NFL Week 14 Recap!!

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The Heed the Call Podcast.

Live from New York.

It's Sunday night.

Thank you, Don Podo.

Rest in peace.

Yes, welcome to Heed the Call, week 14, the flagship program

live.

Yes, live.

Going over

all the action from Sunday.

Dan hands us here with Mark Sessler, Connor Orr, Justin Graver on the ones and twos.

Mark, it's time.

It's time.

It's time.

And like, you know, I know you were concerned about me, Dan, because I got what you would have called the game of the day.

And like, you're like, oh, Mark's probably having, you know, to rewrite what he wrote.

I'm flexible now.

I've learned a little bit of experience.

There was a little bit of, and I love it because it usually makes her good good podcasting, a little edge to Sessler in the chat today, a couple of things maybe didn't go his way.

And then he got

the big game in the late window that turned into a shootout where the entire narrative of the game shifted.

And I know my Marky, and Mark had a whole, you know, 400-word monologue set up that he had to toss and then rewrite.

And then he's on deadline because we're at a live show now.

And some of that was leading to, put it this way, Connor, there was a little bit of

a little sassy remark thrown my way from Mark because I had mentioned that he has to hit the time cue on the first song when he leads off the show.

And I was like, oh, that's the salty mark.

And I like that guy on Sunday night.

It's the eternal privilege of a writer on deadline.

You get to be a dick to everybody until

the job is over.

And so that's part of the performer's whole deal.

And in fact, I'm giddy about it.

So yeah, you get more than a pass, Mark.

I congratulate you.

Well, no, because, hold on.

So, you know,

here's the situation.

Like, I want to do great.

I wanted to, I want to do great work.

And, like,

I'm not entirely clear on the instructions about the lead-in song.

So, like, either, that's, that's, I'll hear about it tomorrow morning around 7 a.m.

I'm going to help you out.

Here we go.

You had the game of the day.

You point to me when I started.

You had the game of the day.

Yeah.

Which means you will lead the show.

in seconds.

Right.

The showdown at SoFi Stadium.

Yeah.

Which among your grumblings in the text chain, was just an anger about SoFi Stadium and the state of the teams that play there.

Just a lot of fun stuff in the chat today.

Well, I'm not going to get into this in my write-up, but like they, when I, when we were removed from that workplace,

I had a very important, kind of like you'd get this, I have a very important water bottle there that they never sent back to my household.

And so it's still sitting, you know, all this glory is occurring.

I love it.

But my possessions are still in my cubicle or something.

Like all my stuff as well, Mark, just probably tossed into an incinerator the day after we left the company.

So like we got at a certain point, just in so many ways, like we've had to do, turn the page.

Unplug and move on.

You're right.

Well, and tonight, that's happening.

That's happening this very moment.

But back to the task at hand, because we have so many games to get to.

I'm going to cue you in because the lead-off song that goes with the game of the day has a very specific cue point.

So here we go.

Let's get to it.

Week 14, Sunday Night Flagship Recap begins now.

Rams Bills!

Fifth rounder Puka Nakua drops a scud missile on the draft industrial complex.

Insane catch number one has Kevin Burkhart melting.

Insane catch number two mid-game has Tom Brady screaming like a youth on horseback.

Insane catch number three makes it clear to us via Burkhart that World War II is ended for a second time.

Insane catch number four, a touchdown grab to pivot the contest late, reveals that Tom Brady's milk-free diet will not prevent low-grade laryngitis from setting in.

But the messaging is on point.

Puka shredding Buffalo's defense, operating like a top three wideout in the NFL.

162 yards off 12 grabs.

Cooper Cup nabbing a 17-yard touchdown for the Eons.

To do Atwell catching a Stafford sidearm beauty to keep hope alive.

Big-time throws, juicy receptions.

Matthew Stafford confronting darkness.

The Rams refuse to die in the highest scoring game of the year.

11 for 15 on third downs.

Points flood in as if the little girl who puts her index finger in the hole of the Hoover Dam was distracted by a lollipop.

Josh Allen, first player in NFL lore with three passing and rushing scores in a single game.

Various fantasy heads jizzing.

Probably Justin, whose team is 11-0.

Must be fun for everyone else involved.

My fantasy team, named I Like Big Butts and I Cannot Lie, faced Josh Allen today.

Terrible day.

High scoring shitstorm.

Sometimes you have to ride with American life.

LA is alive.

Best team in the NFC West.

Rams 44.

Bills 42.

Bravo.

Deadline writing, everybody.

That's deadline writing.

I didn't even know

we had another wrinkle to it that I wasn't even aware of.

Mark Sessler,

who

Browns lost to the Steelers.

Cardinals shit their pants again.

You missed your fearless prediction.

Yeah.

You're right up for the lead game, got thrown into the recycle bin.

Correct.

And your fantasy team

faced Josh Allen.

It's been a day, but I'm still here.

Look where I am.

Yes, and that's why I I ride with you forever, Mark.

Yes,

great setup to a great game, 44-42.

And we're going to get into the NFC West, which is a weird domain in general.

But yes, the Rams announced themselves as a team at the very least to be taken seriously because if they can do this against the Buffalo Bills team that,

you know, for instance, I went into this week thinking they were the best team in football.

That doesn't change a lot, what I think, but it does change that the Rams can go and do this type of thing to the Bills and score at will.

And even when it seems like Buffalo, because they make the hard charge there, Mark, in the second half,

that they can say, okay, we're going to stick it down your throat again.

And did they get some...

The benefit of some officiating, I thought, in this game, a huge missed false start, for instance, on that fourth down on their last scoring drive.

Yeah, they got some help.

But at the same time, they made their own way and played a very high level on offense.

The best I've seen a Sean McVay offense look like, look in a couple of years at least.

You know, especially talking with Jordan on Thursdays and just in general, it's like the Rams to me are a team of potential, and you see it, but it's never like a full game.

It's like you see a quarter or you see a pass from Matthew Stafford where it's like, wait a minute, Matthew Stafford can still

be a top five quarterback in certain moments, in certain games.

And today, you kind of got the full helping, the full helping of dinner from the offense.

And it gives you hope that

they can beat anyone on the right day because they just beat what I think is the best team in the AFC and arguably the best team in the NFL.

And they did it with their star players playing like stars.

Karen Williams, like their two wide receivers, Matthew Stafford.

And like, you get it all together.

Now, I mean, the defense is playing like a Josh Allen-led spaceship.

So I have no problem with that.

My thing for this, though, this was more of a Rams story than a Bills one.

I don't leave worried about the Bills.

I more just feel like the potential of the Rams, if this is what they start to become,

they are the best team in that, in a very strange, weakened, up-and-down division.

The Rams are the kind of team, like they were last year, that can go win a playoff game and go...

do things you didn't expect because they're well coached and they've got players that at times reach a high point that are thrilling.

I remember down the stretch last year when they got hot at the right time and talking to people in that building and them saying,

if we can play like this, we're going to win the Super Bowl.

Like we're not just going to the playoffs, like we're going to win the Super Bowl.

And there just seems to be this perpetual switch that they turn on and once it hits, like Sean McVay was unbelievable to the point in this game where

After one of Puka Nikua's big sideline catches, you could tell he wanted to get him a touchdown at the end of that drive.

And they call a sweep play for him.

And then there's a timeout.

So the defense sees that play, then Sean McVay inverts it and gets him a handoff going the other way to score a touchdown.

That's like I'm a genius and I can do whatever I want, middle finger.

And that's when you can tell, I think, that he's just totally rolling and he's in his element.

Yeah, and I think Justin Jefferson, to me, is the best wide receiver in football, but you can make the case that Puka Nakua is right in that conversation.

I'd agree.

Because of everything that he does, he is really the Swiss Army knife.

And we've heard, you know, as a blocker, obviously he's versatile, he's a deep play guy, a guy that can run crossing routes, a guy that can, you know, put you in a body bag as a route runner, a guy that can beat you getting, you know, trick plays that McVay sets up and misdirections.

He's just a nightmare.

And yeah, like, as you mentioned, Mark, in your setup there, like, Burkhardt is getting dizzy explaining these plays as is Brady, who's losing his voice, but at the same time, he's like, I get it.

Like, that.

You can name four catches he made in this game that were outrageous, but the one that he made along the sideline where he high points the ball and 99% of wide receivers have no business getting one foot down,

he drags his toes and he's just kind of impossible to deal with.

And even if Cooper Cup is not the same Cooper Cup that he used to be, he is still plenty good enough to be a great number two in this offense.

And he is also a well-rounded player in terms of what he brings to the game at all.

facets, including as a blocker.

So, yeah, the offense is very exciting.

And when it's playing at this level,

it's pretty fun to watch.

And McVay deserves a lot of credit.

On the Bills side, Mark, I agree with you that this is obviously a bad day at the office for their defense.

And there's going to be plenty to look at on the film.

Like, what did we get wrong here and how do we get it right?

But the greatness of Josh Allen shouldn't be taken for granted either.

He's one of those guys, and there are very few in the history of the league that no lead is ever safe when you're against him because he will will his team back into the game and he did it again here.

Well, it's one of the only teams in the league where you can, like we said, you know, your quarterback accounts for six touchdowns and you somehow don't win.

And they were missing people today.

I mean, you're missing Dalton Schultz, who's a big part of this offense.

I think that mattered a lot.

And it's like they survived.

Like, I just, for me, I feel like the Bills,

even today, offensively, like they've been growing offensively for the last two months.

And like, it's another example of that.

So it's like, I'm in zero panic mode when it comes to the Bills.

They caught the Rams.

You got to fly to the West Coast after a number of emotional weeks.

Like, look what the Bills have gone through.

Like, I think, like, we can't really quantify what it means to go through massive encounters with...

high-powered teams, come out of them successful, and then you go, you got to fly across the country and your focus has not been on the Rams.

Here they come and they had a great day.

And like, it means very little to me in terms of like what, who the Rams are in turn, or who the Bills are in terms of the overall experience.

