MNF Double-Header Recap: Bears-Vikings & Falcons-Raiders

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The Heat the Call Podcast.

We'll be starting at quarterback for the Raiders in week 16.

Tell Tell me we'd be worse.

Can you guarantee that if Mark and I traded quarters, we'd be worse.

Look, I'd give it a try.

Welcome to Heed the Call, Monday Night Football Double Header Edition.

But if you're a fan of this program, you know better.

There was one Monday night game and then something else.

I don't know exactly what it was.

I

think it was football.

Maybe a drone attack.

Dan Hans is here.

Mark Sessler.

Sess Dog, we're going to get caught up on the news and all the injuries going on right now with the contenders, but we're going to start with the Monday night football games.

Excuse me, one Monday night football game and the other game was played on Monday night.

How are you, buddy?

Well, I've been injured.

I mean, I was, if you asked how I was around 4 p.m.

You know, you know, Pacific time, Faring well.

I've been, I feel like I've slow danced with the Zodiac killer this evening.

That's, that's how this felt, this so-called doubleheader.

I thought for a second you were saying that like you had taken a fall or pulled a muscle or injured yourself in some type of amateur athletic contest.

And then I thought about my friend Mark, who I've known for almost 15 years now.

And I can't recall ever playing any level of sports with you or even really ever seeing you throw a ball.

And certainly I've never heard you come down with any type of soft tissue injury or, yeah, I got bruised ribs.

I took a fall.

Like, you're a guy who seems to avoid any type of physical ailment just by keeping yourself in a narrow lane.

Yes or no?

Well, I'll say no, because we once threw the football

in a large park.

We once did.

I believe it was Frisbee with your brother where we had to try to connect 32 times in a row without dropping it.

Oh, you got sucked into a Dan Hansis, you must do this many in a row game.

I'm sorry.

Yeah, well, you know, it's not my first time.

But what I don't get involved in, and it's, I don't do, I didn't do do softball because

I can't see without glasses.

I never got contacts.

So

I was the manager of that team and the general manager, if you recall.

Oh, and unbelievable.

You did good.

Multiple championships.

Maybe you could do some better work for some of the teams we watch today.

Let's get into it.

Let's start with the game, the true Monday night game that went down in Minneapolis.

Hit it, Gravedigger.

And by the way, shout out to all the people following on live right now.

You guys are the best, and we'll be sure to check in with you as the program goes on.

All right, Grady.

I mean, we gave him like a three-minute lead up.

He laid on the queue with that?

He's here.

We know that laptop issue.

I hit play, and then it like froze for four seconds, and then the thing started moving.

Sounds like a gummy issue, potentially.

Apologies.

Let's get to it.

The Minnesota Vikings have won.

I mean, this is crazy.

This kind of snuck up on me.

Minnesota Vikings have won

seven games in a row now.

They are

12-2 and tied with the Detroit Lions atop the NFC North after a 30-12 win.

Over the woe-be-gone Chicago Bears, a game in which Aaron Jones and Cam Akers both had touchdown runs in the second half.

Sam Darnold connected with Justin Jefferson early.

Jefferson with a nice little nod to Randy Moss after the score.

Randy Moss fighting cancer and best wishes to Randy Moss.

And it was just a cruise to the finish line for the Minnesota Vikings who improved to 7-1 at home and control their destiny mark in the NFC.

They don't have an easy close, but at Seattle, home Green Bay, at Detroit, they win all three of those games and they win the NFC North and they are the number one seed in the NFC.

So in a game game where, and we'll get to the Bears who are as dysfunctional as ever in this game, but the Vikings, very much a take-care of business operation, even if it wasn't the prettiest sight.

I heard or read somewhere that people pointed out their schedule this season, looking back.

And I disagree with this, but I just would say: here quickly are their wins.

And what have these teams become?

The Giants, the 49ers, the Texans, the Packers, the Jets, the Colts, the Jaguars, the Titans, the Bears, twice, twice, the Cardinals, and the Falcons.

Now, that said, you've got a coaching staff that I think is one of the toughest on-offense and defense coaching staffs to deal with.

You've got a head coach that turns Sam Darnold into a legitimate starting quarterback.

No one else has been able to do that.

I think they're vengeful and they're forceful and they're for real.

I take them for real.

And it's like they can't control who they play.

We hear that all the time, but they are a pretty dominant offense when they want to be.

And sometimes they have to get out of their own way, but it's also their defense so i

this is the first vikings team and i don't and i almost don't want to say it because you know what happens then but i believe in them because they're balanced and they're kind of what you want to be at this time of year and they can play in any environment yeah i'm going to give them i'm going to give them a pass mark on on this schedule situation just because like they have only two losses uh and one

i like i said though i'm not going i'm not flying a banner with that i just think that it's mark you did do it to them you hit them with the look at the guys that they beat so let me just push back and say one of their two losses came when they got beat on a field goal with 15 seconds to go.

And that's how the Lions took them out.

