Transcript of 2024 Week 18 Preview

Welcome to NFL Daily, where your epic sunset is just our Wednesday. I'm Greg Rosenthal here in the Chris Wesling podcast studio. Beside just a lot of men. Just a lot of beef here. We have Steve Weiss, the legend, been all around the country, Patrick Claybon, and to my right, nick Shook in studio for the first time all season.

For everybody who watches on YouTube who's tired of my face being too big, he proportioned everybody in here. Now we're all in the same area.

Now you can see nick next to me, which is also too big. Real quick.

You know what's great, though? You can tell who lives in Ohio. Yeah. He's got a T-shirt. We're all like, Man, it's like 50 degrees. We're all in sweaters.

It's cold. I opened the show talking about the Rose Bowl because I saw this headline this morning, and it says, College football fans obsessed with epic sunset at Rose Bowl. They should be. Everyone is always like, This is the most beautiful sunset. They should have the national championship every week. We have nick Shook out here supporting his Ohio State Buckeyes, although I thought he was a Kent State guy. Well, Kent State grab.

But you grew up in Ohio, you're an Ohio State.

Ohio. He comes out and he sees a great game. It is great watching that. And I'm watching Kirk Herb Street, and he's enjoying that sunset more than I believe he's enjoyed any NFL action that he's called over the last couple of seasons.

There's a Pavlovian effect for that.

It is true. It is It was amazing. Yet I was thinking, Well, that's just Wednesday in Pasadena. That's literally every day. It made me appreciate that we're lucky to just live out here. That that's just a beautiful... That is just every day.

My wife is Jamaican. She says the same thing about all the tourists who come and visit Jamaican for a week. It's a great place in the air.

Well, it's just Tuesday for them. Right, exactly. I've been appreciating. There we go. They have cranked up. I feel like the sunsets over the last two weeks have been a special.

Aren't you romantic? Lovely.

Well, yeah, the winter solstice was on the Okay. We're getting them earlier. Here we go.

Now, with the science.

We're all out and able to appreciate it. During this time last year, when none of us really knew what the future was, I started to drive around LA. We take the kids to the beach. I'm like, Wow, This is great. I'm going to appreciate this because I don't know how long it's going to be here. Everyone is a blessing.

My family has been gone, so I've had the time to go running at the beach a little bit more and appreciate it. It's all people from outside the country that are visiting here. It does make you appreciate. One thing they don't tell you about your family leaving you for the holidays, everyone feels bad for it, it feels a little bit like a vacation.Careful.I.

Have to admit.Careful. No, no, no. Just like, they don't listen, right?

It's sad, but it's also a little bit like a vacation. All right, we are not on vacation today. Now, she knows that we talk about it. Long time's important. Sure. She's jealous. Our week 18 preview. It's a weird week, and we're going to go through the games. I decided, let's go through it in chronological order this week because that's how our week is going to be framed. Yes, the best game of the weekend is undoubtedly Vikings and lions, but we're going to save that for last.

Yeah. Take note, if you're one of those horrible billionaires that have decided that social media timeline should not be in chronological order, they absolutely should be. We're doing this show for all of you who are scrolling, trying to find relevant We start with a division matchup in the AFC North, the Cleveland Browns at the Baltimore Ravens. The line is 18 points in favor of Baltimore. Steve, the over under 41.5. It's the ESPN game, Chris Fowler, Louis Riddick, Dan Orlowski, and Laura Rutledge on the call. Baltimore does need this win to keep pace. If the Stealers, who will have a chance to watch on Sunday, do the Stealers ultimately end up having nothing to worry about, no reason to play?

No. Well, Yeah, they'll be the fifth seed if that's the case. But look, that number is so significant. I mean, what a slap in the face to Bayly Zappian. We don't know if there's going to be the Zap Daddy out there on Saturday, but Kevin Stavansky didn't rule out that your Browns, Shook, would play both guys.

Yeah, why not? It seemed like, yeah.

Why not? Well, because you have another quarterback that's better than both of them on the roster.

And they're actively not trying to win football games. This is true tanking.

It rarely happens, but this is true tanking.

We've already seen two games of Dorian Thompson-Robinson. We haven't seen much. I would love to see more because he has physical tools, but seems a little overwhelmed by the speed of the game. The offensive line has been great. The running game does not exist, and he's not in sync with his receiver. What happens? You score three points in a game that was actually pretty winnable against the Dolphins ends up not being winnable.

Did they cover 18 against the Dolphins? Claybon is a Raven's hank over here. No, he's just a new usage of the word hank. It doesn't even make sense. But you were saying how 18 points is too much. It's crazy. It's a division game. You're worried about it. And yet Tyler Hunt almost covered 18 last week. It was 20 to 3 when the Dolphins played them.

Yeah, and the Browns turned the ball over in the red zone. They had opportunities there, and that's Miami. It's different. And Baltimore's defense has been playing better, but it just feels like a touchy game where you want to get the win against a division opponent. Get 22 and eight out of there and have them not have to deal with it in the second half. It's just It's always one of those weird spoiler situations, especially in the division in the last week of the season.

The Ravens are going to mop the floor with them. Look, I don't like this cover, but they very well could. I was at their game on Christmas when they just destroyed the Texans and talking to John Harbaugh and Dean Pease and some of these guys. They love what's going on defensively, namely, and Dean was telling me, the fact when they move Kyle Hamilton back, they were saying, What's the biggest issue all season long? Was the deep balls over the head. They put Kyle Hamilton, their best defender, back there. Those have stopped. Moving Marlin Humphrey into the nickel has been great. They're just trying to finetune things defensively because they know offensively they're good. The first half, I think the starters play the whole way. They put the shoes down on Cleveland. They start resting, guys.

I like seeing Marlin Humphrey make the Pro Bowl. He's had a really good season This season, their secondary has been better since they have Ardarius Washington's made some How good is he? I'd love to see them sit Derek Henry a little bit, like you mentioned. Justice Hill, though, has not been practicing despite John Harbaugh saying he expected him back this week. I'm now not expecting him back because if he hasn't practiced.

Honestly, I don't think you even have to worry about Derek Henry. They're still going to dominate them. I think it's really just because of where they've been as an offense since they lost to Philadelphia. They're going to the buy, the whole Deontay Johnson didn't want to play thing. You move past all of that. Yeah, you played the Giants, but you dominate 35 points in that win. 34 points against the Steelers in a really strong finish. That was the first time where I went, Oh, they're peaking. They're peaking at the perfect time. The Browns are not going to stand a chance in this game. It's going to be an easy win.

I know we want to go at a faster pace today with some of these games, but actually, there's a lot of interesting things in this game. I do want to just mention with with the Browns, what's been going on with the Dajon Watson contract that they signed. I don't think that guarantees him that he necessarily is starting next year or even has much of a chance to start. I think that got twisted a little bit. Just wanted to throw that out there. Then thought that Miles Garrett comments over the last week or two that he wanted to see the plan that the Browns had before he decided what his path was interesting. We hadn't mentioned that on the show. That's a first. I literally haven't seen you, so I just I want to ask, how was the Beyoncé thing in person? Were you able to watch? Oh, yeah. I was on the field. Did you see her? What's going on? Oh, yeah.

No, I was on the field because I had to get to the tunnel to interview John Harbaugh, our Demeco Ryan. I'm right there. I'm 15 feet from Post Malone. First off, he's a lot taller than I thought. He's about 6'2, 6'3.Low.

Post Malone.Low.

Post Malone. That's right. But it was unreal. I couldn't tell you a name of a song on our new album, but man, that performance was ridiculous.Super.

Bowl level.

It was probably better than any Super Bowl. It's the same people who produce it, Jesse Collins Entertainment, but it was incredible.

I mean, Justice for Cowboy Carter. I love that album. I knew all the songs. Our producer Jason is like, Let's move, please. No, we'll spend as much time on this as we want, but no, that's it.

Yeah, so good that Lauren and I were convinced that Dolly Parton was going to show up. Oh, that would be great. To do her part in the song. Let's stay in that division in the AFC North. Greg, the Cincinnati bangles with an opportunity to complete the improbable comeback that you first told me about on our preview show several weeks ago that they still had hope. They are favored by two points at the Pittsburgh Steelers who may have no reason to try. Joe, Troy, and Lisa on the call. Coming up on Saturday, how do you see this one going?

I think the Steelers can and will win this game if I have to pick, it's a coin flip. They're going to play all out, according to Mike Tomlin. They don't care about that the division could be clinched earlier in the day. I believe them because they've just been losing. They've been a bad team. I think they want to prove to themselves that they're not a bad team. They lost the last three games by the combined score of 90 to 40. They haven't deserved They've not deserved any rest. Their defense has not played well, starting with this first bangles matchup, which you remember was back and forth. So I think the motivation will be there. They'll be at home. They also know, and I think this is part of it, that the five seed is not the same as the six seed. You can go to Houston and win a playoff game versus potentially going back to Baltimore, which I don't think they'd be afraid of, but that's a big difference. I think we're going to see a different Stealers team. I don't know if they win or not. It's a coin flip, but I think we're going to see them play all out.