I have total belief in them.

I think they're the best team in the AFC.

I'll just say one thing, though, Connor.

The reason the Bills are still trying to get back to the Super Bowl, they tend to,

in these

high-profile games that they lose, there's always something that you're just like, oh, goddamn, Buffalo Bills.

What are you doing?

That decision, and I don't know if it's EOC you want to put it on or McDermott or if this is a Josh Allen decision.

But they have all three of their timeouts.

They march down the field.

They are down nine points, right?

They're down 44, 35,

and they go eight plays, 70 yards to score.

The problem is

they

attempt a quarterback sneak.

at first and goal at the Rams 1 with 106 to go, which causes them to then use a timeout, which then changes the entire game.

And I thought Tom Brady, despite his voice issues,

did a very nice job really taking it to the Bills for that decision.

Because the second you use that timeout, you can't kick it away after you score the touchdown, get a three and out, and get the ball back.

You have to do the onside kick, and the odds are staggeringly against you.

So I thought that marred the game for the Bills.

And in general, if I want to say one thing that's negative about the Bills,

coaching decisions and big spots, Crucible moments, That one was pretty painful.

And you don't want to see that happen in January if you're a Bills fan because those are just shitty ways to lose games.

And it felt so unnecessary because you didn't have to be an expert, Connor, with the clock to know that that was a stupid decision.

And McDermott already learned the cheat code, right?

I mean, a couple weeks ago against the Chiefs, you had fourth and short to win the game, and you put Allen in the gun and you let him make the decision because he's going to, he causes a math problem for the defense no matter what.

In that one, the Rams defense was gassed.

And so you get him the ball and the shotgun, you let him have a quick throw option.

And if not, let him bowl his way into the end zone that way, you know, if that's what the situation calls for.

But yeah, you can't, you cannot bird a timeout there.

I mean, the way that that offense was playing, it's absolutely fatal.

All right.

Good start.

Let's move to a game that.

Did I hit that?

Did I hit the note with the song?

We did.

We already gave you kudos, Mark.

Do you want you want more?

It's not that I want more kudos.

I just, I like to know.

So like, then I feel like I did the show,

you know it's like it matters to me to do a good job.

I think you did unbelievable work Mark.

But I'm not surprised either because

that's why I feel love working with you.

That feels like praise that might be too high, but I can live I'll live with it and we'll we'll move on from that.

All right.

What's up, Justin?

We got our first super chat.

From Truth Bearer.

Oh, cool.

Donated $4.99 and also said something that we were chatting about earlier today.

Brady nailed that call.

That was his best performance ever as a broadcaster.

Well, I appreciate this person, but

I think we were literally...

Well, no, it's not the voice thing because that's not his fault.

And I give him credit for just saying, like, let's go do the show.

But, like, I don't think that was Brady's best call.

I think he's had a couple.

Like, I'm pro Brady.

I think he's growing, but, like, Connor, I think we were in agreement that that

was a little off today at times or something was going on.

Well, he's referring.

I think he's referring specifically.

To the one.

Or maybe not.

I don't know.

The Truth Bearer, he bears truth, and I'm not sure.

I don't want to put words in the truth bearer's mouth.

But personally, I thought that in that moment to be strong there was an example of what you want from your analyst.

I don't want to go.

In that moment, that's fair.

I thought it was, if it's holistic, like,

you know.

You thought he didn't have a very good night.

Who am I to say?

If you put me into the booth to cover the game as it's happening, like, I'd literally, like, I want, you know, I don't want to be shot.

No, I want Text Thread Sessler because Text Thread Sessler wasn't couching it like this.

No, but I'm saying text thread, Text Thread me is on my couch, and I can think about it a little bit and rewrite the text and edit it, then send it.

Like, me having to talk as a game's actually happening, it would be a disservice to not just Americans, but all viewers.

The world.

So, yeah.

The world.

The world.

They don't need that.

Up next, a game that was not nearly as dramatic down the stretch, but man, there was a big story coming out of it.

The Darnold Hive is buzzing at levels that are being picked up on sonar from outer space.

Kirk Cousins came home to Minnesota on Sunday, and gone were the family pictures on the mantle with mom and dad.

Gone was the Leatherman's jacket hanging in the closet.

Painted was the bedroom he had in Minnesota for six years.

Wharv ya been?

his old man said.

Starting a life with my new family in the south, Kirk said, eyes welling welling with tears.

You never wrote and never called.

It's hard down here.

Well, we have a new boy now, Dad said.

Found him wandering in the hillside.

A bit doofy.

Hair the color of pumpkins.

But he's quiet.

Nice manners.

Keeps to himself, and the boys seem to like him.

Kurt buried his head in the collar of the jacket Dad once knitted for him out of yarn taken from the family's sheep.

Hey, son, Dad said, basking in the 42-21 Vikings win over Atlanta.

Yes, Dad, Kirk said.

Sam will be needing that coat, too.

It's a gift for winners, for quarterbacks who have the single best EPA on dropbacks of more than 2.5 seconds in the NFL.

For QBs who register career highs on throws of 20-plus yards downfield.

For QBs who throw for 300-plus yards and five toties in a Vikings uniform.

The stuff you never understood.

Unbelievable.

I mean,

pretty good Irish accent.

It got, it came in and out.

It came in and out a little bit, but

daring, I give it that.

I thought, yes, in a game in which the Vikings, who, despite a lack, a notable lack of Super Bowl championships, are an organization that makes a lot of good decisions.

And how good does the decision look right now

to let Kirk Cousins, coming off the Achilles injury at 36, sign a mega deal with the Falcons, who now are dealing with a potential albatross, while Sam Darnold, signed for one year and $10 million,

is playing quarterback at not just the highest level of his career by far, but he's playing like a top 10 QB in the league, and he's leading

an 11-2 Vikings team, 22 of 28, 347, 5 touchdowns, 12.4 yards per attempt, Connor.

And he was completely unconscious in this game.

The deep pass to Justin Jefferson was the one that I flagged you on because not only, yes, Justin Jefferson was wide open.

It was one of many coverage breakdowns from Atlanta, and we can get into that.

I think a lot of it started with Jesse Bates today, but

the amount of avoidance he had to do in the pocket, and it's so hard to keep your eyes downfield and to navigate a pocket like Sam Darnold did, and to keep your eyes ahead, and to make that throw from an unsteady base.

And he did that over and over again today.

Like, it wasn't just those two big throws, one to Jordan Addison, one to Justin Jefferson.

It was all game.

And

he was on an absolute heater today.

Not only, there has not been a Vikings quarterback who has thrown for 300 yards and five touchdowns since Dante Culpepper.

Wow.

And Dante Culpepper, the young ones don't know.

Culpepper was a beast before he shredded his knee and was not the same guy after that.

But yeah,

good point because I was having some fun on a separate text thread with with our Thursday crew, Jordan and Mike, Michael Sean Dugar, and we've had a running joke on the Thursday show about, come on, Mike, join us in the Darnold Hive.

It's nice in here.

And he wouldn't even give me, because I sent a tweet of that play you're referring to to Jefferson.

He's like, oh, Jefferson was wide open.

But nah, man, this was the guy who was trapped on every bad,

every young quarterback's nightmare, like being on the New York Jets, playing for Adam Gace Gace or Todd Bowles and then going down to play with the Panthers and then getting over to San Francisco but being a backup like this guy who once was seeing ghosts is now just seeing his way out of a muddy pocket finding a guy downfield and then uncorking a throw uh that's right on the money.

And I'm just like, I'm so happy for the guy.

And it is crazy.

I really would love him to come to the Jets who need a quarterback next year, even though that doesn't make any sense for probably either side.

But he's going to make a lot of money.

And this came on the same day that Ian Rappaport reported before this game that the Dolphins had not had any conversations with Sam Darnold or his representation about a future with the team.

They seem pretty much locked and they're going to move forward with the quarterback they drafted in the first round.

They're going to most likely see Darnold as the one-year bridge.

But I don't know, like at what point do they have to reconsider that?

Because he's been playing lights out for a month.

Let's listen after the game, Kevin O'Connell in the locker room.

Guys, been on one now for a few weeks, and he just keeps getting better and better and better and better.

And now it's, I mean, if people don't understand now, I don't know what to tell you.

All right, first fights he's quarterback in 20 years.

You throw five touchdowns.

I know there's a lot of smarter people in this room than me, but I have no idea how that didn't equal 158.3 because he was 22 of 28 for 347, making plays all day long leading us to a win again one and only day with number 11 you guys are in special group Sam Barnold right there

my well my my weirdest reaction is that I'll never forget it was about nine years ago that I flew to Cleveland to go cover

the Browns for in training camp.

And Kevin O'Connell was

designated to deal with year two of Johnny Manzel.

And it was training camp.

So he's very hopeful.

And I was in a scrum listening to him.

I was like, I wonder if this guy has it.

I can't tell because he's just an ex-quarterback that's been quarterback coach like OC.

So it's like, you know, unknown.

And then there was another time that I was at LAX, and you've seen this photo where I was like,

I ran into Sam Darnold, ran into is annoying.

I hate when people say that.

Like, I happened to be sitting where Sam Darnold was eating breakfast up at a stand, and I talked to him, and I mentioned you, Dan, and your dad, that you guys were like, he was a Jets quarterback, that you were Jets fans, but now they are that here they are together.

And my thought during this game was like, this is a major

nightmare for like not Raheem Morris, but the

Raheem Morrises of the world that are defensive-minded people trying to become head coaches.

Because the only way to move forward now is to find an offensive coach who is linked side by side with whatever quarterback it is.

Because Kevin O'Connell is a coach of the year type candidate.

I understand that I have named like eight people that way at this point, but like he really is because turning Sam Darnold into what we saw today comes through complete organizational structure, progress, coaching, day by day, hour by hour work.

And we're watching a quarterback that's changes, like he changes his entire career.

So, I mean, this is kind of exciting.

