Transcript of Ryan Fitzpatrick, Steelers Bounce Dolphins, Hot Seat/Cool Throne + Listener FAQ’s With A Big Show Announcement

Hey, Part of My Take, listeners. You can find every episode on Apple podcast, Spotify or YouTube. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. On today's Part of My Take, presented by DraftKings. We are going to do a little cleanup from week 15. We got Ryan Fitzpatrick on the show, getting ready for Thursday night football, Ram Seahawks. Talk Monday night football, Steelers, PFT. They might win a playoff game. Aaron Rodgers. I'm going to tell you. Looking We're going to maybe figure out what the Dolphins are going to do going forward. We have listener-submitted FAQs, and we also have Hot Seat, Cool Throne. It's all brought to you by our friends at game time. The NFL is in full Swing, tailgates, pack stands at buzz before kickoff, but getting in Nightmare. Hank, what game are you looking at for Week 16? Are you serious? Yeah, I am. Zack, do you have a game you're looking at Week 16? Game time. Cues, price jumps, getting logged out mid-click.

All you want is- I got one I'm looking at if you want. All right, so we got College Football playoff this weekend. Everyone's super excited about that.

Packers at Bayer, $440. Catch up, PFT.

Everyone's super excited. We've got a J-M-U at Oregon. I believe get in price is 88 bucks. Pretty cheap. Second cheapest is going to be Oklahoma, Alabama. I think that's 190 bucks to get in. That tells me maybe Oregon fans aren't buying a lot of tickets to the J-M-U Oregon game. Interesting.

Okay, so game time. Zack, do you have one? This is all on the Game Time app. It's the best app in the world. If you want to get on the Game Time app, you could- What about the 12 days of game time? 12 days of game time. It looks like it's over, buddy. It's time to get back to finding great deals for the people with game time. What do you got, Zack? You wanted to go see the Commander's deals game coming up. You could get it for just 75 bucks. Oh, okay. 75 bucks. The Game Time app gives the advantage back to fans to hack for unlocking amazing tickets and experiences in a few taps. It's incredibly easy to use. The game time guarantee means you can trust you get 100% authentic tickets on time and at the best price. Plus, fees are always included. So what you see is what you pay. We're looking at tickets for Bear's Packers. We're looking at tickets for Commander's Eagles. We're looking at tickets for JMU, Oregon, and Alabama, Oklahoma. It's all on the GameTime app. Take the guess we're going to be buying NFL tickets with GameTime.

Download the GameTime app. Create an account. Use code PMT for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account. Redeem code PMT for $20 off. Download the GameTime app today. Okay, let's go. Hey, football guy, but team of A-W-head.

Pardon, my take.

Yeah, pardon, my take.

Yeah, pardon, my take.

Yeah, Welcome to Part of My Take, presented by DraftKings.

The Crown is yours. Today is Wednesday, December 17th, and I think Aaron Rodgers might be back, the old gunslinger, and the Steelers win yet again on Monday night football. They have not lost, what is it, 16 to no at home? Something ridiculous.

Well, all right. It's interesting you brought that up.

First of all-23 starts. 23 straight Monday night football home wins.

Wednesday, though, right?

Wednesday. I wanted to blaze the Steelers right off the bat, but since we're diving into the streak right now, I'm forced to get into this for a second. They lost on Monday They did. Was it Monday night? It was Monday night. It was maybe not Monday, not Monday evening football. I think the game kicked off at 5: 00 PM.

But was it Monday night football?

The game kicked off Monday evening, 5: 00 PM in 2020. The Washington football team beat the Steelers, who I believe were undefeated at the time. They were 11-0. Technically not Monday night football because it was a delayed game because of COVID. Got it. It was on Monday night.

But it didn't have the Monday night football graphics.

Did not have the graphics, did not have the pageantry. Who knows? So that's the stat. They probably didn't even play Renegade.

So they're 23 straight home wins with the Monday Night Football graphic.

Correct. I think it's since 1991. I started looking back through their schedule over the years, and something jumped off the page to me. So I had Stat hole look it up. And again, I think the Steelers, this is the year. They're going to win a playoff game. I've said it all year.

You have. And I'm starting to believe if they can play the chargers.

That's exactly what I told you. I said if they can get that matchup, I feel like they could win that one.

But I- Which I don't know if they're going to get that matchup.

I looked at the schedule throughout the years, and then I had Stat hole actually look it up to confirm what I thought I was seeing. The NFL has engineered this streak for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The win-loss record, the winning percentage of opponents that the Steelers have played during the streak on Monday Night Football is 40%. That is by far the weakest schedule of any team that's played on Monday Night Football.

Well, a couple of those percentage points come in because the Steelers beat them.

That is true. But then I had Sathol look it up again and see what were those teams' winning percentages the year before when they made the schedule. Steelers, again, easiest Monday Night football schedule in the week.

Oh, man. They're tilting the scales.

I get it. I feel like you got to play ball with the Roonies sometimes, and they know that Monday Night Football is good for the brand to see the Steelers winning at home under the lights. I'm not trying to take away from what the Steelers did last night because I feel like they're coming into form at the right time. I just saw the talk about the streak, and I had to look into it deeper. The second lowest opposing winning percentage on Monday Night Football is the Buffalo Bills, and they're 46 %. The Steelers are far and away the easiest schedule. We I should mention- To put that in perspective, too, the Patriot schedule this year is about 400. So that's what you're looking at. Got it. Yeah, about 24 years of the Patriot schedule.

The Steelers have also always been not They're never bad. So that does play into it. But yeah, it was the two streaks going up against each other because we had the Steelers and what they do on Monday football. And the Dolphins have lost 13 straight games, including the playoffs, with kickoff temperatures below 40 degrees since 2016. It's obviously the dumbest analysis we do with the Candyash uniforms, but God damn it, is it right? It's 100 % right. It's 100 % right. And Mike McDaniel, I know that he's got the vote of confidence, so he's going to maybe stick around. We can talk about two in a second. I don't know what it is about him. He might have to, next time they play a game under 40 degrees, just coach in the booth, dude, because you keep saying that you're not cold and you get there early to practice in the cold and you wore the shirt a couple of years ago being like, I wish it were colder. Every time they show you, you look like the coldest man in the world.

Yeah, the fogged up glasses. He should coach shirtless. Be a man about it. Look like Mac Holland's out on the field before the game.

It's crazy. He can't The cold has beaten him.

Yeah, mentally.

Mentally, physically.

In all the ways.

Mike McDaniel, Napoleon, Hitler. Hitler. Can't win in the cold.

No. Also, Mike McDaniel is like 5'9. Yeah. Interesting. That's true. Short geniuses. They tried to do the thing where they tried to beat the Steelers by being the Steelers a little bit in the first half. That's the exact game plan that Pittsburgh wants. Yeah. Pittsburgh has some shortcomings, but if you try to play Pittsburgh Steeler football against the Pittsburgh Steelers, you will get your ass kicked by the real thing. Their defense looked really good. Also, you know what? Credit, though, to the Dolphins defense because I feel like-They hung in there. That first half was pretty tough for the Steelers. They were knocking the shit out of them. They were very, very physical. But then after halftime, everything swung. The Dolphins didn't really do a whole lot. Then the fourth quarter happened, and McDaniel seemed to just give up on playing offense. There was no urgency when they got down. It pissed Troy Akeman off.

You Troy was pissed about everything. I agreed with him on the taunting call. You can't look at a guy. You can't stand over a guy. I love that Troy is at the point of his career where he's like, I'm really good at this. Joe and I have been doing this a long time. No one's going to get rid of this booth. I'm going to just tell you how I feel about every play, every quarterback, every referee, and just shit on things.

Yeah, it was a great game for Pittsburgh. The defense looked really good. Dike, they need to get him more involved. He He disappears a little bit, but when he gets the ball, he's still fucking awesome. He'll run through somebody's face.

But the big thing for the Stealers is that the last two games, he has looked old Rodgers-like. And if he is going to play like that, then, yes, I do think they can win a playoff game. The last two games, he has 508 yards, four passing touch downs, almost an 80 % adjusted completion percentage. He's been on fire. He had that one tight window throw To Dike, I think it was the touch down. The Dike made a great play afterwards. But yeah, it feels like he's starting to get a little bit of his swagger back and things are making sense, and he becomes a dangerous piece in the AFC playoffs because we talk about it with quarterback play. If you have a quarterback you can trust, if Aaron Rodgers is going to play like this, you can trust the stealers. I don't know. We've seen them look really, really bad, so I'm not going to just erase that and be like, This is a different team. Jersey Jerry said soupy last Last night.

Yeah, I think if they can get the chargers on Monday night football in the playoffs, I think the Stealers win that game. Yeah. I think they're now 2-0. Monday night football, yeah. They're now 2-0 since getting Adam Thielen, 2018 Pro Bowl.

I got a question about the Dolphins. Why wouldn't you just play Zack Wilson in the last three games? So they're eliminated. They had a weird season where they obviously were the bad vibes team to start the season. They lost a bunch of games. They were competitive-ish. Then their schedule softened up a little bit. They got the Jets twice. They got the Saints. They rattled off some wins. They looked like a competent team. But we all the whole time were saying, Hey, when they actually have to start playing some teams again, they've put themselves in too much of a hole. Tua is just not good. The first three and a half quarters was just some really bad quarterback play. I feel like Michael McDaniel is going to survive. I don't know if you can just run it back with Tua.

Yeah. Why not play Zack Wilson? Why not play Quin Ewer's? I am intrigued. I'm questioning whether or not I want to see Quin Ewers play. I thought about that last night. I think I'm in Quin de Aragua. I think I am a Quin Ewer's guy. That's a stretch. Yeah. He's a tough guy. I want to see what they got.

Can you walk me through that one?

Walk you through what?

Quin de Aragua?

There's a Venezuelan street gang, Trent de Aragua. Got it. Much like the Howlaban or the Taleaban.

So this is a spinoff of the Howlaban? Yeah.

Or the Shroud Boys.

Yeah, the Shroud Boys. It's a South American version of the Straub Boys.

Or Brysis.

All right. That was for the listener. I knew all that, but I just wanted to make sure the listener knew.

I liked watching Quinn play when he was in college. He was a first-round talent for a couple of years and then fell off a little bit. You might as well roll the dice, though, if you're the offense at this point.

That's quite a sentence. What? He was a first-round talent for a couple of years.

He was a lot of guys before. He was. But you know as well as I knew that.

You're right.

If you see a guy- It's a funny thing to say out loud being like, Yeah, for a year, he was mocked in the first round. Just like I'd like to see Kyle Trask out on the field again. Yeah, I agree.

I think Kyle Trask could do some things.

I wouldn't mind seeing Quinuers out there because at this point, what else are you going to do if you're the Dolphins?

But if Mike McDaniel is the guy that we think he is, which I still think he's a good coach, he should be able to... He's in that Sean McVay, Kyle Shana hand. I can make any quarterback look competent because he's been doing it with Tua. Obviously, not last night until the last 10 minutes. Unbelievable over, by the way. That was the deadest thing ever. And they just kept on playing.

Now I'm looking up quarterbacks that are number 13, so they can be MS 13. I don't know if we got any out there right now. Oh, Dan Moreno, MS 13. Yeah, I feel like- Good friend of the program. Friend of the program. I think the Steelers have the pieces in place where can he gain well? He can make their weird horizontal passing game work.

Aaron Rodgers loves them.

Because he's dynamic enough. If he catches the ball in space, he can make a guy miss, and the offense can look pretty competent. They mixed in Washington a little bit last night. They looked good. Aaron Rodgers was like, he's now firmly labeled the Steelers as being underdogs. It's them against the world.

Yeah, a lot of guys who've been passed over.

There's some cast offs if you look at our roster, which makes it really special.

They're the most expensive defense.

Kenny Gainewell signed a next to nothing contract. Connor Hayward, an afterthought, had a shutdown run. Marquez has been on a couple of teams. Adam Thielen got cut. Samuel was on the street for a long time. So it says a lot about the character of the guys we brought in. And then he went on to clarify that he doesn't consider himself a cast-off. I saw his wrist, he's a cast-off. But I think that he has now formed the Steeler's offense into being us against the world. And I think that's a good spot for Aaron Rodgers.

And you could feel that he's gaining confidence because he was in a very jovial mood after the game. It was very funny when he was like, Yeah, we got TJ. I don't know where he's been all week. That was a pretty funny line. Yeah, he had surgery on his lung.

Dry needling. Yeah. What It was dry needling?

I don't know, but all I know about dry needling is that some agent texted Ian Rappaport what to say, and then he just copy and pasted it. Yeah. Can you pull up Ian Rappaport's dry needling tweet? It was the most copy and- It's right there. No, that's him updating it. It was the most copy and paste tweet I've ever seen from an agent. I don't know where.

We'll find it. I have no idea if I spelled that right.

What? Ian Rappaport?

No, dry needling.

It's the word needle and dry.

It could have been something different. I've never heard of that word.

You've never heard of needling?

Dry needling?

I got it for you. Here it goes. This is directly from an agent.

They're two pretty common words. Ready?

Dry needling is a treatment many, many players do at the team facility without issue to alleviate general soreness. Following one treatment, T. J. Watt was left in extreme pain, and doctors quickly sent him to the hospital. A harrowing experience, but minor surgery and full recovery.

What are you giggleing at over there, Hank?

A dry needleing is not a hard word to spell.

Hank didn't know what OB/GYN was.

That was years ago. Now he knows all about the dryness.

But now I'm getting ashamed for not knowing what dry needleing is?

No, no, no, no, no. It's the way you said, I can't spell it because I've never heard of it.

I didn't know what it was.

But you know what needle is.

Yes, I know what a needle is.

You know how to spell the word dry.

But I don't know what that thing is. I don't know if it actually has to do with needles.

I would say it probably does.

Why don't I know what an OB/GYN is? I don't have a vagina. Facts.

Good point. That's just a common-He loves them, but he doesn't have one.

Sometimes it does get tricky when you're doing the INGs because sometimes it's why before I.

I thought you were going to talk about vaginas. Yeah, no. No. No. It doesn't. It's dry as always. No. D-r-y. It's dry. Like a vagina.

Are you talking to me or Zack?

I don't know which one I'm talking to. I can't tell which one Zack came to your defense, which is insane.

