NFL Week 18 Preview!!

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The Heed the Call podcast.

Could use a cheeseburger from Hanano's right now.

Oh,

Hanano.

Oh, yeah.

I could.

Oh, we should.

Welcome to Heed the Call.

Week 18 preview show.

Can you believe it?

The final week of the regular season.

Dan Hans is here with Mark Sessler, Jordan Rodrigue, Michael Sean Dugar, Justin Graver on the ones and twos.

Hanano is a

hold for applause.

Hanano, for those who are not aware, is a legendary hole in the wall joint in Venice

that has an old griddle, which I've estimated probably has been there since the Civil War.

A griddle.

Whatever is the remnants on that griddle, create the most delicious bar burgers you'll ever have.

And on that note, as I bring in Mark Sessler,

Sess Dog,

we have heard that Jordan Rodrigue

and Michael Sean Dugar are talking about a gathering.

We have not all been together in the same room

as a group ever, actually.

Like Mike, I don't know, Mike, we have never met in person.

So this could actually happen on Saturday, and Hanano sounds like a good place to do it.

We've got a Rams Seahawks showdown, so that's the occasion.

Showdown strong.

Sure.

An encounter.

After the 700th tiebreaker went against Seattle, it really did kind of hurt our show because that would have been a nice little pop for the show to have the two beat reporters going off in week 18, but whatever.

Well, it is a week where I think meaning

slow dances with meaninglessness.

Week 18, it's not what the NFL is hoping for in some cases, but it does bring Michael to our city.

And I don't think we've seen Jordan in person since, I feel like it was the Super Bowl or something.

It was quite a while ago that we, and it's a little sad because she only lives about eight minutes from you, Dan.

So I kind of put that on you, that the two of you to some degree.

Well, Jordan and I actually met for drinks when we talked about her involvement in the show because, you know, I'm a professional.

Well, now I'm on the spot.

And then if you, here's a fun fact, Mike.

If you are in the area of Los Angeles near the Pacific Ocean and you are out and about, you will see Jordan.

I also ran into her.

She just wanders around the shoreline up and down.

And when my sister and her family were visiting a couple months ago,

we ran into Jordan and had a nice conversation.

So I've seen Jordan twice, actually, Mark, in the last couple of months.

Well, yeah, I've been uncovered and unearthed there.

I get that.

No.

Tough one.

Yeah, where the hell have you been, Mark?

Actually,

I've been somewhere.

That's for sure.

People have been asking Mark that question for many years.

People are wondering.

People on this show are wondering because Mike and I were texting earlier this week, Mark, and we were talking about where to sort of create logistics.

It's really hard to get around Los Angeles.

There's a song playing in the background.

I can't remember.

But, George, we've got Justin, it's still New Year's Day for Justin and New Year's Eve playing.

Mark said in my city, so I played in my city.

Sorry for that.

But yes, this text is.

I was trying to identify what it was at the same time as telling.

So Mike and I were texting about logistics.

By the way, I had to text Justin, by the way, lose song on text

because it was so clear it was not the right time for the song.

I would have just cut it out of the show completely and no one ever.

That's why I just wrote it.

And then once Jordan then referenced it, now it's too late.

I'm backsliding.

I started becoming a pro, and now I'm backsliding.

And if people think that's too curt in text, that's just the way you have to transcribe in the moment.

It's hot.

You got to go full stenographer in a big spot.

Anyway, Jordan, go ahead.

Yeah, it's hard to get around Los Angeles.

There's traffic.

It's a massive city.

There's lots of little villages inside the city.

So Mike and I were kind of coordinating like when you get in, like what time it works for you,

and all of that.

And I said, we picked an area that might work for what I said, everybody, but I don't think, I think Mark, I said, I think Mark lives relatively close to said unspecified area.

And I said, so that should be no problem.

And Mike sent me back a text that said, Does Mark live in a remote location off the grid?

And I said,

he lives, he actually lives inside the H of the Hollywood sign.

And Mike said, See, I figured it was something like that.

Like, totally serious.

That's what I thought.

Yeah.

It's when you're up there and you're inside one of those letters.

It's a massive structure, actually.

You could easily have a small apartment with a bed and furnishings.

I don't live far from there.

I can see it from where I live.

But I'm well-versed in traveling the city.

So wherever you've picked as our location, I believe I'll be able to get there via vehicle.

Vehicle will take me from point A to point B to hang out with other humans.

You are just going to beam on down, Mark?

I'll find my way there.

But I'm excited for

your suggestions of where we go.

I will be there.

Can't wait.

We've had so much fun over these four months together

doing this show.

So looking forward to that.

And now we look forward to week 18, which,

by the way, kind of a tough one.

Tough one in terms of the the matchups.

We just talked about

Rams, Seahawks was almost the battle for the NFC West Crown and a playoff spot, but that didn't work out.

The Rams clinched that.

And then it made me think about

randomly,

everybody has weird, like internet things that you end up, you watch, you watch.

You don't realize why you keep watching it, but you keep watching it, right?

So on Instagram,

there's a feed by this guy named Junk Wax Sal.

And and his all he does he owns like a card shop in somewhere in America and it's a sports cards and collectible shop and what he does he does these unwrappings of vintage cards and because I've gotten into baseball cards again through my sons now but I also I collected hardcore from like 88 to 93 and he'll open old packs and go through the packs and I don't know why I have to watch it he even eats the gum the old tops gum he'll eat it.

And the ASMR stuff's going on.

Very strange.

That's concerning.

Like 40-year-old gum.

He'll just pop it in his mouth and go through the cards.

And you just watch him go through the cards.

It's very strange.

I don't know why it connects with me the way it does.

Anyway, long story short, his favorite player for some reason is Jose Conseco.

And when he talks about the 1986 cards, he goes, okay, we're hoping for the goat.

Let's see if we pull the goat.

And whether or not he gets it, usually doesn't.

I feel like week 18 is that 1986 pack of Don Russ.

And it's like, we're looking, and the GOAT obviously is Lions Vikings, Sunday night football.

And then everything else in the pack is hot garbage, as Junk Wax Sal would call it.

So we have this incredible game.

We got the GOAT game.

And then the rest, well, we'll talk about it.

I like how you brought that around.

I was wondering for a minute.

I was too.

The rest is Steve Balboni.

A lot of Balboni.

I was watching for about two minutes there.

That was good, though.

That was good.

Rob Deeres, a lot of Cecilio Guante's in there.

Mike Deveros.

All right, let's get into it.

Minnesota, the game that everyone's excited about,

it could not have set up any better.

The Minnesota Vikings, number four in the Heed the Call Power rankings, travel to Ford Field to face the number two Detroit Lions.

Lions getting three points here.

And why don't we set this conversation up, gang, with Dan Campbell's post-game locker room, part of his post-game locker room conversation with his players spinning forward to what's about to go down in Detroit.

Listen, you can't ask for anything better to be able to have the division and the one seat on the line back at home.

Guys,

this is what it's all about.

This is why you're in this profession, man.

This is as good as it gets.

We're so thankful for this opportunity.

This can be unbelievable.

Appreciate you guys, man.

It's a hell of a job.

It's a hell of a ride, and we got one more.

And here are the stakes, Jordan.

Number one seed in the nfc which means home field advantage throughout the playoffs and to buy in the first round if you don't win this game you tumble to the fifth seed and you are road warriors as long as you're playing in the playoffs uh it's going to be a hell of a game with so much at stake i

i like a lot of games a lot of times you guys know this

but i

i am so glad first of all that i did not have to race and then fight you to the death over in the document on this one dan like i'm glad they just the league finally did it, right?

They set one up for us right at the right time.

Probably.

They pulled the Conseiko.

That's all they got to do.

They pulled the Conseco card.

Yes.

I just, I love this game for so many reasons, but probably my favorite thing about this game is my favorite thing about a lot of games that the Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions have uniquely played this year.

And that is all of the coordinator matchups inside this game.

It's been fun listening to like the mild collective flare-ups of panic from Lions fans and non-Lions fans when we see Ben Johnson burn a trick play,

burn a trick play, because we're kind of always like rooting, all collectively rooting for the Lions and also kind of all collectively rooting for the Vikings at this point.

Um, but Ben Johnson is doing something else that I want to point out because I think that's going to matter against the Vikings, and I think it's going to matter in the playoffs because he is going to be playing a defense that shapeshifts and morphs to counter some of the things that he's already put on tape.

So, So Ben Johnson sets up plays a piece at a time, right?

Connor wrote beautifully about Stumblebum, right?

And that was like one of the most fun moments of the season.

That's the fall down play.

That was the tight end leak.

So Ben Johnson set that play up by running basically 6,000 different types of tight end leak over the last couple of years.

And then, as we know, pulled that play from watching.

Jordan Love fumble and then pick up a fumble and execute like a 37-yard pass downfield and realizing how the linebackers

were affected by the play.

But what they also were affected by, if it's the Lions, are the 1 million different variations of leak and how the linebackers and the safeties move to that play.

So they pulled the stumble bit, and that was really great.

But what kind of went unsaid was that they checked out of that play earlier in the game.

So they tested the look against the defense to see how they would react to that look and how they would move.

And then they checked out of it and saved it just for the next game.

And I say all this because you see it every week, these little slivers of plays that Ben Johnson does, these little half or quarter pieces of plays that he does.

And one of these is going to tie into my fearless prediction at the end of the show.

But he does these little quarter measures and pieces of plays that he then he uses in different ways throughout the course of the game.

And then he puts everything together when he gets the exact perfect look.

And then all of those variations and permutations can then go towards something else as well, as long as he sees the defensive move a certain way.

Kevin O'Connell does the same thing.

He just does it in the passing game with the types of layered concepts.

He's like those guys on Baking Show and women on Baking Show that are like folding layers of butter into puff pastry.

You know, it's layer by layer by layer by layer by layer.

That's what Kevin O'Connell does.

And everything has a permutation.

This is going to be so much fun.

They're going to, I think, empty a lot of the bag, but the bag will never be empty with these guys.

That's the point.

I think, like...

I love what you just said because it's this emphasis on the coordinators.

And these are, this is a culture war to me.

It really is inside the most interesting division.

And I've really never felt that way about the NFC North, but I do this year.

And it's like, these are two head coaches that completely empower their coordinators to go be who they are.

And so there's multiple personalities within the personality of each team.

And they're both the good guy.

Like that for me, it's like I struggle to like, who am I rooting for?

Because there's a Lions.

We all get the Lions experience.

But, and Dan, you won't get this reference, but I feel like Sam Darnold is almost like Luke Skywalker this season, where it's like, we expected nothing from this youth who lived out on a desert planet, but he's like an hour away from blowing up the Death Star.

Like, it's like he's about to do something no one would have expected.

And I really do feel like it's going to be a struggle for certain fans who are agnostic to these teams.

Like, who are you rooting for?

Because, like, I will feel,

and their seasons go on, but I am trying to detect the better story because they both changed football so much.

And it is the strategy side that you mentioned, but it's just who they are, the cities, the coaches.

You watch like Dan Campbell there.

I'm like, I would literally, if he told me to drive my car off the I-10 into a lake, I would do it.

I probably would.

I'd be like, I think he gets why I'd be doing it and I'll do it for him.

Right, right, right.

Well, and also, Mike, like, here's the thing.

We know the culture.

You talk about a culture war, Mark.

It's like a culture love in here.

It's like, you know, the culture is great in Detroit.

You see it in the locker room.

We've been talking about how fun it is to go into these locker rooms all year.

That Minnesota locker room, after Darnold came in and they, the great shot.