Yeah, you want to talk about motivation. There will be no more motivation in an NFL game this weekend outside of Sunday night than this game right here. It's because the bangles have to win to try to preserve their hopes to get in the playoffs, of course, but it's also because the Stealers and Mike Tomlin have a point to prove. They have not looked like the same football team over the last three weeks. You could speak about the offensive struggles. You could point out Russell Wilson, but it's been a total team failure. Defensively, they haven't held up well either. That's usually their strength. If anybody wants to get right back on track before the playoffs and prove his point, it's Mike Tomlin. The standard is the standard. There you go. Regardless of what happens before, they're going to try to play all out. I'm very excited to see this one.

First off, George Pickens is supposed to be back. Greg, we've talked about him out of the lineup, this offense is not the same. Right now, he killed the bangles earlier this year. I was at that game. What was the score there? 44, 38. But it was just the bangles' offense just went up and down the field on him regardless. They just couldn't stop.

The Steelers-They just got some turnovers, basically. Yeah, right.

The turnovers and the 10-yard dump offs to Nasshe Harris across the middle of the field. That probably will happen, and the bangles will take it. I'm taking the bangles in this game. They are too red hot. All of their receivers, the fact that Tee Higgins has all of a sudden leapt right to the front of the buffet line is a problem now. I really like the possibility of the bangles getting the number seven seed, having to go to Buffalo week one. You think the Bills want to see them? No. No. Granted, the Broncos, some other teams have some things to say about this. Cincinnati is playing good football right now. I like them in this game of Pittsburgh.

I like looking back, and I know it was earlier this season, it was week 10, Russell Wilson played It was arguably the best game we've seen since. It was the best game. Maximum Russ cooking in Seattle. 29 to 38 for 414 yards. The one interception was possibly a defensive pass interference that wasn't called on George Pickens. They come back out and score that next drive. The bangles could do nothing, could do absolutely nothing to stop them. I can't get that out of my mind with the potential for the Stealers to play with the stakes that you guys mentioned, where why not go ahead and eliminate the bangles? We're talking about how nobody wants to play the bangles. Why not just go ahead and get rid of the bangles right now if you're the team? Yeah.

Two things can be true. No one wants to play the bangles, and I still think what's happened over the first 14, 15 weeks of the season matters. I think the Stealers team was a little better than these nine and eight types of stealer teams. I agree. But if they lose this game, maybe they're not. The bangles team, I do think there is a loser gene in there that they're finding ways to lose. The Bengals, get back to the Bunklemen. They left the door open last week for the Broncos to take It didn't quite happen for them, but I do think there's something in these two teams this season's in their bones that the Bengals find a way to lose this game.

Let's not forget this, too. Russ, who doesn't turn the ball over, turns over what? Four times in the past two games. That's probably more the anomaly than a trend.

Mike Tomlin, though, was careful because on the broadcast, they tried to blame one of the interceptions on Russell Wilson's receiver at the end of the game, the one in the end zone, rather, last week. Tomlin went out this week and said, No, that wasn't the receiver's fault. There you go. He didn't do anything wrong. Justin field time. That was just Russell. I like it. Holding his feet to the fire.

Justin field is going to get 10 snaps.

In more than running packages, maybe.

Who knows? We'll leave the Steelers in their opportunity against the Cincinnati bangles, who also have one, and go to the NFC to wrap up Saturday night. It is New Orleans at Tampa Bay, where the Bucaneers, Shook, are favored by 13.5 points. Kevin Burkard, Tom braided, Aaron Andrews, and Tom Rinaldi on the call. The Saints have struggled in the past few weeks. Can Rizzie Ball in the hopes of a division rival?

No. No, it's not going to happen. The way that the Saints have played football over the last couple of weeks has just been increasingly more and more disheartening. You can talk about the agenda and Spencer Rattler in the first half where he has successes in the second half where he doesn't. But as a team overall, they're just not playing football cohesively. It's not just the defense, it's not just the offense, it's the entire group. And against a Bucaneers team that is absolutely white hot. I mean, Baker Mayfield going off last week with five shutdown passes against the Panthers. This is one of the better offenses, one of the best offices in the NFL when everything is hitting. I think against a team like the Saints who are one week away from the offseason, it's going to be pretty easy. Now, we are in the NFL where things happen, and it is a divisional game. Patrick, you spoke about that earlier with the Ravens and the Browns. But much like that game, I don't expect this to be much of a contest.

First out, shout out to everybody in the 504. What happened down in New Orleans, New Year's Eve. The Saints are a a huge part of that city. They're going to be behind the Saints. The Saints are going to be behind that. But like you said, nick, they just have been playing bad football. They are packed up for Cabo. It is Tampa Bay. I think they cover. The one thing that every time I really want to buy into the Bucaneers, though, their mental grit just gets real wobbly. I just don't know. Again, I think they win this game. I think they win the NFC South. I think they're probably mentally tougher than any other team in that division. But it's just one of these things like, okay, instead of being real white hot like most of these playoff teams to get in, and you know they got a shot in a wild card round, it's like, all right, okay, who in the end of the seat doesn't want to get that fish eat and go down the Tampa Bay?

Yeah. To that point, though, I was impressed by how they bounced back from the fact that they couldn't get over the hump against Dallas. That was a game that we all expected them to win.

They're allowed to lose. They've won five out of six or whatever it is since they're by. I'm afraid of this offense. It's, to me, the best offense in the league that's not led by a MVP candidate. No offense to Baker. This has been almost a joke. I feel bad for Baker. I should have brought the hat. I thought you were talking about Bucky Irving. No. I feel bad that he didn't make the Pro Bowl, and people were like, He's snubbed, but for a snub, you have to say who he should have made it over, and he shouldn't have made it over Jared Goff, Jaden Daniels, or Darnold, just because there's too many negative plays. If you add up Sacks, fumbles, he leads the lead in interceptions. He has more of those than any player in the entire NFL other than Caleb Williams, who blows everyone out of the water because of the sac total. But he's playing really well, and it's such a mismatch against the Saints defense. Their offensive line versus this It's rush defense. Bucky is going to go crazy, versus this past defense. He'll have all the time in the world. The Saints have given up, I think, the fourth most, according to NextGen stats, Yack to receivers of any team since 2018.

Not in this season, but every season You get a player into their secondary like no one's making any tackles out of their linebackers. I'm glad you mentioned those, Steve, what happened on Bourbon Street, and they're playing that Sugar Bowl tonight, and your heart just goes out to everyone affected by that and that city. It did get me thinking, how many times this team has been in a position to try to play for their city. There is something about that you almost feel fortunate that this game is isn't in New Orleans. I don't know. But you think about that, but you also think about just on the field. There's a reason that number is so crazy, 13 and a half, because these two teams are just at different points in their season.

Yeah, It's a long road back to look at how the Saints offense was with Clint Kubiak at the start of the season, to the way things have fallen off in there. But still, something to play for.

Yeah, shout out to Tristan Wurfs, by the way. I'm just throwing out some Pro Bowl news along the way, especially guys that I think should be all pro. And tackle is a tough one because there's so many good tackles. But I think in the end, I would go Wurfs and Sewell as my two first-team all pro tackles, which means you're leaving Lane Johnson off, and that's really difficult. But that's how good Tristan Worfs, I believe, is.

Then that's also the big star for the right tackles.

Yeah, that's what I was going to say.

Think about the right tackles who are going in.

They don't get paid as much as they in the left side, but hey. That's absolutely true. A couple of other pros right there.

The Bucs have the highest pressure rate in the league since their bye week, and that Spencer Rattler is giving up or facing the most pressure of any quarterback in the league this season if he Unqualified, so that should be ugly. Let's take a quick break. We're going to get back and finish out the NFC South in those early 10:00 AM West Coast best Coast games on Week 18. Back on NFL Daily. I guess the headliners of the early games are the NFC South games because the Bucks need to win, obviously, to win the division. But It just would be so shocking if they didn't win that it makes this Falcons game feel a little less poppy.

Yeah, and we could get an opportunity to get the spoilers. Get Bryce and Adam Thielen of the Carolina Panthers to play spoilers in Atlanta, where the Falcon Steve are favored by eight points with an over-under of 48 on CBS. Iron Eagle, Charles Davis, and Evan Washburn on the call. Can the Panthers bash the hopes after the hopes got bashed in overtime for Falcon?

First off, wouldn't the Falcon have been an eight-point favorite?

Is Vegas not watching, Bryce Young and the Panthers? What's going on here?

Well, here's what they are watching. They are watching Bajon Robinson. We're talking about Pro Bowl's right I won't say he's a snub, but he's got to be one of those guys next in line. If it weren't such a great year for so many runningbacks, he would be recognized because what he does is amazing. I don't trust the Falcons to cover division game, but they're all over the place. But another player, again, for the Falcons, again, not a snub, but a friend, Caden Ellis, a linebacker. I mean, how good of a player of a value guy is he? He's absolutely amazing. I do think their defense and Caden Ellis slows down, Bryce Young, and these guys at defense is actually playing a little bit better. Not great, but a little bit better. No better. You're right. Atlanta cover. I just don't think it's going to be... I don't know if they do cover, I should say, but I don't think it's going to mean anything. I think the Bucks end up getting that.