Yeah, good guy. Why is that insane?

Well, no, he can't spell.

No, but Zack's a phonetic speller, and that one's still easy to phonetically spell.

For the record, I spelled it correctly in the search bar, but nothing was coming up. So that's why I was like, Maybe I spelled this wrong.

For the record, Hank could spell Abjinn correctly. He just couldn't pronounce it. Yeah.

Either way, Rapport just saying dry needling is something everyone does.

Yeah. I don't know. I've never had the procedure. It doesn't sound comfortable. You would like a little bit of lube on the needle.

It's supposed to fix general soreness, as Rapport said.

He's got some crazy injuries. Tj? Yeah. Remember when he fell in a pool?

Yeah. Well, yeah, he didn't get injured there.

It just looked like he could have got injured.

It just looked dangerous. That was actually on Jerry. Jerry should have been there to catch him. Tj should be back, though. He is doing better. It is scary because you don't want anything with a minor surgery in lungs.

You don't want that.

Those don't feel like those words go together.

You don't want that. That's the old Tarad Taylor. Yeah.

As for some cleanup, so we had the official word, Micah Parsons towards ACL, Patrick Holmes towards ACL. Patrick Holmes already got ACL surgery.

Kind of crazy. Usually, you wait for the swelling to go down. I guess he didn't have a lot of swelling, but it was an ACL and an LCL. So it was both of those, which complicates things a little bit. I think he's going to play next year. I think some people are asking if he's going to be back for week one. I don't know. Adrian Peterson screwed everything up when he came back after he tore his ACL on Christmas, and then he came back week one and set the all-time rushing record, pretty much. No one knows.

Well, I did some research, and I do have some intel. It's a 50/50 proposition because this came from Swedrick Freddleton in a reply to Patrick Mahomes' surgery. He said, I tore my ACL as a high school sophomore in February and played in September. Beast. That's huge. Beast. But then he went on to say, I tore my left ACL as a senior and knew it was time to hang it up. So which one was his right or left?

His was his right? I don't know.

If it was his right, we should expect him back in September. If it was his left, he might hang it up.

Let's see.

I think it was-Oh, no.

So that might be it.

So if you're going off of Fredrick Freddleton. Oh, man.

This is pre-peptides, though.

Yeah, true. He was a high school sophomore.

Peptides could be a game changer. Maybe fly over Italy? They're not talking about them enough.

What are peptides?

I just know it's a new thing that they're using for ACL recovery that they're not really talking about because they don't know if it's allowed or not. But that is helping people recover quickly.

That's what Billy football injected into my arm.

He was ahead of his time.

To fix my UCL, and it worked.

But I think people-Of all the dumb things you've done on this.

If you get the surgery I think that was probably the dumbest thing I've ever done.

If you get the surgery, the sooner you get the surgery, the better off you are of recovering quicker.

Well, yeah, because it shortens the timeline.

By a day or two.

Well, sometimes you have to wait a week if it's really swelling.

Swelling, yeah. Either way, I just love guys who reply with their own injuries, being like, Here's an approximate timeline for a world-class athlete with world-class rehab.

In the 1970s and '80s, you used to just say, Yeah, I blew my knee out. Yeah, that was it. And then that was it. Your knee would just get blown out, and it would never get blown back in.

He was going to be the best player ever.

Yeah.

Could have gone pro.

And then-Blue his knee out. When the weather changes, you're like, My tricked knee. That's what medicine was until the the year 2005. Yeah.

Do you guys think there... How many Chiefs fans out there are there right now saying, with no sense of troll, irony, anything, they're saying, We don't know how that season would have ended.

That's some third-level cope. I think it's more than you think. Yeah? Yeah.

I think it's more than you think.

I would say 35% of Chiefs fans thinking that.

And good for them because that's a great thing to be able to walk around with in your back pocket being like, Well, we don't actually know.

It's bullshit. It makes me so mad. The best thing would be if Minchou came in and just won three straight. Yeah. And then you're like, Are they better without Patrick Mahomes.

Yeah, but they still would have been if Minchou started against the chargers, they could have won. Yeah.

They just waited. Patrick Mahomes waited too late to tear his knee. Yeah.

Going back to Monday Football real quick, did you guys see Big Ben had to... He did a press conference last Last night? Yeah. I don't know why he was doing a press conference. He had to walk back his Tomlin quotes.

I think they had some Ring of Honor, Bring Back the Old Legends.

It was that type. Joey Porter night.

It was Joey Porter Night. But yeah, he said that he didn't actually say they should fire Mike Tomlin. He said that Mike Tomlin deserves to decide whatever he wants and saying they should clean house wasn't actually saying fire him.

Was Terry Bradshaw there last night? That's the big question. That is the big question. Probably not.

Yeah, but Big Ben. Hey, Big Ben, you're We're finding out what it's like to be in the podcast game. Sometimes you say shit and you got to address it.

You know that Big Ben saw Philip Rivers out there. Let's get Big Ben on the pod. Big Ben made a couple of phone calls.

I agree. Let's get Big Ben on the pod.

Big Ben was like, If Phil can do it, I can do it.

Look at Big Ben. He's just so big. He really is.

He is. Look at that. He's wearing the Varsity jacket.

There's something about Big Ben when you just watch them and just guys bouncing off of him.

He looks good. He does. He He could still play.

He definitely could still play. His arm. He could still throw a ball out of bounds down the sideline.

For sure. All right, so when we look at the playoff bracket, the playoff matchups that we would have right now, who would we have the stealers up against? The chargers. The chargers.

But the Chargers do have a difficult schedule remaining. The Cowboys, which that's not difficult. Well, you don't know. The Cowboys, the Texans, and then the Broncos, and it will be What happens with the Broncos in the one seed, whether they're playing for anything there, we don't know.

That's not an easy schedule. Other possibilities they have, they could play against the Bills. They could play against the Jaguars or the Texans.

Yeah, the Texans played the Chargers in week 17, which will be a pretty big game for playoff seating. It feels like that. But the the AFC picture feels pretty much set. No offense to the the Colts, and I'm excited to watch the Colts play on Monday night football against the 49ers, but they have a very small chance. And the Steelers, similar like what I was saying with the bears on Sunday, they are at minimum playing for a win and get in week 18. At minimum, they can clinch earlier than that if they win and the Ravens lose.

Yeah. And if you're looking at these matchups, the chargers feel like the sweet spot. I was watching the game last night and thinking, is there a way that the Steelers can throw this game against the dolphins so that the Dolphins tweak into the playoffs and have to go back to Pittsburgh.

But we say that with the- But there's not.

They're done.

With the Chargers, but the Chargers have mucked up every game. Their defense has played great. They just beat the Eagles. They just beat the Chiefs. They were underdogs in both games. I know that they look, because of their offensive line, look like the team that you'd most want to play in the first round. But 1-7 in the AFC, I don't know who would surprise me. It would probably be that 4-5 spot.

Yeah. I mean, it's not meant to be a knock against the Chargers because they do play physical football. They're a ball club. But I'm doing visualization where I imagine the Steelers beating a team in the playoff, and it feels like the Chargers would be that team.

Justin Herb getting sacked like eight times.

Yeah. Right now, Tomlin is on a six-game playoff losing streak, which is, I believe it's one short of the all-time record. Marvin Lewis had seven in a row. There's a couple of other guys, I think, that had six. But the The way that they're playing right now, yeah, it's prisoner of the moment. They were great last night, but it does feel like they might have figured something out. Yeah.

In the NFC, Thursday night is just obviously a massive, massive game, which we're going to talk to Ryan Fitzpatrick about because he's doing it for Thursday night football. But we do have clinching scenarios where if the lions lose to the Steelers on Sunday, the winner of the bears packers game will be in. That's a clinching scenario. The Bucks Panthers game will be massive on Sunday. Yeah, it feels like that 49... We talked about it on Sunday, but if the Seahawks beat the Rams, the 49ers are very much live for the one seed. They control their own destiny. If the Rams beat the Seahawks, it feels like the Rams will be cruising to the one seed.

It's going to be the Ram. Yesterday, I put a future in on the 49ers to win the Super Bowl. 21 to 1. Okay. Pretty good. Part of that was thinking that if the Seahawks beat the Rams, I think there might be some weather up in Seattle. If that happens, then the Niners, they have a chance at it. It's not super likely, but they have a real chance to get the one seed. I like how Brock Purdy has been playing.

Yeah, he was really good against the Titans. He was good the week before.

It's been like a she's all that with Brock Purdy, where he's sticking the ball in people's faces. He's dugging into the end zone. He's got some swag to him right now.

He's been playing well, yeah. Since that four-pick night against the Panthers, which they still won that game, he looks like he's back. Yeah, Niners are dangerous.

I like that.

I think this entire... I don't remember a playoff where it feels like outside of maybe the Rams, and you could say maybe the Broncos because of home field, it just It feels very wide open. It's very open. It feels very wide open. Anyone can have anything.

There's Josh Allen, who's playing probably the best football of anybody right now. There's the Jaguars who are playing just complete, total dominating football. Yeah, against some of the teams, but they look good. You've got the Texans with one of the best defenses that we've seen in recent memory, and that's all in the AFC. It's like, yeah. Then, oh, yeah, the Broncos, they've earned the one seat at this point. They're that good. They're the hottest team in football. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. So that's why I felt like it might be worth a shot to bet on the Niners because when they make the playoffs, they get to the NFC Championship game. Yeah. Kyle Shannon is a great coach.

By the way, because the Chiefs were eliminated, I believe... Let If we pull up the stat, it's pretty crazy. In the last... Let me find it. I think it's the last 25 years, 26 years, how many Super Bowl losers got back to the Super Bowl? Last 32 years. How many Super Bowl losers got back to the Super Bowl?

Let's see.

Last 32 years.

So that's outside the bills. That's post-bills.

That's right after bills. Patriots? One.

Can't be many.

The answer is one. Oh, that's it? 2017 Patriots. Yeah. It's pretty shocking. One of the last 32 Super Bowl losers has returned, and only one of the last 53 Super Bowl losers has won it.

Same team. That's the real Super Bowl hangover. Yeah.

Is losing the Super Bowl. Yeah. Because the Chiefs, I was looking at it last night. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Super Bowl losers since the year 2000 didn't make the playoffs. Wow. Yeah. So that is the Super Bowl. Okay. Ryan Clarke also tried to give us the hottest take on Micah Parsons saying, Bo got him injured.

How?

Boe Nicks, he said, The Micah Parsons is hurt because of Boe Nicks. The violence in which Micah Parsons had to chase Boe Nicks the entire second half was extremely evident.

Oh, so it's almost like a compliment to Boe Nicks.

It is a compliment to Boe Nicks, but But also it's just like, Okay, thanks for your input there, Ryan.

Yeah, Bo'Nicks is- RC. Watching in tears. I do love RC, how he wears the lapel pin with his own initials. It's like a graphic design of RC, in case you forget.

And the dumbest suits ever. I think he has a wardrobe before Monday Night Football where he says, How can I make sure that if you turn on the TV, I have to be the first thing you look at and you're going to stare at me because my outfit makes no sense?

It's Ryan Clark time. Yeah. Ryan Clark.

I didn't know they made so many suits without buttons or pockets.

It looked like he was just wearing a towel. That was just wrapped around his midsection. That's fashion.

We wouldn't understand.

Listen, if me or you wore Ryan Clark's outfits, we look hot as fuck.

Oh, yeah, that's facts.

We would be able to pull that off. We just choose not to.

That's facts. Okay, let's do Hot Sea, Cool Throne, and then we'll get to Ryan Fitzpatrick. Hot Seat, Cool Throne is brought to you by our friends at DraftKings. Draftkings, it's the fight nobody saw coming. Jake Paul versus Anthony Joshua, live on Netflix, December 19th. Two worlds collied in the ring in DraftKings Sportsbook has the action covered. Bet on every round, every punch, every knockout moment with live betting and fast payouts. You're always ringside for the action. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app today. New customers bet just $5. If your bet wins, you'll instantly get paid $200 in bonus bets with code Taked. That's code Taked in partnership with DraftKings. The Crown is yours. Gambleing problem? Call 1-800 Gambler.

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Limited time offer. We're also brought to you by our friends at Raising Canes. We love Raising Canes. Kirk Herb Street and his beloved Golden Retriever Peter. We're just at Raising Canes' Nashville flagship to serve fans and talk all things Heisman College football play-offs. This bowl season, Raising Canes is sponsoring the Snoop Dog Arizona Bowl on December 27th. Snoop is a longtime friend of Raising Canes' owner and founder, Todd Graves. You might remember the hilarious National Chicken Finger Day spot they did this summer. In addition to sponsoring the game, Canes is donating $100,000 to the Snoop Youth Football League and bringing the food truck to their game the following day. Still looking for gifts? Raising Canes' eGift Cards are available on Raisingcanes. Com and delivered to recipients in seconds. There are a ton of designs, including some A Christmas Story designs from their holiday partnership featuring Ralphie in the Bunny suit, the leg lamp, and even a bar of soap. Raising Canes, chicken fingers. One love. Hank.

My hot seat is Joel Klatt.

Yeah, Joel.

He said that the NCAA tournament is a joke. The most unfair tournament in all of sports. Also in this, Randy said, No one cares about JMU. They just want to see the good teams battle it out. How is it the most unfair tournament in all sports? It's the most fair. Yeah.

Well, no, Hank, that's not right. The way that you determine who the best team is is you have a bunch of people that get together at a Hampton Inn, and they sit in a conference room, and they put a bunch of TVs on the ground, and then they sit around eating the salad bar. They have a buffet table that comes in that's got probably the driest rolls that you'll ever see. They sit there eating finger food for about five hours, and then they put out a poll. Then that is who the best team in football is. That's how you play sports.

So Joel Klatt is a friend of ours. We had him on the show. We had a great time when he was here in the studio. I feel comfortable being able to do this. I'm going to take his man card. One, have to take his man card, calling it the dumbest, most unfair tournament, the dumbest tournament no one wants to see any of the Cindyrellas.

He's a one-sport Sally.