We played it on the show on Sunday night on the recap show.

But then I saw another video of it, Mike, where while the teammates are hoisting Darnold up and throwing the water on him, O'Connell was offset in like the corner of the locker room, just taking it all in.

Yep.

And like, that is an amazing culture situation there as well.

So it's these two teams that are just run so well.

They're the envy of football, both of these organizations right now.

Yeah, when you're run well, you can do something that's also

notable with these two teams is kind of quote-unquote revive the career of a quarterback.

I don't know if Jared, revive's probably too strong for Jared, but you guys get the point.

Like these are two teams who had at least, or these are two quarterbacks who had at least one team give up on them.

Sam had multiple.

And here they are, you know, they're not just along for the ride.

They're both playing really, really, really well.

And it's part of all the things you guys have talked about with the team around them is being, you know, supporting them really well.

I was, I wish we could get like a, maybe we will, maybe I'm helping NBC out here, like a mini dock on the leading up to this game because i remember when the seahawks were in the same boat uh they had the it was winner take the one seed loser take the five seed in 2019 on sunday night football uh against the niners and this you could really feel the energy throughout the city the whole week they had just re-signed marshawn lynch too because of running back injury so that helped uh but it was just building so much two teams hated each other richard sherman was on the niners uh at the time like it was nuts they had played a monday night football game earlier in the year that went to overtime that was the niners first loss I think, earlier in the year.

Like, it was just so much.

And I can just feel like the, I'm not obviously in Minnesota or Detroit, but I just know it's going to be the same.

Like that buildup is crazy because your season's basically on the line, which is how, you know, kind of how the Seahawks treated it that year.

You can get the five and rally, but it's really, really, really tough.

I think the loser will probably be okay

as the five.

The only tricky one, I think, is if like the Lions got to go to Tampa.

I could see them maybe just not having the defense to get enough stops to keep up with them.

But otherwise, I think they should be okay.

But I mean, the five seed is just

a tough spot.

I like the coaching matchups too.

I just wanted to say I think the winner of this might end up being coach of the year, probably coach of the year on the line Sunday night.

And coordinator and the coordinators too, because Brian Flores versus Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, we cannot leave him out of this either because he's going to be a head coaching candidate as well.

And with everything as tattered as that group is health-wise, I'm just in awe of the coaching job that he's doing right now.

And yes, the statistics are looking lopsided.

The group looks like they're as banged up as they are, but they play so hard and there's no quit in either of these teams.

It's going to be really fun.

Over-under is 56 and a half in this game.

I think we're talking double 30 burger.

This feels like a 40.

42 to 38 type game to me, but we'll see.

One note, like, let's say the Lions do lose.

And actually, the clip we played in the locker room before Campbell,

the part of the clip we shared, he mentions like, you know, even if it doesn't work out the way we want, we just finished 8-0

away from Detroit this season.

So, you know, if this goes the Vikings' way on Sunday, Detroit's going to be able to pivot and still feel like they can get all the way to New Orleans.

So let's pick this game before we move on, Jordan.

I'm picking the Vikings because I think that the combination of Kevin O'Connell and Brian Flores is just going to put points up against the Lions' defense.

Mark?

Yeah, I mean, the lions are openly giving up like 33 points per game over the last four outings that's concerning to me but they keep finding a way and something just magnetizes me to dan campbell in detroit

yeah i like the vikings too i think yeah just defense is just going to catch up to the the lions you know it just maybe just be a play here or there you know you need to stop on third and seven and you just don't got guys that can guard jordan addison and justin jefferson sometimes football really is just that simple yeah we're aligned on that i talked about that on our Tuesday show, Mike, that I just, I worry about Detroit getting picked off one of these weeks because the defense can't get the stop.

And it's so much pressured on Detroit's offense.

However, I think at home in this spot, they make the big play and they win the game.

Don't you love that there's no wrong answer?

Don't you love that?

I love that there's no wrong pick here.

Like, it's awesome.

I like that even no matter who loses,

we'll see them the next week.

There will be a wrong answer.

I mean, two of us have picked one team and two have picked the other.

Someone will be wrong.

Okay, structurally, okay, sure, Mark.

But, like, it doesn't win.

Nothing feels wrong about this game.

All right, let's get into,

well, let's take a break right here.

Let's stop right here.

And then when we come back, we will do the games we cannot wait to watch.

That's what it says in the doc.

I'm just

gonna datum.

Stay right here.

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All right, we're back.

Okay, time to get into the games we cannot wait to watch.

And Mark, the formatting of this Thursday show usually ensures that

these four games, this bundle is going to have some bangers.

But like we said, we already pulled the Conseiko and now we got a bunch of Balbonies.

And so people should understand that while the segment's called Games, we cannot wait to watch and maybe that's a little strong.

Yeah, I think if you're listening to this, shift into the mode where you believe that you're a savvy

fan, a savvy observer of the sport, and you understand that this is a special week of the NFL schedule, and we're going to treat it with the appropriate savviness that it deserves.

And that means we might not spend 22 minutes on each of these games that we probably could wait to watch if we really needed to.

If something really important happened, you probably could wait to watch some of them.

Does it help you there?

Yeah, beautifully said.

All right, let's get it going.

Here's a game that, actually, though, Jordan staying on top of things.

Obviously, she wasn't out late New Year's Eve.

She was bright-eyed, bushytailed, and she said, I'm going to go get the one game that really does have some juice to it.

The number 13, Cincinnati Bengals, traveling to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers.

This is the Saturday primetime game with Buck Aikman and Salters.

And Jordan, Cincinnati, I like that this game is by itself on Saturday, so we know exactly what happens going into the Denver KC game.

Miami will get to Miami.

Miami will get they're in the mix as well, obviously.

But the Bengals, it's very simple: win on Saturday and then see where things fit in.

And for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the division ostensibly still on the line, the AFC North, but like they really could use a dub here,

even though they're going to the playoffs regardless, three-game losing streak.

And a lot of people have kind of seen them as being exposed as a result.

Your thoughts?

Yeah, this is a game I can't wait to watch, in part because I really love how salty Joe Burrow has gotten this year.

I mean, we'll get to it in a second, but he's been openly trying to get his receivers paid.

And like, the sort of veiled suggestions are slowly morphing into not-so-veiled threats, right?

Which I think is going to be really fun all offseason.

Sway them.

So super, super simple here.

It's not, but I don't make it sound that way.

Cincinnati's path to the postseason, glimmer of hope.

They have to beat Pittsburgh.

They need the Broncos to lose to the Chiefs who are wresting Pat Mahomes and likely others.

They need the Dolphins, who I think Snoop Huntley is starting at quarterback for the Dolphins.

Most likely, yes.

They need them.

They need the Dolphins to lose to the Jets.

Now, Pittsburgh on the other side will clinch the AFC North Division title and the three seed with a Steelers win and a Ravens loss.

So I think in this scenario, the Bengals can at least do their part.

Steelers obviously are on a losing streak right now.

Their defense has really stunningly stunningly been, you know, kind of gasping over the last couple of weeks.

And particularly, they do so over top-tier quarterbacks, as our colleague Mike DeFabo, who does great work at the athletic, pointed out this week.

Part of the Steelers' struggles late in the season is the defense, which is among the most expensive in the NFL.

It's not consistently playing at a top level against top quarterbacks, but they take the ball away against Joe Burrow, and they get to Joe Burrow, and they sack Joe Burrow, and they force turnovers and have quite frequently since 2022.

So that is going to be the hinge point of this game is who gives it up less, in my opinion.

I think like

the Chiefs playing three games in 11 days, as a number of these teams had to do, showed their resilience, their strength, their coaching ability.

And I think the Steelers were in reverse exposed.

I really, I think they were exposed.

When I think about the Steelers, I'm like, I don't know if they win another game until next September.

This might be the end because I think you probably are going to fall against what is the hottest offense in the NFL right now and crumble in the playoffs and you're gone.

And

it's an incredible collapse.

When I have Steelers, I have a lot of friends who are Steelers fans.

When they start texting me last weekend saying, I know it's over, like they never, Steelers fans never think it's over.

Like they can see the end of the road.

And we are like spiritually rooting for the Bengals somehow to get in.

And I think they'll handle their business.

I think the rest of it is really problematic with like Mahomes and everyone not playing.

But I know what I want to see.

And so I do want to watch this game.

I'm with you.

I want, I think we, like, justice for the NFL fan would be Joe Burrow and for Joe Burrow, because this could be the end of T.

Higgins.

You never know.

It's time for him to have a stronger voice.

He's starting to take that on inside the organization.

But we are rooting, if you care about football and offensive football, for the Bengals to take care of what has become a milquetoast and bland offering in Pittsburgh.

Yeah, the Steelers, I don't think, play.

Their schedule was oddly backloaded.

Maybe that was hard knocks motivated, but it didn't play a division game, I think, till like week 11.

I think a lot of the AFC North was backloaded now.

I think about it.

But anyway,

their defense kind of went from like really, really good to just kind of meh.

And their offense, which was kind of just okay anyway until that point,

basically just became really meh, like meh and double meh.

You know, I was looking up like their, I'm a big point differential nerd.

I was looking it up since that week 11 when they started playing division games.

I think they're what I have 22nd minus 34, which is worse than the Saints who have a game in that span where they lost by 34.

So they're just not a very good team, which is why they've lost that three in a row.

And I'm with Mark.

This is really setting up here for the Steelers to take an L, I think, be their fourth in a row.

I think that would work out to

them going to Baltimore, I think, in the first round, which would probably be another L, which is a really disappointing season.

for them, you know, if that goes that way.

I just, I don't think they're like frauds per se, but again, I'm with Mark on just just the span, not just the three games in 11 days.

It really just feels like once you had to play your schedule on top of fighting AFC North battles every week, I feel like that is what kind of quote-unquote exposed them.

Because as we've talked about here, that's just a different division.

You got to be a different level of tough to really survive that.

You know, I'd say the Bengals are the toughest in the world, but I think there's a reason the Ravens are going to win the division and the Steelers, yeah, kind of limp into the playoffs, I think.

I'm going to go the other direction on this because I have to say that

we are a very pro-Bengles podcast, at least the last several weeks, because they're so fun to watch.

And Burrow is lighting up the league, and Jamar Chase is having one of the better wide receiver seasons we've seen.

But there's a reason why they're in this position in the first place.

They've come up small or been beaten in painful ways so many times this year.

It almost happened again last week.

And it almost feels like it would be fitting for

them to lay an egg in week 18.

I would not surprise me if

the Steelers end up bouncing back here.

Again, remember, like the Steelers may seem dead in the water, but Tomlin's a great coach.

They're going to rally around this idea that they're being overlooked as they're going to get just molly-whopped this week and then sent home the next.

I think this is going to be a game, and close games in the Bengals have not been a good vibe.

But I hope that's not the case.

But I could just see this game being closer than may be expected.

And my one other point is Burrow,

my 11-year-old niece, Lily, just,

excuse me, 14.

Time flies.

She just turned 14.

And I checked in with my sister.

I was like, what does Lily want?

It's tough.

It's like, what is the uncle doesn't know what to get, a teenage girl?

He's like, well, actually, she's really gotten into Joe Burrow.

They live in New York.

I'm like, really?

And like, and yeah, she's, I don't know if it's like she has a crush on him or she loves him as a player or both.

I'm not sure.

I didn't know she was following Burrow like that, but I ordered a Joe Burrow jersey, sent it to Lily.

She should be getting it soon.

And he's having an all-time season.

In fact, he is one big game away from becoming the NFL's fifth 5,000-yard, 45 touchdown season guy.