So their first matchup against Detroit, the presumptive number one seed in the NFC, went down to the wire.

And they'll get them again with a chance potentially for all the marbles in the NFC North.

And

I think this was one of those games where you end up kind of playing down to your opponent a little bit.

The defense did its job, though the Bears make that very easy with the product they're putting on the street right now.

I thought the offensive line in this game was leaky.

I thought Sam Darnold missed on a bunch of throws.

Justin Jefferson didn't help Darnold out.

He dropped a likely touchdown in the first half.

The special teams gave up a gnarly block punt that nearly got their punter killed.

But like I said, the Bears are playing at such a low level right now that this was one of those games that sometimes you're just going to grind your way through it.

And, you know, did I mention you're wearing your,

I'm not a fan of their alternate uniforms because I love the Vikings' regular uniforms so much, so I'm going to ding them there.

And I'm also going to ding them for using vanilla ice at halftime.

We could do better than that in 2024.

But overall, they get a pass for not being impressive.

They just took care of business, but they'll have to be sharper if they're going to close this division out.

I mean, they were up 20 to 3.

They were up 27 to 6.

And then it, like, you know, with a lot of these division games, it turned into something else.

Maybe, maybe they were prescient enough to know what kind of game this would be to the viewer, and they thought the vanilla ice would fit that at halftime.

In that case,

they're ahead of the ball.

And I disagree with you.

I like the helmets.

I was trying to figure out from a distance across the living room what they actually looked like because they looked like unfinished products, but I enjoyed those.

So we can disagree aesthetically there.

They beat a team.

That is absolutely, you're well within your rights to disagree with me on that.

And

I'm glad that you voiced your opinion there.

They beat a team that,

to me, just appears as they've become increasingly dysfunctional and increasingly lost as this bitter and terrible campaign has

moved along.

I mean, thank God they got Eberflus out of there, huh?

Because, you know, who knows what would have happened if Matt Eberflus was still around.

This could have been a 60-6 for all we know.

I mean, here I'm watching this game, and one of my pet peeves, I have to say, one of my pet peeves of doing what we do is when I criticize a team like a bad team or a good team and then the angry fans from that team will go like you can't say anything because the Jets suck baby you got it the wrong way it's the other way around I know what dysfunction looks like because I lived it and breathed it my whole life as a football fan.

And when I watch these Bears, everything I see around this team is dysfunction.

I see Thomas Brown, who should have never, I said it the day it happened.

He should have never been taken out of that offensive coordinator spot.

They should have left him there.

They should have let Ibravluce take the bullets for the rest of the season.

I thought the Bears did a terrible job succumbing to the mob mentality after the ugly way the Thanksgiving game played out.

And they fired Ibrahim Loose the next day.

They should have kept him in that job, let him take the heat for the rest of the season, then kick him out the door right after week 18.

You should have let Connor Williams and Thomas Brown work together, focus on the task at hand, because look look what has happened since Brown took over now.

I think Connor Williams is a man on an island.

I think it's an ugly look.

You watch the way this game played out,

where the number one pick is, Caleb Williams, excuse me, is taking all sorts of hits.

He's holding the ball too long.

It doesn't seem like he has the right coaching around him.

At one point,

he takes a wicked hit

to end a drive, and they cut to him on the bench.

And there's not a single, here's the shot.

Check it out on YouTube.

I hope you're watching.

And if you're not, please check out the show on YouTube.

Not a single medical personnel around, the number one overall pick in the NFL.

Not even a goddamn water boy coming with some Gatorade and saying, hey, do you need anything?

This is what dysfunction looks like.

And then you have Doug Kramer Jr.

coming in on the field, lining up at fullback.

He doesn't declare.

Okay, you could put the heat on Doug Kramer, but this is a coaching issue, too.

And Troy Aikman called out, it looks like a guy that didn't even know he was supposed to do that.

So you got that.

You have Caleb Williams hold the ball too long.

You got Roma Doomsay dropping gimme touchdown passes.

You got DeAndre Swift getting bottled up on multiple third and fourth and short scenarios.

This team is a mess, and they got to clean this thing up, or they're going to ruin this kid.

Because I've watched my team ruin kids, including the kid that played quarterback for the Vikings today.

Come on, do better, Bears.

This is a big offseason.

Well, that is a message for Bears fans.

And by the way, Bears fans that I've talked to that have been around for a while, they're not going to punch back at the Jets or someone else.

They see that it is invasive and starts with ownership, and you've got to unseed that cancer to change this.

I really think that's been the biggest problem here.

And a lot of the, like, they've got a lot of these sort of hidden executives throughout the organization that make these power decisions that we then have to watch and witness.

The Doug Kramer thing, and I like, that's when I want to listen to Troy Aikman because he made it clear to me, and I'm sure there'll be think pieces in a lot of articles and we'll find out what absolutely happened.

I don't think he even knew on any level he was supposed to.

I don't think he even knew that was what he was supposed to do.

