Transcript of 2024 Week 14 Preview

Welcome to NFL Daily, where we aren't too cool to love seeing NFL Daily on your Spotify rap list. Yes. I don't care that it's just a marketing gimmick. Whatever. It's fun. It makes me feel good. We've been doing this show for a while. I'm Greg Rosenthal. I'm in the Chris Wesleyan podcast studio with Steve Weiss and Patrick We're getting to the end of the year. I'm a big end of year list type of guy. I love seeing that stuff, and I love hearing from so many of the listeners that made up for some lost time and still got us to number one on their list.

You got to love that. You got to love Tell me this real quick. Speaking of your wrapped list, does your wrapped list, is it like your workout playlist or what? Because mine's like my workout playlist.

Yeah, because I'm not listening to a whole lot of music anymore. My commute's very short now. If I'm listening to music, it's because I'm in the gym.

I play I'm listening a lot of music when I'm at home, if you're watching a little tape, you got some music on. If I'm in the car, certainly. I don't know, go all podcast, you got some music. It's all my music, not really workout music. But sometimes your son uses your account, and then suddenly, Imagine Dragons is their number three band of the year, and you're like, Come on, bro. It's not better than the kids' music. Listen up to Algo. Yeah, it's killing me. Come on. Imagine Dragons, just killing it with 8-9 year old boys, just year after year. We're here for the week 14 preview. Yeah. Very excited about this one. It's our last week, Patrick, with buys. So six buys this week. You're your Ravens are finally off. My patriots are finally off. So it's a little bit of a lighter schedule. Yeah.

The fantasy community are bemoaning the fact that a lot of people are dying to get in the playoffs, and they're going to have to do it. Managing waiver wires, folks starting Will Levis just got to try to make it into the postseason in fake football. So let's go from smallest to the biggest spread. We will start with a huge game. Speaking of making it to the playoffs, in the NFC West, it's the rematch from a couple of weeks ago. The Seattle Seahawks at the Arizona Cardinals. Two and a half point favorites. We saw the Seahawks play poorly early, Greg, and then come back and win. The only errors the Seahawks seemed to make were catastrophic errors against the Jets. They managed to win because they played the Jets. The Arizona The Cardinals played a much better team, wilted late against the Vikings. How do you see this one going?

I lean towards the Cardinals because when you play two games in three weeks, again, in their both good teams, it's really hard to sweep a team. If Jonathan Gannon loses this matchup to the Mike McDonald, that to me is almost like an early show of dominance. This is a guy I'm going to be playing twice a year, in theory, for a while, to come out swinging and you take out the other defensive-minded head coach twice in three weeks. It's the biggest game of the week in terms of the playoffs. If the Seahawks win, and this is according to FTN in Aaron Shatz, if the Seahawks win, they have a 62% chance to make the playoffs. If they lose the game, they have an 11% chance. And the spread is similar for the Cardinals. If you win, they're 71%, 17 if they lose. And what the math is saying there is, obviously, if the Seahawks sweep the Cardinals, That's a huge advantage. Probably there's only one team getting out of this division more likely than not. But if the Cardinals win, they have an easier schedule a little bit down the stretch. I think the numbers underlying show maybe they're a slightly better team than the Seahawks.

We'll have to see who's playing their best at the end of the season because both their defenses are playing right now, well right now.

Yeah, and you brought this up yesterday on the show, Greg. Seattle is playing well at the end of ball games. Arizona has been a little touch and go when it comes to that. We saw that last week against the Vikings. The two and a half number seems about right. I think this is going to be a very competitive game. We'll see if your guy, Gino, Ripcord Gino, falls out a little bit.

But what happens on quarterback Island stays on quarterback Island. We're good.

We're good. No, that's...

It's a lot of pressure for Gino right now. Kyler got booted off. Kyler got booted, so he might be a little angry.

But I like the Arizona Carlos in this one. I'm with you. As far as the narrow margin of when you to weigh these games and sweeping it, that is a difficult thing.

I said it a couple of weeks ago when I initially picked the Seahawks to win at home, that we would come to this game at this point, and I would take the home team, Arizona Cardinals, to win the next one. I think these two teams are very similar in terms of their overall potential to make a push here late. A lot of it is based on the defensive improvement we've seen from Seattle. Over on the other side, Greg inspired me to delve more in and to share my knowledge of the search of Arizona Cardinals. It's my affectionate nickname for guys that make plays. I'm like, Who is that? So today we meet Garret Alexander-Williams, a defensive back, his second season out of Syracuse.

He was pretty good as a rookie.

He currently leads the team in interceptions. If teams are in three wide receiver sets, he's more than likely on the field. He is garretismyname3 on Twitter. Com. The three replaces the E in name. I watched a lot of his snaps. He's a really good football player. I'm glad I know his name now. I hope more people appreciate him.

Yeah, and he could be matching up at some point against JSN, Jackson Smith and Jigba, who's-Balling.getting up there. When you look just like total yards over the last half season, he's moving up. You hope Dike Metcalf is healthy. It's a tough matchup. Since week nine, the Seahawks are third in the league in EPA per play in terms of their defense, seventh in success rate. So they have really turned things around. And what they did in that first matchup against Arizona was find a way to really slow down that Cardinal's running game, force them into long yarded situations, and blitz Kyler Murray. And the Vikings, I don't know if it was from them watching that tape last week or not, or you don't have to ask them to blitz, but the offensive line and Kyler combined to struggle to identify where the free rushers were coming from. So even though they moved the ball quite well in that game, when the Vikings blitzed, it was a big problem. That's actually been a problem for Kyler all season long. His numbers against the blitz have not been great. So that's something to watch for.

You know the Vikings, very run, very lane discipline blitzing. They weren't necessarily trying to get upfield to protect them. Let's get in his eye. Let's get in his passing lane. Let's get in his eyesight. Let's be creative. That's something that we could see. Real quick, kudos to you for saying that McDonald could go Kyle Shanaher over Sean McVay if he goes and he sweeps John Gannon right here. Getting a little bit of that, Hey, I got your number.

Well, they brought McDonald here to be the Shanaher tree killer. I know he lost that to the Rams, but I thought they played well defensively in that game, and then they finally got a win over the 49ers. I think there is something to that with guys that are going to be around and playing each other for a while. I think so.

Yeah, it's harder to sell because there's the friends on the same coaching staff. Of course, the picture of the 2006 red... Excuse me. Washington football franchise. I almost had to put one in the slur jar there where everybody's on the same coaching staff. But yeah, Despite that, they could still have this rivalry in the division where both teams, five and three in their last... Excuse me, three and two in their last five games.

It's such a big game for the Cardinals because they will Suddenly, what would have been such a promising season at 6:00 and 7:00, and you're looking up at the Seahawks at 8:00 and 5:00, suddenly, they are just not feeling great about themselves. One big advantage I do give the Seahawks, if it is close, and I was talking about the end of game sequences, I think Mike McDonald has really been excellent in those situations. If you watch the end of the half, it helps to have a veteran quarterback like Gino Smith, certainly. If you watch the end of the half and the end of the games, clock management, when to use challenges, when to use timeouts, the numbers show that they're one of the best teams in the league. Just watching it, they're very on it. We tend to only notice the coaches that are bad at it, but they are very good at it, and he's a rookie head coach. I give him some credit where on the flip side, Greg Olson was killing Jonathan Gannon last week for kicking that field goal to go up six with about three minutes to go. Instead of going for it on fourth and three, they end up losing by one.

So maybe if it is close at the end, you can trust the Seahawks a little more. Great point.

Still looking forward to a great matchup. It's going to be huge in terms It comes to playoff implications.

It's 4:05, by the way. That's the best game in the afternoon. It's the 4:05. Sorry for interrupting. No, you're good.

It's worth noting. Time is important. These next two teams are not making a push for the I thought you were going to sell it, Patrick.

No. Okay.

All right, Steve.

In Nashville, Tennessee, Will Levis and the Tennessee Titans three and a half point favorites over Mac Jones and the Jacksonville Jaguars, the over-under 39 and a half. Andrew Catalong, Jason McCordy, Tiki Barber, and AJ Ross. It's only 39 and a half points that the experts believe, Steve. But every single one of those points will be valuable because this is a quarterback match. We're not necessarily I've clearly evaluated Mac Jones, evaluating Matt Jones. Evaluating Will Levis, who didn't have a turnover against the Washington Commander last week. But the offense didn't really have a lot to speak of.