And he's not going to get the MVP because there's so many real options on here.

I predict that will go Alan Lamar, Barkley, Burrow, and then maybe Goff and Darnold.

I think Burrow will get some

down ballot votes, but he's having an all-time season.

And let's just play Zach Taylor last Sunday talking about his QB and how much he's killed it this year.

Yeah, I don't know that anybody can stand on a field and watch Joe Burrow and say he's not the best player in the world, you know, and then you can transfer that argument to Jamar Chase as well, you know, and you can argue those two to death.

But the clearest thing I can say is I would not trade Joe Burrow for any player in the universe.

And so to me, that's MVP to me.

Can I ask you a question, Dan?

Because I get where you're coming from, because the Bengals have found their own troubles.

They've created their own situation that they're in.

But 370 plus yards of offense in six of seven games, 27 plus points in six of seven games down the stretch here.

Like, you, do you, I see a shootout, if anything.

And then it's like, I don't trust Pittsburgh to hang around offensively because the Bengals defense has been a little a tick better.

So you're, you'd almost need to be pointing to Burrow having like the down outing that kind of cancels the MVP conversation for him at all for them to tumble.

Maybe.

I don't know.

Just a feeling.

I don't know how it's going to happen, but I think since then I could be in peril in the fourth quarter.

That's all.

I also, you know, five days ago tweeted that Joe Burrow is the best player in the NFL.

I love that guy.

And I hope, and so does Lily, Lily, and so does Zach Taylor.

So he might just destroy Pittsburgh.

And then we see if they make it in.

But what a season he's had.

All right, let's move.

Cleveland at Baltimore.

Michael Sean Dugar cannot wait to watch this game.

Yeah, actually, I genuinely, I'll probably be flying when this game happens.

I hope the Delta has it on the plane.

I really do want to watch this.

Part of it is just the history I think we're about to see because the counterpoint to Zach Taylor's argument is Lamar Jackson, you know, being the best player in the world.

Lamar is balling.

He's throwing touchdowns at a higher rate.

I don't think the volume is the same, but he's throwing them at a higher rate, fewer attempts.

He's rushed for a bazillion yards.

He's rushing for touchdowns.

Like he's, I would argue, he's the best player in the world.

And I think when they win this game, he will lock up MVP.

I don't think he can win it on a wild card team.

But getting the division, I think he'll do it.

But also the interesting thing about the Ravens, beyond just Lamar being super great, which is why I want to watch this.

I want to see the Baltimore defense continue to get better like they have been since week 11, which is right after Marlon Humphrey basically was like, hey, we suck.

We need to get better.

They've been just far more locked in.

They're second in EPA per play since then, number one in EPA per drop back since then.

I think Marlon said that after the Bengals game on that Thursday night.

And so after that, they've just been kind of locked in.

Nate Wiggins has really turned up.

at cornerback.

Kyle Hamilton looks like one of the best safeties in the league.

I think he started playing more just pure safety at that point, too.

It kind of coincides with their numbers getting better.

And then Marlon Humphrey has been balling as well.

And that's really the Bengals and the Ravens were looking very similar for a little bit in the first half of the season where it's like the quarterbacks are playing well.

Their offense is killing it.

And their defense is like 11 traffic cones.

And then the Ravens turned that around really well, really quickly, actually.

It really was like Marlon just saying, hey, guys, we suck.

Let's get better.

And then they fixed it.

And you could really see it when they played those three games in 11 days.

Like those four teams had to, I mean, they scored like 100 points in those three of those games, and they looked great.

And they were beating the snot out of their opponents, you know, other playoff teams, you know, in that stretch.

So I just really want to watch their defense more because I think that's going to be the key to them getting to the Super Bowl and potentially winning it.

It's not just going to be, can Lamar be Superman?

It's going to be, can that defense be competent?

And they've been far beyond that.

They've been really, really, really good for the past, you know, six, seven weeks or whatever.

And they, and they've got something to play for.

I I mean, clearly, like, it's one of the few games here where the contender is forced into a position where everyone will play.

And you are playing a team in Cleveland that simply does not want to win.

The only thing I'd point to with Cleveland of any interest is if Miles Garrett plays, he is banged up, and it's possible he doesn't, but he leads with Trey Hendrickson.

The league and sacks with 14ies.

The Defensive Player of the Year award is all over the place right now.

But if he went out and had the kind of game, they pressured Lamar Jackson more than any other team when they faced him the first time.

And they've done that every single time.

The Browns stink, but their defense has found a way multiple times to confront Lamar Jackson and neutralize him on some level.

That's the only thing they have in this game.

Their offense has shut down and given up.

But this point spread is 17.5.

And if I take anything into the offseason as the Cleveland Browns, that's embarrassing.

This is the team that was born out of your womb and taken away from you before the team moves, and they are 17.5 favorites against you.

That is embarrassing.

Take it into the offseason.

Figure out what you're doing.

Mark, you know, I feel like, and I think, I don't know if you agree or not, but I feel like, because you did mention it last week, the Browns have skated a little bit this year in terms of how far they've come down.

And the Watson injury obviously happened again this year, but they were a playoff team last year.

And for them to be almost 18-point underdogs to their division rival by the end of the regular season is just, and the record that they have, it's so bad.

It completely undresses the narrative around Stefanski from a year ago.

And I think Stefansky is a good coach, okay?

It's not just a personal attack on him, but

no team in the league has a lower rate of explosive plays.

And they did this last year with four or five different quarterbacks.

And here you are again.

You are starting someone that cannot function as a quarterback, and you're doing it on purpose.

So I don't know

who you argue for, but I could talk about this for two hours, but we're done with it.

But like this team has given up, and I don't think it's a good product for the NFL to watch a team on one side of the ball just give up the way they have.

It's ridiculous.

Let's spin back to Lamar then, real quick, before we move on, because I don't think enough's been said how much better he is than last year when he was the MVP.

You're just looking at his stats.

Like last year, some of them were...

He ran away with MVP.

He threw for 3,700 yards.

He had 24 touchdowns.

All the other stats are great.

He was was awesome last year, but this year, he's going to go over 4,000 yards.

He's going to go over 40 touchdowns.

He's rushed for more yards.

His yards per attempt rushing is a full yard better.

His passer rating is 121.6.

His QBR, if that's what you're into, 78.

Both of those lead the league.

This man,

this man is a brilliant quarterback.

And how many quarterbacks who have two MVPs and got the bag, he's already been paid, keep getting better?

I mean, he deserves all the credit in the world for what he's done and what he continues to do.

And like, if we're saying we're rooting for the Bengals to get in and we're rooting for Josh Allen to get over the hump, you absolutely should say the same thing about Lamar because the one thing now he has to get off his chest and off from around his shoulders is this thing that he's a playoff choker.

I mean, this guy is not going to choke in the playoffs.

This version of Lamar, I just think he's unbelievable.

Unbelievable player.

He's playing like omniscient football.

Like, he just is in the universe, just like this being untethered by space and time, just like watching everyone else function as humans, right?

Like, he is incredible.

And, like, he's my MVP pick.

I know there are a lot of deserving candidates, and it's really good that there are multiple players who can get votes this year because I think this is a really fun, like, it can be annoying.

I get that, but we're not one of those like sort of annoying, like, we're going to yell at each other about this show.

Like, we like, we like football, right?

We love football.

We love watching good players play football.

And these are great players playing football.

And Lamar is leading them, in my opinion.

And this is just cool.

It's been fun to watch.

We saw this at the beginning of the year.

I remember, Mark, you pointed it out as well.

Like this, the way that John Harbaugh was talking about Lamar, like this is, this is it.

There's a change to him.

He's always been elite.

He's always been an MVP caliber and otherworldly talent, but like otherworldly and omniscient, different things.

This is omniscient football from Lamar.

All right.

Moving on.

The game I cannot wait to watch.

The number three in the power rankings, Kansas City Chiefs, who have one loss all year

and are the number one seed in the AFC.

No drama there.

Traveling to Mile High to face the Denver Broncos.

Number 14 in the power rankings is the Nance Romo Wolfson joint.

And here's the setup.

Jim?

Jim?

Too many balls.

Too many for you, Jim.

Depends.

Depends what

Renance is.

This is an outstanding unit.

Got anything else, Justin?

No, that's it.

The Kansas City Chiefs will not be playing Patrick Mahomes, as Jordan stated earlier.

You can imagine several other

regulars will be resting in this game as they prepare to become the first team, or they hope to become the first team ever to go to three-straight Super Bowls.

Has anyone been to three-straight Super Bowls?

Let alone one of them.

Well, the Bills went to four straight and lost all four.

Oh, they lost all of them?

No, I didn't.

Yeah.

Well, we know.

But Kansas City at Denver, and the Broncos have now had two chances to clinch that playoff spot, and now here they are.

They get one more shot to do it on their own.

They get to do it at home if they can pull it off.

If they lose, they could still make the playoffs if both Cincinnati and Miami lose.

But really, you don't expect both of those teams to lose.

So here we go.

Denver win a goddamn game in a big spot here.

I don't expect Mike for them to fall on their face here, but I also wouldn't expect Kansas City to not offer any resistance just because they're so well coached or so sound in terms of their fundamentals and game plan that I think Denver is going to have to earn this.

And I hope they do because if you flatline here at home and go out on a three-game losing streak, that will be a tough pill to swallow for the entire organization.

Yeah, selfishly, we would get some very entertaining Sean Payton sound bites there.

Oh, my God.

If that, oh, man, he would absolutely lose it.

I'm just,

I actually can, I can absolutely wait to watch this game.

I

not at all,

to be honest.

I'm just going to use

I'm just going to gripe about

Andy Reid here because I'm like a coach of the year truther, honestly.

We don't have to spend a bunch of time on it.

I just hate that it's like the wins over expectation award, essentially, because I don't think

our expectations should factor into any of the awards, MVP, rookie of the year, whatever.

I think you should just judge them on coaching, not how many wins they won more than what we expected.

Anyway, I say that to say Andy Reid's got 15 wins already, you know, and he's basically probably going to give one away, and he might not be a finalist.

Damn winning it, because I think Dan Campbell and Kevin O'Connell are very deserving.

So one of them wins, that's fine.

But Andy's going to have 15 wins, give one away, and he'll probably still finish behind Dan Quinn, Kevin O'Connell, Dan Campbell, and who knows who else?

That's

my first time.

Because I spoke about this on Sky Sports last week, and I was pounding the table that Reed deserves it.

He has won Coach of the Year once.

It was in 2004 with the Eagles.

That's it.

He's never won Coach of the Year with the Chiefs, and that's Mahomes' bias.

Well, it's an absurd award.

Like, that's

it.

It's time for him to be recognized, but you're right.

Like, I think it's more likely one of those NFC North guys get it, but, you know, what can you do?

That's just so absurd.

He's got two 14-win seasons, too, in that time that you're talking about, that last time since he's won.

He's not even been a finalist in those years, man.

That's terrible.

I'm with you, and I'll never forgive the voters for the Stefansky year.

Sorry.

I just won't.

I like Kevin Stefanski as a person.

I'll never forgive them for that.

Like, that's terrible.

Sorry, Mark.

I have to fact-check this.

I agree with you.

To Mark's point about it being an absurd award, like, I'd have to double-check, but I'm pretty sure over the last 10 years, of all the coaches who have won Coach of the Year, more of them are either fired or on the hot seat and speculated to possibly be fired than coaches that are still in a great position.

It's like it was almost a death award where like you win it and two years later, you're fired.

Like Naggy, Vrabel, and Stefansky is being talked about.

Like, there's a lot of guys like that.

