Transcript of Reasons for Joy for every AFC Team and Christmas Preview!

Welcome to NFL Daily, where last Christmas, I gave you my heart. The very next day, you took it away. I'm Greg Rosenthal. I'm here in the Chris Wesleyan podcast studio with Jordan Rodriegue of The Athletic. And yeah, that song just is not getting out of my head, so that's why I started the show with it. Jordan Rodriegue, I've never seen you in such a bubbly, good mood. You are a holiday person and your twin sister is in town.

I'm not a holiday person, but-This year you are. Maddie's here. Maddie's here. She's off the boat. I love it. I'm so excited.

I'm excited for you. I can only imagine what it's like to see your twin after a long time connecting. That's what this time of year is all about. We're going to try to be concise. It's tough. Our producer had some doubts that we can get through this show in under an hour, but I believe in We started this show, NFL Daily, our first ever show. You were there with me and Patrick Claibon, and we talked about what's going to give us joy in the 2024 season. Now, as we're winding down, we're going to look back a little bit and just quickly go through the AFC. We each have teams and talk about what brought us some joy in this season. We're also going to preview the Netflix games on Christmas. That feels like it's just about to start. Then TNF, Seattle and Chicago. We'll to talk about that. Then hopefully, our elves are working on a Zoom connection with one of our favorite people to end the show. I hope we can make it happen, and maybe we'll even hear from some of our listeners. You ready to do it?

We both wore our, hopefully, special guest's favorite color because it's the color of her football team. There you go. Greg and I accidentally, if you're watching on YouTube, you'll notice Greg and I actually accidentally wear the same outfit today. I mean, it's sweaters. We even did our hair the same. You got swoopies, I've got swoopies. But I will say the person who topped us both in the outfits today is our producer, Eric, behind the glass, who's wearing what I'm told is his second best Santa Cat sweater.

Yes. I actually have two cat sweaters with Christmas hats, and this is number two of my... There it is in all its glory. Those are beautiful Santa cats. One thing I love about Eric and Randy, who has moved on to a My better job is, they love all animals. They're not trying to divide the world between cats and dogs. You're for both, right Eric? I actually have a dog, no cats, but I grew up in a house full of them. I had four dogs and two cats at one time, but no cats. My wife is allergic, so I can't have a cat. I'm team cat and dog. Why can't you love them both? Let's not divide us on the holiday.I.

Appreciate the effort of the group behind the Glass to at first try to stay out of the shop, but then immediately lean into it as You guys, everybody needs some shine. Everybody's working on this Christmas Eve. Everyone does such a great job. One thing that has brought me joy this year is how kind everyone, welcoming everyone has been. That starts with everyone behind the glass, and then slowly you bring up the rear.

I was like, That doesn't include me. But let's talk a little, yes, about what brings us joy. Like I said, there's been some doubts whether the two of us can get through this quickly. We're off to a good start. I believe in us. I'm going to let you get us going. We're going to go through the AFC. I hope to do this again next Tuesday, and if we don't, we will do it for the NFC at some point.

I'll see you next Tuesday.

That's absolutely right. And Colleen Wolf should be there as well. Why don't you start with the Ravens? What's giving you a little bit of joy?

Derrick M. F.ing Henry has brought me joy all season. King Henry, now in purple, a color reserved for royalty, historically. Thriving in Baltimore with Lamar Jackson and Company. He's given us one of the more dominant rushing seasons that we've seen. What especially brings me joy is the way. This is like the 10 Things I like about you thing, too. Christmasy thing. The Way If he gets even a little steam, he runs through and past people. Entering week 17, Derrick Henry has now gained 678 yards after missed tackles this season, which is 144 more than anybody else in the NFL per next Gen. What joy?

I love that two all-time greats bringing out the best in each other. Kind of like us joining forces this year. By the way, I should have mentioned Eric has a horn back there. If he thinks we're honking too much and it's going on too long, he can just hit it. Now, that was definitely not too much. That was nice and concise. That was beautiful. I'm going to go to Eric's bills. And Damar Hamlin in his story this year gives me joy because to me, he is a better candidate for the Player of the Year award this season than he was last season. Everything that he's gotten over as a human is to be lauded. But now what he's overcoming as just a football player, to me, is just as impressive It's representing all the sixth and seventh round picks that take to their second or their third year to really get a chance. His career, even if what happened to him on the field had never happened, was on a knife's edge because that's what it's like for all these guys that are just special teamers that are trying. He was a year-to-year type of player.

Because of injuries and because of things that happened, he got a chance to be a starter this year, and he proved to be a really solid starter for them on a really good defense. I think he's guaranteed himself many more years in the league, a second contract. He's representing all those different types of players that are battling earlier in their career. Now, he's overcome more than most, but it's also really cool to just see him get a a foothold into the NFL and know he's going to be part of our lives in the NFL as a safety for a long time.

Really cool. I love that one. He's having a great year, and he overcame literally death. So love this for him. This arc for him is beautiful in so many ways.

Well said, Greg. I had to not even bring up James Cook's running style, which is just so cool that him and Dalvin are the exact same as brothers. How is their running style the exact same? All right, hit me with the bangles.