It wasn't like he forgot.

This wasn't a skipper situation or there was some miscommunication with the rep.

I think this communication on this offense, and you can put it on Thomas Brown, but he also is elevated beyond what he's able to do right now, and you can see that.

It is just a team that does not function.

That was their chance.

They were down 13-0.

DeAndre Swift scores, and then that unspools them.

Okay, then they have a,

there's a holding call right after that.

Then three straight, two straight incompletions, field goal, 13-3, and the game is over because you can't get out of your own way.

You had one chance, one doorway into this, and it is your own coaching staff and your own breakdown and communication.

And I could not be more with you watching Caleb Williams squirm around and then on the ground.

And it tells me something when he told Troy Aikman,

how openly, how are you?

Like, this is a comment we can use for television.

I am healthy, but I am, he said,

here's what it was.

I am healthy, but I am fatigued.

And that's part of going from college to the pros, but it has a lot to do with how you're nurtured as a rookie.

And he has not been nurtured.

He's been through 14 different voices in his head this year.

And it's one of the worst treatments of a rookie quarterback since our teams, essentially, the Browns, Jets, and other junk teams that can't do do it.

And they're right there.

And right now, it's unbelievable what's happening.

And you are going to lose your fan base, those you haven't already lost, if you continue to make these decisions that are not pro team level decisions.

You know what?

They're not going to lose the fan base because like Browns fans and like Jets fans.

Bears fans are great fans and they're loyal fans and they do they deserve better than what they've been getting.

And this has, you know, maybe I feel an affinity because as a fellow follower of a bad organization entering a season with a lot of high hopes, I remember, I mean, I don't know where you came down on it, Mark.

I don't remember anymore, but at the end of the summer, I was very high on this Bears team.

And I made a point to bring up constantly that Caleb Williams was in a much more functional situation than Bryce Young was last year as the number one overall pick with Carolina.

And it just goes to show you, first, nobody knows anything.

Second, the people that do know knew more than me and others that when you have bad coaching, and by the way, that's the the other thing.

Don't take that me saying that Matt Eberflus was a good head coach.

No, he was bad.

In fact, he should have never come back this year.

But all I'm saying is, yes,

at the point where you finally were gaining some sense of positive momentum with Thomas Brown working with

Caleb Williams, that you should have just kept it as it was.

That's all I mean by that.

They need to figure out what has gone wrong here.

But I do think, and I thought Aikman took it it too far with

the way he defended Poles, the GM, Ryan Poles.

And I think, what was this quote?

It kind of got on my radar a little bit.

Well, that's relationships, I think.

Yeah, Aikman said, in no way does Troy Aikman think Ryan Poles has done a bad job.

Listen, when the team is this bad, the GM has to take some bullets.

And yes, the roster has talent, but obviously there are deficiencies on the roster, and the coaching staff

has been an abomination, and they have to figure that out.

and the other thing that was floating out there that Aikman brought up, and you never know, like, because Aikman is a plugged-in guy, a respected guy.

Mike Florio had written kind of a speculative piece about the idea of, you know, the Bears, it makes so much sense for them to go after Kyle Shanahan.

And then you see Troy Aikman speaking that into existence on the air and live, like that would make a lot of sense because that's the type of seismic move the Chicago Bears need to get their house in order.

So while I don't think we should just be like piling on the Bears, like you're watching this game and you're saying, okay, the Vikings took care of business tonight, but like the story is kind of like, what has become of the Bears and how do they fix this before they ruin Caleb Williams, who I really do like a lot.

I think he's a tough, tough son of a bitch.

Like you could tell he's been able to fight through a lot this year and he has a lot to learn and he needs to get rid of the ball quicker.

He's not helping his offensive line, but there is a, I think there's a big-time quarterback locked away in him.

You just got got to make sure you don't ruin that or see him develop into that for someone else because that ain't fun i think it is i'm with you it's it's it loses um intrigue just to pile on them but and i know this team's in a little bit of trouble right now but like the lions um were like the bears for a long time and like finally you make the right change and look what happens everything finally alters and changes so you you got to go get a kyle shanahan type guy you know people that follow the bears know understand they don't make these hires.

That's not the kind of person they go get.

They're going to go.

I would, I promise you that when we start to see the names, that it will underwhelm you.

That's just my, that's just my sense.

It will underwhelm because this is not a team in a franchise and an organization that's done that.

I hope I'm wrong.

Four Bears fans, because I was saying.

We said that.

We did say that about the Lions for years, and then they found the right guy.

And Dan Campbell, who wasn't hoisted up as a slam dunk when it happened.

Look at Kevin O'Connell in Minnesota, who absolutely deserves to be getting coach of of the year.

Buzz.

Do you want Ryan Poles picking?

Like, one thing is now you've got the, you're going back and forth, you're seesawing back and forth between keep this guy and not that guy.

And it's like,

I think what it works is when you've got two people that know they can work together and they go in together, and that's how you, and there's no infighting, and there's no power structure that doesn't make sense to the human mind.