I think I sent to you, like, this is the third, second or third biggest story in the NFL right now that Sam Darnold is playing the way he is right now.

And I believe in the Vikings more than I had when Kirk Cousins was the quarterback.

Because of Sam Darnold.

On the subject of Cousins, he threw two more interceptions in this game.

He was not good.

He was not nearly as bad as he was last week.

This was kind of a team-wide meltdown.

In fact, the first half wasn't so bad.

In fact, the Atlanta defense was actually getting after Darnold, and the pass rush was there.

It was like a 50% pressure rate.

And then I don't know what happened, but Connor, all the air goes out of the balloon on both sides of the ball and they get blown out in the second half as the Vikings score touchdowns on every single drive.

Here's Raheem Morris, who, by the way, you know, I know a lot of people were very high on Morris with the Falcons.

He didn't do much with Tampa Bay that impressed me.

And I'm not so impressed with this Falcons team either, with him leading it.

Here he is now answering the question that you know he's going to get.

First of all, did you give any thought to benching Kirk Cousins in his Minneapolis homecoming?

So you're sticking with Cousins.

You don't have any questions?

You know, everything is always discussed when you go watch the tape and do all those type of things.

But like Kirk Cousins is our quarterback.

We'll have the ability to go watch this tape just like we do every single week.

You know, Kirk played significantly better than he did the week before.

We got a chance to go out there and focus on us and get a chance to go out there and really work on what we do and what we do well.

And we'll do whatever is best to go win football games.

And Kirk's definitely a part of that.

I think the devil's in the details here.

And I might sound like a cousins apologist at this point, but I think it's a lot more complicated than let's just give the ball to the dynamic younger player.

Like last week there were four interceptions and I'm not kidding when I say that three of them I could very easily excuse away.

And when Raheem Morris said that after the game, he did a lot of things right.

I kind of rolled my eyes, went back and watched all of them over and over again.

And there's a lot of bad mistakes that are being made by other people in this offense.

And even today, two interceptions, one of them is awful, right?

If he leads Kyle Pitts, Kyle Pitts has inside leverage.

If he drops that in the bucket, that's a touchdown, right?

The other one,

Bijan Robinson is supposed to run a route that draws that defender that made the pick.

He's supposed to come towards the line, but Bijan just never ran out into the flat, right?

So why is that guy going to react?

Now, you could say that Cousins shouldn't have thrown that ball, but this is a timing offense.

Like everything is supposed to run.

When my foot hits here, everything, I get rid of the ball.

I do this.

I do it that way.

And last week, too, it it was like literally i mean guys calling for the ball in the end zone like throw it throw it and then cousins lets go of the ball and then the guy just stops and doesn't go up and try to catch it you know and so i do think that there is sort of this you know i i think it's bigger than one thing you know would you what look connor like would you want to see um in a vacuum

like i don't inside a vacuum no like michael pennix in this offense just to see his arm because i my part a little bit is like kirk cousins in 2024 is a quarterback who can't move very well, too.

And,

you know, that limits you.

I just think it limits you.

So in my head, I'm like thinking, okay, what would you do?

Would you sit Kirk for a week and then try to get his fastball back, allow him to rest and get some arm rest?

But then there are throws in this game that he absolutely has a fastball.

I mean, he looked off defenders on one, I think it was a third down, hits Ray Ray McLeod for this huge gain.

It was a dart.

And then before the half, and this is where I think the game went totally sideways, there were a lot of bad holding penalties and stuff like that that have happened in this game.

The Falcons were in first and 20 in two different situations on this drive.

And Cousins threw a bomb down the field that was absolutely beautiful and set the team up goal to go to score a touchdown before the half.

And Raheem Morris bungled that one.

I thought his clock mismanagement was really bad there.

You know, you should have tried to run the ball, use your timeout, and then go, but he did it the other way, allowed Kirk Cousins to throw and then just kick the field goal.

But so I think that there's a lot happening around Kirk Cousins, and Kirk is the poster child of it.

And I don't know, you're in a playoff race right now.

You're in a division race.

You're not out of it.

And I don't think Mike Pennix gets you necessarily back into it.

And would you risk another game just to find out?

Before we move on, Mark, one of your favorite films, you are a cinephile.

White Chicks, the Waynes Brothers Classic.

This was a touchdown celebration that will go down as one of the best of the season by Josh Metellis and Cam Bynum.

Let's watch it right here.

Mark, I'm sure this brought back a lot of memories of your time in the cinema watching

clearly the most talented of the Waynes brothers, Marlon and

the other guy.

I understand what's happening here, and for the sake of the production, I'll just agree with you and say, what a film it is in my top 40 to 50.

Maybe.

Oh, wait, chicks, look it up if you haven't seen it.

It's interesting.

All right, let's move on.

Next game.

Let's take a break.

All right, let's go.

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All right, let's keep on moving.

Let's move to the desert.

Speaking of the weird and wild NFC West Showdown,

yeah, who wants to win the NFC West?

What even is the NFC West?

It's less a collective of left coast-ish squads and more a random chaos generator, seemingly designed to make otherwise sensible football minds align more closely with a fourth-century-deep line of royal inbreds.

It seems like the last thing you want to be in this division is the consensus favorite.

And with four weeks to play, I don't deign to have any sense of clarity.

At this very moment, Destiny is in the hands of the Seattle Seahawks, who extended their post-buy misery of the Arizona Cardinals with a 30-18 win.

That's four straight wins for Seattle.

And shout out to NBC's Steve Karnacki.

That's right, baby.

Khaki boy is back.

Three straight losses for the cards who saw their playoff percentage chances plummet from 28% entering week 14 to 4%

with their latest no-show.

And

yeah, it's grisly for Arizona who

had people excited about their potential.

And now a ghastly losing streak in which, you know, the first two games of this losing streak were about in large part failures in the red zone, but this game was just a travesty.

I mean, it was on defense, they could not make a play.

They got on the board first.

They went right down the field to start the game, Arizona did, with a six-play, 70-yard drive over three minutes, ending with a Michael Wilson 41-yard touchdown.

But from that point on, they just kind of got run out of their own building in a game they really needed.

And

they got run out of the game, not because Geno Smith lit them up, although Geno had no problem with this 24 of 30 in the game without a turnover.

Zach Charbonnet goes 22 for 134 and two touchdowns.

This is a Seattle game that team that was missing Kenneth Walker, that hasn't run the football well all year, and they just did whatever they wanted.

So I don't know, Mark, what else to say.

I'm sorry that this actually now is a real thing, Mark, that you got behind the Cardinals and they have collapsed in epic form to kind of put like a cement finish over, you know, this narrative around you getting behind teams.

But, man, they just, they stunk in this game.

And when you no show at home in a game that you need, that's the sign of a team that is heading towards a freefall that could change certain things in the desert.

Well, they're done.

And I acknowledge that,

you know, getting behind one of these teams, one of these 32 teams, is not good if I do that.

And so I need to think more carefully about that.

Seahawks suddenly 8-5.

And

what I see in Seattle, which is the opposite over the last three weeks for Arizona, is like

they're growing.

And I think the Mike McDonald coaching experience is starting to take form.

They were really good in short yardage, red.

Smart pivot, Mark.

Very, very wise.

Well, I'm trying to give credit where it's due.

Right, right, right.

Zach Charbonnet comes in out of nowhere and has a huge game, and we were questioning how they were handling the run game for the first two months of the season.

Like, it was a powerhouse today.

Like,

credit where credit is due.

I think Seattle is saying we're trying to build an identity.

And the Cardinals have a lot of...

I thought the Cardinals were going to be a tough team that could beat people up.

And that also

requires precision and more than just toughness.

And they floated floated away.

I don't, I like it, it's a bit of a mystery to me that they floated away because I don't, they're not hurt, they're not injured, it's not that.

They just

are a middle-of-the-road team, and Mark, once again,

jumped on the wrong bandwagon, you know, or I jumped on the right bandwagon, but because I jumped on it, it you know, suddenly entered Soviet Russia and was taken out by gunmen, so it's one of the two.

It's tough.

Kyler Murray did not do any favors for you here.

He throws two interceptions the first time in his career through multiple interceptions in consecutive games.

So when they need him, he's not doing the job.

And I thought it was a very strange game plan.

Obviously, they have this brilliant young tight end and

Trey McBride who doesn't even have a catch until the 529 mark of the third quarter.

And then they start feeding him in the game.

He finishes with seven for 70.

And then, you know,

they're down 12 with in the final two minutes, and they go on this methodical drive to nowhere where it seems like it was less important to them that they get a quick score and an onside kick to give themselves a chance.

And it seemed pretty much engineered: it's like, hey, it's a little weird that it's almost mid-December and Trey McBride hasn't scored a touchdown yet.

So we're just going to get Trey a touchdown.

They couldn't even do that.

And I got to give Seattle credit and McDonald.

He was like, screw this.

I see what they're trying to do.

And they just brought the house in the last play of the game and sacked Kyler Murray.

And he's like, you don't even get that.

You don't get your lipstick on your pig.

You get nothing

and you'll like it.

So I don't know about Connor where the Seahawks really stand in the NFC.

I know they're the division leader in the NFC West, and they very well can end up playing a home game.

And Seattle in their building with a defense that has improved as things have gone along is they shouldn't be looked past.

But they also have home games against the Packers and the Vikings over the next two weeks.

And I'm curious if they are able to hang in those games.

But it's a nice little test as we head down the home stretch.

If they are, I mean, you look at the ingredients as a whole, and they do have the ingredients of a team that could make a legitimate playoff run.

I mean, Leonard Williams is playing over the second half of the year like a defensive player of the year candidate.

He's had unbelievable game after unbelievable game.

You have a smart defensive-minded head coach who has learned to manage games very quickly.

I think the learning curve is long for a lot of these coaches, and I think he's definitely beaten that.

And if this run game is for real, and I know that the totals get inflated by one particularly long run here, but if these running totals can hold and they can continue to layer this offense, I don't see why they're not your division winner.

