well, if you have anything to
48:38
add, go ahead. Yeah.
48:40
So Miles Garrett played. He played 82% of the defensive
48:45
snaps for his team. Peeling the curtain back here a
48:47
little bit. Nick Benito only played 61% of
48:50
the snaps and Will Anderson only played 67% of the snaps.
48:55
Miles Garrett was always there for his team. 82% of the snaps
48:59
as a defensive end is brutal. That is, that is brutal,
49:03
especially for that Browns team who defenses on the field a lot.
49:08
A lot. They were bad.
49:10
So to be able to to be there game in game out, as you said,
49:14
broke the sack record. I wish he'd have done it against
49:16
Aaron Rodgers. I think that would've been an
49:18
even sweeter moment. Brown Steelers breaks the
49:20
record. I I do think there's a little
49:23
bit of of the Steelers and Rodgers specifically trying to
49:28
make sure that hey, we're not you're not breaking the record
49:30
against me. And and so I think it was a bit
49:32
of that going on. But he also forced a fumble this
49:35
year. Excuse me forced 3 fumbles this
49:38
year had had a pass deflection again, one pass deflection, but
49:41
still as defensive end that's not bad.
49:44
Usually it's a defensive tackles that get those because right up
49:46
the middle ends are coming around the side.
49:49
I I think that he was all around one of, if not the best
49:53
defensive players. I also think he's going to win
49:54
at first team All Pro again. This would be his second
49:57
defensive player of the Year award if he gets it.
50:00
And in the last four years he was fifth and 22 first and 23
50:05
third and 24. If he wins again this year,
50:08
he'll be first. So this is his fourth year in a
50:11
row of being top five defensive player of the year candidate.
50:14
So sorry, my wife is young, my children.
50:19
So I, I think that I, I, I'm I'm a fan of if you break the
50:23
record, you should weigh it. Now that being said, Dallas,
50:28
save to your corner. Who broke the pick 6 record?
50:32
Oh, Deron Bland, Deron Bland. He did not win it that year.
50:36
But I think SAC record is a bit different than than pick 6
50:39
record. So, but they're both incredible.
50:42
What was that? They're both incredible.
50:46
They're both incredible. I I also think it matters and
50:48
yes, you made this case that his team didn't make the playoffs,
50:52
but he plays for the Browns who are just bad, right?
50:56
So he gets him a yes, sure, he gets a pass, but but he's able
51:01
to do amazing. He's able to do amazing things,
51:04
break records almost in spite of his team.
51:08
Hey, the rest of my team is bad. Yeah, they drafted Mason Graham
51:12
to go up the middle and he was great.
51:13
He was a big help. But still, Miles Gary almost in
51:18
spite of his team is going out there and having just amazing
51:21
individual performances. So I like what he's got going
51:25
on. I think he should win that here.
51:27
5 sack game if you've got 5 sacks in one game against the
51:31
Patriots, by the way, against the New England Patriots, that
51:34
is. That is important, yeah.
51:39
All right, let's move on to Will Anderson.
51:41
Will, you can start on this one. Make your for and against case
51:43
for Will Anderson for Defensive Player of the Year.
51:46
Honestly, we kind of, we should have started with not Miles
51:49
Garrett, we should have built up to Miles Garrett, but it's too
51:52
late. We didn't do that already.
51:54
I, I just don't think he measures up.
51:56
I think he has a lot going for him to phone recovers in the
51:59
season, he had 12 sacks, 54 total tackles overall, which has
52:04
a defensive end. 54 tackles is actually quite a bit because
52:07
you're not you're not usually a guy making the play and it's a
52:11
run outside and you're able to stop it or you're getting in the
52:13
sack. And so I, I think that that is
52:16
actually rather important. 54 tackling this season, as
52:20
mentioned, he played he only played 67% of the snaps for his
52:23
whole team, which that that Texans defense was so stout.
52:27
They were rotating people in and out.
52:29
And so that's just fresh slaves are always going to be good, I
52:32
think going against him. Excuse me, sorry, I'm seeing
52:38
numbers. I disagree with other numbers.
52:39
I read 3567, he had 74 stumbles in the year.
52:44
That's the number I was looking for, 7/4 stumbles in the year,
52:47
which is a very good coming on the edge, right?
52:51
Are you disagreeing with me? No.