I'm going to throw out a question to you guys. Since Bryce Young reentered the starting lineup, PFF has a stat, big-time throws. Number one in the NFL since then is Joe Burrow. Number two, Bryce Young. How about that? That's great to hear. My question for you is, who, if you had to start your team, 2025, would you take out of these two quarterbacks, Michael Pennex or Bryce Young? You have to just base the decision on all the info that you have today. I think I would take Bryce Young just because I've seen more.

I mean, sample size alone. Yeah, he's got more games played. Pennex has had two starts. But Pennex probably has the higher ceiling, and I'm sure you want to elaborate on that. I've been so surprised, shocked, impressed by what Bryce Young, from when he got benched to where he is now. At one point, I was like, Did he have a body double in there for the first season plus two games? Because this is a completely different player. This is the guy that they thought they were drafting in the first round out of Alabama. He creates with his legs. He's comfortable. He makes throws under pressure. The anticipatory throws got a lot of Drew Brees in him in that regard. And all that has come together to basically turn around the Panthers outlook. They don't have to worry about the quarterback anymore. I'm completely convinced this is their guy, Adam Dylan has helped a lot with that. He's had a really good year, really good back half of the year, but I'm super excited about the future for them. Sunday, however, I don't know.

Why is Pennex a higher upside? He's a year older, so that's part of it for me, too, is that Bryce Young is a year younger, and I just have more data of him playing at this level. Whereas Pennex, these last two weeks, I've been impressed. I just feel like I don't know. He's been a little up and down, too, with his accuracy. As a prospect, there was a lot of differing opinion on Pennax.

Well, I think what we've seen, especially accuracy-wise, is he's making the right decision, but there's perhaps footwork issues. I know I'm no throwing guru, but some issue that's causing, and I think he gets those balls down where it needs to be. A lot of them were sailing.On the deep throws, yeah.Yeah. But the difference where they're separated right now is the way Bryce Young is managing the pocket, where Carolina has made those improvements, especially in the interior. I think the offensive line has played better down the stretch, but we still see For Bryce, having to manage the pocket, make those plays, especially in the run game, where Michael Pendex Jr. Just doesn't have that in his game right now. It doesn't mean he's not going to be able to develop it. But it seems like the rush gets to him quicker, and probably that's right-hand advice I don't know in the way that I'm looking at it. But it's just, Bryce, when pressure is coming with guys in his face, I feel better about your product.

There's a difference in processing, and I think that just comes from experience more than anything.

This is a sneaky test, I think, for Raheem Morris in the Falcons. What is? Just taking care of this game. This is a big game. I think it's a dangerous game because it's a division game. They're just good enough to win this game on offense. Falcons' offense, they should take care of business, put up a lot of points. Bajon should have a big day, and they should just go out and win. I just feel like the offseason is going to feel different, and this will show me something. If they win this game convincingly, that'll show me something because it is a big game for them. If they stub their toe and they lose a couple straight here, disappointing to end the season, they just have a different vibe. That's all.

What I tell you about the helmet, Greg, you can't fly with a bird with a wing down. You're going to go no place but circles are down. You got to have them both up like the eagles. But no, here's my thing for Pennex, and this is talking to defensive My favorite wife bit. Who faced Bryce. It's an old inside Beatrider thing for the Falcons. But with Bryce Young, talking defensive coordinators, they love his decision making. They love the accuracy. Everything we talked about, but they're like... There's nothing wrong with You really have to have the perfect roster, and you have to design for nothing more than his height. You have to build it like how the Saints did with Drew Brees, guard to guard, great guards in a great center. With Penix, I think he opens up your offense a little bit. You've seen it already with the Falcons. You've got someone who can bounce it a little bit, who can bootleg a little bit. That's what's opening up a lot of stuff for Béjan. I just think you can probably build a little bit more. There's nothing wrong either way. I would just take Penix for some things you could do with your offense and You got to have the right system around him.

It's like with me, you got to have chairs that go up and down for my co-host.

We got a difference here. We got a difference here. About four inches.

Make me fit in.

Let me pop down a little bit. There's Has been improvement for the Carolina Panthers in terms of Rush EPA, their defense, not the worst in the next Gen stats era this season. That's the 2024 Dallas Cowboys. Wow. Who are actually the worst in terms of Rush EPA on defense. There are our next team playing host to the Washington Commanders, Greg, who are favored by four and a half points after punching their ticket for the postseason. Game on Fox, Adam Amin, Mark Sanchez, and Christina Pink there The Cowboys won't have their chance to spoil their division rival. Do you think the Cooper Rush has one more in them?

No. This one seems too low. These two games, talking about them back to back, the lines are where they are because of motivation. Additional differences. The Falcons obviously have to win. And I think Washington, it's a little lower because maybe they're looking at... And yet I think they are playing to win. Dan Quinn has said it. They want to get that seed for whatever that's worth. And I think Dallas, even though they put up a great fight, they beat the Cowboys the first time around. If anything, that'll make the commanders more ready for this game, more alert. You mentioned the rushing yards. They actually put up over 400 yards on the Cowboys last time. So even though they lost that game, it's not like they weren't moving the ball. And I would be much I'm more surprised if this game was close at the end than that Falcon Panthers game. I think Washington, Dallas, if we were back doing the survivor, I think they win by a couple of touch downs, and it's not close.

I think that with Cooper Rush and with the Cowboys, it's largely been bad. But every once in a while, it's good. That Bucaneers game, good. Wasn't the only one this year. It's tough for me to say unequivocally that he's going to be terrible and that they're going to lose this game. But if you're just looking at it on paper, no matter the motivation, Washington is the They have the better quarterback, they have the more explosive offense. What I saw from the Cowboys against the Eagles recently really made me think, Oh, boy, you want to talk about tickets to Cabo? This is the team that might be going to Cabo.

There was not a whole lot of let's win this one from Mike McCarthy in that effort. No. That's what I'm interested See, this game's in Dallas. How many Commander's fans are in the stands? We've seen other opposing teams that not named the packers over take over that stadium this year. I'm wanting to see what the environment is. I do like Washington in this game. I think Dallas is going to be a little bit tougher initially out of the gate than what we're thinking against Washington. But I'm with you, Dan Quinn, knowing him, talking to some folks here, they're just trying to tighten up a couple of things now. They're trying to get a little bit better, go into the playoffs with a young team on a roll, They like what they're doing, some things defensively. I don't think they play Marshawn Latam or here.

Do you think they could rest people if they have a big lead or something? The way he made it sound, I think they're playing to win.

I think they're playing to win. I don't think they want to rest people. I mean, you still want to get Jane Daniels reps. You still Austin Eckler might be coming back, right? So you may want to do some things with the functionality of the offense that way as well. Based on the way Dallas is playing, you get a little practice in, so to speak. So I like Washington in this game. Four and a half seems about right. I don't think it's going to be a wipeout. I think Dallas is going to compete a little bit. They got a few proud guys on that team.

No sea lamb, though. He is out for the season. No. No Ezekiel Elliott, who was released to give him a chance to sign on with a playoff team, which...

It's good to want things, Greg.

Yeah, I don't know if that's ever... Look, everybody wants a pony on Christmas. They don't always get ponies.

There is an opportunity. Cliff Kingsbury was at the mic acknowledging his desire to be a head coach again. We mentioned this historically bad Cowboys run defense. The commanders had negative 32 yards over expected in week 12, running the ball with their running backs against this Dallas Cowboys defense. There's an opportunity for Cliff to have some improvement. He's going to throw it 50 times. We'll see because the rich folks making the decisions like points, so no matter how they do it. Well said. Washington would like to get those. Let's go to another game for another fan base that would like some points. Their quarterback needs 607 yards to throw for 4,000 yards and end a streak. That's Caleb Williams with Chicago Bears at the Green Bay Packers, who are favored by 10, Greg Kevin Kugler, Moose Johnson, and Laura Oakman on the call. The packers only lose to very good teams. How do you feel about their matchup against the bears?

They want to go into the offseason, I mean, to the postseason with a better taste in their mouth in terms of struggling. But the motivation for this game is a little odd. They're playing for that 6, 7 seed, but the commanders have the pole position for it. Is it something they could be scoreboard watching or they have Jordan Love out there for a quarter and a half, and they feel good about it. I feel like that's in the cards in this game. And yet I feel like they're just better than the bears enough that they could play backups and win the game. We've seen Malik Willis, we've seen Emmanuel Wilson. We've seen a lot of their players who don't play a lot, maybe get Luke Musgrave, some extra snaps. This is a merciful end. Our producer, Hitham, because the scheduling isn't back there today. But I wanted to congratulate him that just like, this is over. This just feels No fan base I feel like is ready for the season to end more than-Your future starts tomorrow. Than the bears, exactly.