The Cincinnati bangles. It's the season of insane 10 offensive lineman gifts by quarterbacks in their offensive line. Joe Burrow gave his offensive line, authentic Samurai swords obtained from an armory in California. Some of them dating back to the 1500s. I think we have an explanation from Joe Burrow as to his joyful gift that he bequeathed upon his offensive line. He used an old word for an old gift. Joe Burrow, here he is talking about why he gave his O-lineman Samurai swords.

Well, the one I had guns, and I was like, I don't know about guns, guys.

And so I was in the weapon mindset, and I was like, What's a cool weapon? Samurai swords, I think, are pretty dang cool. Yeah, he's giving me Dwight Schrute energy in that, including the outfit. It's Dwight Schrute adjacent when he really means business. He takes off the mustard shirt and there's a tank underneath.

That's all he's got with the beautiful hair. I absolutely love it. You know what's giving me joy? That Jordan Rodriegue is throwing to tape and doing sound elements without even letting me know. That is amazing and very cool. It's in the run down, though. I never got a... I didn't check the rundown before. I got to admit. I got not a sword from my father-in-law, but one of these wooden blocks with Japanese lettering and a saying that comes in a very fancy little holder. I know what a great gift that would be around the holiday. Still got that in a nice position. All right, let's talk Browns. Okay, not a great season for the Browns. But I am happy that Jerry Judy is becoming the player that a lot of us Jerry Judy fans coming into the draft thought he would be someday. We had him pegged wrong that he was just this really unique, amazing route runner. I don't think he's turned into that exactly. He just moves differently than other people, but he's gotten more mature, I think, as he's gotten older, and he creates big time separation, and him and Jameis making each other better and just helping out their fantasy teams along the way made it happen.

The fact that he did this after the Jets didn't trade for him because his Madden rating wasn't high enough, that just is the little extra sprinkle that you get here for the holidays. So Jerry Judy brought me some joy this year, fulfilling his potential. A nice little contract they got him under there in Cleveland as well.

That's a good one. Good for him. Loved his tweet and also Madden's tweet about this situation as well. A little great teamwork over there. So I've got Denver. Okay. Okay. Now we're going to show you some clips and some highlights of what one Patrick Sertain the second, a. K. A. Ps2, a. K. A. Still one of the best cornerbacks in the league who is playing like the best cornerback in the National Football League right now. This is more tape than you've seen, probably if you're a casual fan or a watcher who's not in the All-22, then you've of PS2 all season. And why is that? Because quarterbacks are not throwing to him, so you're not seeing him on your broadcast screen. He has only been targeted on 10% of his coverage snaps this season, the lowest rate among all cornerbacks, with a minimum of 250 coverage snaps. It's a good thing that quarterbacks are not targeting him because when he has been targeted, offenses have lost minus 28.1 in EPA, which is the second fewest target EPA that any defender is forcing in the NFL per next-gen stats. Pat Sertain is, was, and should be a defensive player of the year candidate, in my opinion, despite missing some time.

And he brings me joy. Watching him play brings me so much joy.

I think he's got a chance to win it. It's so wide open this year. We talked about how there's going to be ballots where you have to pick five players, I believe. He'll be on a lot of those ballots. I think he's got a chance if he happened to have a big final couple of weeks. Sometimes it takes... He's on NFL Network on Saturday. It's a big game against the Bengals. Maybe he dominates Jamar Chase. Does something like that, that could get him over the top. I think it could happen. I'm going Houston Texans. I'm going Jalen Petrie. I like it when a player gets a lot of buzz coming into his second season. We all think he's going to be great 8, and then he has a disappointing year. Then the following year after that, it's the guys you forgot about. He has that breakout that you expected. They changed him completely into a slot player this year. An absolutely awesome year after that rebound. He is so physical. That really stands out in the running game, but he's been better in coverage than anyone would have expected. He's basically turned into that slot defender that Jalen Ramsey was, but sometimes it's a safety, sometimes it's a cornerback.

I didn't think Petrie had in him. He's had a really nice rebound season for the Texans, who we'll talk about a little later on the previous.

I love that. I'm trying to make this a thing when he gets an interception or he makes a play on the ball. Can we call it a petri dish? Can we? I like it. Okay, cool. We'll take it. All I've got the Indianapolis Colts.

I could have sold that better. Petri dish.

Let's go. Thanks, Greg. Indianapolis Colts. I've got that. We already went through the young quarterback panic a few times in recent memory, including with Bryce Young, who is and was an outlier to Anthony Richardson, the Indianapolis Colts quarterback, in so many ways. But let's apply the same patience and the same logic that we just need to see this young, talented, very erratic player get a full year of development and work with his biomechanic specialist, which their job, and they did this with Josh Allen as well, is specifically to work through the entire offseason to make Anthony Richardson a better and more efficient thrower of the football. Efficient, not meaning statistically, he's racking up stats and metrics. Efficient, meaning every piece of energy in his body is transferring to the other piece of his body in the appropriate and correct way that helps him throw the football at the most biomechanically sound, which helps short yardage, mid-range yardage, and he's already got the long ball target range down. I just think that this is going to help him. I'd like to see a full offseason with this before he actually has to have faced judgment from all of the jurors that the analysts and the usses of the world are assigning.

I saw Eric hovering over that honk button. It was about to happen. I know.

I saw your face.

Once you got into biomechanics. I was like, How do I land the plane?

How do I land the plane?