Like, this is what concerns me about bad teams, and the Bears are a bad team.

I agree with that.

Like, this idea, and you have Aikman carrying the water for Poles,

you're mismatching, you know, a potential reboot here, and that could lead to more drama.

And hopefully the Bears get it right, because like I said,

great fan base, great football city.

I think we all kind of got excited by the idea that they would enter the NFC North Fray and be interesting.

And here they are, 4-10, 0-7 on the road.

Let's hit the other game.

I don't know how much we want to really spend on this game, Marcus.

I don't know how many people are listening to the show right now that really

are totally invested in a

deeply middling

Falcons team and a very bad Raiders team but let's hit it real quick anyway hit it Justin let's see how he's doing on this one ah he's right at top

he just needed to warm up

you know what I mean Mark

You there, Mark?

I was muted during the music there for some reason.

I'm not sure where that came from.

Ooh, I like that's a little producer.

That's a little diabolical producer work.

He's gaslighting you.

I won't blame him.

It could have been a tech issue, but

I wanted to clear that up.

Yeah,

I don't think we need to spend a Russian novel on this.

All right, here we go.

Kirk Cousins throws his first touchdown pass in five weeks.

Maron.

And the Falcons find a way to eek past the woeful Moribund Las Vegas Raiders, 15-9.

Is that a score, Agami?

Get over it.

Grow up, Peter Pan.

So

the Falcons get a desperately needed win, ending a long losing streak that had stretched four weeks.

And,

you know, I look at their schedule.

I am not going to get excited about the Atlanta Falcons.

Not at all.

But they have a pretty soft schedule.

Yes, exactly.

They got the Giants at home at Washington, tough, and then home against Panthers.

So if there is anything in this team to suggest that they have a chance to hang around in, you know, the middling NFC South, the schedule at least sets up well for them.

But this was another game, Mark, where you came out of it being like, man, Kirk Cousins looks old.

They were able to run the ball, but there's no explosive element to this offense.

And in the end, you're like scratching your head.

And you see Raheem Morris.

There's two Hail Marys to end the game.

Raheem Morris, that I felt for the guy,

as that ball's in the air, and it gets knocked down at first, and then an interception to end it.

Thinking to myself, he's this close.

He's one bad bounce, as we saw happen to the Bears earlier this year, to one of the worst losses.

That type of loss that can get you fired.

And so, head coaching

is fertile ground for ulcers and all sorts of things.

But the Falcons survive and they end their losing streak and have at least a chance moving forward.

They're really mysterious to me because they seem so kind of withdrawn from the situation.

Like, this was such a labored effort by, and I get why it is for the Raiders because they're a hot mess.

But, like, you look at the Falcons roster, what they've done in free agency, and they should, you know, under the previous coach, Arthur Smith, and this coach, they should just be better.

Like, if you, if it weren't for Cordero Hodge partially blocking a punt early on and then fully blocking one later, I don't think they win this game.

Like, and that's not the centerpiece of their team, but it took that.

Like, that was the most impressive thing that happened.

And I do think that Dan Orlofsky and he was trying to sell this game.

And it's not easy.

This was a, I can't, I'm, I am, I give them credit for remaining awake during this contest, but he did point out on three or four critical Kirk Cousins moments that he's just like his delivery and where the ball ends up comparison to where the hands of the receiver are or the location of the target, he's just not doing it.

And it's like, so, so I guess I don't want to go back to the same conversation, but like, do you just mine your way through the end of the season, easy schedule or not, with a quarterback that's not making the throws?

We know he can't move very well, but it's like, I did trust that we get to a point where like he would be able to deliver from the pocket.

But I think everything that's happening to his entire body and his age and his lower half, and I'm not a, you know, I don't go diagnose that all the time, but it's like, you can just see he can't do what he used to be able to do.

And I think that's holding them back.

It's not because

I really want to see a different quarterback with this group of people.

And it's a shame that we're here because he's a likable guy and all that stuff.

But like this team is so sluggish and hard to watch.

He got old.

And

here's the Falcons.

You know, they've had some success, but another team that's never won a Super Bowl

that, you know,

Even when you make the move that you think's the right move ends up not being the right move because it looks like you got cousins a year year too late.

And that Achilles, it just goes to show you that when you're an older player, that's the type of injury that can have

a long shadow.

And yeah, he doesn't throw the ball like he did before the injury last year, or certainly the years before that.

And it's made their offense pretty tough to watch.

I just continue to wonder the fact that we haven't seen Michael Pennix, who's the number

one pick for this team, a first-round pick,

we don't see what's going on in the practice situation.

It might be, I'm not calling it a dire situation, but the reason Raheem Morris hasn't flipped the switch is probably less out of like loyalty to Kirk Cousins and what he's done, and more they don't think that the rookie's ready.

Now, there might be a point where you have to do that to kind of save your season.