No, it's been... If this was week 14, I'd be like, Oh, man, Caleb is in for one because the packers defense is going to get after him. But if they are The Hawking guys, they're still going to get after him because of how bad the bear's offense is. It takes a little bit of the juice out of the game overall. But what I would like to see from the bears, if the packers end up playing some backups and everything else, a little bit of momentum, a little bit of rhythm, a little bit more than you've shown in the last month because that offense has been really hard to watch. It's not been fun. The defense has been up and down. It's been better at times. But the bears as a team are a viewing experience, not very fun. Because the packers, like you said, seating-wise, don't necessarily have to play for, especially if they're scoreboard watching. We might get one of those a little bit of a lull of the game, but overall, it's still a packers win.

Yeah, they're going to be scoreboard watching because they want that six seed to come to LA and not have to go to Philly as a 17. That's a real important distinction there. The 10 is going to cover. The Green Bay, the way they play, the physicality that they play with, I love. I mean, even though they haven't beaten the tough games, I love the way they're playing football. They're going to take care of the bears. They've been in Cabo, unfortunately. But I like how, nick, you said they need to take a page out of Matt even lose his book and finish strong with someone.

Well, except manage the clock better. Let's not get to that.

I want Caleb to manage the clock in the pocket. 67 sacks this season. 51 of those sacks have been on plays that were longer than four seconds in the pocket.

Make a mistake. Who cares? Get rid of the ball.

Whether it's a bad check down, a wrong shoulder, throw a pick. Make plays, man. Don't be scared.

Yeah, there's just no trust.

There is something confusing about the Four Seed and the Rams and everything. The Rams are not playing their starters. The whole idea of we want to be at the seven to avoid the Rams.

No, to avoid Philly.

To avoid Philly, right. That makes sense because the Rams are probably going to fall from the three to the four.

Can they fall?

Yeah, the Bucks, I believe, will pass them if the Bucks Bucks. I know the Bucks pass them if the Bucks win and the Rams lose, which is what's favorite to happen. It's interesting that the Ram... We'll get to the Rams and everything, but that they don't really seem to care about who their opponent is, or maybe they do, and they have some master plan I don't really understand. Shout out to Edger and Cooper, by the way. It crossed my mind. If he had been healthy all season, he might have been defensive rookie of the year. That's how good he's been playing.

Very good. Something for us to note as... There was fan They're voting for the Pro Bowl. Something for us to acknowledge. 33% of the Pro Bowl was the fan vote. If you're bemoaning a quote-unquote popularity contest, literally. That's what happened. As we get to our next game, it is the New York Giants at the Philadelphia Eagles. The Over Under is 37.5 on CBS, Andrew Catalan, Tiki Barber, Jason McCordy, and AJ Ross on the call, nick, where we will not have Saquon Barkley playing in this game. Nick Seriani making what I believe is a correct decision? Yep. Eagles favorite by three? I know Drew Lock just had the game of his life, but three points, nick?

That's why. That's right there. Because, well, we saw one game in which Drew Lock just lit it up against the Colts team that was actually fighting for their lives at the time and couldn't hold up. We also know that the Eagles are not going to be playing Saquon. We've seen what they've done with Candy Picket and Taylor McKee. They put up a lot of points, but on face value alone, not the strongest, most lopsided matchup in one direction or the other, even if you're looking at these two teams. But yes, those four points, I don't know.

I'm taking the Giants.

Does anybody watch the Giants this year?

I'm taking the Giants. This lock revival, lock to neighbors, like Montana to Rice.

Tyrone, Tracy's Roger Craig.

It may have to do with the fact I'm trying to catch up with Cynthia on our other show. But I actually do think the Giants have a good... I mean, it's an interesting thing to wonder, is the NFL, is there enough parody that most teams His starters would be the other team's backups because the Eagles are going to be resting everyone that they can. Lane Johnson, Saquon Barkley. We'll see about Jalen Hertz. That one is a little confusing, whether they want to get him back into the mix a little bit.

No way. There's no reason you would risk that.

Just to get some reps. Then Saquon did speak about it during the week. Let's listen to Saquon. He asked me if I wanted to play, if I wanted to go for it. I said on Sunday, I probably didn't care too much When I slept on it, it was an opportunity to implant my name in football history.

I may never get another opportunity like that again.

So I'm down, but at the end of the day, I don't care for putting the team at risk. He went on there and said he was down. I liked how honest he was. That initially, he didn't care, then he slept on it, he wanted it. He wanted it. And so he was a little down, and some of the offensive linemen were down. But he went on to say how he totally understood it as well, and he'll be there to support his teammates. The right decision, I think.

Because he hadn't tasted that play off air very often. He wants to be ready. Look, this is interesting because we also have the big picture play, Brian Dable. You talk to people around the NFL like, Dayball is a really good head coach. But the way they finish, how are you going to be able to sell to a frustrated fan base who's tired of this stuff that he needs to come back? Him and Joe Shane coming back next year I could see Dayball, but Joe Shane coming back next year, especially getting rid of Saquon, I don't see that happening. But then it's usually a package deal.

Yeah, there it is.

We've heard John Mara say, Hey, he doesn't want to get rid of me. He wants both of them back. That was well before they started playing. They've been in Cabo, too. Those hotels in Cabo can be loaded with some NFL rosters right there. If they come out, especially if they take a bad L to Philadelphia with their backups, I I can't see how you can make an argument to keep Brian Dable. Again, people will tell you, though, he is a very good coach. It doesn't matter.

It hasn't panned out. This stuff is so stupid because on the flip side, I can totally see the scenario where Drew Lock has back-to-back good games, and they win two in a row. In John Mera's mind, for whatever reason, that just makes him want to keep people much more. I think that is what I think will happen because ultimately, I'll take one team's starters over the other team's backups if I have to. It's close, but I probably.

It's just the old Eric Mangini win the last four games of the year to save your job for no reason the next year.

My name's A2. Sam Weich was the king of that. I'll never forget.

Doug Marrone went one-on-one as the Jaguar's interim, but they were against good teams, and the 8 Week 18 was a win, and they kept them off of that, that it just was spicy.

If the roster size was 90, I could see it. We just get to 55, 17 practice squads, if you include the international player pathway.

It's true.

There's still going to be very good eagles playing in this game because they have to be.

Especially on defense. They're backups, and you can only rest so many guys. You're right that it could be tough, but let's go. Let's go, Drew Lock. Let's shock the world. Let's take a quick break, and we will be back. We'll wrap up those early games, get to the late ones. Eventually, we're going to get to that Sunday night football game. Back on NFL Daily. Probably. Should have mentioned, Taylor McKee is the likely starter because Kenny Picket is hurt for the Eagles. And that reminds me of different quarterback situations, different injuries, by the way. The Browns have announced. We already did this game, but I wanted to... But as we're taping, they announced Denzel Ward, David N'Joku, Jordan Hicks, Pierre Strong, Jerome Ford, all out for Saturday. Who's running the ball for him? Now the forward's out. The tank is on, and it's different in Buffalo, but we did get clarity during the week about the quarterback situations. Here, Patrick, Josh Allen is going to start, but it's expected that he will just keep his streak going and sit pretty quickly. Drake May will also start for the Patriots.

There was some consternation coming out of New England about Why even played Drake May in this game with the goal ultimately being what you can accomplish in April as we get to the matchup between the Bills and the Patriots, the Bills' favorite by just two. Mitchell Trubisky potentially going the way after Josh secure us the streak. Steve, the over-under 38, Spirodidas, Adam Marcialeta, and Addi King, Pawala. On the call, the Patriots came close to shocking the bills a couple of weeks ago. What happens here?

Well, they also got absolutely mopped at the game I was at by the Chargers the other day. They got a 40 birder hung on them. Look, the one thing I saw on the page is, Drake Mays is legit. He is the real deal. But some of these other guys, it was not a lack of effort that they got their heads kicked in by the Chargers. There's just no fuel left in the tank. Again, I think they're going to come out and give a valiant effort, but they don't have it to sustain for four quarters. Can they pull the upset against the Bills backups? Maybe. I don't think so. This two-point seems fine to me. I like Buffalo in this game just because I just… Honestly, being up front and center with the Pacers, they're just not… They are unletted with less than a quarter tank of fuel.

Yeah, it's not even just fuel, too. It's just a lack of organization. The entire offensive operation is not great. I know you start It was a whole strange in his first start at center last week. He did pretty good. But everybody around him, they can't even get the Snap countdown. It was to the point where I sent Greg a text and I was just like, Their whole operation is a mess. There's nothing good going here. That's why I'm shocked to just see the two points. But then again, Bill's playing backups, resting. Oh, recently, they took him to the brink. That factor's in there as well. But yeah, I mean, the Patriots, that's another team that's going to Cabo, and that's another team that's going to Cabo and may not even have the people in charge, the old chaperone in charge of the trip.

I think they'll be back.

Yeah, if I had to guess, I think they'll be back as well. Maybe they change the offensive coordinator. That's just a guess. I think a win here would help, and I think it'll happen. They've been every other week. It's very consistent. Actually, if you look at the last eight weeks of the Patriots, they have one week where they get absolutely rolled, and then they've always bounced back and responded the next week. They almost beat the Rams, which I consider almost beating a good team is a win for them. They played well that week. Same thing happened against the Colts where they dominated that game, found a to lose, but that's a good game for him. Get rolled the next week, come back, competitively play against the Bills. With the Bills being out there, that they're resting everyone, that's a pretty big advantage. Gives Gerard Mayo a chance here. Shout out to Christian Gonzales. He did not make the Pro Bowl. I think he's got a chance to be an all-pro, though, first or second team. I really value the opinions of John Ledger, Ali Connolly, who do a great podcast. They thought he's right there with Sertan as the top two cornerbacks in the entire NFL right now and getting slept on a little bit.