He's a one-point sports Sally. He's getting his man card. I do love Joel Klatt. Here's where Joel Klatt got it wrong and where he could have gotten it right. He is right in that every single March Madness is the where we talk about this. A perfect March Madness is upsets early, big dogs late. That part is true. So he is right in the fact that when there are a bunch of crazy high seeds in the final four or what was it? St. Peter's? When St. Peter's plays in the Elite 8 against, I think it was UNC and gets housed by 40. Yeah, I would have rather had an instant classic Elite 8 game with two of the best teams in the country. So he is right that There's a point where you don't want Cindyrellas, but he's wrong in saying that we don't care about Cindyrellas because we do love Cindyrellas in the first couple of rounds, and this is why they should go to a 16-team playoff and we should give the Cindyrellas a chance. I'm excited to see J. M. U. Play. Fuck it.

That's why we love the tournament of March Madness. Yeah. Yes. It would be great to watch Notre Dame against Oregon. I think that would have a much wider audience. People would want to tune in and watch that game. But there's something about a tournament where you've got underdogs and the possibility of them winning. It's harder in football.

He should stick to his own sport.

Stick to your sport. We love you in football. We don't love you in basketball. You're Schrödinger's klat. You're good and bad at the same time, and you need to stick to Sport Clat because J. M. U. Listen, I got news for you. We're not Liberty. We saw Liberty play against Oregon a couple of years ago, the Fiesta Bowl. We're not fucking Liberty, dude. We have sex at James Madison University. It's encouraged. It's mandatory. Different team, different players. I know it's a big spread, but what if? Just do that thought experiment. What if it did happen? How good would that be? It'd be great for the sport. You know what? It's almost like the entire future of the group of five is on our back and on Tulane's back this weekend. Because if we can- Don't get blown out. If one of those teams keeps it competitive, like one score, one shutdown, they might not take away. They might not change the format too much. If there's two blowouts, I got news, they're going to change the format of the tournament entirely. We might not ever see another group of five school get in unless they're ranked in the top 15.

It feels like there's a lot on the line, but we're not Liberty, Joel. You're mistaking us from our neighbors down the road in Lynchburg. This is Harrisonburg. Come to Harrisonburg, Western Virginia. Talk that shit.

I just don't really understand loving college football and then again, just ignoring half of the sport. What I'd like to see Notre Dame in there? Well, not instead of JMU because I want you to have your moment. I'm excited to watch that game. Maybe instead of Tulane. Sure. But they didn't do enough. If you win your games and you're a G5 school, you should have a chance to get in. You shouldn't start the season being like, there is zero % chance that if JMU wins all their games, they don't get to play in the payoff. That makes no sense to me. Stick to your sport, Joel. We love you. But basketball, it's the perfect thing. It's the perfect tournament. And upsets are easier to happen in basketball because there's only five guys on the court. You can have off shooting nights. Yes, it's a little more difficult in football. But I will say this as maybe a checkmate on Joel Klatt, when was the last time an 8 Seed won the entire tournament? Was it Vilanova? 1980? 1985, yeah. Patrick Ewing, they beat Georgetown. 8 Seed won the entire March Maddie's tournament. When was the last time an 8 Seed won the college football playoff?

Oh, good point. Oh, yeah, that's right. It was last year.

Good point.

Cindarella, Ohio State. Going all the way to the Championship.

A little darling underdog scrappy, Nobody believes in us.

Fucking 8-seed, buddy.

Ryan Day put his name on the map that day. Yeah, it was what a run. Yeah, what a run. Lou Holtz is sitting back there.

No one believed in Ohio State as the 8 seed.

Also, when we came out with this format, what did we say at the start? It's going from four teams to 12 teams. And yes, there will be debates about who gets in. But at the end of the day, win games and you will get in. You have nobody to blame but yourself if you don't get in to a 12-team tournament.

That's my biggest problem with all of this is you can't eliminate the fact that the games need to matter. It's why we said that Miami should be in over Notre Dame. It's why that if you win games, you should have a seat at the table. You can't just say we're going to play this entire sport in this entire season on hypothetical matchups with power ratings from Vegas.

Yeah, and you look at strength of schedule and you're like, Oh, J. M. Hasn't played anybody. They haven't played anybody. They haven't played anybody. Nobody cares about it. You win the games that you play. You can't control your schedule. I've said this across the board, whether it's about James Madison football or the New England Patriots in the NFL. You play who you play. You play who you play. Actually, Hank, I've been trying to set you up on that for the last three weeks. When I dig into the Patriots, it's there. It's there if you want the shot. If you want the shot. You haven't taken the shot yet, and this is the last week that you can. I don't think about you.

I don't know what to say. I acquire, I have all the space in your brain. I don't care about you. You guys are a relevant team that's going to get beat by 100.

Okay. All right. Wow. I like it. 100.

But at least we talked about it for 20 hours in the show for the last five weeks. Thank God.

Listen.

Are you coming in in your duck uniform?

No. That's the thing. Despite the fact that you're out to get me and you my teams to lose and my players to do bad. I wish JMU would win. It'd be good for the show. They have no shot. I agree with Joel Klatt. I don't think you want JMU to lose. No one cares about JMU.

Yeah, I do. Yeah, PFT does. That's the thing is, I think the group of five, they care about Tulane and JMU this weekend. I think people would change their mind if there was an upset. If there was an upset, it becomes a massive story.

I agree. It's a big end. It's a big end. It's good for the sport.

I care about JMU by proxy. I care about PFT, and he cares about JMU, so therefore I care about JMU.

There we go. Yeah.

You have a gun to your head, Notre Dame or JMU.

To be in the playoff? Well, yeah, Notre Dame could have won a national championship. But I still stand by the fact that you had the rules and you need to have a spot.

We're not. It's just gun to your head, pick one.

Who can win the national championship?

Who would you rather see in the playoff?

Oh, J. M. You. You got to take- That's the easy answer.

You got to take Notre Dame. If you get shot, then it's At least I went out supporting Jesus.

Tulane. Notre Dame should have been in over Tulane. Keep J. M. U. 'S spot.

I appreciate the sentiment. Listen, I know that nobody cares about J. M. U. Football, except a very small contingent of group of five supporters. If you happen to go to JMU, but if it's close, you're going to find yourself rooting for JMU. I hope it's close.

Joe Clato, he learned to put a bow on this whole thing. He learned that you don't besmirch March Madness. You don't go after the tournament. That's maybe the quickest way to get just a mass of dudes just at your throat. Just being like, What the fuck?

Yeah, a bunch of burners. You want to get ready to learn providence, buddy. Yeah.

Okay.

You're Cool Throne. I'm a Cool Throne. I have a I have a couple elite athletes on my cool throne. My first one is LeBron. I've spent my whole life hating LeBron, and as time goes by, he's making me love him more and more. You're talking about the golf? He's on the sideline. He's got in a lot of grip.

He's so retired. He's practicing his grip.

He's so retired. Do you see the technical free throw?

No.

There was a technical game in their game, and he just stepped up to the free throw line. He's shooting like 70% in JJ Redick after it was like, It should have been Luka. Yeah. But LeBron just stepped up and took it. He was like, Yeah, why wouldn't I take it?

That's so funny.

It's like, Yeah, you have Luca. And just, yeah, the golf swing is just... I relate to it. I understand where his head's at, and it's not on work.

No, he's gone to the game. The game has him now.

He has checked out. He's got the bug. He's officially obsessed with golf. I would like to see his YouTube stats. I would love to see LeBron James' YouTube wrapped for 2025 because I think it's probably a lot of like Grant Horvath. I think he's deep into the Bob does Sports Universe. He probably watched the Internet Invitational.

Oh, definitely.

Faisoli.

Faisoli. He knows who Faisoli is.

I wonder what he thought about the ruling.

But yeah, that clip made me laugh. Then my other cool thrown co-worker athlete, Biz. This was just... Obviously, there's a lot of stuff that happens at Barstool. People put out a lot of different stuff. But this past weekend, I was basically in a Biz Linge. They put out Peek-in Him and Wanton Dawn.

Great stuff. Go watch on Wanton Dawn.

It was one of the greatest, greatest series I've ever watched. Again, I forget. I'm watching it just as a fan. I'm like, Oh, yeah, these are our coworkers. We know them. It's incredible stuff. Felt like a movie. Really, really good. I think there's four episodes.

British Columbia just seems like it looks like you're on a movie set the entire time. It's a beautiful place.

Then I followed it up watching the Sandbagger with Page Sporantic, where he was just explaining Piss Bonds.

Oh, Piss Bonds is so funny.

To Page Sporantic.

Just fills his foreskin with piss.

One of the funniest. I mean, that, Biz, Biz, Whitney and Yandel are just like the... No one could win in a shirt battle with those guys. They're so funny. But yeah, I realized the answer. I was like, I realized the answer. I was I think I've watched eight hours of biz content in the last three days.

They also are the Avengers of Chipping because they all have different skill sets. Yans is very sarcastic. Wikt could just go bar for bar with you. Then biz is just disarming because he's so goddamn funny and also so nice.

And he'll go so far. He'll ask you... He'll make you so uncomfortable with things where he just doesn't care. Yeah. Let me see your dick.

A lot of biz's chirps are in the form of a question, so you don't even realize that... You're going to wear those shoes? Yeah. He will sneak past you and he's so friendly. We did a breakdown after the Ryder Cup on Macrodos because we speculated that the reason that the team didn't have cohesion is because they didn't do post-game showers like every other sport. We asked guys from every sport about the locker room culture. Biz gets on there and immediately starts talking about piss bombs. He said that there were times when he was in the league that he would be a healthy scratch. This is so funny. And he would watch the game, and then after the game, he'd take a shower with the boys. I guess healthy scratch. He didn't need to, just to be part of the team.

I'm 100% done with that.

You've done healthy scratch?

Well, not healthy scratch, but just didn't play second in the game, but still showered with the boys.

But he would wear a suit on the bench. Come in the locker, take his suit off, and hop in the shower with the boys.

He's the best.

He is the best. So funny.

That was a cool throw.

Good job.

My hot seat is Dylan Raiola. He's on the hot seat because he's transferring. He's entering the portal. I don't know if this was a troll graphic or if the university actually made a statement, but Texas Tech does not want him. Is that real? I don't know. Did Texas Tech say like, Hey, we're not interested in him?

I heard Texas Tech is in the market for an eight to nine million quarterback. I don't know if that's what Dylan Raul is going to command.

More or less?

Less, I would assume. I mean, he's been good, but he's not the best quarterback in the transfer portal.

You have to think that he- He has to. He's considering Texas Tech. If they offered him, he would probably take it. So what other schools that are primarily red and white are going to need a quarterback next year? That's what you got to look at.

Let's come to Wisconsin.

Wants to be a Badger? Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Okay.

Yeah, he could do that.

Would you offer him the job?

I would. I think he's okay. Then I would completely flip and be like, This whole Patrick Mahomes thing is really cool. Guys can't have heroes?

You'd have to start dressing like it.

Guys can't have heroes? Yeah.

My other hot scene is the War on Christmas because pop punk is playing a show on Thursday night. Christmas show in New York at the Racket. Come out, check us out. Got a lot of special guests from the Barstool New York office and some other guys in the music business. There's one guy that works in New York. He's in the Chicago office a lot. He's going to be performing performing with us. I don't want to give it away, but it will either be the best- Ron. Well, he's in the band. Shit. It'll either be the best thing you've ever seen or the worst thing that you've ever seen.

Should we be doing our burpees in the parking lot before to get ready?

I think maybe you should. Okay. I think maybe you should.

Do some burpees.

I saw there was a guy on Twitter, Joey Yanks is very excited about it. Whoever that person could be that's performing.

You have no idea.

There's no idea who that could be. No idea. It could be anybody. My cool thrown is Sean McVay. So he's coaching Thursday night, had his second child just a couple of days ago. So it's been a wild week for him. I don't know. Do we usually put a lot of stock in coaches getting a baby bump? Because I feel like with coaches, depending on how the baby's sleeping, it could be a baby bump or it could be the opposite.

Sean McVay, the Ram's Money Line, it's got to be the play.

You think Yeah. New baby? Absolutely. Yeah. That feels right. Good vibes. Yes. So congrats to Coach McFay. My other cool thrown is the haters. The haters were right. The haters were right. Congratulations, haters. Got to take my hat off to you. Jaden's shut down for the season. Rg4, injury prone, made out of glass. It was all right this year. I went back and I listened to my worst case scenario going into the season, and Yeah, it happened. It all happened. The haters were right. Can't say anything to the haters. Focused on next year. I always said-People said RG4. Oh, yeah.

Tom Frunelli did text us asking if it was a soft benching.

I heard he did ask that question. I did hear a lot of RG for the second he was drafted, too. It's because same thing. It's like Heisman Trophy, second overall pick. My plan is still the same with Jaden. You can't deny that this was a back year. I've got no spin zone for that. This was a step back. I don't even want to say sophomore slump because when he played, he didn't play poorly. He wasn't great like he was last year.

He didn't play great.

He didn't play great, but he wasn't- I want to call him the stats. Yeah, please. He wasn't a bad quarterback. He didn't play well, but he was also hurt for the entire season.

30 second in CPO.

Cpo is a big stat. That's your big stat. That's what you based. That's the money stat right there. You want to do a blind resume? Well, I have a blind resume for Friday's show.

I want the blind resume.

I want the blind resume. I don't think I have it up right now. I'll fill a Buster. Okay, fill a Buster for me for a second.

Hank, are you looking up Jaden Daniels' stats? This is probably the right thing to do, to sit him down and hope that next year he can pick up where he was year one. Where are you going to rank him in offseason quarterback rankings?

I don't care about offseason quarterback rankings. They're meaningless.

Because we put him in a lot of top five.

They're meaningless.

We put him in a A lot of top fives.

When your guy is not good, offseason quarterback rankings are meaningless. When he's very good, then it becomes the most meaningful thing in the world to get him in that top five. But the plan was always Super Bowl 2027. So next year is the year.

Next year is the year.

Next year is the year. All in. You got the blind resume? I do. Okay. Quarterback, one. Eight touch downs, no interceptions. Quarterback, two. Eight touch downs, three interceptions. Quarterback, three. Five touch downs, three interceptions. Quarterback, four. Two touch downs, one interception.

I'm lost in the blind That's me. I think there was a 8-0?

I think quarterback-1.

I want the 8-0?

Okay, that's Drake May in the first quarter.

Got it.