It's really good.

Well, you know what's absurd though it's the vote it's the voters like what like the difference it isn't handed out from out of state it's the voters ridiculous like the variance but they keep giving it to these guys that make like bad or average teams a little bit better because a field goal goes through the uprights or a fumble is scooped up uh here or there instead of like teams that are actually run with like amazing precision anyway mike finish your point sorry we interrupted you

No, I just, that just really, it bothers me.

I don't know why, like an irrational level.

Because the more that I learned about football and watch film and talk to players and talk to coaches, I just feel like there's much better ways to gauge who is doing a good.

We talk about it every week about coaching matchups and assistants more than just, oh, they were projected by Vegas to win six and a half.

They won 12 games, so Brian Daybull gets it.

I'm like, what?

He didn't win your division.

You know, like Sirianni was beating your ass and went to the Super Bowl.

Why are you a better coach than him?

I don't even know if they were third in the division or second in the division that year.

So like, it's just stuff like, it just really bothers.

Because Andy Reid is kicking ass

every season.

And I would argue, kind of to the point you're talking about, Dan, it's harder to like win at your expectation level once you get to the top than it is to just flip a bad roster.

Because you usually get a lot of resources to flip a bad roster.

You get a high draft pick, you get some money, like Dan Quinn just got both of those things.

Whereas, if we expected Andy to probably win 13 or whatever, and he wins 15.

You know, that's a, and he's doing a great job at it, too.

That's my Andy Reed spill.

You know what would be the most like Andy Reid thing

is like you are right now in a bunker coaching your ass off and Carson Wentz goes out and beats the Broncos in Denver in week 18.

Because I don't know how many people you can act.

Like one of these, one of the ways to watch these games is like we're going to sit our starters.

Like how many?

We get that.

Like how many?

There aren't that many active players.

So you've got to pick and choose.

But if you don't play Mahomes and if Carson Wentz, of all people, you know, thrown out of a moving car a year ago to most fans, like he comes in and takes out the Broncos in Denver.

That would be an Andy Reid moment for the ages and solidify everything we've just said about him.

That's not easy to do, but he could do it.

And if you're hearing out of the Broncos camp this week, everybody's, oh, we're 100% confident, blah, blah, blah.

If Carson Wentz goes nine plays, 80 dry, 80 yards touchdown on that first possession, that building is going to be tight.

Tight.

And then you need a rookie quarterback to see you through.

And I think Nick's is the right QB, Jordan,

for this moment because I don't think he'll shrink from it.

But at the same time, they've set up now where they are in a pressure spot.

So I think organizationally, it's going to be a good gut check to see where they are and how they handle this because, yeah, there's a lot on the line.

Yes.

Well, first, love how mad we all got as a group.

That's like good teamwork right there.

And also, Justin has gotten me to ugly laugh twice now in this, like in the last 10 minutes.

So thank you, Justin.

Apologies to the listeners.

I have the unique and extreme honor of having seen the last Carson Wentz game in person.

So take us through it.

Oh my God, what a ride.

No, it was like, it was,

they used him like a battering ram, basically.

This is, I think there's a real chance we get my coveted grand game of the year.

And I think it's going to be Carson Wentz, that giant Muppet just running through people.

And I think that that is where you're going to be able to actually affect this Broncos defense and surprise them a little bit.

Like when the Rams played Carson Wentz in week 18 last season, that was a win against the 49ers.

They ran him.

They were running a lot of zone read.

They were actually trying to just batter people.

And I think that the Chiefs and a very smart coach and Andy Reid is going to see that and going to try to utilize.

You know, this is not a quarterback you're necessarily going to lean on down the stretch.

So use him for what he's good for and just run him at people.

Ouch.

A little harsh.

Yeah.

That hurts.

Looking at the box square that game turned him into a battery.

15 carries in that game?

Holy hell.

Wow.

Ouch.

Andy Reid.

Unbelievable.

I mean, this guy,

this guy, 26 years in coaching, 419 wins, 273 losses, a 650 winning percentage.

He's been to

five Super Bowls, got three chips in the last five years.

Can we give him a goddamn trophy?

I think he has double-digit wins in all but one season over the last 10 years, something like that.

Yeah.

I mean, just for fun, his Kansas City tenure.

Here we go.

11, starting from 2013.

11, 9, 11, 12, 10, 12, 12, 14, 12, 14, 11, 15.

You could be like a 15-year-old Chiefs fan that you've never known pain on any human level.

And when they were slumming it last year and they went 11-6, guess what?

They went 3-0 in in the postseason, lifting a Lombardi.

All right, let's move on before we get so mad.

We can't even finish the show.

Mark, cannot wait to watch the New York Giants, the worst team in football, traveling to Philadelphia to play the Eagles resting their starters.

Take us through it.

Okay, I picked this for a reason, and I already know that

a bunch of people will disagree with this.

The New York Giants, like the first year I ever watched football, and I'm old, okay, was 1984.

And like back then, like a year later, Joe Morris, who was 5'7 ⁇ , and like 195 pounds, led the league with 21 touchdowns as a running back.

They had guys like Otis Anderson under Bill Parcells who would just truck people and destroy people and he was a huge V-shaped upper body that wiped people out.

They had Dave Meggett, who was like the other version of Eric Metcalf, like this versatile guy that like dazzled defenses.

And they had Saquon Barkley, and we get that.

And I get it.

There's all this like the front office from the summer hard knocks explaining why they moved on from barkley he would not have done this in new york so i'm kind of over that side of it but you are 101 yards away from breaking eric dickerson's record and i get it we're sitting our starters on this like i fundamentally disagree with the idea that you don't have to

come on baby i know i if they do this i think because they've said that the seriani said they went and talk to the players he went and talked to the front office he talked to the owner he talked to everyone about what they should do.

I don't care.

I rushed Saquon Barkley 23 times in the first half.

You break the record.

It will change Saquon Barkley's life.

It will change the life of every Eagles fan.

It will change the city of Philadelphia.

It will psychologically break the Giants in half.

Like, you don't sit him when you're this close.

If you were 250 yards away, I get it.

You are on the cusp of changing a record that is so hard to break from that position right now.

It's so hard to do it.

And this is the right person on the right team against the Giants.

Come on.

You've got to do that.

That's my argument for this game, I want to see that happen.

But you're not.

So it's like

you can't wait to watch.

I don't get the because I wonder if maybe you pull, maybe even the next 72 hours, you pull an end around and you're like, we're changing our thinking on this.

Well, let's listen to Saquon because

as much as I'd love to kill Nick Siriani, because you know there's nothing I love more than killing Nick Siriani, I can't because I just said like four days ago the right move was to sit him, and that bastard made the same decision.

So I'm just like, ah, shit, you're stuck.

God damn, what do I do?

Maybe I have to do an end around.

But anyway, it should be noted that if you listen to these words from Saquon Barkley, you could kind of tell where he wanted to go with this.

I mean, he asked me if I wanted to play, if I wanted to go for it.

I said on Sunday, you know, I probably didn't care too much for it.

When I slept on it, I was like, it was an opportunity to implant

my name in football history.

May never get another opportunity like that again.

So I'm down, but at the end of the day, like, I don't care for putting the team at risk.

He's the head coach for a reason.

He makes the decisions, and whatever decision he wanted to make, I let him know.

If you want me to play, I'm going to go out there and make sure I get it.

And if we don't, I'm okay with that, too.

So, Saquon's a great teammate.

He wanted to play, but coach said no, and he's standing by that.

And, Jordan, I guess the other way to look at it, if you want to feel better, because

with all due respect, Mark, I slightly disagree how much it would would change the people of Philadelphia and ruin the Giants.

I think there's limits to it.

Plus, there's really three rushing records now because OJ to me has the rushing record.

Like, say what you will.

Some people have negative takes on O.J.

Simpson, for instance.

But OJ ran for 2G in 14 games.

So nobody broke, like, to me, that's a whole other record.

Then you have the 16-game record, and that's Eric Dickerson, who almost got caught by Adrian Peterson a few years back, but didn't.

So that's the 16-game 16-game record.

So Barkley now, to me, stands in the 17-game era as the record holder, and he could have distanced that.

But even if he would have passed Dickerson this week, a lot of people, myself included, would see it different because of the different amount of games played.

Yeah.

No matter what, Barkley was amazing this year.

And I think that's important to say.

I see what you're saying because I think technically you're right.

But like we're going to have to deal with a changing NFL that adds another game probably in a couple seasons.

No, that's why they shouldn't do that, but they keep doing it because there's a lot of money to make.

It's annoying.

I agree.

I fundamentally agree with Nick Siriani's decision.

And like, with the most amount of respect for you in the world, Mark, I very much disagree with you.

And I also think that like Saquon, I don't think could have handled that more perfectly because he's not scared to compete.

And he showed that.

He made that very clear in those comments.

I covered Saquon when he was in college at Penn State.

And that's who he is.

If he's going to go out there and put his body on the line, and that's what the team wants him to do, he will

without abandon go and do that.

If he understands and he's talking, you know, talking about a postseason stretch, he's going to do that for the team.

He said it.

He doesn't care for the record if it puts the team at risk.

Like if they're going out, and he said it last week too, going out and trying to accomplish something truly special, which I personally believe the Eagles are capable of accomplishing.

And if you guys will indulge me for just a second, the talk about legacy and fundamentally altering a city and a town, Saquon Barkley has already done that.

And I'm telling you, because there's this really awesome story that I will never forget about Saquon Barkley as a high schooler in Whitehall, Pennsylvania, giving his gold track and field championship medal to a female athlete he had never met from a different school who won gold in her race, but then lost it due to a timing error by race officials.

And Saquon at the time said, honestly, matter of of fact, to a local reporter, and I'll get to that part in a minute, he said, I love winning races.

I love receiving medals, but I felt she deserved it too.

Everyone saw that girl win her race.

And what I love about this story, if we're talking about legacy and the ripple effect that

football altering players like Saquon Barkley can leave on this sport, is that that story was originally written by the Allentown Morning Call and a couple of on-the-scene local newspapers.

The Morning Call is one of the many local newspapers, specifically in these smaller cities,

all throughout Pennsylvania, that still cover high school sports.

The Morning Call had reporters specifically covering Saquon Barkley from his prep years all the way through Penn State.

If you know local papers, and I know you guys do, you know how major that is, to devote resources to that and how amazing for all of these reporters who spent years from these papers covering him when he came back to Pennsylvania, who have known him since he was a teenager.

And I used to sit a few seats down in the press box from Mark Woganrich, who was one of those reporters.

And he explained to me in 2015, when I got there as a cub reporter, a f ⁇ ing baby who knew nothing on my first beat, he was there to write Saquon.

And that part of the football ecosystem is dying, and that is terrible.

But if you can write about a player like Saquon, if you can be a part of something really special before the lights go out in your building, a part of the written record and the fabric of NFL history, that is who Saquon Barkley is.

That's who he has been.

And that is why I don't think genuinely he is as worried about this as everybody on the outside seems to be worried about because that's just not who he is.

That's never who he's been.

He gives away his medals at 18 years old, and he's going to do it now for the team, for the greater purpose.

And that is who he has always been and who he's showing you that he is now.

And that's what I care about.

Take that, Zessler.

Yo, I don't have a tremendous comeback to that narrative.

That was wonderful.

I still still want him to do it.

Sorry, everyone.

You know what?

And

he's shown that already, Saquon.

We should move.

But

he had a chance to set the all-time single-game rushing record this season.

He had like 200 yards and three quarters.

And

again, God, the second time.

I thought Siriani did a good job.