And this makes sense, and they can knock off a good team in the NFC playoffs.

Yep.

And again, like I said, Geno Smith played smart in this game.

He had 13 interceptions.

He has 13 interceptions this year, but he has not thrown one in the last two games.

And yeah, if you have a running game with Geno and an improving defense,

yeah, this team,

they could be the best team in the NFC West.

But I look at the NFC West and I see San Francisco getting off the mat today, and you just keep an eye on them and you have what the Rams obviously did, and you got to respect them where they're at.

Seattle obviously now has a game in hand in the division, so that's worthy, and they did a nice job.

It's Arizona all of a sudden, ironically, Mark, that just seems the team that's lost and being left behind.

So you're going to need a miracle now, Mark.

I think

they're slotted where they should be at this moment.

And

I certainly can accept that.

And

I think there's hope for the way that they're building the team.

But I would personally, if I had to go into the playoffs, I'd rather be the Rams than the Seahawks.

That's just me.

The Seahawks are doing a lot of good things.

I think they've got a good coaching stuff.

I'd rather be the Rams.

I think they've got a higher ceiling.

But you know what?

I don't think any of these NFC West teams are the answer when it comes to buying your Super Bowl tickets.

They aren't.

This is an exercise in elimination.

Yeah, and unpredictability.

So it will be fun, though, to watch kind of how it all settles by the end of the regular season.

One last note.

This is unrelated to anything or Jonathan Gannon or anything else, but I just have like a little media minute here.

Can we check out the halftime interview

Evan Washburn, who does great work, and he looks like

Patrick Bateman.

I don't know if he is

too handsome.

I almost certainly think he is not a Patrick Bateman type.

He just kind of looks like a Patrick Bateman,

interviewing Jonathan Gannon at halftime after a disappointing first half for Gannon's squad.

Coach, controlling the line of scrimmage was such a big priority coming into this game.

What do you guys need to do in the second half to win in that area?

Yeah, I thought we popped a couple of runs, but it's got to be a little more consistent.

Coach, appreciate it.

Thank you.

Do we need it?

Like,

well, way to get to, wait, by the way, like,

I don't know if you've ever seen All the President's Men, but that's sort of like what I'd call that the sequel to that.

Like, we've gotten to the heart of the matter of deep issues.

Do we, like, at some point

it got so ingrained that that's part of the telecast that no one asks questions.

If you were to install me atop a hierarchy in terms of the broadcasting arm of, say, CBS, I would say, hey, let's take a closer look at whether we need that.

And that's not a shot against Washburn.

He's put in an impossible spot.

Obviously, Gannon doesn't want to say anything, and he's already thinking about seven different things.

Let's have a conversation.

Do we need that?

You know, it's weird because it works with like Dan Campbell, but it doesn't work with like 89% of coaches.

Right.

So maybe we pick our spots a little bit more.

That's all.

That's all.

Because I know

every once in a while, and yes, not a Gannon shot.

Every once in a while, you do get gold out of it.

But is the hit rate justify putting us through this?

I'd love to know what Connor thinks because I probably think it will make me laugh.

No, I do.

I think installing a need-based system, like if you get the doors blown off, you like, remember that Brandon Staley Chargers game where they gave up like 49 points in the second quarter?

It's just like, yeah, let's talk to that poor guy, you know?

But anyone else, it's just like, yeah, just

let him go.

John's got work to do in the locker room.

Just let him go.

Now we're going to let that game go and move, yes, to the one other NFC West team to talk about Connor to the bay.

The Bay Bowlby.

Right.

The phrase ass kicking is used to describe the peak dominance over another.

But the ass is such a fleshy, spongy part of the body.

And when our asses actually kick, the result is often not fatal.

And as Mark has said to me in several unwanted post-2 a.m.

text messages, quote, kind of a turn on if I'm being honest, a real sexual fire starter, unquote.

So we need a better phrase to describe what happened when the 49ers beat the Bears 38-13, outgaining them 319-4 at the half.

So they had their skull cracked open like a fourth white claw and their brain drilled into with a rusty dental drill.

They had their internal organs harvested with unsanitary hands and sliced at a flaming hibachi grill.

They had their nips ripped off like stuck band-aids.

Mark, put your shirt back on.

Anyway, tough one

for tough one for Thomas Brown in his first game as the internet coach.

The Bears have not won since October 13th.

Yeah, we had to get Thomas Brown.

We had to promote Thomas Brown in this lost season.

Like, we couldn't just leave Thomas Brown where he was and let him coach this offense.

Sex edition?

Problem with sex.

Yeah, Mark.

Come on.

Can we

rein it in a little bit?

Do I ever get to respond to this?

But at some point, yeah, let's talk about the game.

We couldn't leave well enough alone.

The Thomas Brown was making progress with the kid.

We had to promote him and have him oversee the entire team because it was so imperative that Matt Eberflus couldn't coach the rest of this season from the bottom of the Lake Superior, right?

So here you go.

You

get what you asked for, and another grizzly loss in an epically disappointing Bears season.

I do think that Matt Eberflus probably could not have coached another game.

I think he could have.

He absolutely could.

I mean, he could.

Theoretically, he could have, but the volume internally was at the decibel level where you're asking these guys who have freaked out on him publicly and multiple occasions to go back out there and pretend that everything's all right.

However, to your point, removing him from the equation absolutely allowed the most basic level 49ers offense to roll over the Bears.

Like, this looked like Kyle Shanahan 2018.

You know, this was, okay, you know, we're going to run outside zone.

We're going to play fake it.

We're going to set up, you know, bunch formations where our semi-athletic wide receivers are on your linebackers, and we're just going to steamroll this thing.

And once they got going, it just, it never stopped.

George Kittle was an absolute animal in this game, caught every single one of his targets.

And, you know, yes, Matt Eberflues is a really good defensive coordinator.

Would have looked this bad if he was the head coach?

I don't think so, but

a lot of players players didn't want to play for him anymore.

Yeah, but then they give up, they get four yards on offense in the first half today.

So it's like, oh, they couldn't possibly play another game for Matt Eberfaluz, and then we get this game.

It's just like, that is a mess, the whole thing.

There's a difference between not playing and then being ill-prepared by an interim, I think, and not wanting to play with someone who has blown a lot of games for you in the past.

And there's this etched history of him not putting you in a good spot.

Like, I think that there was just too much baggage, I think.

Well, there was, yeah, there was just a verbal revolt.

Like, we, you know, it was open to the reporters, to the press.

We were reading about veteran players saying, we're not going to play for this coach anymore.

So it's like, you're in a bad position.

But, like, I do think.

Nobody said that.

Nobody said we're not going to play for this coach anymore.

Well, no, but I think tons of Bears, there were a number of

Bears veterans that were at the point where it's like, if that's what they're saying to the people that they don't trust trust who are putting the message out, what are they saying to their own?

And don't get me wrong on this.

I'm not defending Matt Everplus.

I'm just saying sometimes it's like it's better to just let a lost season stay lost and let Brown do what he was doing.

Good luck to them the rest of the way.

Well, I would say this.

If I trusted the Bears, like if the Bears were doing the thing where you removed the coach early because I really trust Bears' ownership, which I don't, to go on a deep-seated search for the next perfect coach for this team to do what the Lions have done over the last three years.

Okay, but I don't trust that.

I don't think that's happening at all.

I think they're just discombobulated.

I would say one thing, because I wrote a note to myself along your lines, both of you, that like, I wrote Thomas Brown, too much nonsense during the week before actual games.

Like were we, over the course of a week, because these games are spaced out by six, seven days, like we get all up in our heads, like Thomas Brown is this really great communicator and he's been really great for Kayla Williams and it's a big move for them and it might be a no,

it's not.

you weren't even the off you weren't even a coordinator you're like down the staff so far that we fired and gotten rid of so many people that now you're just the next guy in what would be like a failed offshoot government all right so I don't like to me it's just like like the whole thing is a bit of a ship sinking and we don't you can parse it as much as you want the other side to me was like is this what is this a sign that the niners are

reverting reverting it's not the right word but like becoming what we hoped or is this just this means nothing It's another this week feels like the theme of this week feels like nothing had any meaning almost.

No.

I don't mean that in a fatalistic way, but it's like I don't care about the Rams offense or defense.

I don't care about the Bills' defense, and I don't care about the Bears, and I don't care about what happened with the Niners.

I'm with you.

And so, for example, like the 40s.

Why are we even here?

It's not even that.

It's just that how much meaning do we assume?

Are we on the beat that if the team's not winning the Super Bowl, they're not even, we don't even have to talk about the Niners?

Not at all, but

I don't think that the Niners are here because of what happened today.

I think I need this was not the test, you know?

So yes, to Mark's point, like the Bears did not present as a team that required serious thinking and a serious game plan.

So the 49ers played zone defense more than any other team, I think, in the NFL this year.

I think it was all but like one snap.

And so they came out and they said, okay, Caleb, like beat this.

And they couldn't, you know, it was a lot of three and outs early.

Now, he did lead two touchdown drives, both of them which ended in touchdown catches by Roma Dunze, which I think you could say is somewhat positive.

One really, you know, high-wire throw and catch in the corner of the end zone, and another one where Caleb Williams had to move around a little bit and find the guy.

But, you know, 49ers kind of sat in the same defense.

This was another breakdown in the Bears' offensive line.

I mean, Yatur Gross Matos had three sacks after.

having one all season going into this former second-round pick.

Malik Collins just absolutely bludgeoned the Bears center and just walked into the backfield and, you know, ripped Caleb Williams to the ground.

He's still the most sacked quarterback in the NFL.

It's not going to change.

So I, you know, it wasn't one of these like, you know, it wasn't a chess match by any stretch of the imagination.

Well, what it was was a 49ers win, which they desperately needed.

It gets them to six and seven.

It keeps them

in the mix in the NFC West.