The second one was Drake May in the second quarter. What was that? That was 8-3. Okay. Third one, was Drake May in the third quarter. What was that? Five to three. Okay. The last one was Drake May in the fourth quarter. Which was? Two touch downs, one interception. Okay.

So, yeah, first half, Drake May.

Yeah, Mr. First half.

Yeah, that's what happens when you win games. You're not throwing the ball on the fourth quarter because you're up. Okay.

All right. Here's another one. Fifth one. Quarterback five. One touch down, one interception. Is that overtime? No, that's Drake May in the fourth quarter within seven points. Oh.

What about... Is there blocking on there?

What do you mean?

One great block.

I think that was in the first half.

No, that was the-Fourth quarter, remember, you were like, Oh, Drake May has a chance to make a comeback, and he did.

That was the big run. Oh, the big run. Yeah, that was a great block.

It sounds a little bit like a great handoff, but that's...

It was a great block, though, Max. I appreciate fullbacks.

Yeah, low man wins. Fat.

Fat. Hard-nosed guy. But yeah, congratulations to the haters. I have nothing to say. The haters are right. Bad season. I'm still optimistic about the future. No spinning it. Bad season.

Can I spend it for you real quick? The fact that he was in and out of the lineup, if he had just played poorly all season, that would be a lot more devastating. Yeah. Oh, 100%. It felt like it was just a bunch of stops and starts.

At least you gave Terry all that money.

Oh, wow. I'm happy for Terry. Me, too. I'm very happy for It is crazy thinking back being at those camps, especially the Ravens and commanders camps, because it hasn't gone.

There's a lot of smoke right now with John Harbaugh.

Yeah. Nobody knows. Nobody knows. But yeah, I've gone to some dark places. Maybe last year was as good as it gets. Nfc Championship game. It was a great run. I enjoyed it. These are the thoughts that you have in the Seasons from Hell. We'll be back. In the meantime, my number one team is just rooting against Hank.

He's being a statistician.

Yeah, listen, Hank, you say rent-free. It's called being a fan.

He's a diehard fan.

I'm a diehard fan of He's getting it.

Okay, my hot seat. Nba Cup. It's on the finals. Do you guys want to give a prediction? Do you care? Zack, you're a Knicks fan. To care about this, I think you hang a banner. Memes, you care about... Zack's a Knicks fan? Yeah, Zack's a Knicks fan. Remember, he went to the Knicks Pacers game. That was when Zack- That was a great time. Took off, the McDonald's order.

Yeah, Carmelo Anthony, best player ever. Yeah, best player ever. That was really the take that got Zack on the map, I feel. Yeah. Just fighting with Brandon Brandon, yeah, about Carmelo being better than LeBron.

I think he just said, who would you take one-on-one?

Have you thought about writing a TV show about Carmelo Anthony?

No, there's guys for that. Memes. Do you care?

Yeah, because it's the cup.

Memes, do you care.

I care.

How much, though? I'm trying to understand. I learned last night that this game means nothing towards the standings. If you score 100 points, that also doesn't matter. But I think the mindset of the players is what matters, how you prepare for a championship game. I think these things can exist in the same world that the The NBA Cup has been a success, that it has given a little bit of juice to some of these November, December games, but I just still don't care. If they do this for the rest of the time, there's no way you'll be able to be like, Oh, Yeah, 2025. Yeah, that was the year the Spurs won the NBA Cup. Who won last year? Lakers? The Bucks. Bucks. Who won the year before? Lakers the year before. Technically, you have to hang a banner. You have to? You have to. It's a league rule. Oh, that's bullshit. Jay.

It's a trophy game. There will be a trophy presented.

I'm excited to watch the game. I just don't care who the NBA Cup means nothing to me.

Is the Cup in the building? Cup's in the building. Because it's the Cup.

They get paid, too, don't they?

Each player gets half a mil.

Okay. I think it's also just being around Stephen Jay, him being like, The Cup matters so much. I love the Cup.

I got the Spurs.

There is something to preparing for a game that It means something. But it does for money. It does actually have an impact on your bank account. For sure.

But yeah, it means nothing.

Do the coaches coach differently in the Cup final? Do they coach like it's a game seven? They got to. I think you have to. Got to. It's mandated.

All right. My cool thrown is all of us because there's a new study out there that farts cure Alzheimer's. Oh, shit. That's awesome.

All right.

Smelling your farts.

Good. That'll be good for my dementia, Hank. Yeah.

There was also a study. I think Big Fart is putting some funding behind some New York Post articles because there was another one that was just farts. If you smell your own farts, you live longer.

Hell, yeah. Can you guys tell if your fart is going to smell just by ripping it? Like by feel?

Yeah, the heat. Well, it's also like what you eat. What you've been doing recently.

But let's just say-Usually, it will dictate. Let's say you're on a couch, you're not thinking about what you had for lunch. Can you tell? Hank said the heat when it comes out. If it's hot, that's going to smell? Yeah. If it's cold, no smell.

I'm trying to describe the feeling. You do know. I do know.

You definitely know.

There's light farts.

Yeah, there's some that are just pure air.

Dry.

There's a lot, though, where- Yeah, some just thick. You think it's going to be a nothing fart, and then you're like, Oh, shit.

Oh, yeah, the tiny ones? Yeah. You're like, Oh, this is a tiny one.

This will be The post-plane farts usually don't smell that bad.

Never farted on a plane.

I need to get... Next Sunday, Zack, remind me, when I go up to my office to start prepping for the show somewhere in the middle of the afternoon slate, I'll sit and close my office door and I'll rip three minutes worth of farts. I'm going to record that for the gang. So fart box next Sunday? Yeah. Okay.

Do you want to do a Spaces?

I could.

And then somebody has to fart. Raise your hand. Yeah. Got to rip one. Only farts.

Yeah, so cool throw on us.

Love that.

Also, I might live forever because I might just be like, as long as I stay alive, I can keep watching a highlight of that Caleb throw.

It was so good.

I've watched it so many times. It's getting embarrassing.

Yesterday, it was the first thing that I saw when I opened up the Twitter timeline, and I watched it. I was like, This is the catch. It was the catch.

Listen, the stakes for the catch were so much higher. Caleb's throw was better than Joe Montana's. He threw it from the 30. Joe Montana threw it from the 18, and it was cold weather.

I liked it so much. I thought it was the catch. I sent it to Chris Berman. I was like, This is the catch, Chris.

They were mashing it up.

I was like, This is the catch, dude. He was like, That's a great point.

Yeah, I've watched a lot of the mashups. Yeah, it's a problem. Because I've clicked on it so many times that it's pretty much every other video video for you.

I think it was maybe a better throw and maybe a better catch.

Stake's way higher, obviously, for this catch. That one, we're not going to... Yeah, but it was What a tot. Oh, man. I still don't know how... He came out of nowhere. Happy for DJ more, too. Zack, your hot seat, Cool Throne. My hot seat this week is going to be the rest of the NBA because Cooper Flag may have fully been activated. Yes. Has reached full activation. He's fully activated. 18 years old, 40-piece in regulation.

Full mast for the flag. Yes. Damn.

Some beautiful highlights from that game. They did take the L, though.

Okay.

Some beautiful highlights, though. Yes. If we're talking just highlight tapes, he's looking good.

Is the future of the NBA in good hands?

I don't know who's hands is in right now.

I think it's in Wemby's hands.

I think it's Wemby's hands for sure. If we say that less, though, is there a chance that goes away? I Should we not speak Wemby's hands into existence? Because he's broken basketball. Yeah.

Wemby is the guy that I absolutely love watching play right now. If you ask me in 10 years, I might be like, I hate watching this guy play basketball. He's too good. Because it's unfair.

I would say the future of basketball is in Wemby and Sam Presty's hands.

Yeah.

Sam Presty. I think the Thunder have a million picks still.

Yeah. They just have it all. But Wemby might just be so good that he can overcome any pick.

What if they just trade all the pics for Wemby?

That would be a problem. Yeah.

Really big problem. That would be a problem.

Or Yannis.

Or Yannis? Yeah. Oh, man. That'd be a huge problem.

But I do think that we're right in... It's where we were with Patrick Mahomes in his first couple of seasons. That's where we're at with Wemby. It's like we love it.

We're watching something and being like, damn, this is so cool.

But the Thunder are also in Dodgerland.

Yeah. Yes, they are. They are in Dodgerland, which is insane because they're doing it with a cat. Yeah. They are in Dodgerland. Okay, Zack, your Cool Throne? My Cool Throne today is... I don't know if you guys are feeling it, but I'm feeling it. We're in the thick of the Christmas coming up. Holiday season is in full effect, boys. Yeah. How are we feeling about this? The holiday chill. I know that may sound silly. No.

Not silly.

Not silly. Like, strangers that are usually cold. Everyone's being inviting. The Uber drivers are being nice. The people All restaurants being kind?

Yeah. What happened specifically that made you realize this? It sounds like that was a good experience.

I'm two for two this week on Uber drivers being like, so you do anything for the holidays? How's the holidays going? You have a great rest of your day, man.

I'm like, this is beautiful. This is so awesome.

Yeah, because I agree with you, Zack, because the way the schedule laid out this year, the fact that we had the latest possible Thanksgiving fucked up my brain, where the turnaround from Thanksgiving to Christmas felt like the shortest it could be.

I feel like the snow is the difference. We've had a full layer of snow basically all month, and that has forced you to get into Christmas time. Holiday cheer. Yeah, it's hot because you know Christmas is approaching, you look outside It's either snow, it's like, Oh, okay, this is real Christmas. But in some winter's past where it's warm going up to Christmas, then it doesn't feel like Christmas time.

I love the holiday cheer. It is nice. There is nothing better than going to a Christmas bar and just having everyone be drunk, a little overweight, but happy. It's great. Everyone's jolly. You're searching for Christmas gifts for your loved ones. You're getting into their interest. What will make their day? Hot chocolate's back. You can't really drink hot chocolate as an adult most of the year, but now it's acceptable. By the way, good guy, A. J. Brown, giving that kid hot chocolate. You guys see that video? No, what did he do? He gave a kid hot chocolate. During the game.

During the game? There's also an adult autograph seeker right next to him. You just wouldn't even look at him. He just gave the kid hot chocolate.

Good guy, AJ Brown.

What do you guys think about getting some holiday cheer in the studio? We could. For Monday's show.

We already did this.

What?

Oh, we still have 10 more of those dogs.

No, we got rid of them all.

Oh, we did?

I was thinking we'd get more inflatables. Yeah, we could.

More inflatables. We could do some holiday cheer for Monday's show.

Although, I think they're 1-0 since we got those inflatables.

Zack, since you've destroyed the- You think? Yeah, since you stabbed a snowman.

I was trying to... My My memory doesn't work too well.

I was like, Here's an idea.

I wasn't sure if the inflatables were before or after the game.

It was Monday night football and we got inflatables, and then five days later, you won a game.

Yeah, one and a half.

Here's an idea. Because I know that we have a pretty crazy week this week. And by the way, we haven't said this yet. Next week, we'll have a show Monday, Wednesday, no show Friday, because Christmas is on Thursday. We're not going to tape on Thursday night. Then the following week, we'll have a show Monday, so regular Sunday recap. So we'll have a show Monday and then Friday on January second. So it'll be two shows each week for the next two weeks. So we're going to miss a Friday, and then we're going to miss a Wednesday. But we're going to have new shows.

New Year's Eve and the day after Christmas. Yes. Those will be no show days.

Those will be no show days. Zack, here's an idea because we were talking scheduling outside, and it is a crazy week. I know we some PMTV ideas. What if we pivot and the PMTV this week is you going out and shopping for some holiday cheer for the studio? We can do that. We can get festive. Could you holiday cheer it up? If you guys are down to get festive, I'm down to get festive. I would love for you to holiday cheer it up. Let's get jolly. Okay. I can do that for you, sir. Maybe, you know what? What theme? It should be Christmas. No, but it should be like metal Christmas. You know what I'm saying? Let's give him a little curveball. Indian Christmas.

What about cream Christmas?

Cream Christmas? Metal cream Christmas.

I don't think the Indians do Christmas.

Yeah, but you could just do Indian Christmas.

I would like to see Zack Christmas.

Hardcore Zack Christmas. Hardcore Christmas? Hardcore Zack Christmas. Okay. It's your likes and Christmas. Okay. Hardcore. Hardcore. Zack Christmas. Okay. Unlimited budget. How do you feel about trees? Trees?

Yeah.

I love foliage. What about you?

Christmas trees.

The smell is so good, PFT.

It is.

The scent is like, oh, man. It's great.

Are you a fake tree guy or a real tree guy?

I don't have a tree currently in my current apartment, but I do like a real tree when you can do it. These Christmas tree farms are taxing nowadays, so sometimes you can't do it, but when you can do it, great idea. I saw the Swedish tradition online. Yesterday, this guy posted a picture. He that he's a divorced dad and he doesn't have a lot of traditions with his son. One of the traditions is finding the worst possible tree at the lot every year. It was the stumpiest grossest tree, but it was such a cute tradition.

That's cool. Yeah, the Charlie Brown tree.

We're trying to have some fun with it.

Listen, as a former Christmas tree salesman, you need guys like those to get rid of the last inventory. They've got great personalities. Yeah.

Okay. Great, Zack. You're going to hardcore Zack Christmas. We'll get so fast. I want your likes in here. I want things you like. Okay. My favorite part is Christmas? No, your favorite part is about you. Oh, interest. Oh, goodness. Okay. All right. I know you're a big Laboo-Boo guy. Got to get some Laboo-Boo in here. I never had Laboo, but I'll get you guys some of you if you want to get Trinkety.

Zack. Cod Christmas.

You even know you have some Laboo Boo Boo. I got action figures, but I don't have stuff to animals, except for that one Squishmallow. Maybe get some action figures in here.

What about Crampus? Remember that guy?

Crampus Rocks.

Crampus?

Yeah. Warzone.

How That's niche.

Have you guys seen that Grinch from Universal?

No. He's awesome.

Let me see. The Grinch from Universal. The Grinch, by the way, the Grinch-He's so good at his job. The Grinch movie gets heavy play in my house. It's really good. The cartoon.

Oh, yeah. It's awesome. The newest one. I've never seen the Jim Carrey version.