And quite frankly, I thought it was going to come as soon as tonight after Cousins looks so bad in Minneapolis, and you were never going to bench Cousins when he was playing the Vikings in Minnesota.

But this felt like maybe a chance.

So So the fact that they're continuing to stay with Cousins, and now that they won this game, they can look the other way and be like, okay, we're in good shape.

But yeah, the stats don't lie.

I mean, Cousins, 11 of 17 for 112 yards with a touchdown and interception.

This is a guy that has been one of the more prolific, consistent producers in the NFL over the last 10 years or so.

And weirdly, Mark, the only other thing that makes me wonder, is there something else going on here?

Is he battling through something?

It wasn't that long ago, Mark, that he was shredding the Bucs on Thursday night football for 500 yards.

It's not like he's never shown it this year, but he certainly hasn't shown it in a long time now, going on a month and a half.

I mean,

we're talking about two teams tonight, the Bears, previous coaching staff, but then this situation where the guy in charge is a defensive coach.

And I just wonder if you're Zach Robinson, a pretty unempowered Falcons offensive coordinator.

Like, what if you want to try Pennex?

Like, do you have a voice in the room?

I'm not sure how that goes.

And you're right.

We just don't know what's happening.

They did show Pennex and they mentioned, again, I trust when these coaches or the announcing stat like groups say certain things about players, little nuggets, like Pennex tonight was more involved than he's ever been.

He's down on the sideline.

He talks to cousins.

Cousin is rightly receptive to what he's saying.

So he's not a mousy figure off in the shadows.

And I just wonder

when this season gets to the point where it's like, well, why not check him out for two or three days, three games?

And if something happens, your whole coaching staff goes into the offseason with a completely different vision and feel to itself.

So I think you almost have to give it a try.

If they flounder again and they're out of this, and it's going to take a bit in that conference, I'd give it a try.

Let's see here.

Yeah, like I said, you got the Giants next week.

I mean, if you want to, again, I do think it's worth...

considering if you feel somewhat confident that Pennex could handle the job, that you would get a soft landing against a really bad Giants team at home next week.

I think, like, what's the goal?

I know

we don't believe this to be the truth, but the Falcons, their goal is to win the Super Bowl.

What is telling you that the way they're set up right now is a Super Bowl winning team or even a division-winning team?

I don't see it, but

we'll see if Raheem Morris pulls the trigger at any point.

And if he does, we'll be remembered this season as he pulled the trigger too late, especially if Pennex shows up next year and balls out.

And it's one of those things like, oh, my God, I can't believe it.

You mentioned it.

I guess the big takeaway is the rest of the team picking him up.

The Falcons got a blocked punt, a tipped punt from Hodge.

Kevin King blocked an extra point.

Punter Bradley pinion pinned the Raiders inside the 10-yard line four times, including twice in the five.

And that type of stuff is what you need to beat.

a terrible Raiders team.

I don't know what else to say.

If there's anything we need to say about the Raiders, Mark, other than

they're now on a 10-game losing streak.

I mean, I think you got to take a, and it's another owner situation.

Who knows what Mark Day, who knows what's going on in his head?

But like, I take a long look at this coaching staff because when it comes to time management,

we've harped on it, you know, eight out of however many weeks that something has happened where they don't communicate well.

And it's like, how long do you, do you, do you think it's going to improve?

Do you want to try this again?

Like, I think you need to modernize and because they're one of the teams that's that's going to pick one of the top two or three quarterbacks in the draft.

And like, you want to put him into this situation?

I mean,

you can't do that now.

Did you see who

maybe the most interesting thing I saw?

And granted, it was on secondary TV status.

And I didn't hear a lot of Orlofsky because I had the volume on the other TV.

But Mark Davis's partner in the luxury suite, just a wild scene with Mark Davis.

I saw him, but like he was from the...

Oh, you didn't see who?

No, I saw him like the lady he was sitting next to.

No, no, but I mean, I have seen him at Super Bowl week, and

he's in his white track suit.

I know how that goes, and he's not alone.

Here's an example of something we were never able to talk about on the old show, and we could talk about now.

Mark Davis, legendary for every league event we went to.

You could count on, you wouldn't see any of the other owners ever, really.

But if you were at the league hotel, you could guarantee when you came through the lobby, you would see Mark Davis, as Mark said, wearing a long-sleeve white Raiders t-shirt, white jeans, white sneakers, sitting at a table, having some drinks with two to three ladies typically.

Sometimes three to five.

I mean, yeah, no,

he enjoys aspects of his life.

Who looked for the people that did notice who Mark Davis was sitting next to today, and they always looked like that lady, that girl.

Just leave it there.

That's where you can leave it.

But people could deduce whatever they want to deduce because I don't know what truly is going on, but Mark Davis, man, that's a dude.

He's got something going on.

I could guess what's going on, but like, yes, you're right.

I won't, I won't on this show.

I mean, you can.

That's the whole thing.

Well, I mean, I think he's this is he, it's called, it's called money.

It's called power.