They ask him to do a lot.

You just look at physically. To me, he's maybe the most physically impressive cornerback there is out there. Who? Sertan? No, Christian Gonzales. Oh, no. He got to stack up next to Sertan. Just in terms of what you test on and athletically, I'm putting them right there. I'm putting him right there.

Down on the table.

Nope.

Josh Allen is not going to get to make a little final MVP case, but that's fine. He doesn't need to.

Speaking of MVP The case is there's two quarterbacks in the NFL who have a positive EPA on tight window throws. One of them is Lamar Jackson, the other, Drake May.

Wow.

Feather in your cap.

I know we passed it, but we'll see what happens after Monday. But I I really think Lamar Jackson is the favorite for the MVP now. I don't. I think the way this thing is going to finish, that Lamar is going to have such an overwhelming statistical case that he wins it, even though people don't think so. No.

Voters are like, he's got two. It's time for a goodFatigue.

We'll see. It happened to LeBron for yours. Yeah.

Vibes-based award.

There it is.

Let's get parameters so it all makes sense. I know it takes the fun out of the MVP discussion, but who's having fun? We have to cut down very good football players to lift another one up. I get tired of it anyway.

Well said.

Let's go to our next game in the AFC South. It is the Jacksonville Jaguars against the Indianapolis Colts who are favored by five. The over-under is 44. Jason Banetti, Katie Quinn, and Sara Kustock on the call, Greg. We have seen Mac Jones and Brian Thomas Jr. Surprise, folks, especially down the stretch. What do they do against the Colts defense that was powerless to stop Drew Locke with the gym of Cedarack, with the infinity gauntlet on his hand.

I hate picking this game that this game counts equally for our picks for the season. Five points is too much. I agree. Could be the last game for Doug Peterson. It's expected that it will be. Doubt it would be the last game for Shane Steiken, but crazier things have happened. Could be the last game for Chris Ballard as the GM. It's Mac Jones' seventh start this season, by the way. Wow, been a lot of Mac Jones. I don't have much more to say on this.

I mean, if you We're going to talk about Mac Jones, specifically, he had some nice throws. Parker Washington with a great shutdown catch, toe tap last week, and then there was a lot of misses, and that's basically the Mac Jones experience right now. It's a gross game. It's two AFC South teams that are eliminated. This is what this division produces from time to time, especially in week 18. I feel the same way. This shouldn't count the same in picks, and yet it does. If I had to lean, I lean Colts because if the Jags are expected to fire their coach, what really are they playing for other than the fact that they have a budding star in Brian Thomas?

It could matter for Ballard. What do you think about Tyler. Do you think he's back, Steve?

No, they've got to shake up something. I'll get to it in a second. First time, I like Jacksonville in this game to pull the upset. Here's why. Because the Colts are not paying attention, but there's just such murmuring chaos. Anthony Richardson came out this week and said he couldn't play last week because he had to crawl. He had all these back issues. Then throws this sweetener on top of him explaining that it may be chronic.

Oh, no.

I've been dealing with this since eighth grade. What in the combine medical evaluations are we missing right here? This is the case, or why is he saying this? With everything he has done to be in and out of the lineup-I think he's just honest to a fault. Honest to a fault. It's all true. He's honest to a fault. That's all. It's all true. But it's like, Oh, my gosh. We got this now to deal with? They can't get into Cabo. They're already in Acapulco. They're there. I like Jacksonville to finish out with a dub. You know, sent Doug out, Trent Balke out with a nice...

Man, you're convincing me here.

I was stunned. I read that was like...

I might flip my pick. Why did Anthony-I also can just see them win one for Doug. It's almost the flip side of not having much to play for. I I've watched these Jaguars games. I like that they kept Doug this whole time. It's a good coach. They've been playing hard. They're just not good.

Yeah, at Indy, with the Colts being favored by five after what we saw from this defense, I think we can ask questions about Ballard and Steiken This is the end of the road for Gus Bradley, for sure, on that side of the ball. It's Schrodinger's jags at this point. I don't really know what to expect, but going on the road feels different to play in this last game in Duval, so I've got confidence. Whether it's Flacko or Anthony Richardson, just one positive memory for this Colts team that did have a chance, but wilted at the end.

Yeah, Flacko will throw for a good amount of yards. Hopefully, he avoids turning the ball over. Yeah. Hopefully, he can move around more than he hasn't. He's showing his age. He doesn't navigate the pocket well anymore. Jumped on him.

An opportunity for one more. One last job for Joe Flacko coming up in 2025. Deep passion checks. As we get to the Houston Texans at the Tennessee Titans. The Titans are favored by one and a half in Nashville against the Houston Texans. We're going to the point.Wow. The over-under is 37. Tom McCarthy, Jay Healey, Ross Tucker and Amanda Baliones on the call. We've seen a whole lot from this Texans team. Some good, probably more of it bad, shook. Why are they not favored against the Tennessee Titans?

Exactly.

Who We're going to play two quarterbacks here.

Oh, my God. Yeah, that's the problem. There's a lot of teams that are like, Oh, we're going to the playoffs. We can rest our guys. The Texans don't have the privilege, not because of seating, because of performance. Correct. I mean, that game they played against the Ravens was absolutely embarrassing. That is a bottoming out of a team that's going to the playoffs. There's a lot of teams that we talk about going to the playoffs that you don't want to face. Everybody wants to play Houston, Texas. And they're saying it out loud. Yeah, they're not afraid of them. Their offensive line has been bad all year. They can't generate much in the run game unless it's an occasional Joe Mix in a 125-yard game. Dj Stroud, the wear and tear mentally of not trusting your offensive line and losing two of your top receivers, very visible to the point that he's missing check downs when he's not even under pressure. Very concerned about this team, probably one of the worst playoff teams in their current state going into the playoff. I can remember since the Steelers got, was that, 2020, 2021. It's really a bummer because this defense has played so well, but they've also taken injuries on that side of the ball.

As it pertains to this game, I can see why they're not favored. I'm really worried about what we're talking about next week.They're.

Going to smoke the Titans. Yeah.

I think they're going to smash. No, they're not favored because Dimeco Ryan has made it sound like he's going to play his starters for a little bit and then take them out. That's why they're not favored. That's the explanation. Well, correct.

He's going to play him. Demiko is going to play them. Maybe he pulls him after halftime. I don't think so. I think he understands exactly what you're talking about. They have not played good football. Cee Jay Stroud is like, you nailed it. He is not trusting anything with this operation of this offense. He has got to get it going. When the Ravens have started to double team Nico Collins or jump in with leverage points, he had no go to. He's got to trust his other guys right here, regardless of who they are. The fact that they've had an extended time for him to have some practice reps with these guys should help. I think they come out. I think they just put it on the Titans. He's El Shire back on defense. He's going to help with their run defense. I think they get back on track. What does that mean for the following week? I don't know, but they'll start to look a little bit better than the good Titans as you've seen.

Yeah, I'm picking the Titans. I think if the Texans are playing all out to win, it's close to a coin flip. I just think that's the level the Texans are at now, and I don't think they'll play to win. That's what the number is about, is that when a coach says, I told them all to be ready. They got to be ready. They're going to go out there. I don't think he's going to leave him out there because if they're playing all out to win, they're just not capable of stomping on a team. So it's going to be close. I just think then you insert Davis Mills into the mix.

That's going to happen at some point.

That's how they build those casinos, getting everyone to bite on the Texans. They know what they know.

Davis Mills money.

That part of that's a Titan.

Well, Well, that's the thing. You have a lot of faith in Mason Rudolf here.

Or Will Levis. We're going to see both of them in this game. Why not?

Are we? Is that what they said?

That's what I've seen out of Nashville this week. The Will Levis evaluation has gone and then stopped, and then it's coming There was injuries, and then they weren't.

The one reason I would go Texans on this is because the Titans really lean into this old oilers uniform stuff where they always wear the home oilers uniform and sends out the logo on social now whenever they play the Texans. That's such bad juju. I just feel like they deserve to lose. They did lose this game last year in overtime when they did that, when they wore the oilers uniforms. They're sending it out. They're sticking in their face that their cheap owner The players have no idea who the Houston oilers are. Well, I know it doesn't affect the players, but it's just-Fans do. It's like cosmically, your cheap at the time owner didn't want to pay for a great fan base in Houston and bolted, and now you're sticking it in their nose a little bit. I don't like it.

Adam's catching a stray.

Yes.

I don't know how stray-ish that was. That thing was lined up. It's time for a hot matchup. It's presented by Wingstop, the most impactful It's a successful game in the AFC this week. It is the backups of the Kansas City Chiefs, Steve, playing against the Denver Broncos at home, favored by ten and a half. They win. They are in the playoffs. Jim Nantes, Tony Romo, and Tracy Wolfs Wilson on the call, can the Kansas City Chiefs backups step in here and bounce the Broncos from the playoffs?