By the way, I'm buying your igloo in Alaska. Way to sell it. Well done. The 39 and a half almost looks high to me because Jacksonville couldn't score when Trevor Lawrence was playing. Then Mc Jones, they really can't score. This is one… Tennessee…

You're forcing it here.

I'm forcing it, but I'm just like, Tennessee- Why you make the big bucks.

It's not the primetime game. It's like the 10:00 AM game where no one's in the crowd. You got to still put up those shots.

Right. But I mean, this is one where you say to yourself, Okay, what team is building for what? This is like, All right, these guys are playing at the string right here. But Will Levis, you talked about no giveaways last week. This is a defense where he should feast because Jacksonville has not figured out at any level, except for those guys on the edges. Those are very good players. I would think to Tennessee, and they're probably going to get a defensive takeaway on the side, too. I like Tennessee. I like the three and a half. I think they win by a much bigger margin.

I've been waiting for more of these games on the preview show. I think we're at the point in the season we could be a little quicker on these types of games. There actually haven't been as many. I expected a ton of them because there's so many teams with bad record. There haven't been many the last couple of weeks where truly both teams this season is done. One thing the Titans can look to is their rookie draft class, where they've had some players show up, and that's important for a young general manager, Ryan Carthon, a first-time head coach. Sweat has played well, defensive tackle, J. C. Lathen. I don't think he's an all-pro right now, but if you can just play as a rookie tackle and start every game and be solid enough, that's a big win because you're only going to get better at that position. They have a young cornerback, Brownly, who's played pretty well for them. Some of the younger guys, the thing they need to work on, and I've been meaning to mention this for a few weeks, now is the time. Not much to talk about this. The Titans Special Teams are one of the worst units in the history of football, according to the old guys at football, Outsiders.

One of the worst special teams they've ever recorded. The gap in terms of their measurement between them and the 31st team in the league in special teams is as big as the gap between 31 and 12. They are so worlds beyond the worst kickoff return unit, the worst punt return unit. They can't cover anything. Everything they do is terrible. And ever since someone put this in my ear about a month ago, I do keep an eye on it with Titans. And you'll watch it and you'll be like, Oh, yeah, there's another 60-yard return. They go, Oh, yeah, there's another 40-yard. They are so bad. If you wonder why the Titans are this bad, it's not just Will Levis, it's not just the offense. That is one of the reasons.

Real quick, in kicking game situations, when they're blowing stuff like that, especially on coverage teams, that's back-end roster churning. That's just not having-In coaching, you got to blame the coaches. Coaching is part of that. But again, the really good teams, they don't have the dud players on their 40 through 53. They've got guys who can actually, if they got to even step in and play offensive or defensive of snaps can play.

We'll see how they adjust. They adjusted earlier in the season as nick Westbrook-Akene started out with no targets in his first four weeks. And since then, he's gone on to score six touchdou and do nothing but put points on the board, taking us to such Sunday Night Football. It is the Los Angeles Chargers going on the road to the Chiefs who are four-point favorites, the over-under 42.5. Mike Trico, Chris Collinsworth, Melissa Stark on the call. Greg, we have seen this Chargers team play pretty well up front. They go up to the Atlanta Falcons, who now have 33% of their sacks against this Chargers front in Justin Herbert. How do they deal with the Chiefs' pass rush, which has also had a bad stretch here recently?

Yeah, it's interesting because they're both winning games, obviously, the Chargers and the Chiefs, and yet they both have real big concerns. I think what's happened in the last couple of weeks with the Chargers' offense has to make you worried if you're Jim Harbaugh, that it's now down to McConkey or Bust. He's a smaller guy who's playing like a number one. He literally leads all wide receivers in yards now. Brock Bowers has more, but he's a tight end. But he's got more than neighbors, more than here. He's fantastic. But he seems to be getting banged up. I'm not sure what it is, whether it's his knee or his shoulder. Every game where he's hobbling out. So they're asking him to do a lot. And if he's not open, they don't have anything. And then the last couple of weeks, they have not protected Herbert well at all. A lot of it's on the interior with Bozeman and Zion Johnson, a first-round pick from a couple of years ago that really isn't working out. And so you think about the blitzes that Kansas City likes to send, and you think about Chris Jones picking out a guy he can be on the inside.

Man, that was a sobering game. I know the Chargers won it, but to not break 200 yards against the Atlanta Falcons, that is red fire alarms worry for the Chargers often.

I totally agree. Look, the four points for Kansas City might seem too much just because they don't beat anybody by four points. It's usually not to the end. But here's where I think, other than left tackle, that is a really tough situation for Kansas City right now in Passpro. That's why I think Andy Reid last year, when he was having all those issues at the tackle spot with penalties and things like that. What does he do? He runs the ball. They get Pacheco back. I think this is a situation now. We're offensively for Kansas City. We're going to start to see them road grade. They're going to say, We're going to protect our left tackle. We're going to try to run the football. Yeah, they're tough on the edges with the chargers. They've got some guys up front. This is where I think they really start playing cold weather football and doing this. I like Kansas City in this game. I think as well as they're playing.

I feel like we're hearing that every week, though. That's Okay, this is the week.

I think now they're getting Pacheco back, changes some things with their offense.

I agree.

Winning the forfeiture game against the Falcons in Atlanta, it's not moving me at this point enough to feel like, well, because I agree, Kerko changes the forfeiture guy. Yeah, well, it was last week. It sure was. Kerco doesn't go out there. We'll talk about that Viking game a little bit and be great. Last week, it was not. It was decidedly not. The chargers got a little bit of a gift there. And this recent run on the Chief's defense has shown a lot of vulnerabilities that I don't think you necessarily just have spags go on the chalkboard and fix those. Those are going to last for the rest of the season. Especially, as you mentioned, Greg, if not Lad McConkey, then what? Where's the offense production come from? Because no J. K. Dobbins as well. Correct. Gus Edwards hasn't really shown in his replacement, and Kamani Vidal hasn't gotten the opportunity, so I think maybe he should. I can't feel confident, really, about either of these teams, but definitely not the chargers on the road in case.

I think the Chargers defense has shown more than the sum of their parts. They're really well coached. I think just being such a Justin Herbert fan as I am over the years, it's not a great formula, but the formula has to be our guy, Justin Herbert, is so good. He's actually got to even be better than your guy, Patrick Holmes. That's an almost impossible formula. He'll just have to play at an otherworldly level. Now, the advantage Herbert has, like I mentioned, is that Chargers defense is really sound and I know you gave up some yards to the Falcons, but they forced turnovers. This rookie cornerback, Tarheep, still got defensive player of the week. He's great. You got Marcus May coming off. Was he on the Saints or the Dolphins? I'm not even sure a couple of weeks ago.

He's a couple of teams A year ago, I think.

He was on the Dolphins, and now he jumps in there. You got Tony Jefferson, who was out of football for a minute. He was basically coaching for them. Suddenly, Derwin James is now roaming around near the line of scrimage where he's so good again, almost playing like a linebacker type role. If you can get anything like Joey Bosa, let's show up here. Maybe he's playing through something, but he hasn't done anything. Maybe their defense can just keep them in an ugly game, and then Herbert does something magical at the end. This number, I don't even know what it is, but it's too high. 42 is too high. I just like the defenses. I know the Chief's defense, as you pointed out, Patrick has not been playing well, but I like the defense.

And a familiar opponent.

It was a close game, by the way. The first time it was here. Every time they play each other's club. It was really early. That was a game the chargers actually didn't have either of their tackles, so they were in a tough spot, and they held the Chief's offense down like a lot of defenses have done this year.

Yeah, the tackles are a factor on play action in that first matchup this season. Justin Herbert was 8 of 10, including a shutdown. No play action in that game. He was 8 of 17 for 79 yards.

You got to run the ball and have play action. They just aren't doing it.