No, that's an awesome one. Still Still younger than Jaden Daniels and Bo Nicks. He was a lot of fun to watch last week. I want to see more of that from the Colts. Jaguars. Tough season. Got a lot of teams with tough season. More on that. Sometimes I got to just repeat things I've said. Brian Thomas, watching this dude play has given me so much joy, and I've talked about it a lot. So what's new that I can talk about? I was thinking, he not only is wide receiver one in this class for me, over Harrison and neighbors and everyone else because guys that big moving like that is just rare. I actually was thinking about the last three years of wide receivers, and other than Pukeuna Kua, which is a different receiver, that would be a fun all-Pro team. Those two guys, very different skill sets. I think he's the best receiver in the last three classes. I would take him over, Gareth Wilson in the lobby. I would take him over Zee flowers and Jackson Smith in Jigba. I think his ceiling is just crazy because he does the subtle stuff better already than we expected.

People that size just don't move that fluid and that fast. Love me some Brian Thomas. They found themselves a true wide receiver one. You got the Chiefs.

Yes. It's weird how I keep getting these really fun and interesting teams. Andy Reid brings me joy. It's that time of year where we talk about Pat Mahomes' heroics, obviously. But I want to call attention again to Big Red himself, Andy Reid. Several weeks ago, he secured his 10th consecutive double-digit win season in the regular season. He has double-digit wins in regular season in 11 of his 12 seasons in Kansas City. And the one year he won less than double digits, he still won nine games. He is astonishing. He's still doing it. The contract runs through 2029. He hinted that maybe he's done after that. Enjoy it while you have him. Enjoy watching him. Just his entire vibe brings me joy.

He clearly has so much joy when it comes to football, or else he wouldn't be able to do it like this. He doesn't always give it away, but If you're somehow creating a contest of just who loves ball the most, Andy Reid's got to be right there at the top. I had him third in my coach of the year ladder that Shuki and I did. It wouldn't be crazy to make him number one. Who's doing it better than Andy Reid? All right, I got the Raiders. Okay. It's a couple of things here. I was going to go Bowers, but I just keep going with these rookie players that I love. I'm giving you two things actually with The Riders now. I'll be quick. Remember, we always talked about the tight evolution. The tight-end, the evolution, it's happening. These are the new players. All right, Bowers is that next guy. He is the evolution. We've reached it. This is it. He's next. The other thing, the Riders playing their ass off every week actually has given me joy. It's why they made me look smart by beating the Jaguars last week. I was like, They're going to win this game because they are playing so hard defensively, sometimes not smart, but so hard.

You know it when you see it for Antonio Piers, and yet they keep losing these games. Just a team that's going nowhere the whole time, playing their ass off in the middle of a 10-game losing streak, that gave me some joy. Look, two things pretty quick.

Nailed it. Did I? The thing on Brock Bowers is interesting because I'm starting to talk to executives and people in personnel departments about evaluating classes of certain position groups coming forward into the next couple of years. He's getting the comp now. It used to be other tight ends around the league. It used to be the Kittles and the Kelsies and all of that. He's the one drawing the... He's like, Well, I don't think he does this as well as Brock Bauer. I don't think he does this.

Everyonenots of Bowers. Nobody's ever done it.

Nobody does things as well as that. Why are we comping this guy? He's just over here, comp to someone else.

Maybe it'll be like quarterbacks where we really have created new quarterbacks that we just didn't see the style of I had two quarterbacks before, and now there's like six, seven, eight of them. Maybe there'll be more Brock Bowers, but to me... He's one of one. Go ahead.

You died inside. That was great. I have the Los Angeles Chargers. Another fun team. How about that? That's really weird how that worked out. The Justin Herbert, Jim Harba paring and all the sound bites that it's given us across the year. He's Justin Herbert's ultimate hype man. It brings me so much joy. This is what Justin Herbert needed. He has been open about the fact that he's not necessarily the big personality, ra-ra, out-in-your-face guy. Well, Jim Harba is that person, and he compliments Justin Herbert, and he brings the best and most confident football out of him. My favorite sound clip from the air, I know our producer, Hytham, has it cued I'm going to do it again to you, Greg. Here's Jim Harbaugh and Justin Herbert.

I'm changing his name to Beast.

He's Beast Herbert. Half-man, half-beast. No, quarterback has completed more passes in the first five years of an NFL career than Justin Herbert.

In the history of the National Football League, that speaks to his greatness. Just to be around it every day, that's what it feels like. It feels like you're around greatness every single day.

I love it. Joy.

Yeah, we could all use a Jim Harbaugh in our lives to pump us up that much. But then we need to be Justin Herbert. We need to be that great. Think about that. He's earned it. I love it, too. As a Herbert fan, this is the era that I've always wanted. I got the Dolphins. You might say this is a mediocre team. I've enjoyed this team quite a bit this season. I enjoy the song that they play when they score the touch downs. I mean, that's been there forever, but I love it. I've enjoyed Chopp Robinson. I've enjoyed Tua working within very small parameters. But the thing that gave me the most joy is watching Devon Achan actually be the running back that plays the receiver position that actually is the wide receiver. Last week, there's a play where he's in the slot and he's running an in-breaker against a top cornerback, and he's high-pointing the ball. People always talk about, Oh, we're going to flex out our running back as a receiver, and they're going to run routes. Their receiver They're running back room in general, but especially him. He's the only one I've seen really running those routes like a wide receiver runs those routes, and they built a lot of the offense around him.