Yes. Nice. This is an egregious point spread.

Yes, I agree with that.

You guys are underselling Carson Wents, plus I don't know about this. But here's something I have to say. What do we even talk about the Chiefs when they weren't playing well all season long? Their offensive line, right? Yeah. Who can they sit?

Tooney, supposedly, they're going to, by the way.

That dude, he's a stud.

I think he's been battling a little bit of some nagging injuries. I think they said Tooney is among the guys. Chris Jones is one of them. But you're right, they can't sit among.

But I could see Tooney sitting, and they put in the rookie from Brigham Young who started there. But they can't sit a ton of guys. They They just don't have the depth. They've taken too many hits. To me, though, this is more about Denver. Do they have the playoff medal? I have loved everything I've seen pretty much out of Bo Nicks this year. I think he's got it. Does everybody else in a game like this. Can they stand up? Chiefs backups or not? I am not going to be stunned if Kansas City, number one seed in hand, beats Denver in Denver, and the door remains open for the Cincinnati bangles. It made me more trying to get the bangles into the playoffs, emotionally. Yeah. But this seems like one where Denver, Denver, Denver, and then they just come out. Just do not play a great game.

Yeah. I don't like to carry over one result to the next because I think that the Broncos suffered a heartbreaking loss that they probably could have just taken to a tie last week. I don't really think it matters that much. What matters more in this game is coaching. It speaks to what you just said about the Chiefs, Andy Reid being the greatest currently active head coach in the NFL who has done a masterful job with a team that is weak in the offensive line that missed their running back for a good portion of the season, that lost two receivers and just got Hollywood Brown back recently, and now they're ascending. Some of these guys might not play, but the guy who pushes all the buttons is still there. It's a lot of faith in Carson Wentz, though. That's where I get a little worried because the Broncos are playing for their lives. They've had this great season under Sean Payton. This is why we hired Sean Payton. Bo Nicks, take all that hate that we got when we drafted him. We're going to shove it right where you know because we are going to make the playoffs right now.

We're going to make the playoffs by beating a team and adding some fuel to the fire of this rivalry. And boy, would it be really, really embarrassing and disappointing if he lost this game.

You never saw what Andy Reid did with Doug Peterson back in the day in those final games of the season.

They have rested guys and won games in the past. I've seen a few. It's not unprecedented. The Broncos, overall, I don't think are playing their best football of the year. Nicks was up and down. He had some major ups last week, but I think he's been a little up and down as the season ends. This was It's a close game, though, that the Broncos probably deserve to win the first time around. That informs me that these two teams know each other well. I know the Chiefs have owned this matchup, but the matchup this year was close with the starters in and with so much to play for. It's hard for me to go against the Broncos here. Defensively, you just feel like they would have a lot of answers. When they say the players that are sitting for the Chiefs, you're right, you can only sit so many, but then you see the and the names are Chris Jones, Trent McDuffy, Tooney, Patrick freaking Mahomes. Both running backs, apparently, are going to sit. These are all their best players. If you can't win Denver, you certainly don't deserve to be making the playoffs.

It's Samajé P. Ryan in a revenge game.

There it is.

There it is. He carries the Broncos in Vance, blitzing on 38% of dropbacks. It's the third highest rate. It probably blitzed I would blitz him at 50% on Sunday.

Why not?

But an opportunity for Carson Wentz to go out there and perform, revive.We've seen BakerA lot of those. And Sam have revivals.A lot of those. Gino had a revival a few years ago. No.

Okay. I can't wait to hear this Jimmy G argument later.

No, let's not do that. Let's not do that.

Let's put a pin on that. Little shout out to Quin Minors. I don't think there's a ton of Pro Bowl snubs, but people that I trust, Brian Baldinger being high amongst them. He's Quin Minors has an argument to be the best guard in football, full stop. First-team All-Pro, he is the guy now. Sometimes with offensive lines, it takes a year for the voters to catch up. I think he has a decent chance to make All-Pro, but not Pro Bowl, which happens to some guys. That's a great point. Just shout out to Quin Minors.

Good shout out.

Yeah, absolutely. Looking forward to that game, of course, because there's going to be a few teams watching it paying attention, including the Miami Dolphins, who would like a Chief's win. They are And they're going to be favored by one point, Greg, against Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets with an over-under of 39, Joe Davis, G-Reg, and Pam Oliver on the call. We saw Aaron Rodgers throwing bounce passes last week. How do you feel about the Finns by one?

I just assumed I would come up with a way for this Jets team to lose this game because they're the Jets, and it's happening. And yet, Tron Armstead left last week, has not been seen at practice all week. They put Kendall Lamb on injured reserve, who actually had a great game a week ago, mostly blocking Miles Garrett. You're down your two starting tackles if Armstead isn't playing, and Tua sounds like he's a long shot as we tape this. He's not playing.

Okay. Snoop Huntley.

That's tough. Yeah, you could beat the Jets, but I'm not just chalking that up as a win. At one point, that feels about right. It's crazy how important this game famous because the Dolphins could be playing on Wild Card Weekend. Everyone has just mentally counted them out, and yet it's a realistic opportunity. They're more realistic to me than the Bengals because they're ahead of them in line.

Yeah, and that's what matters more than anything in that tie-breaking scenario. But I am actually stunned that I even have to consider the fact that the Dolphins might not win. I think a lot of it is because of Snoopuntley and the way that he has gotten a couple of months of time with this offense and has a much better understanding of it. He got the ball out incredibly quick last week against the Browns. He's fully capable of leading them to victory. I also have no faith in the Jets. Again, another team going to Cabo or beyond, who knows? Because they're headed toward an offseason change. I've written the same story about Aaron Rodgers talking about, If they want me back, I'll come back, but I don't know. For the last month, the vibes are bad. His body language is bad. I just cannot put any stock in this team. They all know that change is coming, and the dolphins have everything to play for. I don't care if it's Huntley or I just believe more in them and the way they've played recently.

I think the Jets are going to Sarasota, by the way, instead of Cabo. I think they're staying domestic, a little bit older, retirement communities here in Sarasota. I have no faith in the Jets. None. I mean, they There's stuff about Garrett Wilson, Varen Roger's back. I may want out. They want out as badly as anybody.

Meanwhile, they broke some ground this week. They are the first NFL team to ever interview an NFL Daily guest. There it is. A studio guest, Ron Rivera, interviewing for the head coaching job. We're trying to build our own coaching tree here at NFL Daily. That's a strong-I was amazed. That was cool. Rex Ryan is a He's currently getting-Well, you knew that was with Tanted Mom leading the search.

It's his old GM. You might not run it back.

That was coming.

Let's not mention that so we can build up Coach Rivera. Yeah. Because it underbinds it.

This won't be Ron. I will say this. I don't think it's going to be Ron's last interview.

It shouldn't be. No, I don't think it should.

I think he's going to have several.

The problem for the Dolphins. Last week, the leading rusher was Tyler Hunt. Yes. He got in the end zone. He had 52 yards on the ground. This is the number 32 rushing efficiency offense in the NFL. Coach Mike Mack has struggled to get his team to be able to run the ball. The Jets defense actually improving against the run in the past few weeks. The problem might be over on the offensive side of the football. Let's go to a team that isn't having problems on offense right now. All they needed was to get run up and done up by the Tampa Bay Bucaneers. Since then, the chargers on fire. They are favored by four and a half points against the Las Vegas Raiders and AOC at quarterback. It's on US, Kevin Harland, Trent Green, Melenon Collins, the over-under 41 and a half. The bolts have been rolling, Shook. Do they keep rolling against Las Vegas?

Yeah, I do. And that's not even... I'm not taking you anything away from the way the Raiders have played in the last couple of weeks because I think they've played much better football. I would like to see it save Antonio Pierce's job, but probably not. I still just can't go against these chargers. I think I've been the guy who was throwing cold water on them when we recap their most recent games because I was like, Well, you're playing the Patriots. But what we saw from them in the last few performances is finally giving Justin Herbert a little bit of time to throw the football down the field. Now, granted, he throws a lot of those to Lad McConkey, but Stone Smart is starting to get involved a little bit more. His offense itself is just becoming more well-rounded with the return of JK Dobbins. Against the Raiders, I don't know, it's just on paper, strength versus weakness or whatever it might be. I feel very comfortable with the Chargers in this game.

Chargers are going to... I wouldn't be surprised if Harba plays these guys all the way through.

Yeah, he says he is.

They want to get another team, openly says, We want to get that number 5 seat.

Yeah, there's a seating thing in Here's what I hear.

Getting J. K. Dobbins back, you saw some of the positivity, again, against the Patriots. They want to continue to get him going. They know how important he's going to be if they advance in the postseason. I think this good offensive line is going to keep working. More More lad.

More lad.

Much more lad.

More lad. Loves seeing that lad.

Missed practice on Wednesday. I do wonder if they'd ever consider being a little safer with him who's had a lot of nagging injuries in the game.

He's a small guy, and he gets tagged.