He sat down with him.

He went up for NFL Films.

And he asked him, Do you want to stay in?

This is how far away you are.

And Saquon said, no, man, let the other people eat.

So

Barkley's incredible.

He should get MVP votes and not just downvalve votes either, but he won't.

But unbelievable.

Justin, please jump in.

Justin has to share something about the rushing record.

So please indulge our producer.

Go ahead, Justin.

I wonder if Mike will remember this.

So Chris Johnson in 2009, 2009, yeah, 2009, 2010, 2009.

Chris Johnson of what team?

Of the Tennessee Titans.

Broke Eric Dickerson's

record.

He had a huge run for a long touchdown, broke the record, and then the yellow flag comes out, holding penalty, negates the play, negates the record.

He ends up not getting it.

And the ref who threw the flag has since come out and admitted that it was a bogus bad call that he missed it.

And so I just want to say Eric Dickerson goes down in the history books, but we should all remember Chris Johnson a little better.

Get your violins out, everybody.

Good nugget.

That's a good one, Justin.

I celebrate you, Justin.

All right, let's take a break when we are back.

Justin has been an asset to us, man.

One more trip to the gravy boat.

Hey, one of the games we previewed in that last block was a huge one.

Chiefs Bengals, huge for the Cincinnati Bengals and their chances to get into the playoffs.

On Underdog, Joe Burrow's passing touchdowns higher or lower is two and a half.

He's always going over.

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All right, we're back.

You know, Jordan, I just want to tell you something, and you can take this however you want, and you can go wherever you want with it.

Oh, good.

I cannot tell you for sure

whether the gravy boat ever comes back after this show.

This could be the final trip into the gravy boat.

So,

this is, I guess, one last opportunity for you not to pull out your earbuds and to join us in the plunge into the murky, thick, brown liquid and swim around.

engagement.

This is my engagement gift to Justin and Jessica.

I'll sit here and take it.

Well, that's a meaningful gift.

Wow.

Hit it, Justin.

That is sweet.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Sick.

Demented.

See, it's not that bad, right, George?

It's pretty bad.

All right, hit it, Justin.

A lot of gravy in the boat.

Week 18.

We're ordering this in a specific way.

The games at the top have at least some meaning still with the playoffs.

The games at the bottom, maybe just draft order.

Okay, here we go.

Panthers at Falcons.

I have half moons dug into my palms.

The Falcons need to win this game, and they need the Bucs to lose if they want to make the playoffs.

Meanwhile, the Panthers could lock in the sixth overall pick with a loss, but they could also spoil their division rivals season with a win.

Gotta love that.

You know, Mike, this is a team that hired a new coach.

They paid a quarterback $90 million guarantees for 14 games.

A lot went wrong, but they get a win here, and maybe some things can go right for them.

The Falcons are a good example of how the expectations can kind of be fluid, you know, during the season.

Maybe you get new results or you get new information.

You change your expectations a little bit.

And I say that to say, if they lose this game, it'd be a wildly disappointing season.

Super, super, super disappointing considering the lead they had on the division.

You know, like if going eight and nine or whatever, like if you told me that in like August, I'm like, oh, that's not that bad.

Kirk's got one leg, yada, yada, yada.

They have no defense.

But then when you have the lead they did, this will be really disappointing.

I do think they will win this game,

but I don't think they'll get into the playoffs.

And it really sucks for them

because Michael Penix isn't killing it, but he's clearly showing signs of like you could make credibly say if you guys had just kind of gave him the keys this whole time, I know you couldn't do that because of the Kirk contract, but you probably wouldn't be in this spot because Kirk actively cost you at least two games.

And those two games would make all the difference in the world.

The fact that they need another team to win, a team that they swept already, oh, that would be really bad.

So hopefully for Raheem Morris's sake and all those guys, they actually get in the playoffs.

Yeah.

Listen, we need to revisit it, but it's it's like, if you're taking a quarterback in the top 10, don't give a 36-year-old 90 million guaranteed.

It's just got to create a situation.

But they move forward.

Let's see if their season goes on after Sunday.

Next.

Next game, Saints at Buccaneers.

The Bucs will clinch the NFC South and their spot in the playoffs if they win or tie this game.

They could even move up to the number three seed with a win and a Rams loss.

We'll come back to the Rams later.

The Saints would lock up the 10th overall pick with a loss, but more importantly for this game, Mike Evans, 85 yards away from 1,000 yards.

Let's go.

And he actually, he has $3 million worth of incentives up for grabs here.

He needs five catches and those 85 yards for $3 million.

All right.

He's getting it.

And now I'll play Money Mike here, Sess Dog.

We're in the Underdog family, and on the Underdog app, you know, you have

different, you know, over-unders or higher lowers excuse me that you could hit for players you got to be all over this mike evans because they are going to get this man a thousand yards they're going to get him another touchdown all the incentives and baker said it this week he said it's incredibly meaningful to us that he ties jerry rice's or breaks jerry rice's record for 1000 yard seasons in a row uh you could you it is money in the bank

And this is the Liam Cohen experience, too, because if you go back to that last game last week, which was a must-win, he intentionally got Evans, Bucky Irvin, everyone involved right away.

And so I think that the key here will be you get Mike Evans and his

bonus and his yardage in the first half, and they go out and they drop an absolute A-bomb on the opponent.

The Bucs need to be in the playoffs.

I think it really, really matters to get that higher seed if that's how it shakes out too, for one of these two teams, the Rams or the Bucks.

So I'm leading the game.

Yeah, because then you're playing either the Vikings or the Lions if you're the fourth.

It's huge.

it's absolutely huge.

So I don't know why that wouldn't be the absolute goal.

This is a hot offense, and they are fast starters.

I think they've scored more touchdowns on the opening drive than any other team in the league.

And so that kind of, to me, is the map, the roadmap to Mike Evans getting this record.

This is the Baker Mayfield, too.

There's no way Baker Mayfield doesn't make this happen.

That's who he is.

Yeah, and Mike Evans, if you're wondering, that underdog higher-lower line is 95.5 receiving yards, which is obviously 11 more than he actually needs to be.

I'm locking it in right now.

Yeah, let's do it.

Good to me.

Good soul.

Next game.

It's gaming.

It's technically fantasy, not

Mark.

Let's get the messaging right.

It's only my company.

It's important to get the syntax correct.

Next game, Dolphins at Jets.

Miami can punch their ticket.

to the playoffs with a win and a Broncos loss.

They will not know their fate before this game kicks off because Denver's game is at the same time.

So the Jets,

the Jets could wind up with the seventh overall pick if they lose this game.

Did you just say that?

So everyone in seventh.

If they lose, no,

they're higher than that right now, aren't they?

This information came from Twitter, so it could be erroneous.

I will check in on this.

Keep going.

Sorry.

All right.

When has that ever steered anyone wrong?

The Jets are right now at seven.

So I believe they would lock in.

They would lock that in with a lot.

Well, it depends on what happened.

It's technically automatically incorrect, but it feels dubious.

I guess it depends on if everyone above them wins.

I guess they could lock in at worst seventh overall pick with a loss.

Look, if Carolina Jacksonville wins, they move up two spots right there with a loss.

So debuff.

Worst.

Seventh overall pick.

They can.

Worst.

Well, we f this up.

Let's just, let's just

take the L and we move up.

We have to mark drop.

Okie dokie.

Oh, my God.

We have a new mark drop.

Yay.

I love that.

Okay,

let's keep moving with my setup.

Now try to pull together after that erroneous bit of information, you shan't throw audience.

The Jets could wind up with no worse than the seventh overall pick with a loss, but everyone in New York is coaching and playing for their jobs.

They'd probably like to win this game and end Miami season.

And with Tyler Huntley starting at quarterback here, most likely, that's not that far-fetched.

I mean, this Tua thing, it's just like

now it's not a head injury, but he must be really hurt to miss a potential like win and in playoff game.

That's a tough one for a guy with durability issues in his past.

And, you know, their offense has cratered when he hasn't played in most cases this season.

The only note on the Jets side is this could be Aaron Rodgers' last game.

His media availability this week, he sounded like a guy who's very much on the fence and maybe even leaning towards retirement.

And if that's where it ends, he's one touchdown away.

It's the only drama.

Will he get his 500th touchdown pass?

He's been sitting on it for two weeks, or will he be stuck on that for eternity, potentially?

Tune in.

Next.

Next game, Chargers at Raiders.

Now, the Chargers are locked into the playoffs, but they could end up as high as the five seed if they win and Pittsburgh loses.

We know the Steelers play Saturday, so Jim Harbaugh will probably make a decision whether or not to play the starters before Sunday, but we don't really know yet what they are going to do.

A loss would help the Raiders end up with no worse than the eighth overall pick.

Mike, John Harbaugh, or excuse me, Jim Harbaugh in the locker room last Sunday was talking about how they want to get.

That extra win.

They want to move if they can.

I expect them to go hard for this.

It seems very Harbaugh-Ian.

Yeah, I think there's a lot of value.

I mean, you got to win a bunch of games to win the Super Bowl, so you can't only do so much like matchup hunting per se.

I do think there's a lot of value in going to Houston

for that five seed, man.

The Houston Texans, they do not look, they're like the Steelers right now, they just don't look good.

I think I read somewhere that D'Amico Ryan just basically gonna play his starters a little bit, damn near as like punishment.

Like, yo, y'all need to get out there and show me something, um, which is just incredibly dumb, but I get it because they look awful.

They embarrassed, they embarrassed everybody in front of Beyonce.

So I can see why the Chargers really, really want to beat the snot out of the Raiders, go try to get that seed.

And I think they will.

I think this game, I'd be interested to see if this final score is worse than Browns Ravens.

I think those could potentially be two ass kickings.

Mike, best Beyonce song.

Ooh.

Oh, he got me on the spot.

God, that's like picking a favorite kid.

I know.

It's hard.

It's hard when I guess pass it.

That's one kid, but yeah, that would be good.

It would give you some options.

Texas Hold'em, Crazy in Love, Break My Soul, Love on Top, Drunken Love, Halo, Single Ladies, Irreplaceable, Formation.

What else?

I got some bangers on this list.

Okay, I don't know if this is, I don't know if it's best.

I think my favorite, I'm a slow-song person, actually.

I really like Dance for You.

Okay.

I'm a big fan.

I like the video, too.

The video setup is really cool.

Probably not 11.

Everything on Lemonade.

That is, to me, the best.

Me and my wife, they're just arguing what's the best Beyonce album because she asked me for tickets to the tour.

And, you know, Beyonce tickets are just like a mortgage.

It's like, yeah, so yeah, not excited about that.

For a country album, too.

She don't even listen to country.

My wife don't.

So whatever.

She listens to Beyonce, whatever she does.

So I'm sure.

She might have been the best halftime show that we saw in person.

I think for me, she was.

She just started twice, actually.

Also, the only pus side of when one of your favorite artists puts out a lukewarm album is, and then you go see him on tour, is like, there's your beer stand break, there's your bathroom break if you're not into the new stuff.

So that's that's a positive.

I will not be going

to the concert for what it's worth.

I'm not really a concert person.

I would just be funding the experience.

Yeah.

Okay.

Good on you there, Mike.

Good on you.

All right.

Next.

Next game.

Commanders at Cowboys.

Terry McLaurin is one touchdown away from breaking the Washington franchise tier.

Yeah.

Oh, yes.

Indeed.

Indeed.

McLaurin is.

Let me do that again.

McLaurin is one.

Just for a note, like anytime you are going to see, say Terry McLaurin, especially if it's a pre-written thing like the gravy boat, just put in a parenthetical, like, Tieri, so you know, bang.