So Devon Achan as a receiver.Nice one.

I like that. Joy. I have the New England Patriots, and that is interesting how, once again, that seems to have come up, Jordan.

I got more on that in a second. I've got some numbers.

I find joy. Look at your face right now. I find joy, and this is part of it, right? I truly am finding joy this year watching you, Greg Rosenthal, fall in love, deeply in love with yet another New England Patriots quarterback.

Yeah. I mean, this one, I fell in love with him before he was even in New England Patriots. I just love young quarterbacks. What? I'm not allowed to talk about Drake May. We get Herbert and Drake on Saturday. I guess we'll preview that game on the preview show. What a matchup. That's everything I've ever wanted in a quarterback matchup.

That's It's beautiful. I do love it, and I love at the beginning of the year, it brought me joy how you watched his All 22 very quietly, like with an extra screen under your desk, and you held hope but refrain from letting any honking about how you were right this entire time about it.

It's not about being right.

Slip out. I'm being earnest here, man. About a third of the way through this season, you are all in and you wanted us to know it. Yes. Loud and proud with your love for Drake May and the fact that you are right. Don't forget that. You're starting to fall hard. Drake May comes up in conversations he is not even a part of as long as you are speaking. Greg, you're finding slivers of happiness in the Patriots fan experience after the long, hard years of 2020 and 2022. So Jets. And I love this for you. It has brought me joy.

2019 wasn't great.

That last braided season was a little depressing, but I tried to enjoy that division title.

I got the Jets. I keep getting these bad teams. I got to be real. The Jets have not given me joy. So I think being honest, that's something that gives me joy. But what I would say to Jets fans is, you made a good pick. In a class with all these great receivers, Olufashanu showed enough down the stretch that you got one right at left tackle Still, and I do find it ironic that Joe Douglas, their GM, spent all this time before they let him go, just desperately trying to build a good offensive line and mostly failing. I got to say their offensive line right now looks better than it's looked at any point. Now, I hope the next staff can keep it going, but they'll have a really good young left tackle. That spot not taking receiver when Bowers and other people are on the board was very tricky to get it right. I think they got it right, and they're going to have a dude for a long time, so that's good news for the Jets. I can't say they've given me a lot of joy this year.

That's just being real. I think that's very fair.

I think that is very fair. I don't think they've given their fans a lot of joy.

I have the Pittsburgh Stealers. Kam Hayward. I mean, there's a lot of joy, I think, to be found in Pittsburgh this year. There, including all of the Mike Tomlin decisions and also just how every Pittsburgh Stealers player seems to be a perfect fit for the Pittsburgh Stealers, which is awesome. But Kam Hayward is having a remarkable season. That brings me a lot of joy. He has eight sacks, but where he is especially making a difference is in their run defense, where that defense is eighth in total yards allowed this season, seventh in yards per carry, just gave up 162 on the ground to our king, Derrick Henry. But per next Gen stats, the Steeler's defense has allowed over two more full yards per carry on average when Kam Hayward is off the field versus when he is on the field this season. It goes from 3.4 yards per carry allowed when he's on the field to a whopping 5,000 It's 0.6 yards per carry allowed when he is off the field. That's astounding.

Defensive player of the year. Let's push for it. I think he might be my choice right now. It's a strange year. James Harrison won it in a strange year. Tarroll Sugs when he won it, that was a strange year. Stefan Gilmore pulled it off. There's not an obvious choice. I think TJ Watts is a bad choice because I think it's probably his worst year out of the last five. I know he has a lot of sacs. Kam Hayward is a really good choice. I think he could be defensive player of the year. Let's wrap it up with the Titans. Now, what's not giving me joy is that Jordan gave me all these bad teams.

I just went in alpha as a quarter.

As I was going through it, the last five teams that we've talked about had a combined 20 and 55 record. I was like, Is she setting me up? I think she was. And yet, you know what's given me joy? Even in dark situations, you can find some positives. This kid, Tavandre Sweat. I know he came into the draft with a lot of problems. I'm not ignoring those, but just on the field, a guy that all the draft next thought on the field was going to be a bust and was super overrated, and they didn't like his effort and all this. I watched him. There's a lot of effort. I love a 365 A 70-pound guy who is just throwing people around. He could be in the mix for a defensive rookie of the year if we gave nose tackles any love, because in terms of a foundational piece on the defensive side of the ball, he has been as good as any, and he is just incredibly strong. When you put on that, tightens all 22, you get a little Pollard, who's been really good, powerful, but sweat really stands out. So I did it.

I came up with stuff to love about every single team. You know what else I love?

Can you guess? The color green.

That we did it. That Hitham and Eric didn't think we could get through this segment quickly. You only gave me the sound as a a bit.

I thought it was real.

Let's go to break with that sound. It is Christmas time. Let's talk a little Netflix game preview and a little TNF after the break. Oh, yeah.

I love... Eric always plays the great rock Christmas music. I love it.

It is amazing.

We're in my checks today.

We're in a joyful spirit. You guys tried to take me out of it by saying I was honking about Drake May. I saw what you all were doing, and I didn't want to give you the satisfaction. Now, I'm really looking forward to these games. They're taking over the building, the Netflix people, because they're working out of an NFL Network studios. Just downstairs, you ran into who? Drew Brees and RG3?