It's called,

let's leave it right there.

That's the two bullet points I'd suggest.

Access to mega babes.

That's the other thing.

Well, those two things probably provide that access, but yes.

I'm bringing Babe back in 2025.

Well, it's time.

I think it's been in mothballs for about a decade or so.

And Babe could mean

Justin.

It could mean anyone.

Like, we understand that.

So

you could be referring to anyone.

Justin, you get a haircut?

Speaking of Babe.

I did get a haircut.

Thanks for noticing.

Daddy likes daddy.

All right, let's take a break, and when we get back,

we'll hit a little news and then get out of here.

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All right, we're back.

As you heard from Mark during that little ad break, we are on YouTube.

We have people live with us on YouTube.

The show is humming on YouTube.

We have a great producer with an incredible haircut that's doing incredible production work.

If you are an audio listener to the show, that is totally cool.

And that's where we started.

That's where our roots are, Mark.

But I really think the show in its in its most developed form now is over on the YouTube side of things.

So make sure you subscribe, check us out, and remember, hashtag 48.4.

Well, plus you get to, on certain days, you get to see Connor Orr inside his household.

And, you know, you don't see, well, the visual there is striking, but we add a lot of, we can do what we want now.

We add a lot of little visual elements.

and so you could be on the audio and say, Well, if you were on the YouTube, you would be enjoying this more thoroughly, but you're, you know, you're driving around in your lease vehicle with only audio.

Like, maybe, you know, let's fix that.

Let's work on that.

Okay.

I like those people too, though.

I'm not trying to suddenly shine them.

We love the audio listeners.

But if you have a chance to give it a shot, you could watch it on your device.

You could watch it on your TV.

It's a show.

It's a program, not just an audio podcast.

You got a big, like a big, heavy desktop you could watch it on if that's how you're yeah, big old clunker.

Yeah, yeah, let's do that.

Let's check in with the uh, with the people on the live stream right now.

Um,

Matt Tepp, I own my vehicle, good sir.

Good for you.

Well, you've achieved more than I have, Danielle.

You could tell me there were UFOs on the field in the fake Monday night game, and I would believe you.

Yeah, I can't imagine that it's doing a big number with the SP on that game.

What else we got?

A big pop of pump.

That's the name name of my Bose speaker in my house, by the way, when you want to connect with it.

Caleb Williams will be the next Trevor Lawrence.

I think it's too soon to say that.

I don't even know what Trevor Lawrence is, to be honest with you.

Well, I think I know what he's saying, though, because I think you've said it yourself to some degree.

You've suspected it.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, wait.

Danielle has something else that I'm seeing that I want to jump in with.

Mark, when do we get to see Levi again?

Yeah, what happened?

Where's Levi?

Your fame jacket.

Well, I've not ditched it.

It's just in the other room, but this room is,

it gets very warm.

And so, if I were to wear it, I'd have to be, yeah, I'll work on that.

Let's start there.

But this, this particular room gets very warm.

Yeah, but

we used to, you know, be in that sterile studio at NFL Media, and you would wear it all the time under the lights, and you'd tell us how hot you were, and you'd get the vapors.

Like, what's going on?

What's the real story?

Well, no, I think what I'm offering is that I'll give it a shot and see how it goes.

Oh, okay.

Well, the ladies want it back.

Anything else?

Probably maybe at most one, and probably to make, you know, to

giggle at it.

Tyler, Dan, how about the news that Thomas Dimitrov is interviewing with the Jets for GM, Mediocrity Plus?

I thought Dimitrov,

he did a pretty good job with Atlanta.

He got him to a Super Bowl.

It didn't work out how they wanted.

But he also has a great haircut.

So that's bonus points for me.

I would say one quick thing.

We know the group of people looking for the candidates.

It's a very,

I'm not surprised that's one of the people that drummed up.

I do think Dimitrov historically brings stability.

Yeah, professionalism.

Matt, think we see Anthony Richardson in a Justin Fields situation in a few years.

I think it's too early to say, but I think it's fair to criticize a player for not playing at a high level, which he certainly has not this year without fear of retribution from the football gagnazante.

All right, right, let's do some news.

You know, obviously, now sitting here hindsight after them taking it down to the three-yard line, yeah, I wish I wouldn't have done that.

But it is what it is.

Dan Campbell owning up to his onside kick decision in the loss to the Bills in week 15.

And that's not the only loss for the Lions.

Mark, this is a major problem.

The injuries now have gone

nuclear for the Detroit Lions, who have dropped out of sole possession of first place in the NFC North.

And you just wonder

what attrition can do to this team's Super Bowl hopes.

Their defense took more hits.

McNeil, their DT, who had been stabilizing that front after Aiden Hutchinson went out

with a broken leg.

He tore his ACL.

He's out for the year.

Lions cornerback Carlton Davis, he fractured his jaw.

He's out six weeks, and they don't know when he could come back.