They play on Sunday afternoon, and they're watching that Saturday bangles game with a lot of interest, rooting for the bangles so that they could possibly move up and pass the stealers. Now, if the stealers win that, they'll know that. Does that affect their plan? Hard to say. Harba says that they're playing all out, and they're playing so well offensively that I tend to think they could do what the Texans would like to do, but I don't have faith in, which is just play so well early that you can rest some guys. I think they could absolutely do that.

Big opportunity for the Chargers in Las Vegas. I'm just glad that we get to see Aiden O'Kunal, this new version of Aiden O'Kunal, Greg, that likes to scramble, get back there and make plays.

Oh, yeah.

He even broke double digits once.

The subject of my least hot take ever, which is that Aiden O'Kunal is a perfectly capable NFL backup and is going to have a solid 9-10 year career, which is a great result for a fourth-round pick. So let's stop picking on old Aiden O'Kunal McDonald. It's not his fault he's on this team and has to play a lot. I do wonder if Antonio pierce wins three straight games to end the season under the old regime, I would think that would keep him the job. Now that we think Tom braided is this shadow owner, that might not save him.

It just depends on who they can get. You're in a lot of conversations about Mike Vrabel going there, and that's okay.

That would make a lot of sense in terms of friendship and experience and all that. All right, let's take one final break. We're going to go through a couple of NFC West games and then get to the best game of the weekend, maybe of the entire regular season, Vikings and lines. Back on NFL Daily. Anthony Richardson crawling around on the ground. Back injury, but he's not the only one trying to play hurt. Nick's got a little sniffles.

No, it's not sniffles. It's just leakage. He got a big nose. You see it from the side? A little sniffles. Got a long runway.

Maybe a little Rose Bowl.

I wouldn't play. I tell you what, I earned it. Covid treats a Pasadilla.

I got to say, I thought that was risky. I know you love coming out to LA. You used to live out here. I thought it was risky, and then they put it on. They put it on them for you.

You didn't even have to sweat. I made a promise. I saw them lose in Columbus one time to Oregon, and I was like, If they get back there to the Rose Bowl and play them, I'm going no matter what.

There it is. It's a commitment. Yes.

Loyalty.

You know Ryan Day is the best coach in the NTA right now. There There you go. That's coming from Columbus, Ohio.

Pending results in the next couple of weeks.

Let's hold off on that.

The Seattle Seahawks, six and a half point favorites across the street at Sofi Stadium, Steve, against the Rams, the over-under 38.5, Kenny Albert, Jonathan Vilba, with Megan Alivi on the call, where we've seen a variance of outcomes for the Rams. The Seahawks would like to have been in a better position here. Can they just come out and finish the season strong?

Well, Patrick, I want to talk this back to you since you were talking about backups surviving their career, and Jimmy G, Jimmy Garoppolo is going to be throwing to Xavier Smith, a guy like that for the Rams.

Jordan Wittingen.

Jordan Wittingen.

Shout out to a Ram's preseason game attendance. Big early season.

It's the theme. Rest That is the theme. Jimmy was dealing with a whole lot of stuff for the past few years, injury-wise, coming in and out of games. We heard it from Saquon. Got you, Daniels. Explaining his decision where post-playing the game, Saquan was like, No, I'm good. I just played a game at Running Back. Then he went to sleep. He's like, Oh, maybe I could do it. He ultimately listens to post-game Saquan. I think REST Jimmy G is a factor here. The Seattle Seahawks win this game, but six and a half feels a bit rich for me, considering that we get arrested James Richard Garoppola, who multiple times this season I forgot was on this team.

Same. When they showed-He was suspended to start this season. When they showed the Kyren Williams Man of the Year video, which was really cool. Steven Jackson came in for it, and Jimmy G is at the front with a cool new haircut. I was like, Wait, what's he doing there?

He is the best-looking guy in the NFL.

You don't miss him. I like your theory, and I'm going to take your theory, and I'm going to raise you one. I think this is a tough matchup, but I think there's a higher percentage chance that Jimmy Garoppolo is starting games for this Ram's team next year than the public would. That's hotter That's what I was going to take.

I thought you were going to make. That's searing.

Just higher. Now, I'm not saying it's likely. I'm just saying it's more likely, I think, than people would think, and that maybe he's part of their future as a 1B or whatever competition. Who knows if staff are It gives them options.

Then contractually, if staff or them wanted to part ways, there's a way to do it pretty easily. Yeah, they can get out. They're not strapped to him by any means because of money. That makes sense. There's also the idea we just saw this past year. Sam Darnold played one game for the Niners last year, goes to the Vikings, and now look at what he's done. If people like to copy Cat, then they would maybe do the same thing with Jimmy, except he might not even have to change teams. Now I was not on board 90 seconds ago, and I'm completely sold. I could be bought.

He is turning 34 next season, so in a little different place.

Jimmy ain't played too many full seasons either like Santana. No. We'll continue this conversation at a different-In a one-game scenario, though.

What? Jimmy G rested up.

Over Gino?

He got that special offseason workout, which is why he was not playing the first week.

Patrick, we got to put this one on Greg, though.

Well, we got a lot of back. Some teams play their backups, and there's not a crazy drop-up. I feel like the Rams are a very star-heavy, top-heavy team where if they're resting their best players on both sides of the ball, then the backups, it might not be pretty. The Seahawks team is pretty good. I think I would have maybe taken the Seahawks to win this game if the Rams were playing. So yeah, they lose on the fifth tiebreaker, but I don't think a 10-7 season Correct. If I win this game is some massive disappointment.

If they win this game, they've got 10 wins.

And their defense, there's some proof of concept to me for Mike McDonald. As a head coach, you want to show what do you bring to the table? Because I don't think every head coach brings something to the table. I think the way I've seen this defense come together and turn into the defense that he wants it to be, I see the proof of concept. So he's shown me something. That's all.

With another offseason to get more of his guys in. Yeah, and that'll be the key. In the second year, they were having to do it at the trade deadline. They go salvage Ernest Jones.

Who's been great.

Rescue him.

Pay him. They're going to have to pay the man, though. Fine.

Pay him. He's been great.

A solid addition. We'll stay in that division because the San Francisco 49ers are at the Arizona Cardinals who were favored by four, the over-under 42.5 Chris Myers, Mark Schlerith, Jen Hale. The Seahawks could have got some help from Trey McBride's facemask a week ago, Greg. Now Kyler and company at home trying to finish the season strong against a 49ers team that would also like to finish the season strong, but they're both San Lucas bound.

Yeah, it's a shame because that Ram's game would have been a perfect week 18 game. I feel like to figure out who's the 13th, 14th team. Instead, that's dead. This one's dead. Kyle's bad years. It's weird. He's made the conference title game four times. In the other four seasons, the 49ers are 22 and 42. When they've gotten bad. They haven't gotten 8 and 9 or 9 and 8. They haven't won more than six games. And I don't think they'll win this one because I think that you're probably playing Josh Dobbs here over Brock Purdy and Kyler. I think they would love to finish out. I think an eighth win actually would mean something to them, and it should. They have improved since last year.

I do like the Cardinals in this one for that reason as well. It would feel good for the Arizona Cardinals to go into the offseason with a solid performance against a Niners defense that's just not as good as it's been in past years. Now, they got Hufunga back relatively recently, and he's been-One-hand One-handed. Yeah, and he still made a difference. The one thing I've wanted from the Cardinals is just consistency. I don't want you to be in third and long, and you got to make Kyler go make a hero play. They've struggled to find that in a lot of these games. They feel very much like their record, but it would feel a lot better going into next season at 8:00 9, then 7 and 10, even if it's only one game difference, because of the bright moments from the season and what you can build on after year two with Jonathan Gannon.

Plus, the fan base, and I think people who follow the Cardinals are tired of them tapering off on the back half of the season. If they were able to finish this game against a 49ers team. Again, they're going to be game. They're just beat up. They just don't... Boasting these guys. They don't think they're playing. We'll see. But Kyler, I think, frankly, for Kyler's sake, he needs to have a good game.

He has looked so upset in the last few games. Just dejected. What do I have?

He wants it, and he can't quite figure out how to get it done. He keeps saying to reporters and to the broadcasters He was like, Next year, I'm going to run more. Now, I want to start running more. It got me thinking, What is the issue with Kyler? I just don't think he has as good of a feel for what he should do to make himself the best as some of the great quarterbacks. Like a game manager, essentially. I always believed Jay Cutler could have had a great career. I think he was bad at this. I don't think he knew what he needed to do in certain situations to bring out the best in himself and his team. I think there might be a little bit of Kyler with that, where he's always trying to self-correct what mistake he made in the past. He's obviously a good player, but he's always like, I'm pushing hard in that direction. Now I'm going to try to do this. Now I'm going to chew that. Maybe he doesn't have this natural feel that the great somehow have of when push. It's hard to put words to it, but does that make sense to you?

Well, I mean, what do we say about Jaden Daniels? He's decisive. He knows when to run. We're especially seeing it down the stretch here. He's taking the ball and going with it.

Jaden's a great example of someone who I feel like has a great feel of what to do at different points.