Drew Brees, Robert Griffin III. The whole crew is coming in. You ran into one of the GOAT and legend icons. Oh, yeah.

I saw our friend Mina Kimes, just as I was walking up to the studio, she was walking down. They're doing some rehearsals. Everyone, check out the two games. It's going to be fun. Chiefs Stealers, Ravens, Texans. When they set these games up, they figured, There's no way that these games could be stinkers. It does turn out they are two of the best games of the week. There's only so many good games. We got Minnesota Green Bay on Sunday, but these two games mean so much. It is crazy to think, Jordan. Let's start with the Chiefs and the Steelers. That's a 1:00 PM Eastern kickoff. It's crazy to think, and we're taping this on Christmas Eve Day, that in roughly 24 hours, Patrick Mahomes could be done playing football until the divisional round of the playoff. Rip, everybody else. Right, because if they can win this game and clinch home field, you got to think that they're going to rest him in week 18, then they have to buy. That's a conversation for another today, but big-time stakes for them and big time stakes for the Steelers who are trying to win the division and trying to get a home game.

They are tied right now with the Ravens at 10 and 5.

I really like the stakes of this game because it's the Chiefs I'm not trying to be dramatic here because 14 and one, like nothing to sneeze at. They've already shown that they are going to have a strong season. But after this last week, the Chiefs have arrived, I think, fully, because that was one of their most complete-looking offensive performances where they had multiple layers of an offense actually running. Patrick Mahomes was incredibly efficient playing through that ankle injury, and he was getting the ball out fast, and they were moving this offense. They were amassing, I I think you pointed this out, a significant number of yards per play that would have led the league in most other weeks. The Chiefs are here. They are scary. They are not fluky if they continue in this way. This is a Steeler's team that has its back creeping toward the wall a little bit. They really need to snap out of this. They need George Pickens back.We'll talk about that in a minute.Looks like he's back. Looks like he's going to be back. Might be missing Joey Porter Jr, which is going to be a tough loss because that means they'll have to play at least one backup corner, even if Dante Jackson comes back.

This is a bit of a crunch time situation for the Steelers who tend to show up in crunch time. Right.

I think they're going to respond in this game, but they haven't been beating the allegations. We said their schedule is going to get really hard down the stretch, and for the most part, they stood up to it. But last two weeks, they've lost by two shutdowns to two of the best teams in the NFL in back-to-back week. So I do think they respond in this game, and it's going to help that they get, according to the injury report, Dashan Elliott, who's been really valuable for them at safety back, George Pickens, who I don't need to go on, but he clearly is the jenga piece for that offense. Then Dante Jackson at cornerback, who really hasn't played that well, but he is a starter, and with Joey Porter Jr, probably out for this game. They are getting some people back. Chris Jones hasn't been practicing. That's something to keep an eye on. Maybe it's just because of the strange week, but he obviously would be a massive, massive loss for the Chiefs. Yeah.

It's interesting because George Pickens being such a crucial part and a crucial element of this offense, obviously, it's not just about the place he can make, but the space that he creates, the extra room on the field in general. When you have someone who can stretch the field like that, who is being targeted and is a threat, then you just open up a lot more grass for everybody to work on, right? And that would help the run game in turn. But what I think is concerning about the Steelers in general and the way that they are playing football, as exciting as it's been, as correct as they've been and a lot of the decisions they've made this year, when so much of your offense hinges on one of the lower probability plays that you can make, which is the deep shot or the mid to deep range pass play, when so much of your offense's success and explosiveness is predicated on making that play and it looks this different without... They moved the ball well last week. I will give them that, but they're not running the ball efficiently, even though they're trying to run the ball and they load up in heavy personnel a lot.

They're still not running the ball statistically efficiently, and you could see that on the tape as well. It's like a style over substance situation, and they need to be more complete when infusing that substance into the middle parts of their offense. When the deep shot is back, that's great. But you cannot hinge your offense on one of the lower probability plays.

And yet they're counting on him, and Calvin Austin has played well for them. I think he's legitimate piece in Van Jefferson stuff. It's like, that's just who they are. And yet, Russ, it's funny. I actually thought he had one of his best games of the season last week, except for the turnovers, whereas I feel like he has gotten a little too much credit over the course of the season when he hasn't always been playing his best. It's just funny how that works. They're going to need him to play well against this defense, which has played better. We do have some updates on the injury report. The official one is out. Joey Porter Jr. Is officially out. But everyone else that they were worried about is not even on the injury report anymore. That's important. Chris Jones is questionable after being limited on Tuesday, and so you would expect that he would play. Same thing with Jowan Taylor. They won't have DJ Humphreys back, so it's going to be Joe Tuni again at left tackle. I thought he's played pretty well. And Chamari Connor, who at their slot position, could be victimized because this is not a deep secondary.

They've moved Trent McDuffy back to the slot the last couple of weeks, and that has been That's huge because he wasn't that great on the outside, and so you were hurting two positions, and now at least you have an all-pro slot defender, and you're just better because of that.