Still looking forward to that one. A big one on Sunday Night Football in the division. Let's go to the NFC side. The Chicago Bears at the San Francisco 49ers who are 4-point favorites. Got to feel like that would have been a larger margin a few weeks ago. Over under his 44, Kenny Albert Jonathan Vilma, Megan O'Levy on the call as we get to this game, Steve, where the bears have a chance to get the coach firing bump. Is that enough to beat Kyle Shannonhan's injured squad?

And does How does that count when you already fired an offensive coordinator? I don't know.

I'm actually stunned that the Niners are a four-point favorite here at home. I mean, are the bears just that bad? Because the Niners, I know they're not good, but The whole Trent Williams situation, the injury, the terrible tragedy at home. No Christian McCaffrey, no Jordan Mason. I mean, they are rolling guys out here, even on defense, where I think this is the chance for Caleb and some of those guys on the offense can eat. The Niners defense just got absolutely truck, steam rolled and ran over. I don't see why the bears and Thomas Brown, who's very familiar with the Niners, remember he coached with the Rans for a long time. This, to me, has got upset alert all over it. I think the bear's offense is going to come out of this. I just almost feel bad for the Niners right now. I just don't think they've got the personnel, and I think their spirit is actually a little crushed.

I agree with you, and it might be because I'm influenced by you, Steve. I look at you as a mentor here, someone to model a career after, Steve Weiss. You said something that stuck with me on the quarterback Island episode of just like, I don't know if the 49ers are going to compete the rest of the year, if they're going to be close in games. What is informing you? Just being totally out. I agree. It's heading down a hill fast, and I wouldn't be surprised if the The Bear has won this game because of vibes. But you seem very strong that it's-Well, look, it's a proud club.

They're going to compete. Kyle is going to coach. Those guys are going to go out there and compete. They just have nothing. When you just have this much negativity constantly, all right? As horrible as it is, let's not forget what happened to Shivarius Ward and Trent Williams, their personal situations. Those things will devastate the character of a team. I mean, it's just like, Can it get any worse? And yeah, it keeps getting It's worse for these guys. It's tough. They played and performed and functioned at such a high level that all these blows might be like, You know what? We just have to exhale right now.

The circumstances going the wrong way. Kyle Ushak had that fumble in the snow. The way the game started, I was looking at the 49ers energy because it was happening as we were taping our Sunday pod, and then the offense comes out and there's no 71. And I remember just how much Trent means to this football team, the on-off stats for Brock Purdy with and without. Trent Williams. There's a stark difference there. And then the defense hasn't been as good as it's been all season long, so they need the points. They're only scoring 22 points a game right now for the season, Greg. And so it's like we look at there, we see Brock Purdy, we see the Niners' uniforms, but this is not the Niners team that we know.

Losing Trent is even bigger, I think, this year than other years, because I think the rest of the offensive line hasn't been great. So then if you're adding suddenly a big trouble spot at the most important position where it was your one big strength. They have a young guard, Pooney, their rookie who they like, but the other spots has been a little leaky, then suddenly you're right. Maybe the whole deck of cards just collapsed. They actually have an 8% chance to make the playoffs according to next Gen stats, which was a higher percentage than I expected because that's going off the numbers based off the whole season. It's going off the division, and it's going off the reality is if they win this game, and let's say the Cardinals who are favored win that game, They're one game back in the NFC West, as doom and gloom as it is, and I agree, it's doom and gloom. I'm not pushing back. I think I'm going to pick the bears to win this game. They actually are alive. The reality is they do have a chance, but there is something about this team? When I saw that face of rage that Kyle Shannon had had a couple of weeks ago, I don't know if you remember, if you watched the Fox broadcast, you were probably out of game, Steve, but he was so mad when they had 12 men on the field that I've never seen another human more angry than Kyle Shannon was in that moment.

That's not a good thing. I just felt like, Oh, man, it's too much. There's too much bad vibes there. Now it's amazing. The bears are the team with the better vibes. Yeah. Maybe.

Fives on the way up. Since week 11, DJ Moore has the second most Receiving yards, over expected. They've been throwing the ball close to the line of scrimage around, getting the ball out of Caleb's hands quick, keeping him from taking some of those sacs, which I think is going to be important in this game. Nick Bosa, it's a down year for both Bosa, but he's generated most of the pressures this season. So get the ball out of Caleb's hands and just enjoy the vibes of maybe a negative vibes coach no longer being.

Speaking of turning points, they haven't done too well since he wore that hat. I'm just saying, Bosa. Maybe that's what turned the season around. I do think the fire coach principle is a real thing. I do think-Yeah, because it gets fired for a reason. They're going to get a bump and they're going to feel good.

Read about all that locker room stuff.

And if they do lose, before we take I just want to say this because I've been seeing this pop up on Twitter and among 49ers fans. You guys are insane, the ones that want Shana Khan gone. It's a real thing out there that they're like, Is it time for Kyle Shannon? Are you kidding me?

That's dumb. Those folks are Seahawks fans in a mask.

Really? Are you guys serious?

But, Greg, it's the same folks. Mike Tomlin to get fired. We're in this-There.

Maybe a different crew.

But I hate this with the media. Are you going to bench Aaron Rodgers this week? And play who? We're constantly like, We want to replace guys. We want to fire guys. What's the other? Okay, go ahead. Let Kyle Shana hit the streets.

Trade. You could trade him. You could trade him. You could trade him. You could You could trade them. Someone would absolutely... Chicago. Yeah, Chicago would love to trade for Chicago.

Sorry. That's one club that I ain't doing that expense.

That is it for just the start of the show. We're just getting going. Looking forward to Week 14. And yes, a Bills-Rams rematch of what was the opener just a few years ago. A lot has changed. Back on NFL Daily. You spent that break just wondering, what opener am I talking about? I remember it well because I was there. 2022, the Bills came in and they put it on the Rams in such a way that you wondered, what is this Ram season going to be like? And it was that. It wasn't good. It wasn't good. So a little chance for revenge for Sean McVay.

It is. And that revenge is why it's time for hot matchups presented by Wingstop. The Buffalo Bill's four and a half point favorites across the street at Sofye Stadium. The over number under is 49.5. You get to hear Kevin Burkard, Tom braided, Aaron Andrews, and Tom Rinaldi on the call. Greg, the Bill's a buzz saw right now. You said the Rams, the best bad team in the league. Can the best bad team beat a very good Buffalo?

I'm starting to feel bad about it. Keep saying that. I'm going to stop saying that. Okay. It's my daughter's team. When I watch them, they're entertaining to watch. Still a lot of good players on that team. They're a 6-6 team. That's what they are. 6-6 teams probably can't beat a Bill's team right now the way they are playing unless there's a little bit of a let down factor. They You just won the division last week in the snowy conditions. That was a high. You're flying across the country. It's a NFC game against a team that really needs it. It's not crazy. It's not a crazy scenario. No. Speak to it.

Okay, I'll jump in. Spoiler, I'm taking the Rams in this one, Greg, and I'll lay out the narrative that I have constructed to fulfill this outcome.

Hot match up, baby.

Because I think it's important where Where this Bill's defense, I feel, can be vulnerable to true ones, and they haven't really had a chance to play a true one. I'll be at Tyreek Hill, having a downseason in Miami a few weeks ago, the Dolphins score points, and they're going to spread the ball around pretty well. You have to go all the way back to that Nico Collins game, where Nico actually hurt his ham string running into the end zone away from this Bill's secondary. And now with Puka, fully healthy, Greg in the opportunity with DeMarcus Robinson playing while he got back in the end zone. Of course, Cooper Cupp there, Kyren and Blake Coram going off. I like this Ram's puncher's chance, and I feel like with that punch that they can throw, being better than punches the bills have received here in the past few weeks.

Very good. I'm going to back into this a little bit because the bills do seem, except for a letdown, seven straight wins, six of them scoring 30 plus points. I just don't think it happened here. Here's why the ramp starts slow offensively. If all of a sudden they're down 10-0 or 14-0, the Kyron Williams factor, the run game factor changes. The way that those guys are getting after the quarterback with Ruso and Eponesa and some of these guys getting after the quarterback, your favorite player, Matt Milano, is back. He's back. In the lineup. I just don't know if the Rams can do it now. If it's toe to toe for a while, then the Rams have that punter's chance. But if they fall behind quickly and they get one dimensional quickly, which we know that Sean McVay does not mind doing, throwing the ball over the place, then I think they're in trouble.