Yeah, I don't think that's-Where are you? All right, so you're not finding any-No, this is it.

This is it.

That was twerking This is him?

I'm trying to find the right video. It's a two-minute video. He's good. He's got highlights. This isn't the video I was looking for. Okay. Are you all right, Max? There's people out there that will know. This is a video. This video rips.

Okay, this is Grinch highlights for Max.

There's people out there that will know. He's super viral. 6, 7. 8, 9. No.

Wait, that's actually your. I can't get it.

I can't get it.

Are you ready? He's just the mascot. I'm going to sign.

Whatever.

Hey. Whatever.

This isn't the right crowd.

No, stay in it. Stay in it.

This isn't the right crowd. He's good. The people out there will know what I'm talking about.

But stay in it. I'm telling you.

The people out there, they can relate to a video that they like a lot when they're watching it on their phone, and then they show it for other people, and they're like, Yeah.

What is up, my guy?

Okay, you know what? I regret saying anything.

He's just He's good at his job. Fuck it.

All right?

Fuck it. You know what?

Fuck it. Max, no one's mad at you.

No, people are. You guys are mad at me. No, we're not. I can see it on your faces. I'm not mad.

We've actually had a pretty welcoming tone here.

I know, but it's too welcoming because I'm You can feel the room when it's not hitting.

I'm just disappointed. I'm not mad.

I think it's ripping, dude. No. What other videos do you chuckle at late at night while you're laying in bed that you want to introduce the number one sports podcast?

nick Kaletty made a video recently that I thought was so funny. Let's see it.

Pull it up.

Oh, fuck. This one's got to hit.

Max's videos.

Getting viral with Max.

There's nothing worse than showing someone a video and having it not hit. I feel like he doesn't post his videos to Twitter.

Oh, no. Now we got to sign into a different app.

Instagram is going to be tough.

Now you're just googling his name.

But it got me to where I needed to be.

Falling apart. Okay.

Fuck. You got to sign in.

I got to log in. Log in, Max. We got to see it now. The buildup is great.

No, No, we're done.

No, no.

Max, Max, Max. I can't log in. I don't know my passwords like this.

nick Colette is at home right now being like, They're about to gas me up, and then you're going to rug-Friend of the show. You're rug-pulling him. Please, please.

Oh, maybe it's on YouTube. Please. Maybe he's a Shorts guy. No, he's not a Shorts guy.

We need this video.

Guys, stop it, stop it, stop it. No.

You brought it up.

You asked me a question.

Which one is it? Which one is it on his Instagram? I got it. Okay, all right. Thank God. Here we go.

There's no sound.

The sound's not working.

What is that? There's no sound.

Ringen, my name is Stug.

Utenhusen, usga poopenweis. Das ist user, uthusen, usga poopenweis.

You guys are just trying not to laugh now.

Don't see.

We can't play that music, so we got to try it.

All right, that was good. It was a good pooping life.

Yeah, it was funny.

Farts.

Anyone else want to play funny video?

No, you got Man, this is your thing. Yeah, it's your thing. You're crushing it.

This is as embarrassed as I've been on this show.

Okay, so that was Max's video corner. That one was memes.

Yeah, memes. Memes, get your own thing. I have my own computer.

That was Max. Okay, let's get to our interview with Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Before we get to Fitsie, he's brought to you by Orph frames. Let me tell you guys about my holiday pattern. I tell myself, I'm going to be thoughtful. I panic at the last minute. I buy a gift card. This year, I skipped the panic. I got an Aura frame. Got one last year, too. It's a great Christmas present. Moms love it, dads love it, grandparents love it, nieces love it, nephews love it. Everybody loves it. You can personalize your gift. You can add a message before it even arrives. And it comes in a gift box. It's packaged in a premium gift box, no price tag. You can put unlimited free photos and video on it. You just download the Aura app, you connect it to WiFi. You can't wrap togetherness, but you can frame it. It really is a great gift. I can upload pictures of myself, of Blake, of whatever to my mom's picture frame, and boom, it shows up in our living room. For a limited time, save on the perfect gift by visiting auraframes. Com. Get 35 bucks off Aura's best-selling Carver Mat frames. They were named number one by Wirecutter. Use promo code PMT at checkout.

That's AURAframes. Com, promo code PMT. This deal is exclusive to listeners and frames sell out fast. So order yours now, get it in time for the holidays. Support the show, mention us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. That's AURAframes. Com, promo code PMT. You get $35 off their best-selling Carver Mat frames, named number one by Wirecutter at auraframes. Com. Before we get to Fitsy, he's also brought to you by Uber Eats Uber Eats, where you can get pretty much anything. You can get almost anything at Uber Eats. It's reminding you that if football, coincidentally, makes you hungry, you can get game day deals on wings, burgers, beer, chips, and more all season long on Uber Eats. What are we thinking for this weekend, boys? What are we thinking? Big decisions to make for this weekend. Wings. Mega day. Maybe some duck, some duck wings.

Let's get some deep dish. I realized that recently of why you said duck parm last week. I was so confused. I was like, Duck parm?

I don't think that'd be good. Okay. Yeah. No, you're eating duck. I don't actually think the duck.

We haven't done Chinese in a while because we have two days. We have two Super Bowl Sundays this week. Yeah.

We got two Super Bowl Sundays going into a holiday week. That's it.

Listen, We're on to 2026, Max.

You can't just jump into Christmas. You got to ease yourself into it.

Yeah, I think maybe Chinese one day and then wings the next.

We never got those subs.

Oh, yeah, we got to do that.

We got to do subs. Weren't you going to make us subs?

I can if you want.

That'd be great. It'd be awesome. But we're going to get all the ingredients on Uber Eats.

You'll love being able to get all your personal favorite game day foods delivered on Uber Eats so that you never miss a plate. You know what else I want? Root beer. Let's get some root beer for the boys on Saturday. Uber Eats has deals on your favorite game day restaurants and groceries all season long. When football makes you hungry, get game day deals all season long, only on Uber Eats. And now, here's Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Okay, we now welcome on a very, very, very, very special guest. He is our good friend. It is Ryan Fitzpatrick, Thursday Night Football. We're so excited. Ram Seahawks. We're going to talk about that game because I want to talk about both of those teams. But before we do that, how's your last week gone? Because you watched Phil Rivers come back. You watched Aaron Rodgers light it up on Monday Night Football. Have you gotten a phone call? Because I feel like you're the guy. You got to be watching this and being like, I might be able to get back out there.

Yeah, I have contemplated because I've got one more year before my health insurance runs out, so I have thought about that. That was a big deal for Philip, as we've seen with the 10 kids. But for me, it just came down to, do I want to reset the clock on my Hall of Fame eligibility? And I think that answer is no. I think next year, we'll see what happens there. And maybe after I don't get inducted into the Hall of Fame first ballot, I'll think about it.

No, I think America has waited long enough for Ryan Fitzpatrick to get in the Hall of Fame. I think that'd be a very mean thing to do to us to make- Our whole Hall of Fame pitch is always like, you can't tell the story of football without, and then if you fill in that name, it's the truth.

You played for so many How many teams? I don't know if you could tell the story of football without you.

No, I don't know about that, but I do know I was watching Philip. I started practicing cadences because his story Other than him being a top 10 of all time in terms of yardage and touch downs, the guy has been sitting on the couch for five years. Let's say he looked 30 pounds heavier maybe than when he played. And Philip was a big guy when he played. So I put him at least 260 Cee, 265, and that's probably being generous. But he went out there, he ran the offense. I didn't ask him to do a whole lot, and they had a chance to win that game. So it was really impressive to see, and I thought he gave it a great effort.

And he's starting again week 16. He obviously doesn't have the same arm, but is it from your perspective, because you obviously can talk about it better than anyone else in terms of you played for so long in the league, and if you were asked to go back out there, is it the fact that Phil can still think the game better than most, that he's able to get away with it a little bit, where it's like, if you have played that long and you've seen that many things, there's still an ability to see things. And yes, the His arm's not there, but you can still get by with the fact that you can think it better than the defense.

Yeah, I'm really interested to see this week because Seattle didn't come after him at all. I think that was out of respect to Philip's mind, the fact that the only way they thought he'd be able to dice them up is for them to come after him, him to beat him with some of those quick hot throws. I have to imagine they're going to come after him a little bit more this week, put some pressure on him and see now that there's film out there and we I can see how many times did he throw the ball over 10 yards in that game. He had the nice back shoulder to Alec pierce. He had the interception that he floated at the end of the game, but that ball is going to come out quick. He's not going to take a whole lot of hits. I think teams can start structuring a game plan around what they just saw versus Seattle. I don't know that that's going to bode well for Philip, unfortunately.

Maybe not. I hope that it does. We love watching him play, and it was great to see him out. I'm cherishing every moment that I get with Philip Rivers. It feels like it's all house money that we're playing with. I thought I was out of the Philip Rivers business four years ago, and now he walks back into our life, and I'm loving every second of it. I think you could probably play. I think if the Jets gave you a call and they were like, Hey, Ryan, for old times' sake, remember that season you won 10 games with us? Why not step out here? I think you could step in for a game and throw for maybe 200 yards. I think you could do it.

Oh, I guarantee I could. My issue was... I mean, look, they're still in the playoff. They're just trying to win that game. Phillip did exactly what he was asked to do, which was put us in position to win this game at the end. And he did. The issue I would have, and this This is me at the end of my career, too. But when you're playing with house money, when you're out there having fun, I don't know how many check downs are going to be thrown. I love the Yolo ball, and I think me, four years removed from playing, going out there, there's going to be a lot of balls flying in the air. Sometimes that's good, sometimes that's bad, but it certainly wouldn't be boring.

I got one last question, and it's not about Philip, specifically, it's maybe the bigger NFL picture, because I saw someone point this out, and I'm curious, your take on it. They were like, Hey, this is actually not the best thing in terms of... It's an indictment on college football and getting quarterbacks prepped that Phil Rivers at 44 is better than some of these guys in their early 20s. Do you think that's fair? Do you think there is a quarterback? I don't even know what it would be called, but like- A vacuum? Yeah, there's a problem with quarterbacking and how we're getting quarterbacks ready that this can even happen?

I don't think so, because if you look around the league and you look at your guy, Caleb, and the way that he's developing this year and Bo Nicks, there's a lot of different guys. I think the hard thing is for Shane Steigen, I mean, for all coaches/play callers, you have Trust Issues. And so basically, the Colts were in a position where they needed a guy to come in that wasn't going to screw it up. And as a young guy, it's really hard. We've seen it in Minnesota, where you just have these plays that you're young, you're developing, and you screw it up. Mccarthy had one in this last game again. But Phillip Rivers is a guy, he's going to get the motions right, he's going to get the shifts right, he's going to be able to get guys in and out of the huddle, he's going to call the play, and he's not going to put the ball in harm's way. So that's all they were looking for. I don't think it's an indictment on young guys. I don't think it's an indictment on Riley Leonard. I do think if you're looking at the cult situation, the Anthony Richardson thing is just weird.

Whether the cults don't like him or him and his agent are pissed at the cults by the way everything was handled, it's just weird right now that after he's six plus weeks removed from his eye surgery, I think that he is probably healthy enough to play. So I think there's some question marks there in my mind.

Yeah, I think if Philip Rivers wasn't already talking to Shane Steiken every week, breaking down Phil, I don't think he gets that call necessarily. But I can see it's like you're in a playoff push, just go and manage the game. And again, I'm very thankful that Phil is back in our lives. There's one team out there that you killed over the course of your career. Do you know that you have the NFL record for most wins against a single team?

Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Jaguars, yeah. You beat them six times. The Jaguars this year, though, look really good. Trevor Lawrence looks amazing. He's playing the best football that we've ever seen him play. He's a guy that's not afraid to do the Yolo ball. He had, what, five touch downs passing last week, one touch down rushing. Should We believe in the Jacksonville Jaguars?

Oh. So I think in developing all these quarterbacks, I think Trevor is an example of it, just like Caleb is this year, just like Bo Nix is, even though Trevor is older than those guys, is you have a team that's playing really well around him. You have a defense that's creating a lot of turnovers. I would say Trevor's year this year has been up and down. But to be able to have those up and downs and continue to win football games, he's been able to find more consistency as the season has gone on. I think it's a good reminder that play calling really matters in this league. I think Liam Cohen is a great coach, and we're coming off a game. You try not to overreact each week, whether it's a bad game or a great game. Trevor Lawrence has certainly gotten better this year. I'm not too concerned about the Jackson Village Jaguars making noise in the playoff.

Oh, okay. So, yeah, we do overreact to everything. When you say, Don't overreact, it's like, I watch that game for Trevor Lawrence. I know the Jets stink, but it's like, he's the best quarterback ever. I think that's fair to say. They're probably going to win the Super Bowl. That's how we reacted to week 15.

Yeah, but there's a reason how the Jets reacted to it, they fired their defensive coordinator. True. That's true.

He's a coach killer. I also just love Jaguars game, especially when you get the pool going in December down in Jacksonville. I think that pool might lead the nation in the most T-shirts worn in a pool. I feel like you're at an 80% clip down there.

I think the Diamondbacks, they also have a lot of T-shirts being worn in their pool. So you could never be too safe with the sun. Never be too safe, even though the Diamondbacks roof is usually closed.

I just love the ambiance down there. I got one bone to pick with you, Ryan. It's regarding Thursday Night Football, which we love and we watch. We can't wait for it this week. Can you not do the yellowish orange line of scrimage line on the screen? It was very confusing last Thursday night. The Creamsicle. The Creamsicle line of scrimmage, it looked like it was the first downline that's displayed on the broadcast. Just make sure that if you have that line, it's not like a yellow or an orange or a cream.

Okay, I'll talk to Sam Schwartzstein about that. You guys know Sam? Yeah. Hold a little bit. He's real happy. I don't know if you've seen the pocket health thing that we've been doing? Yes. That's Sam's baby as well. So I got to imagine he has something to do with the creamsicle line. I'll talk to him and get him straight on that.

Okay, thank you. I appreciate that. All broadcast for Amazon is so awesome. Our guy Sam does such a great job. You learn so much when you're watching it. Let's talk about, though, Thursday Night Football. So this is the finale for you for Thursday Night Football on Amazon. Couldn't be better.