52:54
OK, 74 stumbles in a year which is which is really good. 3 pass
52:58
deflections, which again isn't saying a lot, but again,
53:01
defensive end it's a lot harder to to get one.
53:04
I think you had a great season overall, but I think he was
53:07
supported more by a good defense, right?
53:10
You're able to get sacks more when you've got good coverage
53:13
behind you. And the Texans had good coverage
53:15
behind him. They had good linebackers, they
53:17
had good secondary. And so quarterbacks are holding
53:20
the ball more and so you're able to get home better.
53:22
And so you're 12 sacks, the electric color is covered sacks.
53:26
Now, I'm not saying all of them, but definitely some of them
53:28
where the quarterback just can't throw the ball in the pocket,
53:31
breaks down and he's there to do it.
53:33
But the fact that he only got 12, I think it's a bit of a
53:35
drawback. I think he I actually think he
53:37
gets third here. I don't think he gets second.
53:40
So I great player like Will Anderson.
53:42
I just don't. Sorry, this is not it for me.
53:49
Yeah, I'll try to say some things that you didn't already
53:51
say. So the against case for Will
53:53
Anderson is he didn't even lead his own team in sacks.
53:56
I don't remember if you said that or not, but he was second
53:58
on his own team in sacks. He had 12 sacks.
54:00
The leader on his team was Daniel Hunter with 15 sacks.
54:03
So he didn't even lead his own team in sacks.
54:06
However, the four case for Will Anderson, the reason why Will
54:09
Anderson should win defensive Player of the year over Miles
54:11
Garrett is because he's the best player on the best defense in
54:15
football. The Texans defense was first and
54:17
total yards allowed and he they were 2nd in total points
54:20
allowed. His team made the playoffs
54:23
because of that defense that he's the leader of that he's the
54:26
best player on this team started O and three and the defense is
54:30
the reason that they were able to finish twelve and five and
54:33
make it as far as they did. He's the best player on the best
54:36
defense in football. Now I know there's an argument
54:38
to be made for the Seahawks and the Broncos and whatnot, but
54:41
just numbers wise, again, first in total yards allowed and 2nd
54:45
in points allowed, that's the best defense in football when
54:48
you look at the numbers. So that's what I'm going off of.
54:52
And then according to Pro Football Focus, Will Anderson
54:55
had the highest pass rush win rate at 26.2%, which is higher
54:59
than Miles Garrett at 24.6%. So I think there is a legitimate
55:03
case to be made here for Will Anderson, but I don't think he
55:07
wins it. I think Miles Garrett gets it.
55:09
Before we move on, before we move on, before he entered.
55:12
The stats I'm looking at here also included playoffs.
55:15
He did only have 3-4 stumbles in the season. 3 of them were in
55:18
the playoffs. So OK, we're like to correct my
55:22
own statement here. Which is crazy that he was able
55:24
to do that more in the playoffs than he was in the regular
55:27
season. Right.
55:29
I don't know if you mentioned this, though.
55:30
Will be or Will Anderson shoot me?
55:32
Will but you know, that's my bad Will Anderson also first two
55:34
mile per hour, which didn't matter because we come to we
55:38
come to Nick Benito, which you were about to say Will Nick
55:41
Benito not on the all progress didn't even make second team all
55:44
progress year, which I I do think matters when it comes to
55:47
voting right Broncos defense top five definitely.
55:51
I don't have a lot to say here. He had 14 sacks in the season, 2
55:53
for stumbles, 31 solo tackles. He played in all the games, did
56:00
a great job. Right side linebacker.
56:02
I'm kind of, I'm kind of lost here.
56:04
Again, like I said, we started with Miles Garrett, we started
56:07
with the best. We're kind of working our way
56:08
out. I I just don't, I'm going to,
56:10
I'm going to pass it back to you.
56:11
You've got way more stats and facts and things.
56:14
I'm trying to fill in Avery's vibe check and and roll and I'm
56:18
just not doing a good job. He only played in 61% of the
56:21
yeah, 61% of the snaps for his team.
56:23
But yeah, when you've got a good team, you've got depth, and so
56:28
that is better for the whole team.
56:29
Actually, Mao is good. Having to play so many snaps
56:32
percentage wise is almost a drawback.
56:35
But at the same time, hey, he was always there for his team.