That all makes sense to me. I think the team that can run the ball better could win this game. The Bills have really turned into a great running team. A great running team. With the ace up their sleeve of Josh Allen being able to run in the red zone, which the Rams obviously don't have. The Rams really leaned on the run last week against the Saints. They were dominant running the ball. Their success rate was over 60 plus %. And Jordan, Rodriguez talked about how at halftime in that game, the players were like, Let's run the damn ball. And they got it done. So if there is a weakness of their Bills defense, maybe that's it, that they could establish it. And it's like a seven possession game. We're at that point for the Rams where they're clearly the inferior team. Less possessions is a good thing when you're going up against a great team like the Bills. And it shook me a little that Jordan was so quick to kick Stafford off. Iout of the gate. Honestly, I'm a little shook. But watching Stafford the last few weeks, I think he's played okay. I think he's actually playing a little better.

And he is like these old tennis greats I've been watching retire lately. That's who he reminds me of a little. He's like, They can't quite get through an entire tournament sometimes or an entire season, but they'll pop up and they'll play their very best for one game. You know what I mean? For one match. I do think Stafford, to what you're saying, Patrick, is very capable of that for one night that he is just the best Stafford. You've convinced me into it. I'm not picking it.

Man, you're calling him Washington Wizard, MJ?

Yeah. No, I'm not saying that.

He's Olympic, Novak Djokovitch, who's wearing the gold medal and beats the young best player in the world in that moment.

For one day, you can be better. That's it.

Remember, M. J. Made an all-star team one year with the Wizards.

Okay. He wasn't like... He was better than people I remember, though. I give you credit for that.

Motivation. Motivation for Matthew Stafford based on Greg's comments about him being absolutely just tied laundry. I'm not saying that.

I'm saying when Serena was still making those Grand Slam finals and she'd beat the number one player in the world or whatever, But maybe you can't keep it going week after week, which is the season. You can do it for one game. That's the thing that happened. I do want to mention in this game, Micah Hyde is a member of the Buffalo Bill's organization again.

That's pretty cool. He's on the practice squad. We don't know if he'll play in a game. I think this is a part. Micah has had to fight through some physical things, which is why he has not been on a field yet this season, which is why he really didn't draw the free agent interest that we thought. But it I'm supposed to show you how much he means to this franchise, that they did connect, even if he's a practice squad guy, almost in a Tony Jefferson type role with the Chargers, where he's a coach on the field to help these guys.

You figure he'll warm up. It's tough to ask them to come off the streets and just play Oh, yeah.

That's what I'm saying. You look at the point of the season, he'll be there in case if needed. Remember, he was a great punt returner at one point as well, too. He can really run. They got Brandon Codrington, who's a heck of a return guy. But I just think it's fantastic. It's a class move on both sides to connect like this. I'm sure he's got all the medical clearing that he needed to have, and he's good to go.

Yeah, they got to get Amari Cooper a little more involved. His snap count did go up a lot last week, actually, in terms of when they had their start. They need to start. This is a good matchup for them to use him as a true number one on their side. Then I did notice this quote that one of the Bills' offensive linemen had after last week's game where he said, We beat the brakes off. The 49ers. That's the type of team, that's the type of confidence. It was Alec Anderson, who they bring in as an extra lineman. They just kept running the same play over and over. They are becoming one of those offensive lines to me that have that confidence as a group where that's their identity. That could mean a long day for these Rams linebackers.

Yeah, it's a great matchup.

Are you taking them to win straight up on game day view? I'm putting you in the spot. Okay. Real quick, you make it-He puts his name behind that. We have records and everything.

Patrick is genuine as they come.

Not afraid to lose, as evidence by my record, our game day.

Real quick, since you mentioned the Rams linebackers. One day, they're really going to have to invest in that part of their defense. It's something that they have shown under Sean McVay, that one year they're bringing Bobby Wagner, otherwise churn him and get him out. Look what Ernest Jones is doing up in Seattle, how he's changed that defense. That's someone who they kick to the curb in preseason.

Strong point.

Yeah, they can find them for the Seattle Seahawks. Let's go over to our next game, the New Orleans Saints, four and a half point favorites. That was hot match. I was presented by Wingstop, by the way. Four and a half point favorites are The Saints at the New York Giants in MetLife. Over and under is 41, Kevin Kugler, Darryl Johnson, Laura Oakman on the call, Steve. We have seen the Rizzie edition of the Saints. That inspired, that inspiration can't lead to a loss to this hapless Giants franchise, can it?

Yeah, no, the Giants are going to win this game. What? Here's the overarching theme. Just because it's the Giants and the way things are going, this is where they set the tone to lose out of the number one pick. Right now, they're sitting in that slot. Them and the Raiders both have two wins. The Giants sitting in that slot. This is There are the Dome Saints go up there. The weather is not supposed to be too bad, but without Tateam Hill, without some of the things to make this offense function like it normally does, this is where the Giants defense. Bowies Drew lock, and he comes in, and they pull the upset. I'm giving you drama. I wish your song was playing the Viola right here behind it. I'm giving you the drama. This is one that the New York Giants win and end up not getting the first overall pick in the draft. They're going to click off three wins to end the season to pick seventh.

That would be a lot like last year. They had a three-game winning streak. Around this time of the season, DeVito was involved, I believe, with that One of them was over the Patriots, and they ended up not getting Drake May, basically, because of it, or Jaden Daniels. They could have had him.

They could have had him. They could have had Saquon, but we saw it was on full display in hard knocks.

What? That Yeah, I don't know. They would have to give up a lot to trade up.

Tends to happen.

Yeah, that's fair. They didn't want to get your quarterback. They didn't want it bad enough. Well, I guess we're not choosing them as a survivor pick. Patrick had thrown that out there as a possibility.

Steve says they're winning an hour.

They're losing that.

I wouldn't like them as a survivor pick anyways, just because the Saints, I expect them to win. No Dexter Lawrence for the Giants. I mean, they just keep losing their very best players. There's a little buzz or or at least speculation that depending on how Derekar closes out this season, that could impact what his status is for 2025. If they win some games, the Saints are not above being like, Okay, let's all run it back. You got to win games like this if you're Derekar. I do want to just mention, and then we can move on. Alvin Kamara.Shout out to him.Bing time. Got to top a thousand rushing yards for the first time in his career, which is crazy that that's never happened before. But he's fifth right now in the NFL in yards from scrimmage.So you look who's ahead of him.He's insane. You look who's ahead of him. It's Saquon, Henry, Jamir Gibbs. It might be Josh Jacobs, his fourth. And he's getting it done week after week. That dude is a star. I'll always believe if he doesn't wind up making the Hall of Fame that their coaching malfeasance over the last three or four years is what cost him because he was a good player that whole time.

So he's having a great year.

I hope they keep leaning on it. Taycim Hill getting too many touches. Well, yeah. Taking it away from Kamara, man.

I mean, those yards, he would have decidedly. It's not conjecture on my part. He would have the record for most TDs scored in a single game, if not for a random Taycim Hill carry on the one-yard line. Yeah, I'm with you, Greg. Shout out to one of the best of this generation in number 41, the over-under for this game, also 41. So synergy, numerology. Big game coming up for AK. Let's get, speaking of the NFC South, the Atlanta Falcons, who somehow lost to the Chargers last week. On the road, it is a Kirk Cousins revenge game against the Minnesota Vikings, who are favored by five and a half coming off of their fourth and six comeback against the Arizona Cardinals. Greg, how do you see it going over under 45 and a half? G-reg on the call with Joe Davis and Pam Oliver.

I don't think it's going to go well. That number is highly disrespectful to the Falcons and evidence that... Okay. No, I take the Viking. I just mean people have been watching the Falcon. Imagine what that line would have been four weeks ago. It would have been totally different. But this When the game is in a freefall, I somehow, while writing out notes for this game, forgot that it's the Kirk Cousins revenge game. I guess I'm just all about ball, and that actually...

That's a great example.