Well, again, and he's not going to wait for the free rusher, Cliff Kingsbury's scheme to get to him. He's going to go ahead and make that move before he gets there. Whereas Kyler, I think he's like, Okay, I'm going to show him a short guy who can play from the pocket. Well, that's not working, so let me run. He's been through a couple of different things. He's had such a mashup of a roster. They still have not had an offensive identity with him there. That first couple of years of Cliff, I think they did. But they still haven't had it yet. Is that on him? Is that on just the roster around him? Is that on the coaching staff? I think that's something that leads to him being in this.

I'm looking forward to him next year and another year in this offense.

I think there's a lot of promise this year.

Yeah, the consistent thing has been inconsistency throughout his tenure in Arizona. That would be my hope, would to be to see a cohesive unit coming back. We'll know more about the search bar on defensive side for Jonathan again, and they won't be the search bar anymore. We'll know these guys. Some of them play in really good football in their first year. The NFL and the offense gets another opportunity to add some talent, and we can see. And not be reaction and overcorrection to everything that goes wrong as a season.

Yeah, and I think a lot of that starts just at the ground level, seeing what the defense gives you. I think he tries to go too much in one direction or the other. That could be the first step forward to fitting in within this scheme and how they accentuate his strengths going forward.

The entire season, the entire week 18 NFL schedule leads to one thing.

Let's get it.

It is a game for the number one seed in the NFC between the Minnesota Vikings and Sam Darnold and Jared Gough and the Detroit Lions who are at home, favored by two and a half. The overruner is 56 and a half. Mike Chirico, Chris Collinsworth, Melissa Stark on Sunday This is why we do this, Shook.

This is actually the first matchup in NFL history between two teams with 14 wins, 28 combined wins, highest ever. Previous high, 25. You want to talk about importance. It's not just for the division title or the NFC's top seed. It's also, arguably, at least statistically, the most important regular season game in NFL history.

Well, I mean, look, I love this. It's so tough to call, but I like Detroit because it's at home. I think the atmosphere is going to be insane because we know what Detroit has been through organizationally. But knowing that the playoffs could come through the Motor City, I think means a lot. I like the way Dan Campbell went into that game against San Francisco saying, Understand what we're about now. You talk about the standard being the standard. This is the standard. They had a tight game with the Vikings earlier in the season. Minnesota, the way it's playing now is frightening with Jordan Addison emerging the way he is, Hawkinson being a much more integral part of the offense. The two and a half seems good because I think this is going to be a great game in the way that the Vikings generate takeaways. We cannot underestimate that, whether it be the strip-sack fumbles force off of the run pressures that they generate and the interceptions. I think that's going to be the factor. If the Vikings generated a takeaway or two, they went. If the lines are able to protect the ball, which they've done a good job of.

By the way, can we talk about how amazing Shamir Gibbs looks now that he's the Belcow? Yeah.

Oh, my God. I got a little nervous in that game, though. There was one run to the side of that where I was like, Oh, go down healthy, please.

I think he's huge for them in this game. I do think there is a way that their great players just have to be greater than the Vikings great players. They need Gibbs to be special in a way that Aaron Jones is great but is not as special as Jameer Gibbs. They need their offense who is averaging, I just did some scratch math here, 37 and a half points per game the last month. How do you get an over-under of 56? We have one team that's averaging 38 points a game. As their defense has collapsed, they've needed to keep scoring, and they've done it against decent defenses like the packers and the Bills and the 49ers, bears. It's not like they're sieves, and they just need that greatness to be better. I'm almost surprised they're favorite because to me, they feel like the underdogs now.

It's the home field.

I guess so. They feel like the underdogs. The Vikings have clearly been better, I late in the season than the lions. And yet there is something intangible here that I just believe in with the Lions that's more than football. It's this journey that they've been on, and it's them overcoming a lot in different scenarios. It's just like, I feel like I'm on Dan Campbell's team, and I have to believe in them because of that. Although the Vikings have all of that, too, except maybe better players overall.

It's crazy. In terms of watching what the issue has been, I know Sam Darnold has come through. That's why I picked them last week to beat the Green Bay packers. But they were still late in the game watching Sam Darnold sail some throws. He threw the interception that ultimately led to the packers having a chance. That was their first breakdown of the game, where the problem for Jared Goff has really been the defense. That's been it. Goff has been so lights out that despite how good Sam Darnold is playing, he's not playing Jared Goff football right now.

No. Is anybody, though. Joe Joe Burrow.

Joe Burrow, Lamar, Allen. Yes, but that's the company he's keeping. When people have been saying Darnold should get MVP votes, I'm like, no, it should be Jared Goff.

He's been in the top five of my QB index all year.

You're missing high against the Green Bay Packers. I know Xavier McKinney has been solid. We'll talk about the Pro Bowl and the snubs. Kirby Joseph is leading the NFL in the intercept. That's crazy. He got two. He's so good. I know Dan Campbell is like, We're going to try, we're going to play. We're playing all our starters. When Kirby Joseph got that pick and he's running it back, I'm like, slide. Of all the issues that they've had, injury-wise on defense, he and Brian Branch have been special. I don't think Darnell can afford to make just one mistake because all they need That was one stop.

Here's a little inside story. When I was at Lyons Training Camp this year, they're talking about, man, Jamieson Williams has really matured. You're going to see this guy over the course of the season, blossom. Who has really blown up for Jamieson Williams? The reason why they Who say he's matured was Teddy Bridgewater's presence on their roster last year. Well, guess who's back on their roster now? The past few weeks is going to be there for as long as they're in post.

Who just had his best game of the season?State Jamieson Williams.Jamieson Williams.

I'm telling you, they say something about the way that Teddy can connect to this young man who's gone through an awful lot in the early parts of his career. That's something to keep an eye on because he's really starting to feel a little bit better. There's a little inside intel.

I like that. You know what? I think it just bolsters their strength already. In this game, specifically, and I think we saw a little bit when they played San Francisco last week, they got the turnovers they needed, which you just talked about. But what if they don't? What if they don't? If they don't, we're looking at a shootout because they have to put up these points just to win these games because they know they can't lean on that defense.

Yeah, they just stick with that scheme. You don't know what Brian Flores is going to do in this game. That's a big time advantage in the first matchup. Jonathan Greenard got after Taylor Decker. He got after him. He actually dominated that matchup. Van Ginkle and Grinard both made the Pro Bowl team, which is pretty cool. Great job by Quessi this afternoon. How about that? That's amazing. They could have Alex Anzaloni back on Detroit side. Adam Schefter reported it was a realistic chance that he will be back. I think that's really important. I think for all the problems they've had on the defensive line, they've gotten a lot of those guys back, where teams like the 49ers are picking on them. It's a middle of the field. Darnold's great there. The Vikings have so much talent there. They actually were very good the first match up there. Anzaloni would give them a big upgrade from the types of guys that they've had out there.

And the communication because the lines, because of all their injuries, played just a ton of zone. Just a ton of zone. I mean, so teams just pick them apart. The communication Anzaloni could give them would be huge.

You really guess He's going to keep blitzing him like crazy. I don't think so. Darnald's so good at holding the ball forever. There was a stat from NextGen that him and Herb hold the ball the longest for guys that don't scramble. They hold the ball and they throw it, and they're extremely He's extremely efficient, which is a tough way to live. It means you're inviting getting hit a lot, and those two guys have been hit quite a bit.

To his credit, though, when he's under pressure, when the rush comes in, he's very sharp.

He's allowing those very good receivers to get deeper down the field and be covered for longer.

Wait, so we're all leaning lions? This doesn't feel... Haven't we learned anything?

No, I'm leaning vice.

Okay.

I'm like a lion because of the home.I love that.I think the home field advantage is huge here.I.

Love that. I think that the emotional part that you described was last year's lions. I think it's more about we got to get home field advantage to ensure that we don't find ourselves in the situation we were in Santa Clara last year.

But they're undefeated on the road. That's the one thing I love about the lines. If they have to go to Philly, they can play outdoors in battle. Yeah, right.

They can match. Whoever loses this game, this story, I can easily imagine in three weeks time before the NFC Championship, the narrative is going into that game like, They lost that week 18 game, but they knew what their season wasn't over, and they went on the road and won two games. And credit to both these teams, you can imagine either one of them doing it and getting back to either a rematch or the NFC Championship.

Very within the realm of possibilities for two 14 and two teams.

That's it, guys. We did it. Four across.

nick Shook in the house. He did it. T-shirt was great.

Well done. Shout out to Ryan Day for making this pop. There it is.Thank you.Thank you.

I'm happy that you were able to spend the holidays with your large family. Yes. A lot of siblings, and that you were able to go back to Cleveland, but we do miss you here. I remember when you were in the newsroom with us every day, it was fun.

We moved here right when I moved to Cleveland. I don't even get to hang out in these nice digs, but it's always great to walk in and see familiar faces just like you guys.

Well, I'll see you soon on your little box.

Yeah, I'll be back in the box. Everybody gets used to my oversize head.

Let's get out of here. I appreciate you guys. We will be back on Friday. Cynthia and I making our weekly pics. We'll keep that going through the regular season. And then, yes, we got QB Island returning. We got the recap.

Can't wait to see what you have in store for us, Greg.

When we got 16 regular season games left, you know football is finally back.