And I would say the one thing that you're pulling your hair out as a Niners fan, and you've been killed by injuries all year.

You have Jordan Mason, IR, Christian McCaffrey, IR, and then everyone's favorite fantasy pickup this week, running back Isaac Barendo, has a great game.

He goes, what, 78, like 125 total yards, two touchdowns, and then in garbage time, he suffers a foot injury.

The team believes it's a sprain.

He's going to have an MRI on Monday.

They're playing on a short week, and it's just like,

it's just like, some years, it's just not your year.

And San Francisco's backfield specifically is a perfect microcosm for the frustration of that team.

But they did get a win, and they needed it.

It's frustrating.

You got to keep going, guys.

Okay.

All right.

It's an exhibit of how deep that running, like, they're doing a good job.

They have good players.

Anyway, who's next?

Who's next if Grendo can't play on Thursday?

It's a good test.

This is the ultimate test.

Who is the fourth string running back or fifth string?

Yeah, Elijah Mitchell's out, too.

Who is the fifth string?

All right, let's move on up next.

Where are we going next?

Let's go to Miami.

Miami.

Miami.

Facing a depleted Jets team that's won once in two months.

The script appeared pre-written for the Dolphins to overwhelm their moribund division rival and continue their wild card push without any real drama.

But that's not quite how it turned out.

The Jets actually outplayed the fish for the better part of three quarters on Sunday, but familiar issues doomed Jeff Ulbrich's squad once more.

Miami accepted these gifts, wiping out an eight-point deficit early in the fourth quarter, then a three-point difference with a Jason Sanders onions kick in the final seconds of regulation.

And when the Dolphins won the coin toss in overtime, it felt like the matter was already settled.

Sure enough, six plays later, Tua Tunga Bailoa connected with John U.

Smith in the end zone, and it was a 32-26 OT win for the Dolphins, who keep their meek playoff hopes alive.

Fun fact, that is the first time an NFL game has ended with that score, 32-26.

They should probably come up with a really fing stupid name for that.

Okay.

The Jets are officially eliminated from postseason contention, a 14-year run of ineptitude, misery, really, that is the longest in North American sports.

Really, really, really cool.

Yeah,

give the Dolphins credit because,

well, I'm going to give the Jets credit too because they did not have Sauce Gardner in this game.

He was out.

And Brees Hall has a knee.

He's out.

And when the Dolphins go right down the field on the first possession and score,

everyone's thinking the same thing.

Oh, this game is going to be 31-3 at halftime.

But instead, like I said, the Jets kind of controlled this game until the fourth quarter where familiar things cropped up, whether it was special teams breakdowns or mental blunders.

There was a really bad one.

Here's the perfect microcosm of the Jets

season.

It's five plays, five-play sequence.

The Jets are in a tie game, driving down the field.

Aaron Rodgers played well.

He's moving really well right now, and he made some throws.

He threw over 300 for more than 300 yards for the first time in, I believe, three years in this game.

They're moving down the field.

He hits, I believe, Lazard to put the Jets comfortably in field goal range with less than two minutes to play.

And at that point, the Dolphins are out of timeouts, and the Jets have a chance really to take this thing down to the gun, kick a field goal, and get out of Miami with a win.

So

they have a first and 10 at the Miami 27

after the Lazard play.

A running play to Isaiah Davis, minus five yards.

Okay, that's not ideal.

Then Miami calls its second timeout.

Then on second 15, Aaron Rodgers, 41 years old.

No one knows what you're supposed to do more as a quarterback of the New York Jets.

What's the one thing, Connor, you cannot do when you're in field goal range as the quarterback?

Take a big sack.

He takes a big sack.

All right, Miami then uses its third timeout.

That's six more yards lost.

Okay, then

third and 21 from the Miami 38.

Oh, good.

Rogers recovers.

He hits Devontae Adams for 14 yards.

What's the one thing, Connor Orr, that the wide receiver cannot do when you're trying to run out the clock and kick a field goal to win a game?

Stay in bounds.

You can't go out of bounds, but Devontae Adams, a future Hall of Famer, goes out of bounds to stop the clock.

So instead, the Jets do send out the kicker.

they kick the field goal and then what's the one thing connor that you don't want your uh special teams to do after you kick off and all you got to do it's 52 seconds to play the miami does not have any timeouts what's the one thing your special teams can't do

don't kick it to the dynamic return man And then don't let him return it to midfield.

So a five-play sequence, they do four stupid things.

Eventually, Miami gets in field goal range.

They get the field goal to tie it.

And then when they win the coin toss, as I said, the rest is history.

Credit to the Dolphins for saving their season for the time being.

But just such a snapshot into this lost Jets season.

And it happens all the time.

And I'm not going to sit here because I remember like a 1 in 15 Jets season under Ko-Tite when I remember watching it as a 16-year-old and being like, man, they could have won like 10 of these games.

But that's what bad teams do.

There are teams that are so bad that they just get blown out every weeks.

And then there are teams like the 2024 Jets who always find a way to lose.

They are winless in one score games this year.

So the Dolphins don't.

profile to me, Mark, on your subject of like what matters and what doesn't as a team to take seriously.

And the AFC playoff picture, it's Denver very clearly in the driver's seat for that last wild card spot.

But the Dolphins took advantage of Jets' mistakes, and that is just something they've been doing all year.

Well, they're sort of my AFC Niners, not exactly, but in a way.

And I mean, I think to your Jets' point,

why it's frustrating.

They're not a rich coatite team, essentially.

But last three weeks before this, they were entering the fourth quarter, up 23 to 15 over Miami in the first encounter, up 21 to 16 versus the Seahawks entering the fourth quarter, and up 17 to 16 versus the Colts.

And they lost all three of those.

I think this is,

you know, you make decisions as a team and what you want to be and how mercenary.

And like when you're held captive by your quarterback that says, I must have this person running the offense, not to go down this road, because I get that we've already solved this, but then that person gets buried under a 7-Eleven in like North New Jersey somewhere,

and you've got someone else running the offense, and you've got a second person running the team in general, like you're just losing collaboration, you're losing mind power, but you're losing answers.

I think you're losing experience in answers.

And like, like you're, you go into these games where you're hanging around.

They were hanging around today.

And like we were on Sky Sports in the UK today, and like we talked about the Jets as a potential berserker type team.

But part of that is like you got to play it for your coach.

I thought they did today.

They've been playing hard for, they had a really bad Arizona game, but otherwise every week they're in these games.

I thought they did, but I think they're out of answers.

They're out of answers.

And it's like,

the Dolphins weren't especially special in this.

No.

So the Jets are better the best bad team or the worst good team, but ultimately it doesn't matter because they're 3-10.

And 3-10 is 3-10.

And one last note on the Miami side of things that, again, Tyreek Hill has been getting back to being Tyreek Hill again, 10 for 115 and a touchdown.

And you also got 9 for 99 from Jalen Waddell, who's woken up now, and this game was played in very nice conditions in Miami, but that's notable.

And finally, John New Smith, who's been one of the better tight ends in the league, shut out for four quarters until they finally, Mike McDaniel said, oh, I should target this guy.

And he lights up the Jets for three catches and the game-winning score in overtime, Connor.

I mean, he has been, in terms of yards over expectation, the second best tight end in the NFL since the Dolphins have gotten back from their bye week, which is wild.

And while it's kind of ridiculous to think that this team has Tyreek Hill and they have Jaden Waddle and they need somebody else to knife everything else open, John U.

Smith is that chess piece for them.

I mean, you know, Kyle Shanahan had Kyle Yuschek.

I mean, and Mike McDaniel is figuring out John U.

Smith's role in this.

He's opening up a ton of stuff for these guys.

And in overtime, did you see the look in his eyes?

That guy was, he was getting those short catches and he was just like glowing.

Like his eyes were wide.

He was like intense and like screaming.

And I was like, this guy's going to score the game-winning touchdown.

It was amazing.

Yeah, he had been targeted once in the first 60 minutes of game time.

So I don't know what that's about for a guy to be, how could he be that intense and disappear for three and a half hours?

But he showed up when it counted.

I understand how that works.

And the Dolphins, the Dolphins

survive and move on, and

we move on.

Let's take a break.

And when we get back, we continue to roll through week 14, Sunday.

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Welcome back.

Mark Sessler, Shaq, and I were were having a little bit of fun on the old social media today

talking about tropes of broadcasting.

Because did you know, Mark, that when the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers face off, you throw out the records?

Well, I don't because I'm aware of the fact that they've been highly negative in my towards.

But yes, I do know.

I know you do that.

Yeah, you got to throw them out because it's division.

You know, division.

There is no such thing.

You just, that's just what it is.

All right, take us to the.

That will fly in the face of what I'm about to read to you, but I like your setup to myself.

The stadium formerly known as Heinz.

Well, the oldest rivalry in the AFC.

1988, the last time the Cleveland Browns swept the Steelers.

Mark is a freshman in high school.

Pondering how to win over Bryn Taylor.

They briefly dated in sixth grade years back.

She's now in a relationship with a surfer guy who moved to town from the west.

1988, Dan Hansis is eight years old.

Connor Orr is five months old.

Gravedigger is negative four years old.

His parents have not yet conceived him.

He's a future dream.

Justin is an asset to us, man.

Fast forward 34 years.

Pittsburgh has 28 bridges.

A book or novel has never been transported across any one of those structures.

But they kick people's ass the way unthinking people exude violence and disorder.

Jameis Winston is in the mood to throw multiple picks the way a drinker must awaken with cheap wine.

The passing game, jumpy and off-kilter.

Nick Chubb, a shadow of yesterday.

Human life, darkness.

Pittsburgh Chris Boswell hits a 54-yard field goal with his eyes closed.

Cleveland's Dustin Hopkins misses a 38-yard field goal down 13-7.

Then a 43-yarder after the break.

Dustin Hopkins took four tabs of LSD before kickoff.

He thinks he's in central Norway.

The Browns are blown up like an Iraqi safe house.