You're all about ball, though. I forget the narrative. It's actually sad to think about because I had the thought, could this be Kirk Cousins' last NFL start? It would be crazy if it's in Minnesota. If Brian Flores, who to me is not a defensive coordinator, I would want to see if I'm Kirk Cousins right now, ends up just putting it to him because he's got 10 turnovers, no touch sounds the last three games.

Yeah, you're talking about overall turnovers and fumbles. People are seeing the interceptions. He's putting the ball on the ground. Look, Patrick, you've talked about it all season. We've seen that he can't move. The fact that he just cannot move, their offense has been all over. I don't think he's going to go out there and play as poorly as he did against the charges.

But doesn't he seem like the type of guy that maybe this situation, it would be a lot for anyone, but I don't know. I think it's going to be challenging for him emotionally and all that.

It's going to be emotionally challenging. It's tough. The thing is now, he's losing them games. There's always a thing like, you can overcome this. He's costing them ball games. This is where as Adam and as Raheem Morris has been, that Michael Pendex is going to be their quarterback for the future. Does that future start next week if they lose this ball game? If Cousins comes and loses another game the way he has the past couple of years because their offense hasn't functioned. They're like, We're going to put eight guys in the box. We're going to make Kirek Cousins beat us. I mean, it's not creative what teams are doing against Atlanta right now. Atlanta has got a lot of offensive talent. For them not to be putting points on the board and Kirek O'Chains, who I think is going to play better this game, but they've just got to get to point on the board early to start feeling good. Otherwise, this could get sideways.

It would be very difficult for him to play worse than he did. I guess the charges. I'm not say that to demean Kirk Cousins because everybody has a stinker. I think it's a credit to Kirk Cousins to come back from that injury and play the way that he did in spots this season. But this is a situation where no matter how mentally strong he is, it's going to be an emotional game because they had great moments between the franchise and Kirk Cousins in Minnesota. It's not that. It's going to be physically, can he hang in there, do the things that he needs to do. I guess the veteran defense, they can do so many different things, show many different looks. It's not like you're going to confuse him, but you just get in literal situations on the football field where you need your body to do something, and it's not doing it.

I think they could confuse him. Why not? I think the chargers did. I think the chargers with some of the coverages that they were playing or having him hold the ball a little extra. He's seen it all, certainly, but everyone gets confused sometimes. Tom braided gets confused for games at a time during his prime. I watched it, and this Minnesota team is so diverse in what they can do. Last week, they played half their snaps without a downlineman. Now, they had downlineman guys who play defensive tackle were on the field, but literally no one's hand was on the ground. Half the snaps, that's just craziness.

The way they use a guy like Josh Metellus and Harrison Smith moving them all over the field and bringing them, it'll be interesting. By the way, I'm I'm going to bring back another Michael Jordan reference. You guys are saying Kirk goes year two Michael Jordan Washington Wizards when he could only play in spots because he couldn't jump off the floor.

I mean, what's Coup right now, too? He's killing them. He's as big a problem as Tucker is for the Ravens. This could be a close game. The one bright spot here is the Falcons came out of their buy, and Raheem Morris said they were going to be a different team defensively, and they were. They were. That is something you could take from that game. If they can Can you see an average to above average defense the rest of the way, and we've seen Raheem Morris go on streak sometimes, and they got Ebba Ketty, and they got some pass rush out of Nord. Who knows? If that's a little real, then maybe Kirk writes a totally different story because how sweet would it be for him to get off this, Schneid, and have one of those crazy Kirk Cousins games. There's no way... Okay, now I'm going Atlanta plus five and a half, at least to cover. At least to cover. Because every Kirk Cousins game is the same. There's going to be Insanity. It's going to be up and down, and it's going to end up with Kirk having the ball with a chance to win.

That's how it goes. So that's probably within five and a half. I don't know how it ends. I'm not one of the scriptwriters here.

And by the way, speaking of Raheem Morris, his defense being better. Caden Ellis is the best defensive player in the NFL that does not get talked about. Oh, wow. He's a hell of a player. Inside linebacker who they bring on a lot of pressures. Brother starts for the Broncos. Father's Luther Ellis. One of 12 kids. Caden Ellis, hell of a player.

I never knew they were brothers, whichOf course. How many? Two S. Ellis's there.

Twelve siblings, seven of them adopted. Great story. But Caden Ellis is a hell of a player.

That's a whole defense with a sub. It's one of those things where we got to figure out was that the chargers' line and the injuries for the chargers or the Falcons Getting better and now going up against Sam Darnold, who, Steve, was early, but then late. We get to see the fully realized Sam Darnold on a game-winning drive, including a fourth and sixth, where he got a dot to Justin Jefferson for the first down.

Member of the quarterback Island, Sam Darnold, who, as I brought him in my argument-No, he's not.

He was close.

We didn't get him on?

This is how good Sam Darnold has been playing lately. I actually felt guilty post-show that he was not on it, and Gino was. That's how well he's playing. I was like, I genuinely feel bad because he's played that well.

Because he's not only winning games, they're asking him to win games. He's throwing the ball like 36, 37 times a game, a lot of it late, and he's making those throws that he wasn't making when he was not with Minnesota.

I just want to make one last point on this one, which is they wave goodbye to Kirk Cousins because they had a price they would not go over. Now, Kevin O'Know wanted him back, and I think they would have had him back if he had accepted a contract they probably knew he wasn't going to take, but that would have been fair if he wanted to stay there. If you think about the way they've built their team without Kirk Cousins, what a difference it makes. It's one of the big reasons they're 10 and 2. Not only do you have JJ McCarthy in the future, who unfortunately got hurt, and Darnold has worked out as a much cheaper option, but guys like Andrew Van Ginkle and Grannard that you were able to pick up in free agency and Gilmore and spread it around. It's part of the reason that defense is so good.

Let's get to a couple of teams now whose defenses and spots this season have not been good. It's the Monday night football matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Dallas Cowboys. Cincinnati favorite by five and a half. Favorite again. The losses keep piling up 49 and a The Over Under, of course, Joe, Troy, and Lisa on the call, Steve, as we have seen, things go horribly wrong. So a midlife crisis car purchase for Joe Burrow. He goes out and buys the Batmobile. Batmobile. Is he going to need it against Micah and the company?

It says it because I was at the game last week when Pittsburgh just scored at will. Greg, we talked about it yesterday with the same play, basically, with the running back, with Najee Harris going out on that release right up the middle. They threw that play 10 times. But against teams that are losing records, Cincinnati is really good. They're really good. And again, their defense is not... They didn't want to tackle anybody. They're covered sometimes. It's okay. I don't know what has happened to that defense. There has been some talent trained, but their offense is functioning at such an insanely high level. I like the five and a half for Cincinnati on the road here. I do think even though they lost that game the way they did to Pittsburgh, those dudes aren't quitting. They are playing their heads off offensively. I think right now this is a showcase game. It's against the Cowboys, and they're going to go out there and keep ringing up the scoreboard because that number nine, man, that is a... Joe Burrow is as real as it gets.

Right. That's why I would expect them to win this game handily. These two teams, this is the in the hunt. Like, really, Paul? Because I noticed the Cowboys were on those in the graphics still over Thanksgiving, and I've seen them sneaking on the bangles. That's some respect for Joe Burrow, really. Just saying, We respect you so much. We're going to keep you in that graphic. Speaking of which, if you're watching this game, they got Alt cast. Oh, yes. Different graphics. I just learned, maybe this was out there before, but I just learned today that it's going to be our friend of the show, Mina Kimes and Dan Orlowski, providing some analysis as part of the Simpsons cast.

Are they going to be Are you thinking like, Is Bart, Simskine, Marge?

I don't think they are, but they do have little Mina Kimes and Orlowski's that look like Simpkins' characters that she put out there.Oh, I can't wait to see those.It's pretty cool. I'm going to watch that.

Is me and his hair are going to look like Marge's?

I think they're trying to make it real to life. Both these teams, by the way, I checked on next-gen stats, they both have a 3% chance to make the play. I guess in a world where they just turned it somehow, they still do have a shot. Zack Taylor better win this game, by the way. Big game for him. Everyone assumes Lou Annarumo is gone at the end of the year. Yeah, it's a safe assumption. All respect to him.