Not true. What's your finale? Well, unfortunately, our finale at the beginning of the year, we were excited about the Christmas game, Denver and Kansas City. That's right.

Oh, yeah. All right. That's the finale. That still will mean something in terms of Denver going for the one seed. That's still an important game, and Bo Nicks has been phenomenal. The penultimate Thursday night football, you like that? Harvard guy? I like that.

That's great.

By the way, nice throwing that shirt in our face. We get it. You're so smart. Cinnamon rolls.

My kids got it for me. What do you mean?

Yeah, right. That's such a Harvard shirt to wear and be like, Hey, you get it? Just like That's what the grammar used to make. Oh, no. Okay, that's good. That's a good shirt. But let's talk about this game, the Ram Seahawks. It's going to be phenomenal. Both teams trying to win the NFC West. Both teams trying to get the one seed. I'll start with the Seahawks. We are believers in the Seahawks in totality. Quality. Their defense is awesome. Mike McDonald has done an incredible job. I do believe in Sam Darnold. I thought Sam Darnold was one of those guys even four years ago that were like, Hey, if he gets another shot, he could be good. But it has been a little up and down these last couple of weeks, and we're getting closer to playoff football. What have you seen? Are you trusting in Sam Darnold? Do you think that this is a Super Bowl caliber team?

Yeah, I think the things that weigh on you is Sam. He's been so good the last two years. I think he's... I saw a stat yesterday where he leads quarterbacks and wins in the regular season the last two years. You think back to the Detroit game and then the Rams playoff game last year. You think back to the first Rams game this year where he threw four picks, and that has to weigh on you a little bit. What I would love to see out of Seattle, I think, first of all, the weather looks like it might be a factor. There might be some rain, which in Seattle, it could change any minute, but that'll be interesting. I would love to see them get Rasheed Shahid somehow more involved in this offense. He does great with his kick returns. They haven't even attempted to throw a post route to him yet. Sam missed a go ball to Rasheed. They got knocked down in the first Rams game. But it's going to be one of those games where they are going to have to rely on Sam to win this thing for them because that offense of the Rams right now, I know that they got held to 21 in that first Seattle game, but the way they're running the football right now is really incredible, and Sam's going to have to show up and win this one.

I think this will go a long way in terms of, can we see a different version of Sam Darnold in the playoffs if he can get the Seahawks through this game?

Can you explain to us what's so interesting about the Ram's rushing attack? Because I think we watch the games and we watch Pukindaku. We watch Matt Stafford back there playing almost as good as he's ever played in his entire career. They've got three different tight ends who are all the same that look confusing when they're on the screen. But when it comes to their running attack, what's so good about it this year? What are they doing well?

I think the fact that it's a two-head monster, I think Blake Quorum has done a great job for them this year. We knew who Kyron Williams was, and he's continuing to be a good player. But when you watch them, just watch how many times their running back gets through the line without being touched. I think this game, that's going to mean a lot because the front four of Seattle is super Super talented, super aggressive, but they do a great job of getting on their blocks. And the Rams, Andrew Whitworth keeps telling me, he's in my ear, this is the most underrated offensive line in football. Seattle is not very good at getting their runningbacks to and through the line of scrimage without getting touched. And the Rams are top three in terms of their ability to do that. So I think that'll be a big part of this game. And then Matthew Stafford from under center, Matthew Stafford opening up the play action with being able to run so effectively. I think the mistake that the Rams made in the first game, even though they won, was they got away from the run a little too much because they were gashing them in the first half and then shied away from it.

I think that's going to be a huge factor in this game and probably the deciding factor for the Rams.

When you watch Puka and Stafford, we've been talking about it in such a glowing way the last few weeks, and it's obviously been all season, but it feels like, especially in the last few weeks, they're in a zone that is... You just can't guard it. It's the perfect pass. It's the perfect wide receiver. What do you do to stop it? Because there's some of these balls. It's like this defender is in the perfect position, yet the pass got there right where it needed to be, and Puka can make every single catch. I don't know what you do as a defense.

Yeah, you could see the competitiveness that he has on every catch that he makes. And somehow these 50-50 balls are like 90-10 balls to Puka. But the physicality that he plays with, I think when you watch him I mean, between Puka and Amunra St. Brown, two of my favorite receivers to watch because they're so involved in the run game, too, and they take pride in that and the physicality and blocking, which sets up a lot of their stuff in the past game as well in the play-action. But Puka is an absolute savage. And I think Devante Adams and having him and all the touch downs that he's scored, they're great friends. But I think that's even pushed Puka to play even better these last few weeks because it's like, Look what this guy is doing on the other side. This is what greatness looks like. I got to make sure that I'm still relevant and people remember my name and who I am, which they obviously do. But he's an incredible player and a tonesetter for that team.

Yeah. What about another team in that division, the 49ers. Should we be talking about the 49ers more? Because they're right in the thick of it. I made the point that I think Kyle Shanahan should be in the discussion for Coach of the Year. He's never won the award before. What that team has gone through, both on offense and defense. Also, Robert Salah should get a lot of credit, too, for the defense. Should we be talking more about the 49ers as a team?

Here's the thing that people still don't understand about the 49ers. If the Rams went out, they're going to win the NFC West and be the one seed. If Seattle wins out, they're going to win the NFC West and be the one seed. If Seattle beats the Rams and the 49ers went out, the 49ers will not only win the NFC West, they will be the one seed in the NFC, which is insane. It's insane that we haven't been talking about them. Mac Jones did such a great job for them. You can tell in the last few weeks, Brock Purdy, he's starting to really warm up. I actually called on the radio first time ever for Westwood One, the San Francisco game versus the Panthers, the one where Brock threw three picks, and it just looked a little bit off. It looked like he was getting his footing back, but you can tell they're getting healthy at the right time on offense. What would this team look like with Fred Warner and Bo It would be very scary, but they're getting healthy on offense, and they're definitely a team that has been underappreciated. I think, like you said, Kyle Shanahan should be up for Coach of the Year because of the efforts he's put in.

Do you think they would be a dangerous team in the playoffs?

I do. I think they'd be a really dangerous team in the playoffs. A lot of these teams, when you can score like they can, when you can possess the ball like the 49ers can, that really helps the defense out. They've been banged up defense. They are a little bit of a mash unit, but the aggressiveness that they play with, flying around. When you watch film and you could see the speed and a team rallying to the ball on defense, and it pops out to you when you're watching on the little All-22, it's really impressive. And that's the stamp that Robert Salah puts on his defenses all the time. And these guys are playing really hard.

Yeah. Can we play a little game here called Who Do You Trust? Yeah, love it. Okay. Top five teams that you trust in the NFL right now, if we're talking about the playoffs, who has a chance to win at all, who are the top five teams that you trust?

Okay. The Rams, the Bills, Houston, New England, and San Francisco.

So you trust all those teams?

Yeah.

Seahawks weren't on there.

Yeah. If you ask me next week, if the Seahawks win this game versus the Rams, they'll move into being able to be trusted. But just like Shane Steke, and I got Trust Issues.

Yeah.

Green Bay. Green Bay is another one. I want to trust Green Bay, but I don't know that I can.

Yeah, the injuries, obviously, on Sunday to Michael Parsons is massive. I don't know that I trust the Bills, but I do trust Josh Allen.

But that's the thing, right? We all trust Josh Allen, so it's like, let's look at the last two games. I mean, after After the Bills lost to Miami, every Bills fan was, oh, my gosh. I mean, we're wasting this guy, the prime of his career. And then you see what he did versus the bangles. And the defense just needs to make a couple of plays. And then we saw what he just did versus the Patriots. If you look at the landscape of the AFC right now, and we're looking at the quarterbacks that are going to be in the playoffs, I don't know who else you can trust. I think Drake Mays getting there, but he hasn't done it yet. And I still think The Buffalo Bills, if they went out, which they're playing Cleveland, Philly, and the Jets, I still think that week 18 matchup where Miami goes to New England, as long as it's over 40 degrees, there's a chance that the Bills can still win the AFC East.

Yeah. So the Dolphins, real quick, because we have a long time theory, and you played for the Dolphins, it's the jerseys. When they get in cold, they're candy ass jerseys, and they just don't play well in the cold because of the jerseys. Did you feel that when you got in the cold?

Yeah, but did you see they got in early so they could practice at night in the snow? Yeah, I did see that.

They're the most like this whole iteration of the Dolphins are the most like, Don't say that we're cold. Please do not print that we're cold. I swear to God we're not cold. Look how many times we've tried to beat the cold.

And their coaches, his glasses fogging up halfway.

The right side of the glasses was tough.

It was tough. He was the coldest man on Earth. And the fact that they're called the dolphins, like nice tropical, aquatic animal. It just all fits together so perfectly. He's like, Yeah, dolphins can't play in the cold.

I think when we're talking about MVPs, and we always just point to the end of the year stats, last night's a great example of When you watch that game and you watch the Dolphins' offense for the first three quarters, three and a half quarters, and then you look at two of his stats at the end of the game, compare those to, say, Josh Allen's stats against the Patriots, two of his look a lot better than his. That's a great example of a game where we have to be careful at the end of the year. The stats obviously matter, but we had to be careful of just relying on stats in terms of quarterback's numbers.

Yeah. Okay, quick break from Ryan Fitzpatrick. Talk to you about Chevy football season. We're in it. And whether you're grinding through the week or gearing up for kickoff, there's one ride that's always game ready. It's the Chevy Silverado. The Chevy Silverado is a long time partner of Part of My Take, and it's our favorite truck, and it's all about grit. From Jobcite to tailgate, Silverado lets you show up strong and tackle any task. Built for the hustle, ready for the game, Silverado is America's most dependable, full-size truck. For JD Power 2025 award information, visit jdpower. Com/awards. Head to chevy. Com to learn more and build your own Chevy Silverado today. Okay, now we're getting back to Ryan Fitzpatrick. I got a question about my bears. Caleb has, I mean, that throw he made to DJ more. I think I've watched it a thousand times. It was one of the coolest throws ever. But the team in general, I'm now of the belief that they can compete with anyone in the NFC, especially with their run game. The game that you guys were at in Philadelphia on Black Friday, that was the eye-opening, Oh, wow, this team can compete with anyone.

Do you trust Caleb? Do you think that the progression... I know the progression has been there, but has he gotten to a point where you're starting to be like, Hey, this guy can maybe win some playoff games?

I would just love to see him more consistent in terms of throwing in rhythm and execute the way that the play was called. I would just love to see him continue to get more consistent at that. But it was really funny. I think it was two weeks ago, I was talking to my kids and we're watching the game, and I said, This dude throws better than anybody in the NFL on the run. And then the announcers immediately said, Boy, he really struggles throwing on the Because again, I think the stats say, and maybe he has a bunch of throw aways or over throws, I don't know, but the stats say that he's not as good as some of these other quarterbacks on the run. But to your point on that, touch down to DJ Moore and a bunch more examples, the velocity that that dude can put on the ball and the accuracy that he throws with when he gets outside the pocket. And I don't think people realize how fast he is. He runs away from people. So I think the brand of football that the bears are playing right now is really good.

I think their defense creates a lot of turnovers. I think their defense scares me a little bit in the playoffs in terms of being able to trust them. They're not generating turnovers. And then the offense, what have they done? They can run the crap out of the football, which is a winning formula. Their end of the season here with Green Bay, Sam Fran, and Detroit is an absolute gauntlet. So we'll see how they finish up these last three weeks.

Yeah, I'm excited to watch this home stretch. You're right about the Caleb. I think similar to the Tua in that if you look at the stats, you can see one thing, and if you watch the game, you see another where the completion percentage has been a big talking point. Ben Johnson has brought it up. Caleb has brought it up. I agree that there are definitely some times where it's like, Hey, just take the check down or make a little bit better of a pass. But I think what people miss on the completion percentage is he's so elite at getting out of harm's way and not taking sacks and throwing the ball away and not throwing interceptions, that that's such like... He has not been putting the bears in a lot of negative spots where last year that happened all the time.

Yeah. And I think the other thing when I watched them, when Ben Johnson said, We don't throw 50/50 balls. I actually think that mentality hurts Caleb on his deep passes because there's a lot of deep passes that he throws that get overthrown, that he's nervous because we don't throw 50/50 balls. So It's either got to be the perfect ball or it's got to be too far and incomplete. I think that mindset and mentality actually does hurt him a little bit because he's a much more accurate passer than he's showing on some of those deep balls.

Yeah, there's a couple of quarterbacks, actually two eagles' quarterbacks that I'm thinking of when I watch Caleb and he's getting out of these sacs and he's throwing the ball out of bounds. Mcknab used to be awesome at that. And Jalen Hertz, when he's playing at his best, avoiding those big negative plays and getting the ball out of bounds. Those are actually good plays. It sucks that it gets lumped in the completion percentage. We look at that, but it means a lot on a drive. For the Eagles, how much better is their offense, or did they just play the Raiders?

They just played the Raiders. They have issues. They've had issues up front all year. I think that's been the biggest thing. There's been a lot of finger-pointing at all kinds of different things, trying to figure out, is it the line? Is it the quarterback? Is it the play But I think the one thing that we know is they are not the same team, even though they have a lot of the same playmakers, they're not the same team they've been in the past in terms of consistency on offense. So can they find it? Maybe. But you realize that that was not the team that I mentioned that I trust in the playoffs. And I think all of us football fans are... I hate that Patrick Mahomes got hurt, but I don't think any of us want to see the Eagles and the Chiefs in the play or in Super Bowl again. Let's get some fresh blood in there. Let's see some new teams play.

Yeah, agreed. Speaking of Patrick Mahomes, he got surgery right away. You never tore your ACL, but you obviously have been around a lot of guys who had that injury. In your estimation, are we going to see him next year? And is it something like talking to other guys? Because I've always thought that, yes, ACL surgeries have gotten way better. Guys come back nine months or whatever it is, but there's They're still not the same guy for probably another year in terms of their peak level. They need to be able to trust it and everything. Do you feel that anecdotally at all?

I think, first of all, it is amazing this strides where 20 years ago, it was like, Oh, no, he tours ACL. Will he ever be the same guy? I think the advances that doctors have made in the ACL surgery, a lot of guys are coming back, and they're just the same as they were before. I don't think there's any doubt. As long as you're rehabbing the right way, which Patrick is obviously going to rehab the right way, he's going to do the right things. And it's always unfair to put timelines on guys, but nine months does seem to be the right timeline in terms of that's when we can at least start to maybe expect that he would be ready. Nothing before that. He's going to come back better than ever. Next year, I bet you we won't even notice.