They use that logic when they move Joe Tuni, too. They're technically hurting their interior a bit by moving Joe Tooney. That one makes more sense to me. Exactly. But now, it's the same logical application. Even though they're weakening one element of... They're putting an A+ plus player at a position that desperately needs it. Now, the same thing in moving him back to the slot, that is absolutely an A plus plus player playing at an A plus position. Now, I know it's not Joe Tooney's natural position to play at left tackle, but you're still putting an A plus plus player at a crucial position of need in late December, and I think that is a logical thing.

He's done it before, too. He did it with the Patriots and did it well, and he's got the toughest matchup possible. That's how the Steelers win. I think the Steelers cover. They're three and a half point underdogs in this game or three. Either way, I like the Steelers there. I think the Steelers might win this game. I promise you, I haven't picked against the Chiefs all season except for the Bills game. Maybe one other, the Eagles. One other game that I got wrong, that they did win. But I do think this is a spot they show up. The way they would do it is just what makes them special? It's Watt, Herbig, and Highsmith. You got to show up. Maybe Watt hasn't been 100% healthy lately. Hayward, of course. I'm thinking the edges, so that's Tunie, but you're absolutely right. Their pass rush.

They don't have Tunie on the interior anymore. This is a Kam Hayward game.

They need to just absolutely dominate. We'll see if Patrick Mahomes continues what he did last week. That should scare everyone. He got rid of the ball so quickly. His time to throw was nothing. They were reading the defense, and he's been holding onto the ball and taking a lot of hits, and he just didn't do that last week. Hollywood Brown will help that out. Xavier worthy has been a little more comfortable. Does Hollywood's role continue to increase. But yeah, to me, it's one of those games where one side is Chris Jones and has some great defensive players, but sometimes it's not about the Xs and O's. It's just if Watt, Herbig, and Hy Smith, and Hayward, which is one of the best Pass-Rush groups we've seen in a long time can just show up, and they all play their absolute best. I think they end up winning this game.

It's going to be interesting because to your point, Hollywood Brown and Xavier worthy, they have become the three-point shooters in this where they're making these explosive plays. They're making these low probability but high reward plays down the field. But the Chiefs are also helping get the ball out of Pat Mahomes' hand really fast because they're now working Nuke Hopkins and Travis Chelsea in the intermediate portions, which is so interesting that New Hopkins is picking up the gimme plays and picking up the grind it out plays. I love that. I love because he can do everything, right?

I was going to say a smaller tight-end, but he's not even.

He's still just the tight-end His eyes. He's just so gifted. I think that that has been an absolute game changer for them is they can win in this way now, especially getting a couple of other players back in those deeper layers, because now you don't need those receivers who are at the top of the field and who are stretching the field in the way that they do, you're not needing them to do more for you. You're only needing them to do what they do best.

Really looking forward to this one. My friend, guest on the show, Anthony Jesselnick said, Enjoy the Stealers' victory on Christmas. He is confident. We're also going to try to get him back for the playoff to talk about his Stealers. He's feeling confident about this. There is something about that. It's home. This is so stupid. It's like home and it's Christmas. I don't know. I could just imagine a very Tomlin victory. It's just in my head.

I'm going to pick the StealersOh, my gosh.

We can't both. Then now I'm taking the Chiefs.

Okay, I think you should take the Chiefs. The Chiefs is a smarter pick. They won 14 games this year. But I'm going to pick the Steelers based on vibes because I love Pittsburgh football in December and in January when they get the opportunity to do that. It was described by one of the players. I was reading this great Mike Tomlin piece where a bunch of players were quoted talking about him as a head coach and what makes him special. One of the players quoted in the piece was talking about December football in Pittsburgh, and he described it as, The air is heavy and everything feels Gothic. I was like, F, yeah, I'm going Stealers.

Funny because that reminds me more than any team of the Ravens. Our next team we're going to talk about. The Ravens home field advantage is very Gothic in black, but it's true. I think of that home field for their night games and everything. Oh, I love it. There's a darkness to it in the best way possible. But they're not in Baltimore. They're in Houston. That gives the Texans a little edge here. I think they have a nice home field crowd, one of the most underrated crowds in the league, and one of the most underrated fan bases in the league. I feel like the Texans fans don't get the love that they deserve just for the energy, the intelligence, the noise. I see you, Texans fans. You're one of the least annoying fan bases out there, and you're going to need to help your team here because you're fighting an uphill battle. They are five and a half points underdogs at home in week 17 when they're going to go to the playoffs. That is tough, but it is bad timing. I think they are catching the Ravens at a bad time. Both of these teams just had their buy.

They're fresher more than anything. This is a Ravens defense, to me, that is no longer just shooting themselves in the foot. They got better. And so they're Letting the league's best offense take center stage while they just don't mess it up. I think that's really important heading into this stretch of the season.

This defense is not as dramatic as a night and day change, but they made some personnel adjustments, and Zack Orr has been coaching his ass off. I mean, that dude is 32 years old, Greg. To be coordinating a defense that has gotten better, that is under so much intense scrutiny at 32 years old, I think he's done a hell of a job this season, especially after losing not just the previous DC, but a bunch of the assistant coaches, too. All right.

Hell of a job.

He's coaching his butt off.

They declined pretty hard. You can't argue- They had to bring in Dean Pease, But what they've done is they've done the Ravens thing where they've made great adjustments, and he deserves credit for that.They've.

Simplified things.That's coaching. Absolutely. That's coaching. That's a good job. At 32, I mean, come on. I'm 32. I couldn't do that shit. No way. Well, right.