And then on the offensive side of the ball,

running back David Montgomery, he tore his MCL in the game, and he's going to need surgery, and his season's over.

So that great 1-2 punch with Gibbs and Montgomery has now been compromised as well.

Here is Campbell

also from today about what they do moving forward as the injuries stack up.

Yeah,

you know,

looks like

he's going to require require surgery that'll put him out for the rest of the year, you know, and

he had gotten it at some point yesterday in that game.

I mean, David's so tough, man.

You know, he continued to play through

and then got it checked out today and, you know, and realized that's what it was.

And I mean, he's just the ultimate teammate, ultimate competitor.

You know, we're going to miss him, man.

He's another one of these guys that got us to this position, helped get us to where we're at.

And, man, we, you know, the rest of us, we owe him, we owe him to keep going and make sure that wasn't in vain.

No different than Mac.

Mac's out for the year.

Same, you know, he's got a knee injury.

It's going to require surgery.

Dorsey had his last night,

you know.

CD, he's got a jaw.

He'll be out.

So, you know, those guys helped us get to this point.

So we owe it to them.

They laid it on the line for us.

Tough, tough.

And

we're going to dig in more on the lines and their issues and challenges in the midweek show so we could stick a pin in it for now.

But it's a major, major problem for the Lions.

And it felt like the only thing that could stop them is the injury bug.

And hopefully it doesn't, but we're going to see.

Yeah, we will dig in.

But like, it feels like, because this has been going on for so long, that there are more people, and I know they're getting a few guys back, but there are more people on that injury list than those who signed like the Declaration of Independence.

That's how, that's where it's getting to at this point.

Like, it's,

There aren't that many team situations like this where three weeks ago, they looked like the most dominant bully football had created in a long time.

And here we are.

And you wonder what the future is.

They could tumble down in seeding by an insurmountable amount.

So Hutchinson, these are the players out or on IR right now.

Hutchinson, McNeil, Davis, Anzalone, Barnes, Martin, Dorsey, Melafonwu, Rake Straw, Mosley, all guys that were important parts of

the team, most of them on the defensive side of the ball.

And you saw how the defensive side of the ball struggled against the Bills.

So, all right, we'll talk more about that as things

move on.

And what is this?

We got a tweet here from Sid.

So the Quiet Storm picks the Lions in the Super Bowl draft.

Their winning streak ends.

They lose more defensive players to injury and now possibly Montgomery for the season.

The voodoo is for real.

Are we going to stick this one on Sess Dog too?

No, that's come on.

That's tough.

But

it's fair to point out.

It feels like a nugget, but I'm not.

I can't take that too.

I'll be a target by multiple, you know, thugs from multiple cities, gunmen,

foreign assassins.

I don't need that.

You don't need a Luigi Mangione type coming for Sess Dog out of a defense of his team.

It would be a great way to go out,

but you'd rather be the assassin because everyone remembers the name of the assassin if he does an assassin he or she does an assassination i was gonna say for you you would hope that it was a female assassin famously that took you out well one can only hope but i can't something uh there's a certain level of uh i don't know for you mark something that draws you uh to that um i don't know why it is it's not logic it's not a logical scenario just it's um a sense

I'd love to make eye contact with my producer right now and try to get the Jameis Winston sex drop, but he turned his camera off.

What are you doing over there?

Justin, what's going on tonight?

What do you mean?

Do you want me to sit in this bubble the whole show?

It's the only way to get me out of here.

Because I thought then I could see if you're reaching to hit the drop.

You missed the drop.

You know, I love you.

Usually, that is the actual size.

That is the one thing is, like, it's not a

sexual drop.

That is the actual size of Justin.

That's what I wanted people to know.

It's never too late for this drop on Mark.

Anyway, let's move forward.

I'd just like to see you, Justin.

I just like to see you.

What can I say?

In other injury news, the Chiefs, yeah, it's a waiting game situation with Patrick Mahones.

It is deemed a mild high ankle sprain.

He's considered weak to week.

Here's the issue, though, Mark.

The Chiefs play Saturday, and then,

you know, thank you, Park Avenue.

They have a quick turnaround for a Wednesday, Christmas Day game.

You're playing football on a Wednesday just so you could take out the NBA with a sniper's bullet yourself.

Unbelievable.

And that means that Mahomes could hypothetically miss multiple games here.

But Rapsheet also reports there's a chance he practices this week, but his status is in doubt.

So Mahomes, keep an eye on that.

And also, Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith's knee is structurally okay, we're being told.

He'll have more tests to determine the extent of the injury, but it looks like the Seahawks dodge a worst-case scenario there.

I would say one thing for you, Dan.

You've been surmising that the Chiefs were going to get dinged here at some point and not

there's no doubt in my mind, Mark.

Well, look at the schedule.

The Chiefs will be picked off before the Super Bowl this year.

But I think part of it is in this AFC, I think

this year especially, if you got Buffalo, it's like you've got to get home field.

That's what the Chiefs need.