Yeah, I think he's a hell of a coach.

Guys that are that good, you don't stay a coordinator forever in many places. It happens. He'll get hired somewhere else. I think it's worth thinking about Zack Taylor and losses like this. I know the offense is good. If they had a loss like this on Monday night football or something, you would think would maybe get the Browns attention.

But that's the thing. That's the if in this. I don't think the Cincinnati bangles lose this game. I saw it as the game went on against the Giants, where Cooper Rush within 10 yards, especially throwing crossers, that's the guy you want. But as soon as the play requires something other than that, that's where the wheels start to fall off of Cooper Rush. I think Lou Anerumo in his defense has a lot of veterans. I think talent-wise, maybe we thought a little bit more of the veterans on this Cincinnati bangles defense coming into the than the way things... I don't know if some guys are playing through some things or not. But over on the other side, the talent is still there on the offensive side. I hope the front office figures it out. They have a unique product that other people don't have. They should use the resources available to them to keep those particular products together. Speaking specifically of Tee Higgins, Jamar Chase, and Joe Burrow, that's a fun thing. It would be better for the NFL and better for those of us who watch the NFL if those guys play together for their careers.

Maybe I'm wishcasting there.

You are. But there's There's historical precedent with that organization where that's not going to happen.

But they've broken historical precedent with this group since it's been together. A little bit of wishcasting, perhaps.

Crazier things have happened. I haven't thought about that. You never know. Maybe they will step up to the plate. I'd love to see it.

But unless Micah Parsons, this Dallas defense. Overshown. Yeah, Overshown scores,touchdowns.So good. Last year's leader in interceptions with the record-breaking pick sixes gets in the end. But it would take too much for Dallas to win this game.

I agree with you, but maybe the Cowboys will be inspired. They played better. They have played better, especially on defense. Maybe the rest of the crew will be inspired by Dak Prescott's steadfast support of Mike McCarthy, where he's been around there so long, Dak Prescott, and had so many contracts from them. He could even throw in a little zinger saying, Maybe you should let Mike have a little more responsibility. Let the coach coach the team. He basically was saying without saying it, which I respect out of Dak, sticking up for his guy and saying maybe that's some of the reason why the coaches there struggled. Let's take a quick break. We're going to wrap up the rest of the week 14 preview after the break. We still haven't picked our survivor, and yet we're still rolling. We're surviving. We're thriving. One of my favorite rivalries, Jets, Dolphins. You might say, Well, why would that be one of your favorite rivals? I don't know. I grew up with the AFC East, and those fan bases, they really hate each other. For some reason, the Dolphins and the Jets fan bases hate each other, I think with a passion, actually, that the Patriots fans feel left out of.

As somebody who covered the Dolphins, I can tell you why, because half of the Jets fan base lives inside South Florida and occupies that stadium.

Right. Yeah, you feel it. You feel it. Even in New York, you feel it.

Yeah, the animosity goes. And that's why Greg loved this game and this matchup, because it meant either the Jets or the Dolphins would lose for his New England Patriots to get a bump in the standing Yes, the Jets at the Miami Dolphins were six-point favorites. Kevin Harland, a. K. A. God, Trent Green, and Melanie Collins on the call. Steve, we have seen the Miami Dolphins go on a run, and then we saw the packers put a stop to it. They got out Not physical, to use a trite football term, in the cold weather. Do they bounce back against the Jets?

They are in the warm weather, and I'm going to put it this bluntly as I have it in my notes. If the Dolphins trick this game off in South Florida, then their intestinal fortitude needs to be highly questioned. We spoke again yesterday on the show. Their offense is playing well. Sauce Gardner, is he even going to play in this We don't know yet.

We don't know yet, right? I think there's some hope.

Okay, there's some hope. But this is a situation where even if he did play the way that this offense in warm weather, not in Green Bay weather, but even two have played well in that game, they should put up enough points. I mean, look, it's the Jets. They're going to scrap. Aaron Rodgers is not trying to go out the way things are going. But if Miami's got any type of football pride, I think they go out there and they cover by the and they play well in this game.

I like the extra rest, too, at this point in the season. They're coming off the Thursday night game. Jeff O'Brick said, It's too early to know if Brees Hall or SaaS Gardner will be active, but neither practice. He did note that Garner plays a position where you need a healthy ham string, especially in this matchup. You need two healthy ham. I'm leaning towards he is not playing in this game. That is a huge loss, and I think it makes the Dolphins a very strong contender to be our survivor pick. Now, we have two games coming up: Steelers, Browns, Bucks, Raiders. Feel free to respond there, but we could maybe make our decision after we go through all three of those games. But I have found our fraud watch on the jets that Patrick and I have really been propagating on the airwaves since September to be a very pleasurable, mutually beneficial, and enjoyable activity that everyone, I think, has benefited from. That just shows where I'm leaning here.

Yeah, I'm also leaning in a similar direction to where Steve first planted that seed in our heads weeks and weeks ago. The This Jets team might not be all it's cracked up to be. And yet the Dolphins, they started with the fumble. They donated seven points. They had an opportunity to score. They had a second in goal to one-yard line, had some weird play calling that Mike has since looked back in hindsight, said that maybe they outthought themselves a little bit there. I think the game was closer than the scoreboard indicated against a good packer's team on the road. And again, as we've covered extensively on the show, the Jets aren't a good football team.

Yeah, and Tua is going to have a response to not make it to Qby Island.He has beenFantastic for me.Survivor pick. Okay, let's not even wait.Let's go.Let's do it. Hear the music. We don't need to wait.

Tua Snubb did it. It put me over the top.

I love it. They're a little thin on some parts of their defense, and the Jets are just not the team. I think that's going to expose that.

Quarterback's completing 25% of their passes when they target Jalen Ramsey. He's playing very well. He's pretty good right now on the defensive side. I know the defense has gone through a little bit, but I'm comfortable here.

Okay. I'm comfortable, too. I'd like to see them get the running game going, get Raheem Mostard out of the dog Doghouse, but yes, I'm comfortable.

He's in there.

Did he do something?

I don't think so.

I just don't think they're... He did have some fumbles, I think, earlier in the year, but they're not using him. I don't know if it's a doghouse, but last week, it raised my eyebrows because that's a game where you need a power runner and you're trying to run H-An up there and you're getting some negative run.

When they were doing H-An when they came out here.

I'm like, Did a Moster just get old? All of a sudden, it happens.

Maybe. It seems like they're treating him that way because even when he was here against the Chargers, it was the Chargers, right? They came out to LA to play the Chargers with the Rams. I can't remember. But before the game, their running back coach, Eric Studifield, was like, You're going to see this guy and this guy, and he didn't mention the name.

It's not a personal dog. It's just not playing him dog.

They might like the younger guys better.

Well, an opportunity for several dolphins to get healthy against this Jet squad who, as we covered, might not have a couple of the pieces that were the reason you felt good about this franchise in the future in Brees Hall and Sauce Garder. Another AFC matchup, a rematch of a snow game, the Cleveland Browns back against the Pittsburgh Steelers. This time it is in Pittsburgh. The Steelers, Greg, six and a half point favorites. It's the CBS We won. We get Jim, Tony, and Tracey on call. An opportunity to see Russell Wilson after he goes off against the Cincinnati Bengals to get some revenge, Greg, against the team that besmirched his run.

Yeah, it's hard to I imagine the Steelers losing twice against the same opponent in such a short time. First of all, Browns fans living right. They're getting the Thursday night crew, they're getting the Sunday night crew or Monday night crew. They got Nantes and Romo here. You got Andrew Siciliano when you're in the car on the way to pick up stuff. You got the best broadcasting crews in the business covering the Browns down the stretch. Why not? They're the best show in football with Jameis Winston. I agree, 100%. It almost got a little lost in the shuffle because of how it ended, just how many outstanding throws Jameis Winston made in that game. People were like, Well, that's the experience. The roller coaster is like the ups and downs. In the end, I think the idea is that it's ultimately an L. Get some stops on defense, please, too. Jim Schwartz hasn't been great, but he is moving an offense that was among the very, very worst in the NFL. And since he's taken over in terms of moving the ball, they're up there. So he deserves a lot of credit for the high-level throws he's making in addition to all the off-field comments that everyone enjoys and everything and wants to poke fun at.