At 32, I could barely handle... I think I had a newborn. I tied my shoes today. I had a newborn, and I was soon to leave for the nfl. Com as an editor. That alone scramble my brain trying to start that new job. I can only imagine what it's like to be a coordinator. Yes, Kyle Hamilton is in the back-end. Roquan Smith is doing what he's doing, and maybe he doesn't have as much going on there. You don't need to be a super football nerd to just see the busts aren't there. The communication is better. They just look like a normal defense. I don't even know if they're That's great.

I'm not calling them a great defense. They've gotten better.

If they're the 13th best defense in the NFL, that's enough to go win a Super Bowl, and that's enough to stop this version of the Texans' offense, unfortunately, as someone who's pulling for them to be good.

Absolutely history and absolutely heartbreaking what happened to the Texans last week with Tank Del. That's going to be felt in so many ways, even more so than on the field. That's going to be really hard for them to overcome. They've already had to overcome issues with the offensive line. C. J. Stroud just getting rattled in certain plays and against certain pressure that just is constant. Now he doesn't have one of his favorite players as an outlet and one of his dear friends on the field as well. It's absolutely heartbreaking. And I think that's going to be significant for them down the... I mean, it is something that they're going to have to overcome. I don't know necessarily how they do it.

He was playing his best football tank doll of the year. He was playing so well.

Now, I will say, scientists and our top analysts in the NFL are working overtime this week, trying to quantify a thing that some are calling the Beyoncé bump.

Oh, wow.

In Houston, Beyoncé is going to be on the scene in Houston.

She will be in the building. Yes. It's going to be very distracting, I feel like, for the players.

I feel like just her aura, her presence just lifts everybody. I don't think that's worth the negative spread. I I think that she at least gives them a field goal advantage, if not a countdown. I feel like the Beyoncé, but scientists are working on it.I can't specifically sayI love that.

Lamar said he's going to watch. He's going to watch. He's going to come out and watch. So he's already distracted. So that's a help.

I mean, just her aura and her excellence, right? I just feel like that's enough to Houston's own.

You got to give a little bump here. Now, they do have special things about them. I could have chosen Joe Mixon for how he runs for what gives me joy. I think he leads the league in a little known stat, which is runs hard plus his cuts make me gasp composite. If you combine those two things in terms of just running hard every single play and making a cut that makes me gasp. I think he's the NFL leader for that. They need him and CJ and Nico Collins to just be special. I know that's bad analysis, but they are three special players.

That's not bad analysis. We call that the sternum quotient. It's when you go, it clutch your sternum.

I think CJ has played better since the buy. There have been rough plays, but I think there's been more of what makes him special, too. I think he showed a lot of that last week. Maybe this Ravens pass rush isn't that great. Maybe we can get it done. I am a little worried about the injuries on the Texans' offensive line. Ju strugs is hurt. Shaq Mason is out. You're adding new injuries to the mix for a group that's just rough to begin with. They're already missing the right tackle.

I'm going to pick the Ravens in this one. First of all, it goes without saying, but should be repeated often. Lamar is playing just otherworldly football, especially very consistently. He had a couple of games where he maybe didn't look totally like the Lamar that we've seen throughout most of the year, but overall been absolutely excellent. I love that he has some island games. I think this time of year, especially the MVP conversation continues, I love that he's getting a couple of island games. I think he has the opportunity and the potential to do something even more historic than the historic thing that he did last year. A lot of his advanced statistics- Which is what?

Win a third MVP?

A lot of his advanced statistics are continuing to ascend and continuing to even be better than years previously. I think that getting him in front of a lot of people is important if he can continue to meet that bar. The Ravens, in general, are an absolute wagon. And again, like you said, I'm not crowning them as a great defense. I think that they've coached their butts off, and they have made adjustments, and that is what good coaches do, and that is why they've improved. And they're playing hard for that coaching staff as well. And so I think that if you can at least be a middle-of-the-pack defense and your offense is capable of lifting you to extraordinary heights as they've done all season long, then this team is just going to be incredibly dangerous. And I think they start to roll, continue roll because they have been rolling, but they especially continue to roll into this time of the year that is so important to have that inertia.

I hope it doesn't happen, but I think they cover the five and a half points. Jimmy Ward out for the season. Aziz Al-Shair, their defense is totally different without him. He can return from his I mentioned next week. Zay flowers, a little banged up coming into this one. Justice Hill, probably not going to play, or he's definitely not going to play. We'll see. I hope you're right about the MVP thing is tricky because the This discourse is just going to annoy me. But this is one of the better quarterback seasons I've ever seen from Lamar Jackson, and Josh Allen isn't far off. I'm hoping it isn't an annoying debate. I think Josh Allen will win it if he keeps it going. But it reminds me a little bit of 2004, which a lot of people think was the greatest quarterback season of all time by Peyton Manning. I would rank Dante Culpeppers 2004, at least in the top five quarterback seasons of my lifetime. It's weird. If you were there, you remember it. And yet he didn't get the award because he was in the same year as Peyton Manning having that award. That's what I feel like it's going to happen, maybe a little less, but to either Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson this year.