56:37
You can kind of make the stats say whatever you want him to
56:39
say. Same stat, two different sides
56:41
of the argument. Right.
56:42
Yeah, I think the case for Nick Menito to win Defensive Player
56:45
of the Year is also the case against Nick Menito to win
56:48
Defensive Player of the Year because he was the leader in
56:51
sacks on his team that led the league in sacks.
56:53
So he was the only player on his team with double digit sacks
56:56
with 14, but his team overall led the league in sacks.
57:00
And when you look at the numbers and you take his away, if you
57:03
take his 14 sacks away, the Broncos still would have had 54
57:08
sacks, which still would have been good for the second most
57:11
sacks in the league. So aside from Benito, the
57:14
Broncos had three other players with seven or more sacks.
57:17
They had four other players with four or more sacks, and then
57:20
they had nine other guys who had some sort of stat in the sack
57:24
category. So the case for Benito for being
57:28
the leader on the team that led the league in sacks is also the
57:31
case against him because that team was just so good overall at
57:36
getting to the quarterback. So I think it kind of, you know,
57:40
it's in his favor, but it's also not for the same exact reason.
57:43
But yeah, I don't think he's winning it.
57:45
Like we've already mentioned, I think Miles Garrett is winning
57:47
this award. Do you have anything else to add
57:49
on this one Will? I think something that should be
57:52
taking into account is in a in a pro and a good thing for for
57:58
will later. Excuse me for Nicknito, here is
58:00
how much that defense really won them games.
58:03
It seemed as if time after time after time, all the way up to
58:06
and including the playoffs, whoever the quarterback was was
58:10
doing their best to lose the game.
58:12
Now I know that's not actually true, but it seemed as if Bone
58:16
Knicks and Jared stood and were like, yeah, we're just kind of
58:19
out here doing a thing and that defense is playing your heart
58:22
and soul out every single time. I mean, so many of their games
58:26
were one score games, except for, well, the loss of
58:30
Jacksonville, but so many of their games were were just
58:33
hanging in there. Trust your defense games and as
58:36
a as a leader, if not the leader on that defense, putting a trust
58:41
your defense, the leader. I trust your defense team of
58:45
hey, you know what, we're up by 1.
58:47
We're going to do our best. We're going to punt the ball,
58:50
give it back to him because our defense is better than your
58:52
offense. I think it says a lot for him
58:55
that both Miles Garrett, well, Will Anderson does have that,
58:58
but Miles Garrett does not. That team was just bad overall.
59:01
That the bright spot on that team.
59:04
They had two of them. They had Carson Swetzinger, I'm
59:07
sure we'll talk about eventually and they had Miles Garrett.
59:10
They were pretty much the only bright spots in the whole Browns
59:12
team, whereas you can look at the entire defensive body work
59:16
for both the Broncos and the Texans and then you can start to
59:19
pick players out individually. OK, so before we close out here,
59:23
I have one final question for you Will What are your thoughts
59:27
on Bill Belichick not being a first ballot Hall of Famer?
59:30
Yeah, I saw this today. I am against this.
59:33
I I am truly against this. And I saw the reasoning because
59:39
of Spygate and Deflate Gate and yada, yada, yada, yada.
59:44
And sure, yes. Did that help him win games?
59:48
Did that help him win Super Bowls?
59:50
Maybe. Maybe.
59:52
I I mean, people were. Well, of course it did.
59:55
Then she did. Was it really proven or were
59:57
they just were they just penalized for it anyway?
1:00:00
I don't think Bill Bellatrack had anything to do with with the
1:00:03
deflating of footballs. That was never proven that he
1:00:05
did. I don't believe Spidey.
1:00:07
Yeah, that was him. But I don't think it takes away
1:00:10
from the entire body work of the man and what he did for the game
1:00:14
and to the game. I think this is just a bunch of
1:00:17
salty old whites keeping another salty old white out of the Hall
1:00:22
of Fame, out of pure spikes. I think this had nothing to do
1:00:26
with actual football. This had nothing to do with
1:00:28
actual talent OR ability of any kind.
1:00:32
Because you've seen it before in other sports where when you get
1:00:35
caught cheating like that, they avoid your championship.
1:00:38
I mean, not to bring up the Grim here.