Dip me an LSD, sweet lord.

I don't belong on this earth anymore.

Calling Hezbollah, calling Al-Qaeda, calling the Sympionese Liberation Front, kidnap me like Patty Hearst, and let's burn up the coast to a forest hideout.

Steelers 27, Browns 14.

You'll always have the primetime games.

True.

Disaster.

I mean, are you really surprised?

No, I'm not.

I'm not surprised because I think this actually played out the way that doesn't surprise me.

Right.

And there's no way you're sweeping.

Pittsburgh's not losing this game.

And

I don't like Cleveland making their any team making their own bed for themselves.

Like those missed field goals that I mentioned, which are in a world where like people...

Are we in a world where field goal kickers are doing the impossible, but also sucking as much as possible like on any given Sunday?

Like crazy, terrible shit is happening.

This is a lot of people.

They're actually doing incredible things.

To have a bad kicker because 75% of the league has kickers that are just playing at levels we've never seen before.

The revolution is being televised.

But if you have a Dustin Hopkins or a Greg Zerline or you're one of those damned teams, yeah, it makes it even more frustrating in a way.

It's, well, I think, listen, like.

To your point about throw out the records, like, there's no way either one of these teams, typically if you're playing average football or sweeping each other.

But Cleveland's going to do this.

And

this is more to me about TJ Watts showed up early in this game and made a big, impactful play.

And they got Jameis Winston uncomfortable.

I think he's not been, he's not been, he's made mistakes, but he's not been uncomfortable.

He seemed loose and kind of on the fly.

And like we're all enjoying the experience of the personality.

He was very uncomfortable today.

And Cleveland cannot run the ball the way they

did in Private.

Be the best.

Well, yeah,

none of that occurred.

Like

they couldn't run the ball today.

And like, I think Pittsburgh, like, they kind of just, they eased into who they are.

They ran the ball really well early because Russell Wilson,

both passers came off of 400-yard games, and they combined for about 100 heading in the final minutes of the first half.

And the Steelers found a way to survive in Pittsburgh, which they do.

And

it was a...

I found it to be like an unremarkable game in terms of big major plays.

It just kind of played out like

two old boxers kind of

bashing each other in the face.

And Pittsburgh, out Pittsburgh, Cleveland.

I like that you blanket referred to everyone in Pittsburgh as like a dumb, violent person.

That was like a good, like it flew under the radar in the

lead-in, but

probably.

I mean,

as I tout Cleveland, like it's like we are, these aren't totally different

civilizations.

How about the

pass rush here?

There was the big showdown, TJ Watt v.

Miles Garrett.

Anybody get the better end of that?

I saw something that Miles Garrett was celebrating a sack when this team was down double digits late, which maybe that tells you a little bit where Garrett's head is at.

He wanted to beat T.J.

Watt maybe more than the Steelers, but maybe that's unfair.

Well, maybe you shift into that at this point.

He did have a sack.

He had three quarterback hits.

Cameron Hayward had two.

I think one thing that matters for the Steelers is like Alex Highsmith's back and he had a sack today.

And you've got, you know, Nick Herbig along with T.J.

Watt.

It's not just TJ Watt, but he made a huge play early on.

And like, I think Steelers' wins are, like, for me, sort of simple to diagnose.

Like, we kind of get what they are.

They're not, they're not, it's not a, it's not like...

If you think of like Lego sets, it's not like this 2,000-piece Lego set.

It's like 186 pieces.

It's more pieces than it's been in other years.

I mean, they do have a downfield element this year.

They didn't have George Pickens today, by the way.

They won without George Pickens.

I thought that was notable.

They have, after forcing three more turnovers, they lead the NFL in takeaways.

They're holding their opponents to less than 19 points per game.

And they got a quarterback in Russell Wilson that's not killing them with turnovers.

It's a good recipe, and the Browns were not able to deal with it.

Okay.

Anything else, Mark?

I would say one thing.

Connor, you mentioned this on Thursday, and I'll keep it quick, but what a win for Arthur Smith because I think he was pigeonholed as kind of a loser and kind of like marginalized as a play caller.

And like, you don't get this whole situation with Russell Wilson, and which is a huge, one of the bigger resurgences of a quarterback I can think of for someone that we had buried below the ground without Arthur Smith.

That's all I'd say.

All right.

And let's listen to, before we move on, Jim Nance.

You know, imagine that as he as he delivers this, imagine that Jim Nance Thanksgiving jazzy music playing underneath, and you know what I'm saying.

Look at his career record.

Almost

66% win percentage.

Things got a little salty out in Denver.

And then what he's doing here, he's got the moves that even Sarah would think were pretty good right now.

You saw her up in the stand celebrating.

All right, Jim.

Jim doing his best.

And I like the Tony Romo courtesy laugh.

You got to respect that.

Looking out for his buddy.

Were these droids?

What are we, like, were they, did you come out of that

graphic process as a team saying we nailed that?

Like, that, to me, was confusing.

Yeah.

Maybe I'm not the target audience, but what were they doing there?

You're talking about the graphic?

Well, no, like, I like that you pointed it out.

That was, but, like, but they're sort of wiry, droid-like individuals dancing in a kitchen.

They didn't look like football players to me.

So, I mean, but just visually, I would have gone.

We are trying to pick up the pace here, Mark.

Let's go to Philadelphia with Justin Graver.

The second-placed team in the NFC, still in the hunt for that first overall seed and the buy that comes with it, hosted a 3-9 Panthers team that has struggled to find its footing this year.

So, naturally, the Eagles took care of business and pounded the Panthers into oblivion.

Not.

The Eagles struggled throughout much of the game, even trailing Carolina 16-14 in the fourth quarter.

Not.

Not.

And even after going up 22-16, the Panthers drove down the field as time was running out.

Bryce Young lofts a perfect ball to an open Xavier Leggette for the game-winning touchdown.

Not.

Leggette drops it, and the Eagles escape with a 22-16 win.

Can we bring back not jokes?

Why don't we do those anymore?

I do.

I've noticed the trend,

Justin, that your write-ups, which are always enjoyable, they usually have that same kind of little bait and switch with the audience.

And you've done it again.

In all seriousness, though, the Eagles, they've won nine straight games, but...

Look, I have some concerns about this team.

It's not because they struggled to put the Panthers away.

Like, I think Carolina has played a lot better lately.

They're a competitive team now.

But for the Eagles, they're probably going to finish the regular season just fine.

When you get into the playoffs, though, you need certain aspects of your team to be more reliable.

The number one thing is the kicking game.

Jake Elliott is now 0 for 5 on 50-plus-yard kicks this season after he missed a 52-yard game.

We just talked about how important, you know, you go up against a team like the Lions who have a nails kicker and Jake Bates.

Like, you lose the game in the margins like that.

That's an issue.

And number two is the passing game.

Like it's just not as threatening as I think it needs to be if you want to make a Super Bowl run.

There was

multiple moments in this game where Hurts just passed up open receivers and then each like scrambles around trying to make something happen off schedule.

But and making plays off schedule is great, but sometimes you've got to make the plays that are on schedule.

They're there to be made and the receivers are frustrated on the sideline, throwing tantrums.

Devonta Smith and A.J.

Brown talked after the game about how frustrating it is.

So if you're offensive.

Let's to A.J.

Brown on that subject.

Yes, let's listen to A.J.

Brown.

Offense wasn't good enough.

What are some things you think that the offense needs to improve on

passing?

AJ, I know everybody wants to get in a rhythm.

And Devontae was acknowledging that, you know, receivers, just like running backs, want to get in rhythm.

How hard is it as a receiver to get into a rhythm when you guys are only throwing the ball 20 times?

Incredibly tough.

I didn't catch any of that.

What was that?

They asked him,

what do you need to improve on?

And he said, passing.

What do you need to improve on after this game?

Passing.

Like, that's not a great sign when your receivers are talking about that.

But that's also, you know what?

They're 11 and 2.

And if we're going to get like, we're not going to get lost in the weeds about the Eagles being in some sort of trouble.

A part of in the modern NFL, the number one wide receiver's job is to kind of bitch about something typically, unless they're on pace to break receiving records.

And A.J.

Brown's showing frustration because he wants to be putting up bigger numbers.

But, you know, as long as they, I didn't see any of this game, Connor, but or um justin but you're saying basically carolina had a real chance to steal this one that's not the first time we've heard that about an eagles game this year but they they keep on being on the right side of these it seems yeah i mean they had the drive and bryce young put the perfect throw out there for xavier laguette and it looked like a catch like watching it live i was like oh my god the panthers just score they took the lead and then refs run in ruling it incomplete and i'm like what that this is going to get overturned he dove and caught the ball but you see the replay and the ball clearly goes through his arms and hits the ground and then they end up going forward on fourth down a couple plays later and don't get it and it's like that was the game and we talk about the game winning in the margins the eagles do that to their credit like they didn't have a great game on offense but when they got down 16 14 they put the perfect drive together to go get you know the the go-ahead touchdown and then a penalty allowed them to go for two and get gain a six-point lead but i don't know i just worry when you come up to a team in the playoffs that knows that your strength is Saquon Barkley running the ball, like they're going to shut that down and you're going to have to win another way.

And maybe the Eagles will figure it out between now and January, but that's just where I'm like a little concerned for them right now.

Fair enough.

All right, let's move on.

Up next, we go to

Tampa, where the Bucs,

you know, they'll take their gifts where they can get them.

It's the holiday season.

The Raiders are in town.

A month ago, the Bucs were four and six.

Snake bit by injuries to their best players.

Meyered in a four-game losing streak that threatened to render them irrelevant by Thanksgiving.

But the script, boys, has flipped.

The Bucs won their third straight game on Sunday.

A workmanlike 28-13 conquest of the Raiders that, coupled with yet another loss by the free-falling Falcons, moved Todd Bowles' team into sole possession of first place in the NFC South.

Are the Bucs feeling dangerous, as their quarterback once famously said?