Yeah.

Hand goes out, bang.

A note to self.

A note to self.

Sure.

A note to me.

Bang.

Go ahead.

McLaurin is one touchdown away from breaking the Washington franchise record for receiving touchdowns in a season.

He has 12 right now.

That would be his 13th if he gets it.

The Commanders can clinch the sixth seed with a win.

If they lose, I think they could fall to seven, but they would have to lose and someone else would have to win for that to happen.

I shouldn't have even started saying that because I don't know the details.

But there you go.

Washington clinches six seed with a win.

Thank you, Justin.

Jordan, I find Washington to be the most perplexing team to try to get a handle on playoffs-wise.

Who shows up?

Could they be a major threat?

Perhaps, or they could be.

If the Packers lose.

If the Packers win and Washington loses, Washington will go to seven.

There you go.

Can I say this too, Jordan?

Like, just to tee you up, we talk about how the seven seed, Sessler's always railing about this, the seven seed sucks, blah, blah, blah.

If we didn't have a seven seed this year, a 12-win team very likely would have missed the playoffs, either the Packers or the Commanders.

Yeah, and that would have just been ass,

honestly.

So

right next to your Saquon take.

Yeah, it's been a great show.

I'm on fire.

Mark, every other day, I protect you at all costs.

And I believe you're not.

Well, no, I know what Dan's doing here, and he's not smart.

Dan saw an opportunity, and now he's just like trying to just

try to open a divide here.

The moral of the story, per usual.

Don't forget that I'm an asshole.

All right, go ahead.

Yeah, I think that one of the reasons I don't think people really want to face the commanders in the postseason is because they're hard to figure out.

The postseason becomes all about matchup football.

It's about trying to figure out tendencies and identities of your opponent and then like spamming whatever they don't do well.

Now, we know that what the commanders in large part don't do well, it's you know coming through their secondary.

Sometimes they can be erratic in terms of getting the ball to their playmakers, but they have Jaden Daniels.

And if you have a quarterback who's that dynamic, that's automatically a matchup nightmare for any team in the postseason.

So that's why I think teams don't want to face them.

On the Dallas side, the only thing I have to say, because I like the Eagles, Jerry Jones said an Eagles fan told him, keep doing the job you're doing this year.

There was another, there was a video I saw of Eagles fans just applauding Jerry from his suite, and he's just sitting there with his cocktail, and it's like, man, being an owner 99% of the time seems like a pretty great life.

This is the 1% where it probably sucks.

Yeah, and talk about two owners that are having completely different years in terms of like the fun of owning a football team.

Like Josh Harris is having the most fun time of his entire damn life, and all he has to do is sit back and not ruin anything and just keep throwing money at people.

And Jerry Jones probably should actually be a little bit more active in terms of the moves that he makes in the offseason.

So, yeah, different experiences for these two owners here.

Next.

Next game, Bears at Packers.

Two teams that we're expecting will actually play their starters.

The Bears, just because they hate the Packers, and the Packers, because, as I just mentioned, can still get the sixth seed with a win and a commander's loss or tie.

But they have to win.

And we also got similar to Mike, what you're talking talking about

with Houston,

that old coaching trope, like, oh, my team that's going to the playoffs played like shit the previous week, so now they're playing regardless because we have some things to clean up.

It's like, okay, well, let's hope everybody comes out of it healthy.

And speaking of healthy and not healthy, the Packers lose Pro Bowl cornerback Jair Alexander, who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery Tuesday to alleviate his pain and swelling, according to all the

various information men.

He could make it back for the Super Bowl if the Packers advance that far.

How much of a loss is that, Mike?

You know, I actually think their defense is playing okay, you know, without him.

I actually think they'll be all right.

I mean, all right, relatively.

You get that seven seed, though.

Like, it's I don't think I really am high on Philly as long as Jalen Hurts' brain isn't like mush, which I don't think it is.

Not quite sure.

But yeah, I'm not too worried about them without Jair just because he's one of those those players they're so used to playing without him you know and it's not to say he's not good but sometimes when you just get used to it you just know how to adjust you know to make a basketball analogy it's like any team that uh rosters kawhi leonard you know eventually you just get so used to playing without him you know for better or worse because he's not there uh seattle was going through

i love that drop um the seahawks were going through to make a football comparison they were going through that similarly with jamal adams when they picked him up They just got so used to not having Jamal, they just figured out how to work around it and build a competent defense without him.

I think the

Packers, though, man, for as good as a season they have, they could get to like 12 wins and just, yeah, get bounced early.

That would kind of stink because, and it sucks the division they're in, too, man.

That division, it just kicks ass, and they could have a 12-win, very good season, and it kind of just be a bunch of nothing.

Also, last thing on them, they kind of, you could kind of see it in that Packers Vikings game.

Blaron Flores kind of shares my sentiment on like the wide receiver one thing because when they come down to an obvious throwing situation on Sunday, boy, he just played man up.

He was like, we can cover Jaden Reed, we can cover Romeo Dobbs, we can cover Dantavian Wicks, and cover all these guys.

And it really worked.

And I think that's why they won that game.

And whoever gets them in the playoffs is probably going to have the same mindset.

I'll be interested to see how Matt LaFleur and their GM kind of respond to that if that's what kind of ultimately costs them.

I saw this morning that Jamal Adams was actually released from the Lions practice squad

this week.

I also wrote down a reminder,

circle back on is Jamal Hurts' brain mush question from Michael.

Circle back.

Yeah, well, it's a big circle back on the mush question.

It was just weird.

Remember, he gave the ref a thumbs up when he got hurt.

And then the ref was like, dude, you're not okay.

We just haven't seen it.

In fairness, he doesn't remember that.

But yes.

Justin, you're up next.

All right.

Next game.

Jaguars at Colts.

After being eliminated last week, the Colts joined the Jags with nothing to play for on Sunday.

This is our first

many games here.

Shane Steichen said Anthony Richardson has been getting treatment and is feeling better.

And if he's healthy, he will start this game for Indy.

Mac Jones on the other side auditioning for a future job somewhere.

I don't know.

But Shane Steichen is

evaded

criticism for the most part for this egg of a cult season.

And I'm not so sure he should evade so much criticism.

They're thinking of starting Anthony Richardson in week 18 in a meaningless game.

Can we listen to Anthony Richardson's locker room conversation with reporters this week?

Maron.

AR, can you explain what the injury is and I guess when it happened or how it happened?

It's just dealing with my back, you know, just lower back stuff.

Last week was tough, and I couldn't even stand up on Tuesday.

Could barely even walk, you know, crawling around the house.

But, you know, I'm here.

I'm standing now.

You know, if I could do everything in my power to get on the field, you know, I'm going to do so.

You know, that was my mindset last week as well.

But, you know, I could barely move.

So, you know.

Anthony, have you ever dealt with a passing between?

Oh, yeah, I have.

I've been dealing with stuff like this in about like eighth grade, but it's never been this severe.

It was definitely a little scary last year.

I mean, that last week that I've been able to move, but you know, like I said, I'm standing up now, and I'm looking forward to playing this week if I can.

Jesus Christ.

Credit to Anthony Richardson for wanting to play, but

yeah, you don't mess around with back stuff.

And the fact that he couldn't even move, yes, I did hear the ping-pong being played in the background.

So the culture is great in Indianapolis.

You should know that.

They do have a ping-pong table.

But yeah, Mark, like that is

scary stuff.

And I feel like you want to be careful with the guy who just told reporters in an open session that he was crawling around his house the previous week.

Yeah, I don't.

You are right about Shane Steichen because I think I've sort of just out of pocket believed in him and thought that he was a positive.

And I do think that there are positives to him.

But we're at a point now where like Shane Steichen in press conferences are getting in that tough spot in a tough year where like he's not answering questions correctly.

And there is on your world on the athletic there, Jordan and Mike, Zach Kiefer, who is who's a friend of ours.

He's our friend.

And like he, he is an incredible reporter.

And he wrote a piece with James Boyd as well, where they basically dug into what's happening to Chris Ballard, to everyone else, the whole Colts experience.

These are two teams where before this season, Jim Ursay said, I think this is one of the best rosters we've ever had.

And then you go to Jacksonville and Shad Khan said the same thing about his roster.

And here you are in a meaningless, lost sports event that has absolutely no weight to the playoffs.

Like there are a lot of questions to be answered.

And I'm not sure that Shane Steichen is absolved of all of that at this point.

He's been in a tough tough spot with Anthony Richardson, but absolved, like he's part of it.

And if you listen to Colts players and how they got their butts wiped by the Giants a week ago, go listen to what DeForest Buckner said.

Like, that's a veteran telling you what's happening inside that locker room.

So, concerns.

In terms of the, to your point, Mark, in terms of the posturing and projecting by certain owners and even GMs over this past year about specifically these two teams, we will probably rebrand this as do you actually Actually Know Ball Bowl on Sunday?

Ooh.

Fair.

Yep.

And

cycling back to my, not circling back, cycling back, so it's different.

My New Year's resolution on our previous program: beware of teams with suspect ownership and how that has a trickle-down effect on the entire operation.

All right, I'm in your head, Hansis.

I'm in your head.

Next game, Bills at Patriots.

Oh, yeah.

Josh Allen.

How are there more games?

How are there four more games?

Seriously.

I mean, can we

end the regular season at this point?

Yes.

I vow to give you something interesting on each game.

Okay.

Let it rip.

All right.

Josh Allen

currently holds the longest active consecutive starts streak among NFL quarterbacks at 114 games.

And that's a number that he plans on extending on Sunday.

Allen will likely play a series or two before calling it a day.

Meanwhile, Gerard Mayo, for some reason, says they are playing to win.

Drake May is expected to start, and this is a team that could clinch the number one pick with a loss.

Good point.

I don't expect Gerard Mayo to say anything other than we're trying to win the game.

At what point does.

And remember, they have an out on this one.

Drake May has been beat up a little bit the last couple of weeks.

At what point

do they get involved, the football people upstairs, and be like, hey, Gerard, we want you to try to win, but you're not playing the kid.

You got to put in Jake.

I think that makes the most sense, but I don't know.

They made that decision.

The answer to your question is today.

Robert Kraft should step in today.

Today, right now, and tell them,

Gerard, I understand.

I get it.

We need the number one pick that's going to change our franchise.

The problem with that, if you're Gerard, is like, dude,

am I going to be around to coach whoever we take with that pick?

You know, but that's the only thing I could see a reservation on his part.

But yeah,

he should be down there with his hand on his shoulder right now, being like, dude, come on, big picture.

Think about it.

Let's focus on what's important here.

If you are thinking about team needs, if you are thinking about team needs, though, they have their quarterback.

They have their lockdown corner.

They definitely could use help along the offensive line and they need receivers.

So that's probably what they're thinking here.

I would not play Drake May,

but that's probably, in terms of the pick position, that's probably what they're thinking about.

There's logic,

so much logic to losing this game.

Nobody likes to say it out loud, but because you don't need a quarterback, I mean, you could package that number one pick and fill all those spots.

Just be smart.

Or don't.

You know what?

The Patriots don't need to make smart moves.

They got 20 years of glory.

Go for it.

Good luck against the Buffalo Bills.

All right.

Next.

Next game.

Let's help the Patriots make the right decision so they could dominate the league for another quarter century.

No, keep doing what you're doing.

Don't pick up the Mike Vrabel phone calls.

Keep Mayo in there.

Keep going where you're going.

Stay the path.

All right.

Next game, Texans at Titans.