They play the Texans and Steelers in that four-day span, five-day span.

If you lose him for for those two games, that is a different situation.

And then you close with Denver.

What if it's Denver too?

But there's another world where he's playing literally on the 21st of December.

That's where my money is at the moment.

I would not put it past him.

The Steelers,

TJ Watt has an ankle injury.

Mike Tomlin, optimistic that he will be available for their Saturday game against the Ravens.

Said he's walking around comfortably, says the door is ajar for TJ Watt.

And knowing what's on the line between the Ravens and Steelers, I would be stunned if TJ Watt is not playing in that game.

And finally, in the news, Dolphins wide receiver Grant Dubose, really scary injury he suffered

in the game against the Colts, and he remained at a local Houston hospital for evaluation against the Texans, excuse me.

He remained at a local Houston hospital for evaluation overnight.

He has movement in all extremities, and initial tests have revealed positive results that via the Dolphins.

And that is great news because I, just to be real now, after the fact, as I watched that live, the way he got hit and the way they had him strapped up and

it did not look good.

It was

different.

Yeah, it felt different in

all the worst ways.

So this is a best case scenario, really.

So I'm glad to hear that Grant DuBose looks like he is trending toward being okay.

All right.

Anything else in the chat before we sign off?

Dan, do you still do power rankings as a hobby?

What do you mean, Justin?

Justin Mead, not Justin Graver, we do the power rankings every Tuesday morning.

And then Justin Graver, our intrepid producer, sorts them, collates them, and presents them.

And we'll have a new power rankings coming out for the midweek show with Connor Orr.

And one other pitch for the YouTube.

You wouldn't get this if you were just,

it floats across the screen visually.

Like, so you can, even if you missed the beginning, you can keep, it comes back around.

So, right.

What is the term?

What is the industry term, Justin, for the scroll at the bottom?

What is it?

The scroll?

The ticker.

Ticker.

The ticker.

It's pretty simple.

So, Justin and me, check the ticker to see Justin Graver's handiwork.

Okay, anything else?

You could jump in too, Justin, if you just want to hang out with us.

I think I just want to hang out with Justin.

And it's like, who knows what he's doing?

Very avoidant.

He's very avoidant.

He's getting his hair cut, and he's just hiding in the shadows tonight.

I just want to hang with you, bro.

Pat's fan Ben, any in-person live events for Heed the Call in 2025?

We believe there will be.

In fact, I'd be very surprised if there is not.

We're just now figuring out what those events will be.

Like, for instance, we're trying to get to the Super Bowl, and if we can get to New Orleans for the Super Bowl, we have a situation cooking where we could have a live show from there.

And then Mark and I have some big plans for the offseason.

I'll just leave it at that for for now.

So all that stuff

is on tap.

We're very excited.

Mark Davis, finally, last one.

Hope y'all like the Heed the Call Christmas pick I whipped up on X Kiwi Bills.

Yeah, do you have that one, Justin?

I love this.

I loved it.

I know one person who might have been a little

non-plus by it.

I think Jordan got done dirty a little bit on this one.

I like what you did.

Look at this time, you know, there's no, like, we didn't have to put Damashek back in there.

He's right in there, right in the mix.

I love that checks there, the pod father.

And Money Mike kind of looks like Pedro Martinez in this shot, but I, but that, that is Money Mike.

That is not Money Mike's hair that I know, Money Mike, but a picture seated on Santa's lap.

Mark, you look exactly like your son, but with a beard.

Yeah, true.

And Connor looks like it's, because I know we're all meant to be, everyone has sort of baby-ish hands, but Connor looks like a, like a baby with an adult's visage.

So it's, you know, I can't stop thinking about that but you did a well you did a good job here great job thank you very much jordan that kind of made jordan look like a monster so if we took a second pass on that maybe that's something we could work on for the next uh photo but otherwise loved it uh all right great stuff thank you to everybody in the chat we love doing these live uh streams and we'll do another one for thursday night football and don't forget uh that the midweek show will feature the connor or hallmark holiday spectacular and then on wednesday evening on the patreon we will be doing our live watch of Holiday Touchdown, a Chiefs love story.

That is going to be a lot of fun.

And Daddy will be having a couple Tito's.

So just remember that.

And which daddy?

Well, every daddy, probably.

And do us a favor, as soon as the stream ends, leave an actual comment in the video on YouTube that helps the algo, that helps us, that helps us take it to the people that try to take us out.

We rise above, right, Zest Dog?

Oh, yeah, we do.

We rise above with you and thank you.

Heed the call.

Nationwide is so much more than a great insurance company.

They're one of America's largest financial services companies.

Like, how I'm more than Saquon Barkley, the NFL's NFL's reigning leading rusher.

I'm also the NFL's leading husher.

Hush up back there.

Wow.

I might have just set the hushing record.

Well, almost.

For your insurance and financial needs, nationwide is on your side.

Nationwide Investment Services Corporation, Ember Finn Rick, Columbus, Ohio.

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