I do, too. I'm just saying he's playing football well, so let's not have that lost.

Look, I think he'll be delivered from the Lord, from throwing pick sixes. Okay, I don't think... But here's the thing. He threw the ball 58 times that game. He's been throwing the ball 40 plus times. Jim Schwartz's defense has been actually playing very good, Craig. It's their run game. Their run game has been nothing. You can't run the football with Chubb and Ford. That's why Jamis is having to throw it. I do think this is a game I don't like the six and a half number for Pittsburgh, but TJ Watts not going to like the fact that Miles Garrett was barking after the Thursday game. Good call. Like, if you remember, I'm like, I'm the Edge. I'm that dude. Don't forget that. So TJ is going to be a little worked up. Herbie is going to be a little worked up. Alex Highsmith is going to be back for this game as well, based on reports about his health status. I just think Pittsburgh... Here's where Pittsburgh, because I was at the Snow globe game. Where Pittsburgh lost that game to me was the fact that they played Justin Fields as much as they did.

Not the fact that he played 10% of their snaps, but when they put him in, Russ was rolling. It also was like 10 of 10 on third down. Then all of a sudden, they started putting Justin Fields in in those third and short situations, which is when the Justin Field package tends to work. So it didn't necessarily break trend. Just the feel for that game right now, I thought disrupted some things. That won't happen again. You I only saw him play two snaps against the bangles, and he did those well. It worked perfectly. I think they dial him back. I like Pittsburgh in this game. Cleveland's paying better. I do not like the six and a half.

Yeah, it's Miles Garrett a key here as well. Just watching him try to work his shoulder out late in that game.Good point. Against the Denver Broncos gave me some concerns because it was the shoulder last year when Miles had his fall off in Steelers and Browns fans. What if, hypothetically, what if both Miles Garrett and T. J. Watt are good football players?

Yeah, we got that part. In both of them, I think they will both try hard.

I think I can only think of one instance. Both be motivated. In his career where Miles Garrett didn't try as hard as he possibly could, much to the credit for Mason Rudolf there. There you go. That he didn't. But there's just such a high degree of difficulty for this Browns team. You see it in so many different areas, especially in the passing attack where Jamis is throwing those pics because these are all contested targets. David Najoku had an average separation of 2.4 yards, and he got 17 targets.

I didn't think he got that much. I mean, he was blanketed.

No tight-end has had that many targets since Travis Kelsey, two years ago.

He made some tough catches. He did.

But It's asking a lot to do that consistently, and now you got to do it against the Steeler's defense. It's come out in the scene. Jameis play, albeit nobody was really seeing things very well in the snow, but it's a tough ask.

It is. This is the portion of the show where we tell you a little bit about AFC North Hard Knocks. This division format might have some legs. It was fun seeing a little Tomlin behind the scene.

I didn't see it, but I heard it was great.

This matchup here, George Pickens, Denzel Ward, doesn't get much better than that. Let's I want to give some credit to Art Smith. Let's get a little more Arthur Smith in the Hard Knocks. He's making it happen. Yeah, he is. Everyone loved to pick on Art Smith when he was struggling. We got CPAP back there, Corderelle Patterson and Warren and Najee Harris, obviously. I'm thinking, they're really working this backfield. Maybe they do have enough weapons. They don't have wide receivers, but you got Freiermuth, you got the runningbacks, you got Pickens. They got enough on offense to maybe go get that one seat. It's not even over.

Oh, they've got enough. Real quick, do they show the part? Because I was standing by the Steeler's locker room postgame Sunday. First thing Tom one says, he knows the NFL film cruiser, get this S, get this ish off. He wanted to get that mic off. But then he says, Is Bootsy Collins Bootsy here? Because Bootsy is from Cincinnati, a legendary James Brown, Parliament, Funkadelic, Bootsy's rubber Band, bass player. Where's Bootsy? I want to see Bootsy, Collins. I was like, What coach is coming off the field? Hollering for a P-Funk All-Star. Only Mike. Yeah, that's it. That's the only one. It didn't make the show?

I don't know. I did not watch the entire thing yet. I have to admit. I watched a little part of it.

It's a lot going on. It's a busy time of the year.

I'm going to get through it. My son woke up and watched it this morning. He's crazy. He gets up at 5:30 in the morning and just starts watching stuff. Where did he get that from? He said it was good. He said it was good.

That's a report that we can trust. Walker Rosenthal, Noseball. As we get to the Las Vegas Raiders, the self-proclaimed worst team in the NFL, giving the best team in the NFL a run for its money, if not for a mistime snap in the final opportunity at the Tampa Bay Bucaneers, who are six and a half point favorites. The over-under is 46. It's on CBS, Beryl Ditties, Adam Archaleta and Addi Kingabwala on the call. The Aiden O'Connel revolution. Is it real, Steve? Do we get that version of AOC two weeks on a row?

If he throws a ball to Brock Bauer every play because Bauer is just That's good. No, I mean, the Raiders are not going to win this ball game. I like Tampa Bay at six and a half. The Raiders are my favorite to have the first overall pick, not the Giants. Then we're going to see Tom Brady's influence on this organization in the offseason. That's already where I am when it comes to the Raiders. Who's he going to hire as coach? If they have the number one pick, what are they going to do about the quarterback? Because that's where they have to go. Shadr, that'll be interesting. They bring a little more fun to the Raiders organization, but maybe Tom doesn't like that.

You just gave me a flash forward to what we're going to be talking about a lot on NFL Daily.

That's where we are.

No matter where they're picking, it's going to be top five, and they'll be in that mix. They nailed their first pick last year. I think they wanted a quarterback. They didn't have a chance to take one. And Brock Bowers deserves consideration for offensive player of the year. Now you-Offensive rookie or offensive player? Rookey, sorry. Okay.

Although-100%.

He's only fourth in receiving yards. It's among everyone, not just among rookies. I saw that, and I was like, Wait a second. Are they filtering it out? It's Jamar Chase, Justin Jefferson, and then Terry McLaurin only has Bowers by eight yards or something. This kid is He's special, and we've been saying he's the best tight end in the league all season, so I'm feeling validated after the numbers he's putting up the last couple of weeks. They have some things I've liked about their team. They're certainly competing. Our guy Jack Jones, who was on the show, I swear he shows up every week and is playing pretty well in coverage.

Yeah, he does.

Yeah, it's a good play.

Bucks fans are like, Why are you talking about the Raiders?We're the relevant team.Because.

This will be the last time we're going to be talking about the Raiders. Okay. Yeah.

Give them this is the farewell to the Las Vegas But speaking of the Bucaneers, the incredible run that Mike Evans is on to start his career with the 1,000-yard seasons. We're sitting at 521 yards right now. The remaining schedule is this game against the Raiders, and then the Chargers, the Cowboys, the Panthers, and the Saints. Can Mike Evans get that 400 some odd yards to go over a K again?

Yeah.

Yes.

He looked like Mike Evans always His looks last week. They targeted him a lot. That's not a murderer's row of defenses. It's really just the Chargers that are a plus defense out of that group. So I think he could do it.

I like the way they run the ball, too. Bucky Irving.

Man, he's good.

That may hurt the calls.

That may hurt the calls.

Right, but well, I could set him up for some shutdowns, some fantasy points at the very least. Bucky Irving was a subject, if anyone listening, describes to NFL Plus. We do NFL Daily, almost weekly. Every couple of weeks, we do a little NFL Plus segment, and we talked about rising units. Bucky Irving right now in that running game is crazy. He is second in the league in terms of avoiding negative runs, which I give a lot of credit to the offensive line. Then again, Rashaad White is one of the worst in the league at avoiding negative runs. It's not all offensive line. Then in terms of-He runs sideways too much, so that's why he's got negative yards.Rashad White.Rashad White. Bucky Irving is second in the league in terms of making people miss tackles per run. He He gets around guys that are in front of him, and I would expect a lot of that in this game. They'd be a strong survivor pick, too, just saying. Yes. But I do like our choice, the Dolphins. Yeah.