It's unfortunate. Let's go to the Thursday Night Football. We don't have to spend as much time on this one because it's the bears. Yes, they might be the best team I've ever seen with a nine-game losing streak. That's the nicest thing I can say about your team, Hytham. Is it nine at this point or is it 10? How have they lost nine straight games? They They really aren't that bad. When you watch them every week-I know.

They play so hard.

It's up and down in terms of that, but they're much better. They are a six or seven win team.

For a nine consecutive lost team, relative to that, they play hard. Yeah. I didn't Caleb is coming off his best game since at least before Thanksgiving, maybe his best game of the entire season.

I thought he played really well last week. His problem has been stringing those types of games together. It won't be easy. This defense shows you a lot of different looks for the most part has been consistent, and it's going to be a tough matchup. The Seahawks in the playoff race at 8 and 7, stupidly, and I don't want to spend much time on this, but stupidly, this game doesn't matter for them, which is a dirty secret. They actually have basically the same chance to make the playoffs if they win or lose, which defies your... It just blows my mind. It's like, Wait, really? But because of the strength of victory, tiebreaker, all that really matters for them is that the Rams lose on Saturday, and it doesn't matter if they win or lose. But they are going to want to try to win, and I think they will win and cover the three and a half points.

Yeah, obviously. There is such a massive hinge, right, coming up this weekend because the Rams would win the NFC West with a Seattle loss or tie, and the Rams beat Arizona. But then Seattle also wants the Rams to lose for their own playoff ramifications. I know you've gone over the permutations.

They just need the Rams to lose. That's all there is.

It's really all there is. It really is. We can permutate and permutate and permutate away But that really, it does boil down to those two games that are going on this weekend. I have a question. I do have a question for you because you've watched probably every Snap of Gino Smith over the last several years, and I say that as a compliment. You have the data. How hurt does he seem to you? Does he seem like he's...

I mean, he looked a little banged up during that game from maybe something that happened during that game. I wouldn't say that's been a major factor. During that game, yes.

I thought he played That was great football. But I thought he got, not reinjured necessarily. It's dramatic because he didn't even know. At the end of the game. But I thought he got just banged up even more. And I don't know. I'm concerned about the... That takes a toll. He's taking a lot of hits this season. It's late in the year.

Short week. It's cold. You're on the road. It's cold. The bears are just very unpredictable. Their defense will play well one game and not well the other, and the offense does vice versa, so they never play well at the same time. I actually was encouraged how Seattle That's how I played. When I watched that game, Gino made too many risky throws, and they were too pass-heavy, just 46 passes.

Well, they've been that way all year.

I know, but it was just crazy considering the scenario. That said, when I watched that game, I thought it couldn't have been more evenly played. I was just like, these are two good teams with pretty good offenses and defenses going back and forth. All the numbers, the success rate, the yards, just the eyeball test. Every unit had extraordinary plays, and it just looked like two good teams, and one is a a little bit better, and that's the Vikings. That's not surprising to me. The Seahawks, I was like, yeah, they are a pretty good team. They are a 9 or 10 win team. That's just where they were. We'll have conversations about whether Tarek Wullen and D. K. Metcalf and Draymon Jones are parts of their future. I think that's something that's interesting.

There's some chatter about whether the OC is a part of their future.

Right. That could all be there. I think Gino Smith, just because of how his contract looks and because of the market, will be there for sure next year. But go take care of business. Show me that you are the 9 to 10 win team that I think you are. I'm torn on Saturday because I want a good week 18 game. I want the Rams to lose, even though my family would hate me for that.

Well, they're in. Just to set up. You can celebrate.

They're definitely not listening. Okay, that is it for our Christmas Day. And yes, December 26th preview. I forgot that TNF game even existed. I was like, what? They're jamming in one more TNF here for the season. What a treat it's been going over all the things that bring us joy, Jordan. Doing this show with you has brought me a ton of joy, but we're not ending. We will see you next Tuesday. Pauline Wolf will be back for that show, and We were hoping to read some of her cards aloud, and we decided, let's get her in the studio. We applaud all of our listeners, and if you follow Colleen on socials, check it out on Instagram. She put it up that you guys came correct. You sent your Christmas cards to poor, woebegotten Coleen Wolf. No, she's with her family enjoying the Christmas season right now.Including Tim. The whole crew, including Tim. Why don't you just keep sending him. Send it here to NFL Network, care of Coleen Wolf, and we will read them next week. You can make it a Christmas card, you can make it a New Year's card, and we'll get that as part of the show.

My goal for Coleen, because I feel like she is the type of personality that would truly derive so much joy from this, is that she continues to get specifically Christmas cards all through spring and summer. Listeners, you guys already have come through in so many ways. Keep sending cards to Coleen Wolf, of NFL Network. The address is very public. Make sure that you continue the Christmas card theme. We're going to do this all the way through July. We're going to make her month, week, year. She deserves it. She is joy personified. I love that we're doing this episode today because Pauline is Joy personified. It's been, for me, just like, I can't even believe how lucky I am to get to come in here every Tuesday and see you guys. I really appreciate it.

Very well said. Let's go. Let's let everyone behind the glass go do their last minute shopping or whatever, wrapping, whatever they need to do. We will be back on Thursday. Patrick will be with me to recap those Christmas games and look ahead to the rest of the week 17 slate. We got Hanukah starting. We got Christmas to everyone out there. Yes. When old Saint nick is about to go make his deliveries, you know football is back.