I would not go that far, but they are plenty menacing enough to win this butt division.

Yeah,

good job by Tampa.

I mean, just this is a game that when you're playing a team that's as down bad as the Raiders, you just got to kind of stay out of your own way.

And

even if they didn't and they did kind of get in their own way, the Bucs with some turnovers in the first half to keep this game close,

there was nothing that Las Vegas could really do to make this a game that felt like it was ever in doubt for the Bucs.

So

they take advantage of what the schedule gave them and they get another victory.

And on the Raiders side, it keeps on getting worse for them because now Aiden O'Connell, he takes a bit of a late hit on the sideline in this game, lands awkwardly on his knee, and it looks like he suffered a significant injury.

He had an air cast as he left the field, and you know what that means.

So he might have a broken leg.

And that means as bad as this Raiders season looked

going into this week, now it might be Desmond Ritter finishing out this campaign.

So, the Raiders' chance of getting the number one pick had an uptick.

So, if you want to look at it positive as a Raiders fan, well, there it is.

I don't know if you do, though, because what are you going to like?

What does the number one pick bring you at this point?

You know, it's a two-way,

I guess, but like right at the top of the draft theoretically is like, okay, you know, it's a two-way player, like a a cornerback slash wide receiver, and you're going to have to pick one of the two places to play him in the NFL or Deion Sanders' son, which is not going to be something that you necessarily want to be doing, you know?

Or you trade that pick, you know, whatever.

They have, they're going to have bottom line, a very high pick, and then they have to figure out how to make the best use of it.

But yeah, the missing out on.

you know, all those quarterbacks at the top of the draft seems to this past year continues to kind of haunt this team.

And obviously, it it could not have gone worse in the quarterback room where in addition to very up and down or mediocre play, the injury bug has ravaged them.

So

that's just tough as a Raiders fan to deal with.

I mean, like the conversation that you just had, the two of you, basically tells us where we are.

In the season, it's like the Raiders now need to do the thing that teams don't do, which is win a meaningless game or two that prevents them from getting the quarterback they should get when another team in their division gets like the right quarterback.

Like, don't be dumb.

Lose out.

Get the best player available.

And let's hope that for the first time in our lifetime, well, at least in our adulthood, that the Raiders have proper leadership.

Not holding my breath.

Yes.

One player I want to point out for the Bucs, because obviously Mike Evans is back,

and that's good.

But they need someone else to step up in that wide receiver room.

And Jalen McMillan had two touchdowns in this game.

So you need somebody to step up if we're going to take the Bucs seriously as a team that can make any type of noise and put a scare into anybody in January.

McMillan is going to be one of those guys in addition to, man, hopefully they have the health that they need in this game.

I take them seriously, though, just to be quick, but like I take them seriously as a team that can win a playoff game.

I assume we all would.

There's just something something weird about them.

Yeah, I think so, too.

Like, I think they could just cause distress to someone in January.

According to ESBN research, the Bucs now have a 71% chance to make the playoffs.

So, yeah, that's things changed quickly in the NFC South.

And remember, they got swept by the Falcons.

So, the Falcons had an extra game in hand, essentially, because a tie would have gone to the Falcons.

And they just let that all slip away into the credit of Todd Bowles and the Bucks that they have taken advantage of that.

All right, let's move on.

We'll take a break and then we'll close out the Sunday sleep.

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All right, welcome back.

Oh, man, the game you've been waiting for.

The Saints and Giants play professional football today in the Meadowlands at Skyrizzy time with Connor Orr.

In a matchup between two coaches who look like they keep their dogs outside at night and would think you're the weird one for asking, the Saints prevailed over the Giants 14-11.

If you bet that this game was going to be weird as shit, congratulations, your family has enough in their sports gambling account to make it through Christmas.

How weird was this game?

Well, after Darren Rizzi slammed all of his equipment on the ground to scream at his punter for trying to make a tackle,

he was psychopissed about that.

So awesome.

Such a special teams guy move.

All he was mad about was that that guy moved up like 10 yards and got in the mix and wasn't playing like deep on the tackle.

And look at him.

He's like, telling him to get out of his sight.

Abukamara went up to him and was like, bro,

you know, we suck, right?

So that was the first thing.

Giants offensive lineman Jake Kubis nullified a fourth quarter field goal by body slamming an opponent in front of the referee.

And then after the Giants came all the way back at the end of the game to try a game-tying field goal, the Saints bum-rushed Kubis and blocked Kano's game-type attempt.

Also, Derek Carr might have broken his hand.

I think he did.

Yeah, it looks like

this game was just so goddamn strange.

Yeah, that looks like the play where Derek Carr might have played his final snap as a Saint.

Like, there is no reason to do that.

And there's also no reason to call like a naked Derek Carr bootleg run.

Like it, like it was Taysom Hill, like it was left over in the Taysom Hill plays and they just accidentally hit the button.

Like, look who's leading the team, though.

An absolute maniac.

I mean, the most, I think he has now surpassed,

Darren Rizzi has surpassed Rich Basace as the most interim coach that's ever lived I think his energy is just totally off the reservation he's a New Jersey guy so coming to and to the credit of Sky Rizzi they're three and one since he took over for Dennis Allen and he does deserve credit for that

but he is a crazy person yes Mark did you like and no I'm sure Connor I'm sure you saw this but like

you know they're digging in on like a new subject.

It's good for reporters.

Like, suddenly there was a new coach, like, new stories, new storylines.

Like, the mom of Sky Rizzi,

Phyllis Rizzi Rooney,

was in the stadium and up in a booth, and she had told the broadcast a story, which kind of touched my heart a little about Skyrizi.

Like, that when he was a younger person, that people even younger than him at his school would come over and bullied kids, would come over and knock on the front door of Sky Rizzi, asking him to walk them to school so they wouldn't be bullied because he would go kick their ass.

I believe it.

You know, it's like it made me kind of like, I don't care what happens with him with his career, but like, that's a that's got to be someone that people have felt something about for a long time.

And the mom was sitting there watching it.

Now, maybe that's all BS, Connor.

I believe he's a leader of men.

But when he was dressing down the punter, the only thing I could think of was there was like this great old Saturday Night Live sketch with Will Farrell where he's like kind of half drunk at his kids' little league game and just screams while he's on first base.

I don't know if we have that.

By the way, do you know who I talk to about becoming a coach next season?

Hey, listen, cry, baby!

I will downsize your face with a shovel if you don't get on the bag.

Now get on that bag.

Snow coat anyone?

Nah.

He's got some aughts, Ferrell energy, for sure.

Correct.

We have any Rizzy, we have the Rizzy sound of him in the locker room.

We needed every one of those things in a Swiss Army knife, did we not?

We needed every single tool in the Swiss Army knife to finish the job.

You did?

That was bottom line.

Okay?

I got the cornstream sticking out.

Hey!

What?

All right.

He's also going to see it.

26-year-olds, none of them owned a Swiss Army knife for the

moment.

Yeah, the Swiss Army knife probably going over their head as a reference.

There's also

a muted sense of energy in the locker room.

And to be totally real,

he starts talking a little Jersey too, right?

It might not have been exactly the way you drew it up, and it might not have been as pretty as you want it to be, but we're leaving New Jersey with a W.

Right, we're at it, man, break it down.

Here we go.

I mean,

that's when you pass it off.

Like when you tried two big jokes about, it's like you wrote the speech and you were like, corkscrew line, pause for laughter, you know, and then New Jersey, pause for massive applause.

And then it's just like, all right, you break us down.

Yeah, wait, I want, play that last clip one more time, and just listen to the reaction.

Yes, I think he was expecting major pop off the Jersey ref there.

And there's, there's also, for the people listening to the show, and check us out on YouTube, of course, and subscribe, hashtag 48.4.

There's one strobe light.

I guess it's their party strobe light when they win.

And the fact that it's just like kind of functional,

play it one more time.

It might not have been exactly the way you drew it up, and it might not have been as pretty as you want it to be, but we're leaving New Jersey with a W.

Riot, we're at it, Brian, break it down.

Here we go.

I mean,

yeah,

these guys don't even know they're in New Jersey.

They're like, I thought we were playing the Giants.

All right,

Jesus Christ, we're going to talk about this game.

All right, the Jaguars Titans with Justin Graeber.

Dumbest game ever, maybe.

Maybe.

Oh, I love this song so much.

It's so epic.

And it gets this game.

You know what?

Justin, can we move this song up the power rankings of the background music?

Yeah, going forward, we'll do that.

Okay.

All right, Jags Titans.

I said on Thursday's show that the Titans had no excuses to not go win this game at home against a two-win Mac Jones-led Jaguars team.

Wait, Justin, here's an excuse.

They suck.

I've come up with a list of some excuses.

Number one, poor coaching.

Number two, bad offense.

Three, bad play calling.

Four, defense breaks down at the worst times.

Five, the quarterback can't lead a game-winning drive.

Six, the offensive line commits too many penalties.

Seven, bad special teams.

Eight, is that enough?

This team sucks.

But the good news is, regardless of whether the Titans are good or bad or somewhere in between, we're all just dust.

Every one of us is going to die someday.

Nothing matters.

Jaguars, 10, Titans 6.

Yeah, you like...

Listen.

I appreciate that.

For all the, you know, sparkles and fairy dust,

last few weeks with the Browns, they're 3-10.

The Jets can't get out of their own way.

They're 3-10.

But the Titans 3-10, when you are at home and you're going against Mac Jones, one of the worst quarterbacks in football, the backup to Trevor Lawrence, who is already sitting on IR with his arm in a sling and a headache, and you can't even beat this team?

Maybe it is a blessing in disguise because this whole operation, Justin, needs a very close examination.

And maybe you don't need a stupid win over a horrific Jaguars team playing a backup quarterback to get your head in the clouds.

Maybe you need these type of sobering, painful losses just to underline how truly lost the team is.

We called on the Music City Audible recap show today that is live on YouTube.