And Bucky Irving had those 147 rushing yards against the Carolina Panthers defense who don't see things get a whole lot easier because in comes the NFL's leading rusher and my MVP candidate, Saquon Barkley. He and Jalen Hertz and A. J. Brown and the Philadelphia Eagles, 12-point favorites at home against Bryce and these resurgent Panthers. Over and under is 46. Adam Emine, Mark Sanchez, and Christina Pink on the call. Bryce has been making tight window throws. Greg, what's he do when there's no windows against Vic Fongio's squad.

I think he makes the right decisions. I think he stays aggressive, and maybe that ends up with an interception in this game because I don't think he's going to go down without a fight. I'm really curious. It makes me want to watch this game. That number is big, but this is a much more compelling game to me because of Bryce Young and everything the Eagles are doing than a lot of these other games. I think Bryce Young has evolved from... Oh, that's a nice story. I feel like it was a lot of Patty on the head. Like, Oh, wow. It's really cool that he's making a career, and this is nice for him, too. This is one of the bigger stories in the NFL. He was the number one overall pick in the draft last year, and he is playing at a level where it's not just, Hey, he might be in the mix to start next year. It's like, Hey, he might be awesome. Now, it's early, and so you don't want to put too much expectations. You didn't want to bury him too much early, but he is playing at a level like PFF has him since week nine up there in the top five with Herber and Joe Burrow and Lamar.

That's the level if you haven't been watching him on a snap-to-snap basis. This is a really ultimate test. He played Denver, which was a tough one to go against, but this is another tough defense, and so I'm really curious how he'll look against him.

But he can have opportunities to make plays because they're He's likely going to get behind pretty early based on what that Eagle's offense is going to do to this defense. This is where he's going to be put to the test. But when we talk about players, I mentioned Caden Ellis earlier that doesn't get enough conversations. Zach Bohn, linebacker for the Eagles, is another one, the Vic Fangio. Vic Fangio, guys like Fangio and Zimmer, they came up together. They find a player every year that nobody's thinking of and gets them going. Now, it hasn't so much happened for Dallas this year, but in Zimmer's history, he has done that. And so, Zach Bohn, and what he has brought to this linebacking unit that was such a mess last season, and now Nekobi Dean is playing in a certain way, and all these other guys, Jordan Davis, are playing in such a way. This is why, I think we got to say the Eagles, if the lions slip up or whatever and they get home field, the way this defense has grown and played and has these young players playing with their head on fire, that this is a very dangerous Super Bowl contender.

Jalen Carter He doesn't come off the field. Which is crazy. He is on fire the last month. He started the season playing like a very good football player, but now he's playing at an all-Pro level. I was racking my mind, and tell me if I'm just forgetting someone. If I had an all-Pro vote, and I don't, and I can't get one, that was confirmed to me. Zack Bond is my first team linebacker. Fred Warner would be another one, but I think those are my top two unless I'm missing someone. That's how good he's been.

Zack Bond has been great.

I'm racking my brain. I'm trying to think.

Who am I missing?

Late season, Ernest Jones.

No, I mean, I'm taking Bond, man. That dude is getting it done week after week. It's crazy.

Tell me this. If Cooper Djean had played the whole season, would he be up for D-R-O-Y? Because he has made a significant difference.I think he is now.playing in the slot.

I think he is now. Why not?

Tough to... Quinan has been special. I mean, they've both been special.

Verse and Fisk have also been pretty special.

Verse have been great. We got to confirm there's going to be a full ballot now where I believe it's five names or three names that all the voters vote for. Cooper Djean probably should be on some of those. We're going top five for sure. If you wanted to put him in the top three, that works.

He's getting a boost by, in my opinion, the most routine play I've ever seen. I go to next Gen stats to look this up to get specific numbers. When Derrick Henry catches that ball, he's going seven miles an backwards with his back to Cooper Dajine, who's coming at him at 11 miles an hour directly towards him. That's it. I mean, it's a fun play for people to discuss because he scoops up Derrick Henry. But the kid has been great. That play is routine.

One of his super powers, I think, and it showed up in some splash plays like when he got Jamar Chase down in the open field on fourth down is recognition and working well with his teammates of where to go on certain plays. And he did make a good play on that. That's a play that we've seen work Baltimore, where if you get it to Henry on the check down, and he's got a couple of yards of space, that he ends up getting that seven yards. And the fact that there is no separation is a credit to Cooper Dujin. Even if the tackle was more routine. That is the positive plays he's made.

He's been so good.

He's sticking up for my guy. He's not my guy.

I'm not criticizing. I'm just saying. No, you're right. There's other plays where you could say he's been great.

He's been so good, too. We have not heard anyone refer to him as sneaky athletic. Sneak.

Praise God.

He's been that good.

I'll say a Jameis prayer to get rid of sneaky. I think we've almost done it. I think we've all but eliminated it from the lexicon. That would be great. The usual defenders haven't really used it.

It's a good lesson for kids that bullying works. Now, there's bad bullying, but you got to be smart enough to know what is worth it. If you're just making fun of people over and over for using a bad phrase, that's acceptable bullying, I think. It's just like verbal, it's kind-hearted, but you're standing up on the right side of history.

Got someone else for you, too. I was just going through when you talk about the inside linebackers. Linebackers. Does FrankyLuvu breaking.

Oh, that's a good one. They're similar, too, because you think a lot of Luvu's value has come from Blitsey. Now, that's not... Bon isn't all the way there, but he's certainly closer to the line of scrimmage. It's crazy I know how Vicks had some of these linebackers over the year. At one point, was Ahmaud Brooks on the same team as Willis and Bowman? Yes, he was.

Ahmaud Brooks was on those early teams, I think, when Vick was there, when they had Justin Smith and some of those guys.

Because I believe it was Fran Duffy, who was at all PHOI, who made the comp of Zack Bond to what Ahmaud Brooks used to do in Vick VanDry's offense. I was like, That's a pretty good comp there. He likes to have that extra guy on the line of scrimage. And Bond isn't quite as big, but he's a physical player, and he's a hell of a player. That's a good one, though. Louvou, can you vote for three linebackers?I think you can.Do it. Is it two or three?

I don't know.

We got to change rules before we go, Greg. I know it's against the Carolina Panthers. Is there anything Jalen Hertz can do in this game to try to make a case to get on the island? Man. Is there hope for Uno?

I think they might be too good with what they're doing for him to get on it.

Here was Greg's argument against, because it was a very short conversation when I brought it up. He's like, he's not the first player you think of when you talk about their offense. Your MVP, Patrick Saquon Barkley is.

I feel bad about it, too.

That doesn't mean the quarterbacks.

Right. I feel bad about that, too, because I think if you look When you look at QBs, if you're doing the QB rankings like Shook does every week, after you get past about five or six, there's about another seven, eight guys playing at a really high level. I think that's Hertz. I think last week's game actually was the perfect example of why Hertz isn't on QB Island. If you go through the throws he made in that game, he didn't have to do anything. He doesn't make money. It's not his fault, but they were all just these little But he didn't have to make any high-level throws in that game, and they beat one of the best teams in the NFL.

He's throwing the ball 24 times a game. Like I said, Sam Darnal is throwing 38, so they're asking more.

Half of them are just these little smoke routes. It's a little action where you just first read, throw it right away. I think he's capable of doing more. Sure. That's a fair point.

Yes. That's why he's in positions to make the decision to get the easy throws because he can do more, so you have to defend more.

Okay, well, who would you have over him? That's a conversation. Oh, yeah.

That's not my responsibility.

I do the previous shows. That's the thing.

People are like, I can't believe you didn't mention Sean McDermott for Coach of the Year, or whatever. It's like, okay, well, who are you taking off that list? If you're going to say that, you got to take someone off. It's not hard. It's The courageous work that we do here as panelists, analysts, whatever you want to call it. We're brave hearts, man. We are. We will be back on Thursday night, one of the best Thursday night games of the entire season. I looked at the list. It is the best primetime game for the rest of the season. Lions and Packers. Appreciate you, Steve. Appreciate Patrick, as always. You can check us out on Game Day View, by the way, too, on our network.

That's fun. There we go.

Look, when we're bringing Micah Hyde back into the mix, we might as well bring Tyrod Taylor and Kyle Williams. You know football is back.