This was not a passing of the torch season to Bo Nicks in that division. The torch It remains with Patrick.

Yeah. I mean, they've got some stuff they got to figure out in Kansas City. And I think last year, they won so many close games. And this year, they were in a bunch of those close games. They're on the wrong side of it. But if I'm Kansas City, first of all, we got to figure out What's Travis Kelsi going to do. And I would guess that he's going to retire, but I have zero inside information on that. So we've got to replace that production somehow. And then I would love to see them address the running back room. And when they It can't just be the same two guys. And then when somebody gets hurt, bring the same two guys back. I would love to see some new blood in there and some youthful energy and speed in the backfield. I think that'll really help them.

You're right about the close game thing, because I think we just look at the wins-losses at the end of a season, and we're like, That team's good, that team's bad. But there are so many... Last year, they were what? 15 and 2? They probably weren't a 15 and 2 team last year. They were probably more like a 12 and 5 team. This year, they're 6 and 8. They're probably better than a 6 and 8 team, but that's just how the ball bounces, and some of these games go against you, and then you look up and you're like, Holy shit, we're 6 and 8.

I mean, think about our guy Baker right now. Think about Bayes, 7-7, and the way they started the season, winning those games with no time on the clock. Think of all those games went the wrong way. They would be sitting at three and eleven. It's absolutely wild, but You're right. At the end of the year, you sit there, and that's why some of these guys get paid the big bucks, too. You got to be able to do it.

You watched the guy last week on Thursday Night Football that might get paid the big bucks this offseason, Kyle Pitz. He finally showed- And Kurt Cousins. Yeah, and Kirk Cousins. I would love to see Kirk Cousins get one more contract. Let's get him to a half billion dollars. He's so close to 500 mil. Why not? But Kyle Pitz, I think everybody has watched Kyle Pitz for the last four years and been like, he's so good. Why don't they throw the ball to him? His The first four years in the NFL, he had in a row, one shutdown, two touch downs, three touch downs, four touch downs. Now he's at four touch downs right now, so we're projecting him to score one more before the end of the season. But I was watching him and I was like, I think I want Kyle pits. I think he's finally figured it out. It's a small sample size based on one game, the Kyle pits game, but that's how we are as NFL fans. We watch it, we're like, They've unlocked Kyle pits. Do you think that he's actually a guy that could be a superstar tight-end, or is this just recency bias, blip on the radar, he'll go back to Kyle pits?

I'm going to tell my kids this story one day. I was there for the Kyle pits game. I was there. I was watching. I think there's a large body of work. I think that he has gotten better. He's certainly been more productive with Kirk as the quarterback. I also think that's come with Drake London being injured. He's received more targets and more looks, but he's a very specific He's a quick guy. He's not a guy that you're going to be able to put at the end of the line and block, which they do have to do that a little bit. But you look at a guy like Darren Waller, who came out of retirement, and the success that he's had in Miami and the things that he's done. The biggest thing I see with Kyle Pitz that I wish he would be able to get better at is he's a little bit awkward catching the ball over his shoulders. There's some awkwardness there. And so to be such a big target in the red zone, I think that's why you don't see him get a ton of touch downs is because he's not great at that.

But somebody's certainly going to pay him. And I don't think I would be in that business, though.

Yeah. As we get later in the season, there's obviously a lot of teams that have been eliminated, a lot of teams that are not playing good football. You were on a couple of those teams. How bad did the vibes get? As a team, are you able to get up for it? Because especially week 16, 17, 18, it does feel like the quit factor is in there. I know guys are playing on for tape and maybe their next job. But can you feel it in the room on Sunday where it's like, All right, we got no chance because no one's head is in this thing.

Yeah, I think every team is different. I was in that situation a lot of times, but I think back to 2019 when I was on the Dolphins, and that was the tank for two a year, and that was the year we started 0-7 or whatever we started in the beginning of the year, the Patriots beat us by 45 points. I think you have to take on the mentality at the end of the year of like, All right, we still have the ability to be relevant. We can screw the season up for some of these teams. In that season, we played the Patriots in Week 18, went up to New England. If they beat us, they were going to have the first seed in the AFC. We ended up beating them at the last second. Kansas City got the first seed in the AFC. Kansas City ended up winning their first Super Bowl. And so I think those are the things you have to think about. Yes, you think about, Okay, my statistics, my play, these things are going to help me make money. But the other part of it is we still We're still relevant.

Now, the tough games are when you have, let's say, Arizona and the Giants were playing. That is when it gets tough. When everybody's... It feels like preseason number four back in the day where you're looking at the clock and you're handing it off and you're trying not to throw any incompletion so that clock keeps running. Those are the games that are tough.

Yeah, I think the Raiders and Giants play next week. There you go. That's going to be a tough one.

The bangles are going to have some tough games going down the stretch. Have you been able to look at Joe Burrow and put yourself in his shoes? I guess I'm asking you to read another guy's mind, which is a tough situation to be in. But based on his comments last week, it seemed like he was either frustrated with the organization or just frustrated with getting hurt all the time. And battling back through injuries, it has to weigh on you mentally. What did you think when you saw Joe talking about his love of the game?

I was interested in all the Pokémon card talk that he was going with, but I also think that he's a little bit prisoner in the moment. It's been a bad year for him. He had the toe surgery. He came back. He was having fun in that Buffalo game. He was playing lights out, and then it was two plays. Benford jumps up and picks off the pass, and then his next throw gets batted and Epinesa picks it off. I think it's prisoner of the moment. Joe's a different guy. Joe certainly is a different guy, so I don't think anybody can try to read his mind. But he's either prisoner of the moment, upset or he's playing chess, and he's trying to set something up to where he doesn't want to be in Cincinnati. And this is part of that long play where maybe in another year, he gets traded somewhere a little bit warmer with nicer weather.

Yeah, he did seem like he was having fun on Thanksgiving, too. After that game, it seemed like it meant a lot to him. And he was smiling. He was hanging out with the boys. So yeah, it might be a chess match. He might be trying to set something up. Historically, it hasn't been so easy to play chess against a guy that doesn't want to spend the money on a chess board. But he might Are you trying to set up a move, whether that's to Minnesota or, like you said, some warm weather place.

But it is, without trying to sound too cheesy, the amount of work that all these dudes put in to this season. And this is their entire livelihood, and they pour so much into it. And so when the season doesn't go the way that you want it to go, and even with Joe, think about him this offseason and getting the contracts with the boys, and he had his receivers there, and they're all set up to have a great the disappointment after putting everything that you put into it really weighs on you towards the end of the year. So to me, it was more of a reflection on how the year had gone.

Yeah. I hate to bring this up, Ryan, but you You guys, the Harvard-Yale game means a lot to you guys. It didn't go so well for Harvard this year. Are you considering maybe being the GM of Harvard football, trying to figure it out? What do we need to do to take Harvard to the next level? You got to win that game.

We got to win that game. Game. And the hardest thing, too, is for Black Friday, we had the Eagles game. I was in Philly, Harvard. First time in history, an Ivy League school was allowed to play in the one double A play-off, the FCS play-off. Yale got the automatic bid. Harvard got an at-large bid, and they were playing at Vilanova. I was in Philly already. I went. Harvard lost 52 to 7.

Were you up seven-nothing, at least?

Weren't up seven nothing. We dropped eight passes in the first half. Wasn't our best showing. We'll get the boys rallied. We'll get the boys rallied. We're going to have a better year next year, and we got to beat Yale. Next year, Harvard-Yale at Fenway.

That's big.

That'll be big. Massive. You have to win that game. You have to win that game. That's the most meaningful rivalry in the world. We all care deeply about it.

I could tell you a quick little story about the fan base at Harvard. My son is now a freshman there, and so he's going to the games. He's cheering, he's excited. Well, I got a picture from a friend that saw my son at one of the opening games, and he brought his laptop to the game and was doing homework, game. I told him, We can't do that anymore. It doesn't matter if you've got a paper due during the game. We got to get it done beforehand. We got to manage our time a little bit differently. We also got to get that fan base riled up a little bit.

Yeah, you got to at least a little proud that your son is such a good kid that he's also taking care of it. He's football, but also knows that he's got to do work, too. There's worse things that your son could be doing.

Yeah, you're right. He's on that grind. Yeah.

How do you get into Harvard? Did he know anyone?

Well, mom and dad both went there, but he was also a very bright kid. Good test.

All right, Ryan, this has been awesome. We love having you on. I got one last question. It's a rowback question. Rhoback. Com, promo code, take 20% off your first purchase. Q-zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts, rowback. Com, promo code take. Thursday Night Football, Amazon Prime, Ram Seahawks. We're so excited for the game. We said, they do a great job pre-game, halftime, post-game. Sam Schwartzstein's Altkast This is awesome. It's just a great product all around. My last question, though, we talked about Mahomes with his ACL. The other big one was obviously Micah Parsons. When you lose a guy like that, what happens to a team where is there a little bounce where it's like, Hey, we got to all chip in here, even though that is our best player and we just lost him? Or how does that work where it's the mentality in the locker room going to the next game and being like, Hey, we're still alive. It's not like the Chiefs who were eliminated and they lost Patrick Mahomes. The packers are still very much alive. If they beat the bears and the lions lose, they can clinch a playoff spot on Sunday.

Yeah. As a bears fan, you're asking me this?

Yeah, I'm nervous. I'm nervous about the Nobody believes in us card that they're going to try to throw out there.

It's a lot like after a coach gets fired or you bench your quarterback and put another guy in. There's a rallying cry for one week, and then reality sets in, and it's like, Oh, okay. So this could be the week. There's the rallying cry. I hate to tell you that.

I know. I've been thinking about the whole time, and it's like the Packers fans being able to be like, We beat the bears twice, and the second time, we had no Micah Parsons. God fucking damn Yeah.

Well, and you know how much Ben Johnson enjoys beating Lafleur twice a year.

Yeah. It's the only mistake he's made as a head coach is name dropping Matt LaFleur. He's been perfect otherwise.

I like that the floor went and just did a quick handshake because he's got to wait for the second game. If he beats him a second time, then he can go over the top.

Yeah, I love it. I want them to hate each other. I think it's so much better. I hope that both coaches are coaching for a very long time against each other. It feels good because the bears have not been really a participant in a lot of the rivalry in the last decade plus. So it feels good to have a team like, Hey, I feel like they can beat the packers.

Yeah, and the NFL is so much better when the Chicago bears have a good team, too. So very happy to have them. Yeah.

All right, Ryan, you're the best. I don't know when we'll see you again. Maybe in Lake Tahoe. Probably. Super Bowl. Yeah, we'll see you in Super Bowl. Also, can you just tell Whitworth, We get it, dude. You're the sweatshirt guy. It's a little much.

You know what? No, he hasn't been wearing them lately. It's been like six or seven weeks in a row.

Of no sweatshirt underneath the jacket? No hoodie.

No hoodie. Yeah.

What's he been wearing?

He's holding out. He's trying to get more money from Roback.

No, he's trying to do the hot Aspen dad look. Every week, it's like the hot Aspen dad look. So he's wearing boots now. I mean, the guy is beautiful. But yeah, he's shied away from it the last month and a half.

It is funny watching Ola and retire lose that weight, and then they start dressing like the hockey. Because that's not... He spent his entire life being a big guy, probably wearing sweat pants, sweatshirt, just weren't... No one knows who he is, and now it's like, Oh, this guy's a hotbody. Wow.

Well, he went from growing up in Louisiana to play in O-line at 3: 40 in Cincinnati to the real glow up, which was the LA Rams, Walter Pate Man of the Year Super Bowl, lost all this weight. He's less than 300 pounds. Hot Aspen dad. He's real glow up, but we're also very proud of him.

Yes.

It's a fun show. We like watching Thursday Night Football.

You guys do a great podcast together, too. Two of our favorite dudes. Yeah, we'll see you at Super Bowl.

All right. Sounds good, guys. I'll be there to take a picture of Josh Allen for you.

Yeah, we should. I heard you told that story. So that story, I don't know if we ever said that it was you who was taking the picture. And the best part about the story is that I I was like, Hey, Ryan, can you take a picture of us and Josh? Which we know each other well enough that I didn't feel weird asking you. But then I did feel like an asshole being like, Hey, my tits were out. Can you take it again? That was the part. Yeah, not realizing the whole time that the real problem with the picture were my eyeballs. I actually, fuck you. You should have said, Hey, take PFT's glasses. You need them more than him today.

Oh, I need the glasses, too. Yeah.

But you could AI the photo anyway, right? Just change your eyes in there.

Well, no, that's a good point. Yeah, Big Cat's pupils were pinpoint because of AI. That's actually not a real picture.

Somebody AI that photo to make your pinpoint pupils.

It was just so funny because I was so nervous about the bitch tits, and then I posted the picture and all the responses went a different way, and I was like, oh, boy.

That's on.

It was an exciting night for everybody, I think.

Yeah, maybe, hey, listen, when you see Super Bowl week, just maybe bring an extra pair of sunglasses for me. I'll probably need All right.

Sounds good.

All right. Thanks, man.

Fitsy was brought to you by Fox One, where you can stream your favorite live sports so you never miss those Did You See That moments? That means Fox College Football Saturday is now on Fox One, and now every Saturday morning, you can catch Dave Portnoy and Big Cat as part of the big noon kickoff crew only on Fox One. Fox One is built for live, edge of your seat plays, jaw-dropping highlights, the moments to make you shout in your living room like you're at the stadium. It's College Football Saturdays all streaming live the way it was meant to be watched. It's also the best way to stay locked in on your action, whether you're sweating your fantasy matchup, tracking a parlay, or just riding the chaos live as it happens. You can start your seven-day free trial today. Offers a subject to change. Go to fox1 for complete terms and conditions. Fitsy was also brought to you by Twisted Tea, the perfect beverage to keep the good times going this holiday season. The twees are flowing. Hey, we should go out. We should get a Christmas twi. What do you think about that?

I I'm in. Christmas twee? Yeah. Wow.