Houston cannot change their playoff seed with a win or a loss, but D'Amico Ryans hinted that they would play the starters, at least for a bit this week, as they look to bounce back after last week's bad loss because they don't want to enter the playoffs on a losing streak or a down note.

The Titans are going to play both of their quarterbacks in this game, which is as much a signal to me that they're trying to tank as possible.

Brian Callahan said: if one guy's playing really well, I don't want to pull him, but we will anyway.

Brian, you don't got to worry about that.

It's Will Levis and Mason Rudolph we're talking about.

Nobody's going to be playing really well.

Titans could get the number one pick if they lose this game and the Patriots beat what will be mostly a Mitch Trubisky-led Bills team.

Next.

Oh, I want to mention that the Titans will be wearing their Oilers throwback uniforms.

You remember last time they wore them against the Texans, which was a disgrace.

I mean, you take that.

They always wear them against the Texans.

It is one of these.

There is zero respect.

Towards this team when they do this.

I don't know why they do this.

It is disgraceful.

It is thumbing the right in the eyes of Houston football fans that love their Oilers.

Looney Titan.

I will talk.

I curse you, Tennessee Titans, the Titoons.

Listen up, Naharski and all you other goons.

I curse your franchise until you stop wearing the

Oilers throwback uniforms.

I curse you.

What are we?

What are you?

This is Bud Adams' team's legacy.

His daughter has the uniforms.

So you're saying Ravens should roll into Cleveland in Browns uniforms Houston would not pay for a stadium the city would not pay Bud Adams gave them every chance okay and they would not pay for it and he said fine I'm taking my team and its entire history somewhere else we don't have to do this right now but this is a bad take by you guys these this is no we do not

do this not a bad take

This is how Dan wins.

Wait, no, I like Justin fired up about it.

I would love to come on the Two Justins podcast to argue this point for us.

Let's do it.

That would be a three-hour podcast about it.

Next.

Dan, Dan.

What's the name of the podcast?

Oh, it is the Music City Audible podcast, and you can get it wherever you get your podcast with the two Justins.

Yes.

That's Dan's engagement present to you.

It's actually three Justins.

It's the two Justins we've talked about.

Justin Guarini from American Idol and from Justin DeKelly.

It's the three Justins on.

And Justine Bateman appears once in a while, too.

She shows up

and she has very trenchant takes about the throwback uniforms as well.

Prescient.

Yeah.

Prescient.

Okay.

Okay.

Cardinal Niners at Cardinals.

The interesting note that I promise to give on this game is that Josh Dobbs is starting

for San Francisco.

That's it.

That's all I got.

We hope, and we hope that Brock Purdy is not seriously injured after going down late in that loss to the Lions.

Anything on, Mark?

These are your Cardinals, your final words before the regular season concludes.

Well, it's two of the most depressing teams.

I really like Cardinals, GM Monty Ossenfort.

I do think that he's found a way before all this fell off a cliff to build some identity.

I hope they aren't scared of big changes in the offseason and big ideas.

And that could be we move on from our quarterback.

We trade him.

We find a way to think about why this keeps happening to us.

So, you know,

this is the pretext to what is the real

meet here is find a way to not be the Arizona Cardinals anymore.

Be something a little bit more, please.

And Niners, weird offseason coming their way, too.

Strange times.

Just trying to marry it up with a song.

And finally, in the gravy boat.

Seahawks at Rams.

It's the HTC bowl between Jordan and Mike.

Too bad.

It doesn't mean anything.

The Rams could theoretically take the three seed with a win and avoid playing the NFC North loser.

However, it seems Sean McVay is more interested in getting to the postseason healthy.

Jimmy Garoppolo will start this game.

Jordan, why?

Because Matthew Stafford is at his best when he is rested, healthy, and a little pissed off.

So I think that's going to be good, ultimately be good for the Rams.

And frankly, will he be pissed off because they rested him?

He doesn't like to sit.

so he's not it's not like acrimonious but it's just who he is I've talked about it before he's like got this dark chaos inside him it's why he's Mark's doppelganger that like it's it's just this like it just they they understand how to manage it and and he needs to let it out in the postseason he's been a game manager for the last couple of games and he's thrown a lot of near interceptions and they need him at his best and that is healthy rested and a little salty and ready to go and I think that if that guy shows up then this is it doesn't really you know it's they're gonna be a tough fout regardless of who they play.

I think they think that genuinely.

They, I would say that you wrote this feature on Puka Nakua too, who I didn't know, I didn't know a lot about his personality, but there are more than, more than just Matthew Stafford are fired up and fiery inside.

And like they seem to be a little bit psycho.

I don't like the idea that they could tumble out of the three seed to somewhere else, but maybe the Rams just kind of don't care.

I don't, that was my question.

He was like, does the seeding not matter based on what what we've talked about when it came to the Bucs and everyone else?

I mean, I don't think they're trying to lose positioning.

I just think that they think that with Matthew Stafford firing on all cylinders and these, some of these other guys, we don't know yet.

I assume they're not going to play certain other guys the whole game.

Rob Havenstein is going to be out as well.

But with a full group and going into matchup football with a healthy Matthew Stafford and, you know, these receivers that are just maybe back to better versions of themselves, and Puka has has been great all year.

I think that's really what they're thinking about more so than their positioning or what the matchup is.

I think that Sean McVay really prefers to play matchup football, especially if he's already faced the team.

So he's already seen the Packers, he's already seen the Vikings.

He hasn't seen the Commanders.

So that one, I think, is the one they actually don't want to get

because they're so unpredictable.

He's very good when he plays a team a second time.

You saw this with the Detroit, the Detroit Lions, how close they've played them.

They beat the Vikings already once this year, and I think that they know a little bit more about the Packers than they did before.

So I'm not saying it makes sense if you're looking at it from the outside end.

I'm just explaining that's how I genuinely think they're thinking.

On the Seattle side, Mike, first of all, percent chance Geno Smith's QB won week one, 2025.

Ooh, on the spot there.

I would say

probably like 65, probably 70.

That's lower than I would think.

Yeah,

they don't have a really good path to moving on, you know, and they're not, they're not going to hit the reset button.

You know, that's what Jodi Allen team owner.

It's a mandate from them.

Like, they're not going to be a team that kind of wants to bottom out.

They found actually a pretty cool way by trading Russ to get high picks without bottoming out.

But they're still just like a mediocre team.

But yeah, so I think they're going to look around.

I think the Cardinals are going to have this same issue.

Like, even if you want to move on from your guy, you're going to look around and say, say, All right, what are we going to do?

And then you're going to look at the free agent pool and you're going to say, Huh, if we don't love Sam Darnold, that's it.

You know, and then you're going to look at the trade, you know, candidates, and you're like, unless we want a 50-year-old Aaron Rodgers, a one-legged Kirk Cousins,

not too much of a leader guy, Derek Carr.

Like, the options just aren't going to be great.

You can't just cut Gino and move on.

But yeah, this is a weird game.

And the Seahawks aren't going to be picking very high.

I should add that.

Their pick, I think, can only be 16, 17, or 18.

So that doesn't really put you in a great spot to find an immediate upgrade over Geno Smith, at least to feel confident enough about it to not have him be the starter going into the draft.

And I think this game is a weird one.

It's in the bottom here where we have like, it doesn't matter, which is interesting because the team that could gain something is not playing its starters.

And the Seahawks have...

pretty much nothing to gain.

And they're playing all their guys the entire game.

They really want a 10th win for Mike McDonald.

They really just want to beat beat the Rams, whoever the Rams put out there.

So, yeah, they're going to play all their guys.

Mike McDonald's going to try to help everyone hit their incentives in this game, Geno Smith being one of them.

He has, I think, like 6 million on the line that he could gain in this game.

So, yeah, very weird how both coaches are going about it.

I get it from both sides.

I get why the Seahawks are like, we want to beat the Rams.

They want to go out on a high note, quote unquote, help Mike McDonald get to a 10th win that's empty to me, but whatever, I kind of get it.

I actually get Sean McVay, too.

Like, why would you be afraid of the Vikings?

You beat them.

And then Sean McVay, he might not say it this way, but he's never going to be afraid of a team led by Jared Goff.

You know, whether he should be or not is a different story, but like, he knows Jared.

He's always going to think he can beat a Jared team, I'm sure.

So I wouldn't be afraid of those guys either if I was him.

Maybe there's a ceiling to a Geno Smith-led team, but I also don't feel like he's been the problem for them.

But at the same time, one name that's kind of the

adds spice to this.

Like, Like, if, let's say, Darnold caps this amazing comeback year with a great playoff run, and the Vikings go, like, we, I mean, he's 25, he's our guy now, and they give him the contract.

J.J.

McCarthy, who I think it was Schefter, I know Schefter's not a draft expert, but it got passed around a little bit on social media this morning that if JJ McCarthy was in this draft, he would be the first quarterback taken in 2025.

Like, there's a name out there.

There's a player potentially.

We'll see.

There might be one young guy with a lot of upside, is all, I guess I'm saying.

Not just one-legged guys and 50-year-olds and circus freaks.

Like, there's something else out there, potentially.

Who's the latter?

Who's the circus freak?

That would be Deshaun Watson, I guess, right?

Oh,

well said.

That would be so weird for me for the Vikings, just because this is the team that had to pull Josh Dobbs out of nowhere and start him in games last year.

So if anyone else knows the value of quarterback depth, depth, I would imagine it's Minnesota, even if they love Sam Donald for next season.

Like you're one play away from your backup being the most important guy in the building.

So if you already got a guy you're grooming, I don't see why you just picked up

half measures because you don't believe in Sam.

I see what you're up to.

He's playing well.

You're gaming.

You could argue that Sam should, that Mike wants Sam to stay in the healthiest situation he's ever known by resigning with Mike.

One could argue

is looking out for him.

oh yeah I'm definitely yeah the timing of that drop yeah that that's gonna confuse someone if if Sam if Sam was uh

to call me and ask me I'd definitely say stay at Minnesota man he's not gonna put up the numbers he's putting there I don't think anywhere else

barring uh Stafford retiring and him signing with like the Rams right outside of that I don't think he would put up anything this is all he is is a system quarterback and he needs a gifted head coach I don't totally disagree actually no I'm just playing devil's advocate you're right he's in a perfect spot.

Perfect.

I hope he stays there.

We'll see what happens.

It's going to be interesting.

All right.

That's it.

Let's climb out.

Let's towel off.

And we'll take a break.

And when we get back, we'll check in with Money Mike and share our fearless predictions for week 18.

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All right, we are back.

Time to wrap the show up.

And I am am aware, I've been made aware that Money Mike's lock of the week, his three-legged Greg Olson lock, ties directly to his fearless prediction in week 18.

So we're going to combine them this week.

So hold off on that.

Let's first share how we did in week 17.

And for the first time,

I could look at this part of the show with excitement.

Let's take a look, Justin.

All right.

This week, Money Mike had, let me get some music going here.

Yeah, let's get it going.

Chargers money line.

They crushed the Patriots, so that's a win.

He had Rams money line.

They didn't necessarily crush the Cardinals, but they did get that game-winning interception.

And Burrow to have 250-plus passing yards.

If you threw all these into a parlay, it paid to plus 232, aka 2.3 to 1.

And it's a winner, winner, winner, winner, winner.

Needed it.

We needed it for the brand, Mike.

No, we did.

We did.

Going into 2025, definitely needed to have some money in our pocket.

My dad called me on New Year's to remind me to make sure I had our beans with the dollar wrapped around it

in our wallets.

He wanted to make sure my daughter had money too, like a dollar bill.

So yes, we went to 2025 with money.