1:00:41
Joe Paterno had like everything he ever did, void it.
1:00:44
You know what? This man was involved in a bunch
1:00:46
of stuff he should not have been involved in.
1:00:48
He doesn't get credit for any of that anymore.
1:00:50
We're avoiding everything. And then NFL never did that.
1:00:52
They never avoided any of his stats, they never avoided any of
1:00:55
his wins, never voted anything that he did.
1:00:57
So he still gets credit for all that stuff.
1:01:00
So to keep that guy out of the Hall of Fame I think is absolute
1:01:03
garbage, even if it's just for the first year.
1:01:06
Right, exactly. The fact that Bill Belichick is
1:01:08
not a first ballot Hall of Famer is an absolute crime.
1:01:11
Absolute crime. Whoever is on that voting
1:01:14
committee needs to be fired immediately for not putting him
1:01:17
into the Hall of Fame first ballot.
1:01:19
That is ridiculous. We were lucky enough to grow up
1:01:21
and see that happen. What he was able to do with Tom
1:01:24
Brady and the Patriots win 6 Super Bowls, that is incredible.
1:01:29
And that's something that we probably won't ever see again.
1:01:33
We we're. Probably not going to see that
1:01:34
ever again. What he did was incredible and
1:01:37
he's one of you could say he's the best coach of all time in
1:01:41
the NFLI. Know a lot of people could make
1:01:44
a case that other coaches are, but he has a legitimate case to
1:01:47
be called the best coach in the history of the NFL and you don't
1:01:52
put him into the Hall of Fame first ballot.
1:01:54
That is ridiculous. Absolute crime.
1:01:57
It's petty, it's childish. It's, it's what the NFL is
1:02:02
turning into, unfortunately, is petty and childish behavior.
1:02:06
He offended me, so I'm going to keep him out.
1:02:10
And so I, I just, I don't know, I think it's garbage.
1:02:13
I do too. All right.
1:02:15
Well, anyways, actually, I have one more thing to say.
1:02:18
We're going to talk about the Super Bowl next week.
1:02:21
But I just want to say this, I do not want the Patriots to win
1:02:24
the Super Bowl because I am tired of hearing about Stephon
1:02:28
Diggs and Cardi BI think those two human beings are incredibly
1:02:33
stupid human beings. Just Stephon Diggs just out
1:02:36
there on the boat with, you know, with all the chicks and
1:02:39
the drugs and getting himself into trouble.
1:02:41
And then Cardi BS out here cussing out four year olds on
1:02:45
social media for picking the Broncos and not picking the
1:02:47
Patriots. Like come on, how incredibly
1:02:50
stupid do you have to be to do that crap?
1:02:52
I am so sick of hearing about these two.
1:02:55
So sick of it. So I'm all for the Seahawks
1:02:58
winning the Super Bowl. Go Seahawks.
1:03:00
Me too. Go Birds.
1:03:02
And they just beat my team. So I, that means a lot.
1:03:05
I talked a lot about this and we'll talk more about this next
1:03:09
week, but my heart has softened to the Seahawks so much this
1:03:13
season. Like so much.
1:03:15
Not just because my son picked A-Team.
1:03:16
Even before that, I was like, you know, I really don't hate
1:03:20
this team near as much as I thought.
1:03:22
It's weird that I don't spend near as much time with
1:03:24
insufferable Seahawks fans. I don't hate this team near as
1:03:27
much. Crazy how those two are direct,
1:03:30
directly correlated. Yeah, go Birds for sure.
1:03:33
I want my team. We've lost in the playoffs, the
1:03:35
Super Bowl champion, so that's go Birds.
1:03:38
All right, well, yeah, that's all we got time for on today's
1:03:40
episode. But next week, Avery should
1:03:42
hopefully be back with us. We're going to talk about the
1:03:45
rest of the awards that we did not talk about today, and then
1:03:48
we'll talk about the Super Bowl, give a little preview and give
1:03:51
some of our thoughts and picks on that Super Bowl, even though
1:03:54
we've kind of already said a lot of it.
1:03:55
But we'll get Avery's thoughts more so than ours next week.
1:03:59
So stay tuned for that. And as always guys, don't forget
1:04:02
to keep your balls played with. We'll see you next time.
1:04:05
Also, Mark Davis and Sarah Kyle still sucks.