It took us way too long to think of the Christmas twee. Twisted Tea is delicious. I love it. Love the half and half. What do you boys like again? What's your favorites?

I like peach.

I like the O-G.

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Okay, let's wrap up. We got listener submitted FAQs. Henry. Yeah.

With the year coming to an end, do you guys have any big plans or things you're looking forward to in 2026?

Besides losing weight? Yeah. We actually do have some big plans. This is big news. Major news. Yeah, major news. In 2026, January, we don't have the exact date, but we have come to a deal with Netflix. Pardon my take. Have you ever heard of it? Is going to be on Netflix. Here's how it's going to work. The podcast video will be exclusively on Netflix. That's where everyone who watches the AWWs, the award-winning watchers, can watch it on Netflix.

They'd be AWLs, award-winning lookers.

If you are a listener and you're listening to this on Spotify or Apple or wherever you listen to it, literally nothing is changing. If you consume us by listening, nothing is changing. If you watch us, we are going to be on Netflix, and we're very, very excited. It's a big deal for the podcast. It's surreal. It's surreal. I think it's going to open some more doors for us. It also allows us to compensate and let some of the behind-the-scenes guys, guys in the booth, Shane, Pug, all these other guys, share in the success of the podcast. We're very excited about that part. Hank, PFT, and I talked about it, and we're like, Yeah, if this means that everyone can have more pie, let's make some more pie.

We want more pie. We want more pie for them. And cake, and we want to eat the cake too. Yeah, Netflix sounds like they're going to be a great partner. We talked about all the details behind it, and we went through it pretty closely. We sat down. We very rarely do a three-way podcast meeting where we talked about whether or not this would be a good thing for us to do. We came to the conclusion that it seems like it's going to be a very good thing for everybody involved. I'm excited. I'm very excited to be on Netflix.

Then in terms of where everything's going to live. Like I said, the actual podcast, the viewing experience of the podcast, that will be exclusive to Netflix. Our PMTVs, if we do Doug streams, our golf videos. Zack streams. Zack streams.

Those are coming in 2026.

Those will be on YouTube, and they will eventually... We're working on it so that Everything can live on Netflix, but those will be on both places. We're excited. I think it's going to be a huge opportunity for us. This has been a crazy journey, and obviously, the podcast is doing very well, and it's cool to have an opportunity like this. We're pumped. We'll have more details when we get closer. We don't want to over-explain something that we don't have a place for people to go right this second. I think in the next coming weeks, we'll have some more details so that everyone can feel like they're in the know. But yeah, we're pumped.

One thing that I've really liked over the years is when we find out about parents and their kids listening to part of my take and it becoming something that they bond over, whether we say something stupid and they want to talk about it and say, Wow, PFT is really dumb, isn't he, dad? Yeah, he sure is, son. Things like that, it's nice to hear. I feel like even with Netflix, that's going to be a good barrier to clear with parents. Trying to explain to my mom to get on YouTube or to watch the podcast. Kind of difficult. She's locked and loaded on Netflix. It's right there. Everyone's got Netflix.

And nothing is changing in terms of content because Netflix, we talk to them, great partner, so nothing's going to be changing. It's just that's where the podcast is going to live now, and we're excited.

Yeah, for the first, I don't know, five years, there's no video at all.

Yeah, people forget that, that we literally didn't have a video.

It was behind a paywall. It was on Barcel Gold for the first then two years. Then after Barcel Gold, I know we just started posting it on YouTube. But it's just going back to what I guess, the video started as.

Yeah.

Finally- Everyone has Netflix. If you don't have Netflix, you should have Netflix. Netflix is the one.

Finally, Mincey can Netflix and chill.

Yes.

That's going to be very important for him.

Very important. Yeah, more details coming, but it is a big deal for this podcast. We're really excited. I mean, the Netflix is a very big big company and big deal, and they made us feel special, and we're going to be a big part of their vertical to grow their podcast. So all those details will be coming out. And yeah, it's a win for everyone. So we're excited.

Very excited. They told us we're pretty, and we agreed.

Yeah, exactly. Like, you know what? We are pretty. You just think about Zack on Netflix. You ever think that, Zack? The team on Netflix, PMT. A lot of people are going to be watching you on Netflix. I think it's a beautiful Maybe you could do the Netflix and chill with a date. If you ever take that girl out on a second date. Have you called her back? We haven't talked a little bit. You know, seasonal. You got a lot of football going on recently. Seasonal. It's a seasonal thing. Yeah.

You're married to the game.

That Makes sense. A lot of ball out there to watch. Yeah, it's a very seasonal thing.

Ball comes first.

Yeah, that's the big news. That is the big news. I'm excited. Netflix on PMT.

Not starting January first.

Not starting January first. When we get the exact start date. We will definitely let everyone know. We will give you more details as we get closer. We try not to do big, big announcements when we don't have an action that you can take. We're not there at the action yet, but I think this is going to be something that gets released by Netflix and a press release at some point on Wednesday. We wanted to make sure we told the AWLs first. Again, if you're listening to this, I think because we've been so We were so early to the game, 80% of our audience is just listening to this, and like I said, nothing changes for them. But actually, go watch us on Netflix, please. Yeah, that would be awesome. Just turn it on. If you turn on for your dog. Don't turn it on. If you have to commute and you can't watch, turn on for your dog.

That was a good... Hank, that was a really good effect.

What's up, fellows?

What's up?

What type of rehearsals are done prior to shows, if any?

Rehearsals. We got two rehearsals.

It often seems like part of the shows are ad-libbed while those are well-structured.

No, we got the table read. Rehearsals. First of all, we do the table read about two hours before. Then we do the dress rehearsal. That's when we change into our costumes. We usually wear polo shirts, khakis, belts to work, but then we change into what you see now.

Do you imagine if we rehearsed? The most rehearsing we do is when we start a conversation, then stop it and say, Save for the show. Or walking by, one of us will walk by the other saying, I got something I want to say to you, but I'm not going to say it until we get on the show.

Imagine like, scripting some of the stupidest things that we've ever said.

People thought this show was actually written down and scripted at the beginning. I think that was a Dave rumor.

Sometimes either me or Big Cat will sit down with a lot of the guys in the corner and we'll just start throwing out some takes. It's directed at the one person that's not there at the time. Just feel it out a little bit. You think he's going to be mad about this? You think he's going to be upset about this? And then that's a little bit of a rehearsal.

Yeah, or a rehearsal where it's like you see-You guys are just talking about me and Hank.

No. It's like if Hank is there and I'm not, it's about me. If I'm there and Hank's not, it's about Hank.

No. Or in a rehearsal, you see a tweet and then you are sitting next to Max and PFT, and you say, Hey, look at this tweet.

Look at that one. Yeah.

People get angry at rehearsal, I guess.

Actually, you know what? Maybe the most rehearsing that we've done recently was after the Eagles Chargers Monday Night Football game, where we just, being Big Cat, just texted the group thread like, Hey, we should get a bunch of inflatable things to bring in for Max. And then we're like, Okay. The secret group thread? Secret group thread. No, you left.

You left. Yeah, you left.

I did leave.

But that might have been me, PFT and memes.

Hank also did have someone from another part of the company text me and say I have to be in. It was a fake request.

Oh, yeah. No, we were there for that. I had nothing to do with. That was awesome.

Distraction.

I'd even think twice about it, too. She was like, You need to be out on the on the court, and then I just kept being like, What am I doing here? She's like, Just wait. It didn't register in my head at all.

She came over to me one time. Then at one point- She was like, I'm running out of stuff to pretend to tell Max to do. I don't know what to say.

She said nothing. She was like, You just have to be here. Then at one point, I guess she got the okay that you guys were all set up. Then she was like, Actually, you know what? You don't need to be here. I just believed it.

This will be productive. Do a quarterback redraft for Drake May, Caleb Williams, and Jane Daniels.

Oh, Okay. All right.

All right, Big Cat, you got the first overall pick.

I'm taking Caleb Williams.

All right, PFT, you got the second overall pick.

I'm going to take Drake. Does this include the fourth quarter? I'm going to switch it up. Jade and Daniels.

Yeah, Bo Nicks.

I was going to say Bo Nicks has got to be in there.

Well, no, it was a three-person draft.

I think Memes should have to make the list.

All right, Memes, tell us your list.

You got the first pick.

He's got all the pics.

You got all the pics. If I'm the bear, did I'm going to interview Drake May this time?

No. I'd still go Caleb.

I'd probably do Drake at two. Maybe Bo at three. Okay, all right.

I'd do Tyler Shuck.

Are you going to throw out nine? Don't throw out nine. I was thinking about throwing out nine.

Put Tyler Shuck in there, even though it's different class.

We'll go Tyler Shuck at three.

Or four? So you just didn't draft Jaden Daniels? Yeah. All right. Just remember that.

Put that on the bulletin. Memes hates the commanders. My preemptive take of the year was right.

What was your preemptive take? Commanders will miss the playoffs, and Jaden Daniels be the worst out of all the quarterbacks in 2024.

Michael Penix? He looked pretty good before the injury. I don't know about that, Memes. I don't know about that, Memes. You sling it.

Money, money, football.

You take nine over Jaden?

Right now.

Best ability is availability.

That's true. Hey, listen, like I said, the haters are right. Congrats to the haters.

They got you this year.

Yeah. Haters shot up the power rankings board this year.

All right, last one. Can someone explain how Max is both a NoVA fan and a PSU fan? This feels illegal.

Well, no, Nova doesn't have Division 1 football.

Vilanova does not have... People are so mad at me. Vilanova is an FCS football school. It is impossible for Vilanova and Penn State to play in a postseason format. They can play in the regular season. They did play in the regular season this year, so that's where people got mad. But Vilanova losing to Penn State doesn't affect Vilanova's season in any way whatsoever.

But But it does- Villanova beating Penn State.

Still does not really affect their season.

Yeah, Penn State.

But it doesn't really affect Vilanova's.

It'd be an all-time win for Vilanova.

Yeah. Max actually took Max's credit, he is very straightforward with his Penn State It is at the bottom of his rankings, and he does not... If Penn State lost in a national championship, we could not get a rise out of Max. He'd just be mad.

But we couldn't get an eagles or a Philly's rise out of you.

We could tease you a little, but it just wouldn't be that. You wouldn't be as upset as you've been with others. No.

It wouldn't come close to watching Max if you lost in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament with Vilanova.

The difference is Going into the Penn State football year, I have no idea who's on the team. I learn it. I watch each game and I learn guys as the season goes on.

You're always learning.

Yeah. Even then, I still don't know many guys on the Penn State football team. They're the team I root for. But it's like, I don't really know Penn State football that well. Vilanova Basketball, I'm following the recruiting every single week. Every guy that we get, as soon as we get them, I'm looking at their highlight tapes, getting excited for how they're going to fit in the system. Vilanova basketball is my thing. Also, I went to Vilanova. People don't know that I went to Vilanova. You're smart.

Wait, is Vilanova a smart school?

It's pretty smart.

Okay.

It's pretty smart. But yeah- You're smart. People... Because it does get confusing because I went to Hofstra out of high school- Sweet. And I transferred to Vilanova, graduated from Vilanova.

What did you study at Vilanova?

Communications, production.

Do you think there's ever a chance we'll have a March Madness where all three of your teams are in? Hofstra, Vilanova. I don't see that's the thing.

I don't care about Penn State basketball.

And you don't care about Hofstra, really.

Actually, I do... If Penn State basketball is in the tournament, I would root for Penn State basketball to win that game. Not that I would really care.

Who's the white guy who hit all the threes? Fuck, I love that guy.

Oh, for Penn State? Yeah.

I don't know. See, I don't even know.

What was his name? It was like two years ago.

I thought for a second, you were talking about Dante. No.

Yeah, I was going to say the white guy who hit all those threes. There's like 10 different guys that that could be. No.

What was his name? You got to get Hofstaran. This is going to kill me.

Hofstaran is good this year.

Hofstaran hasn't made the NCA tournament since 2000.

They would have.

And then the one time they did was 2020.

Got canceled.

Yeah.

Okay, wait. Go, pride. Hold on. We can't.

That's our one mutual-Was it Shep?

No. Is Andrew Funk? Yes, Funk. We got Funk. Remember we've Funk? Yes. Dude, he was wapping.

Zack, what a pull.

There it is. Did you look that up? That was all Google, yeah. Oh, okay. Well, still good pull. Funk.

What was your search?

Dude, Funk was awesome. Search was Penn State white guy who hit all those threes. It was Andrew Funk.

Yeah.

He was always on the Nuggets. He must be on the... I wonder if he's on the G League. Andrew Funk, Penn State. I want to see what it is. I want to say it was against Texas A&M, maybe. They might have lost, but he was lights out. He was so much fun.

Andrew Funk.

He was a full tournament type of guy. Okay. Good show, boys. Great show. I'm looking at Funk right now.

Three is right in the middle, front and center. To start this show. It is? I'm looking at it. I think that's three. Right, Hank?

Can you see memes?

Here, let's zoom in on it. I'll do it.

Zoom in on it.

You have an add rate.

Meme zoom in on three.

I don't have an ad.

Meme zoom in on it. I'm locked in on this guy.

Zoom in on it. We can see it.

Oh, yeah. Here it is. Stop talking, Max. The Texas A&M game, he went eight for 10. That was some good number three. I think that was PFT.

Good quarter of a second. Got you.

I think that was PFT. Oh, yeah. Eight for 10 for three. That was such a fun game.

Oh, Punk has made his analysis.

And? It is.

The one that he pointed at, you know it.

I wasn't going to go for it until Memes did his draft, and then now Memes had to.

Oh, your team sucks. Wow.

Memes hates the commanders. Oh, yeah.

22.

A hundred.

I'll go six. What number did Andrew Funk wear?

99, Pug.

I'll go 12.

44. 8.

10. Andrew Funk. Shout out to Andrew Funk. Whoa.

See, I said that that happened sometime.

Someone gaslit me and being like, No, that was just a reflection. I think it was you that was gaslighting? No.

15. Teebo. Should we do one more?

Teebo. Just one more. We're currently 36 guests away. One more. This would make it... This could be it. What are you? 6?

6.

Come on, Memes.

100?

6 is the number I got.

Is it? Yeah. I could see it being 6.

Nah. 57.

Anyone?

57? 57.

Next time. Love you guys.