That's how you start a year.

That's how you start a year.

Mark, that's how you start a year.

I am just, I'm impressed.

You're on a hot streak, and let's keep going.

Well, it's not a streak until he goes two in a row, but let's see what happens this week.

Let's check in with fearless predictions from week 17.

All right, we'll start with money, Mike.

Josh Allen goes for 350 total yards and three TDs in win over Jets.

Ah, the Jets did not show up for the game, which led to Josh Allen not playing as much as he usually does.

Where did he finish in that game?

1999.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Tough.

He was pretty well sure.

Yeah.

He didn't play the entire fourth quarter, I think.

So that'll do it.

All right.

So you fall to seven and ten, but that's still good enough for a share of first place with Jordan Rodrigue, who predicted three or more QBs will score exactly as many touchdowns as turnovers.

Oh, she

got it.

This is

like that.

You don't like that, Mike.

She came and got a game on you.

It was convoluted, but I didn't calculate it myself, so I'm interested to see the results.

So there were five who did it after our preview show taping.

There were actually six who did it because Russell Wilson did it on Christmas Day.

Geno Smith, Drake May, Matthew Stafford, Mason Rudolph, and Michael Pennix, which makes me wonder how fearless and bold this really was.

Oh,

but you know what?

We We didn't say anything on last Thursday, so it's got to be a lot of fun.

First we got fired up about the Oilers' uniforms, and now this.

It's a new Justin in 25.

Jordan was also not on the broadcast when this went down, so there wasn't a lot of ability to discuss part of her plan, maybe.

Yes.

When I texted Justin my fearless prediction at a very timely and polite hour the night before the show that we did this, he responded, love it.

Perfectly complicated.

Oh,

Because it was so complicated, I couldn't wrap my mind around how two-face graveyards might be,

which is the way to do it.

I'm giving you props, Jordan.

Good job.

You wonder if you're right.

After my gift, come on.

I take one dip in the gravy boat and look what happens.

And for my next trick, I'll talk out of two sides of my mouth.

All right.

Speaking of gravedigger, the AFC playoff field will be finalized after this weekend.

Negative.

This was basically a veiled prediction that the Broncos would win.

Right.

They banged you in a big spot.

They nearly did, but they did not.

Sestog, this one hurt.

This one hurt.

We got it.

I mean, everyone can empathize with Mark, Edward Sessler.

We get a 50 burger this week.

I mean, you couldn't have picked a better week in a game in the early window where every game was like 49 to nothing late in the third quarter.

And yet.

I did not get it, but this is

there were multiple situations of teams like the Bucs where they were literally deep in field goal range and

went for a kneel down.

So the Bucs score 48.

The Eagles scored 41.

The Giants scored 45.

The Bills scored 40.

The Chargers scored 40.

And the Lions score 40.

It's basically just to

F me up psychologically.

I don't even remember a week like that.

So you get close and in the end, I'm just sitting in dead last place in this, you know, Fugazi contest.

Well, F me.

It's a rule.

It's a rule of life.

And the teams are doing it too.

They heard about your reputation.

If they hurt you first, you can't hurt them.

Well, you're right.

This is Mark's fault.

And yes, Mark's right.

He is in dead last place because the guy behind him ended the longest longest losing streak in sports.

The Zuzzer, Trey McBride, scores a fucking TD.

Bing me.

He did it.

They were trying for weeks.

They finally connected on a touchdown pass.

The great tight end of the Cardinals.

So I improve.

After a 2-1 start, I fell to 2-14, and now I'm 3-14.

And Mark, we head to week 18, not in at the bottom.

Well, what drama?

Now,

let me say this: I'll go with my prediction now.

I'm really looking in honor of Mark Sessler, one of those absurd predictions that has almost no chance of occurring, but if it does,

they will rally around me and carry me through the streets like Sam Darnold, dousing me in water bottles.

I predict there is a record that the Buffalo Bills are going for, which is, or could set on Sunday, the team with the most players with a receiving touchdown.

They need just one.

I believe they will get that.

And

I will tell you who will have that receiving touchdown.

Is that not enough?

Here's more.

The player is Josh Allen.

Bang, let's go.

Okay, I like it.

I get one, maybe two possessions of Josh, and they're acutely aware.

It's been reported by the beat guys that they're talking about it.

They really want it.

It says a lot for the team.

I took a look at

their stat sheet of

who my options are.

There are not a lot of options.

MVS doesn't have a touchdown,

but

I'm looking at it's either a thick six, most likely,

or

a trick play where Josh ends up catching the ball, which I think I could see them

all like giggling in their conference room, dialing up the play and thinking themselves, isn't this going to be awesome that Josh gets it and everybody will be hoisting us up as the greats.

Bold.

It's bold.

That's what I'm going for.

Did he not have one?

Josh?

Well, did they give him a receiving touchdown on that?

Didn't they give him one for that stupid?

Oh, did they?

Was that a receiving touchdown?

Because he, he, yep, that box score was insane because of that.

All right.

So, all right, let me pivot then to because then they won't dial it up.

I'll call a fixed six, though.

It will be a thick six.

Is that fair?

Okay.

i think that is fair like it yep okay i'll take it so we'll be you know tackle it note that i am being generous of heart here

i have noted it i wrote it down right here okay jordan

right under jalen hurts mush jordan

generous circle back

all right circling back to uh who's up next on the predictions mark what do you got so

You're going to think this is like just another like kooky thing.

This has already happened this season just in real life that happened So I am predicting this to happen again.

That I don't know exactly how I texted Justin, but that a large object will tumble down from like somewhere high up in a stadium.

It did happen to Dallas.

Was it Dallas where that huge thing fell?

Like, I think it happens again.

And, you know, last time.

That was pregame.

Are you talking in-game or like at least?

Well, during the NFL, where you've got people down on the field and stuff.

Like, it's, I would say pregame, into game.

Is that fair?

Like, it's not just during regulation, but like, it could if it happened, if like a massive thing fell like 10 minutes before kickoff, we're saying that doesn't count.

Like, that's probably what would happen if I did that.

But, like, it doesn't have to happen.

At any point, I feel like you should get credit for it.

Like, a week ago, I was going to go down like Animal Avenue that an animal would play a major role, and then suddenly you've got a duck.

You know, the Bucks fans, Bucks fans are like, yeah, like, they literally have rebranded the team based on the ducks and all this stuff.

So, you know,

should the object weigh more than a duck or two laden swallows?

Well, I think it would need to be a notable like news nugget, yes, like a larger object.

Here's my other concern: I'm just being totally real with you, Mark.

And we hope this doesn't happen.

But imagine something falls and there's a tragic outcome.

Like that we're going to circle back in the prediction pick and like hit a ding for you if it happens.

Yeah,

all right, yeah, you're not.

That is exactly the darkly chaotic energy to which I referred.

Not all optimism.

Mike, what do you got?

Classic

Mark Thew Stafford, you know, am I right?

Classic.

For my fearless prediction, I'm going to go with, since we have a lot of incentives and milestones this week, I'm going to go with four guys all hit their incentives, or at least some of their incentives.

I think some of these guys have multiple, like Justin mentioned with Mike Evans.

So I'm going to go with Geno Smith.

I think he just needs 185 and a win because he has a 10-win incentive in there.

185 passing yards.

I should specify.

Mike Evans needs 85 receiving yards.

Derrick Henry needs a rushing touchdown.

And then Cortland Sutton needs 82 receiving yards.

I think all of those guys will hit their incentives.

And I guess, let's see,

if I had to pull one of those out for the money mic this week, you can pull out Cortland Sutton.

So Money Mike this week will just be Geno, Mike Evans, and Derek Henry.

What is our three legs?

What'd you do?

Yeah.

Then I'm quick.

Wow.

Whoa, it's way worse than I.

I'm afraid of fucking weird.

No, no, no, no, no.

Holy god.

I'm gonna have to bleep some of that.

We need to bleep like 80% of that song.

Oh my god yeah g reg from the seventh floor

man he is a he was a filthy boy what part i didn't hear anything incorrect in there that seventh floor gang is a damn they were up to no good

yeah oh that's oh man i can't believe they recorded that too they had video that was incredibly graphic yeah Yeah, when like, what, 2001 or something?

It was dope.

You had the gift of play-by-play even then, you know?

Very descriptive indeed.

But yeah, that is our wow.

That's a bad song.

He is a talented color analyst.

I mean, too much color in this case.

For real, can we bleep like a lot of that?

Yes, we will.

We are, we're going to take care of it.

We apologize.

Oh, man.

Shout out to G-Rag from the seventh floor.

No punches.

No.

No.

I like how Mike recognized it from the hook.

Like, he immediately was starting to go.

Yeah, I actually know the hook.

I'm not going to sing it because we'd have to move that too.

But yeah, the hook is very creative.

Yeah.

All right.

And with that, and good job there because Sutton would be the one thing that I think could trip you up.

So to pull him out for the Greg Olson three-legger is smart.

We'll see what happens.

You've done great with those all year.

You're just a cut above us, Mike, with these.

All right, Jordan, close it out.

Okay, well, Gravy also has to go.

But my prediction this week,

I have learned nothing.

Note that down, Justin.

I'm buying your acceptance.

So my prediction, this goes back to my note in the Lions

Vikings game preview, where Ben Johnson sets up like little pieces of plays, like one piece at a time to just test different theories and stuff through the game.

I think that Panay Sewell gets two touches this game, and a fumble recovery can count as one touch.

That's my fearless prediction.

He has one career completion and no carries.

But I have a hunch and a suspicion, but it probably won't happen in such a high-stakes, probably tightly wound game.

And it's unprecedented for him as well.

Reception, not completion.

Touches.

Two touches.

Touches.

Touches.

So anything, okay.

Yeah.

One can be a fumble recovery.

Okay.

It's almost like I feel like Jordan did some digging and has access to elements of the playbook.

You get a sense that could be happening here, yes.

Is this insider trading right now?

Is that what that is?

I don't even know.

No.

Is that like the money line?

Justin, finally, last but not least, the gravedigger.

All right.

I predict three teams that have something to play for in terms of playoff seating or getting in or out of the playoffs will come up short.

At least three teams that have something definitive to play for will lose on Sunday or Saturday, even though they have something big stakes.

That's pretty nebulous, isn't it?

All right, so I mean, like, Cincinnati is

cheating.

Minnesota is playing Detroit.

That's two right there.

Yeah, I was going to say the issue with Saturday is there's two guaranteed wins there.

Yeah, yeah, sorry.

That is playing a team with nothing to play for.

So, like, the Rams will come up short.

Okay.

Will come up short.

Or the or, yeah, or the

falcons against i didn't know the teams but i'll the commanders against

kansas city or the packers so that would

be yeah yeah those those teams yeah we're looking at like the ravens the falcons the bucks

i think that's it i think everyone's

great that would be store that would be a story if that happened to three of these teams i think

Like what happened to the Colts last week happens to three teams this week.

Right.

Basically.

The Commanders, though, are playing a team who also can gain something.

Oh, no, they're right.

The Cowboys Cowboys,

Packers playing well bears.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Great work.

Guys, we'll continue to do these preview shows through the playoffs, but this is our final regular season voyage.

So I thank you, Mike and Jordan, for all your help during this season.

And

we're just getting rolling now as we head towards the playoffs.

So thank you to everybody for checking the show out.

No Thursday night football, Mark.

Oof.

How about that?

So the next time you hear or see from us, it's over on the Patreon where we do our week 18 draft with Connor Orr and Justin.

And if not there, we'll see you Sunday night where we recap every show we just previewed.

Till then, heat the call.

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