We

called this the Titans' worst loss of the season, and that's coming off like a 42 to whatever beat down by Washington last week because

again, like this is not a game you can lose if you expect to like I look at the Panthers.

The Panthers are struggling to win games, but they look better.

Their young second-year quarterback looks better, they're competitive, they're just not quite there yet, right?

And you can see a path forward under the current head coach with the current quarterback to a potentially competitive roster next year.

With the Titans, after a game like this, it's almost like you feel like you got to just hit the reset button, fire the staff, fire the GM, get a new quarterback, and just completely start over, which is crazy to say after that's what they essentially did almost last year.

I mean, got a new head coach and whole new staff.

But at this point, I mean, this was this game, just to put an emphasis on how uninteresting this game was from start to finish, I really struggled to find a stat to put in the lower third topic bar on the screen.

Oh, let's see what we got.

This is for the listeners on

the audio side of things.

R.B.

Tank Bigsby, colon, 18 attempts, 55 yards, one touchdown, semicolon, one reception, seven yards.

Hey, man.

He took out his lunch pail and he went to work today.

He averaged under four yards of carry, but there was no impressive stat on either side of this game for either.

I could have given the defense some pop.

I could have given the defense some pop, but even the Jags defense only sacked Will Lovis twice, which I guess is an improvement considering he was an incredibly highly sacked quarterback.

Like one quick thing, like, like

I would not run this back.

Like, I'd probably typically argue for consistency and give coaches more years than they get and see what happens.

Like, a Brian Dable, maybe I could sit around and maybe make that argument, but like, not this.

And this is a team that found a way to move on from Derrick Henry, from A.J.

Brown, and from...

Mike Vrabel, who might be the number one coaching candidate out there right now.

This is a poorly led organization.

And I respect your podcast and going live on Sundays and people that want to listen to more about the Titans after a day like today, but

this is a ship that has just been hit by a scud missile from outer space.

Like, I don't trust a single thing they do, and I have zero interest in the Titans until they find any direction at all.

Because what they're doing right now, this was the worst football game of the entire season.

So cling to that.

I agree.

And on the Jags side, like the Jags are in a very similar position.

Well, I'm sorry.

This is the most annoying.

I can't believe this occupied even 14.

I watch Red Zone on the distant TV.

And when they would go to this, it's just simply because Scott Hansen has a cane around his neck saying, you've got to do it.

No one cares.

And the Jags are in the same boat.

Like, Doug Peterson's going to get fired.

Mac Jones is terrible.

He was horrible.

He threw two interceptions today that were absolutely putrid.

The first one, he chucked it up into a crowd of literally five Titans defenders.

Somebody was going to pick that off.

And the second one, he was being sacked, and he just like decided, instead of eating the sack, he was like, I'm just going to float this ball out there over my running back's head and let the linebacker pick it off.

Again, the Jags tried to give the game away to the Titans, but the Titans just said, no, we don't want this.

So

we're going to lose.

Thank you so much.

But I mean, I will just say in Brian Callahan's defense,

before we fire the guy or whatever,

could you give him a quarterback that has a chance to lead the offense with professional

actually played okay.

He didn't play great today, but the last five games in a row for Will Levis,

they've been an average-level team.

It really wasn't Levis' fault.

I mean, he's not great quarterback, but he's serviceable.

He's average-level.

Like, a good head coach, especially a good offensive-minded head coach, should at least be able to get more than six points out of him against what has been mostly the worst defense in the league this season.

It's pathetic.

I think Brian Callahan, Peter principled, you know, like he should be an offensive coordinator.

Good word for it.

Good word.

He should not be a head coach.

And it's just that simple.

All right.

Well,

obviously, Justin in a very good headspace with his favorite team.

But hopefully, things will be better

next week.

And on

we go to Sunday night football.

Oh,

Sunday night.

You can't keep getting away with this.

And yet, they can.

I mean, listen, usually teams on their

third or fourth or seventh, I've lost track kicker,

it costs them at some point.

But with the Kansas City Chiefs, they can take

number 49,

a man named Matthew Wright, off the street, send him out there in a Sunday night football game with a division on the line and count on him to go four for four

with the final field goal.

Why not kissing the upright

and going through

to clinch a 19-17 win and the ninth consecutive AFC West title for Andy Reed's gang?

Ooh.

How do they keep getting away with it?

Connor Orr.

It just makes me long for the Super Bowl when the Lions are beating them like 49-6 and, you know, the announcers are like, we could see this coming.

And you could.

It's just like, I don't understand.

I watch these games and it's like watching someone walk backwards and yet they're winning a race and it doesn't make any sense.

You know, there's.

Yeah,

they're not that good.

But they're 12 and one.

Yeah.

And they're undefeated in seven games at home.

And Mark,

they've won this exact type of game literally every single time it's happened.

And it's not supposed to be that way.

That's not how sports work.

But the Chiefs are, they're in a different plane of existence.

Let's face it.

It makes me think when I was getting into sports and I would read, and it came through a, it came through baseball.

And like, Dan, you'd be surprised, but it's like Roger Angel.

And like, he would write about teams that were asymmetrical statistically, that were strange.

They would do things you wouldn't expect,

but they'd win.

And like, this is one, this is a football team that sort of doesn't really work with everything that we think.

And, like,

if you go through the stats tonight, like, they don't really stand out in any way.

And they've not stood out in any way for a month plus.

And they keep winning.

So then I'm like, is it culture?

Is it Andy Reid?

Is it Patrick?

It's not Patrick Mahomes being great.

He's like, really.

not.

He's Patrick Mahomes making great plays.

Well,

he does, but he's certainly not.

But it's not the Patrick Mahomes of two years ago where it was like, we're seeing things that we've never seen.

It's like, he does do some of those things, but it's just like they find a way to believe that they're going to win at the end of these games.

And

I can think of 15 teams that lost

over the course of this week that don't feel that way.

So here's the play of the game.

It's out of the two-minute warning, and it's Patrick Mahomes facing third and seven.

Chargers

out of timeouts.

And

a pass rush gets in Mahomes' face, and this is why he is different.

He never panics.

He always stays under control.

He eludes the rush.

He gets an open path, and then he hits Travis Kelsey.

He's just like, at this point, Travis Kelsey is just limping around the field.

And then, like,

he couldn't get up.

He's like,

hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, like, two touchdowns in the Super Bowl.

So, but I'm saying, I mean,

Travis Kelsey can't really play anymore.

He can't move anymore.

And yet, here he is,

yeah, needing a cane almost to get back up after he makes the catch.

And yet, he does make the catch.

It's a nine-yard gain, and that essentially ices the Chargers.

Now, all they have to do is get the field goal from Matthew Wright, and for him to, yes, kiss it off the upright.

There is a, and we talk about it every week.

It's just a different thing now to kind of get people big mad.

And

I'm not big mad about it, but I am kind of big fascinated how one team can continue to win every close game.

But I'm also, like I said last week, of the same mind as you, Connor.

I don't even think they're going to get as far as the Super Bowl because they literally have to be better

to

get through the AFC playoffs.

Like, that's just the way it is.

And Mark, I know you're nodding your head, but like...

Well, no, I want to hear what Connor has to say, but

I'm not coming with some hammer drop, but I want to hear what...

really we're in this world where like the Chiefs are going to get dropped in the divisional round?

I don't think so.

We'll see.

Well, I mean, so they are technically like the 11th or

they are one of the worst 11 and one teams.

They came into this game as one of the worst 11 and 1 teams ever.

If you go by DVOA, for example, right?

And, you know, that's still, I mean, you're 11-1, so it doesn't really matter.

But I don't see in years past, there was always this sort of upward trajectory.

There was this other gear, and I think the kind of lazy and uninteresting Patriots comp that we have for this team constantly, it's like they're always shifting.

This team isn't shifting.

There's nothing, there's no other gear.

It's just this: it's survival ball.

It's hang around, and then Mahomes will kind of extend plays and enough where he can, you know, do something.

But that's not a championship formula.

It's just, it's just not.

And there's four or five teams that are just just clearly better than them this year.

And I think if they're around, that will make all the difference.

Okay.

So all this really is, to me, is we're exhausted.

We don't want to.

No, it's people, Connor and I watching every Chiefs game.

Well, I also watch every Chiefs game.

Okay, but I'm just saying, like,

I agree.

It's not about exhaustion.

It's not.

It's legitimate.

If

I was a Chargers fan, I'd be exhausted and angry.

But

there has to be an acknowledgement, Mark, even from you, that this is not the same Chiefs team of yesteryear.

They're vulnerable, they're finding ways, and there's something commendable to it.

I so agree with that.

I so agree to put them into the Super Bowl because, oh, the Chiefs always find a way.

If they do it this year, I honestly do, I see it as we've seen voodoo with the Cardinals, Mark, and you, but like, this would be voodoo as well.

If this, if this Chiefs team,

because they really do feel like they're wheezing a little bit at this point, and

there's smoke coming up.

And if they find their way to New Orleans and they're hoisting Lombardi, I think it's one of the great achievements when you watch this team on a game-by-game basis.

I think it surpasses logic systems.

And like, when you look at, you're right, Connor, like when you look at certain metrics, it's like, this doesn't make a lot of sense.

And I, like, I'm not there, so I don't, like, have the clear answer, but, like, I don't know what team we're saying is going go wipe

wipe them out like it could be the Bills sure but the Bills are vulnerable

the the Ravens to me are psychologically one of the most vulnerable great teams we've dealt with during our run of this show

the Chiefs are a mid are a

I'd say like an 80% their team that is psychologically unvulnerable.

And I don't know how it all plays in, but it's like they find a way to get this done.

And I would, I would, and I'd say the Steelers are a similar team like that.

The Chiefs.

You just named them.

You named three right there.

Yeah, but I don't think, but I'm saying I think that somehow the Chiefs find a way to take out...

I'd be less surprised if we were having a conversation about Lamar Jackson and the Ravens crumbling in January to a lesser Chiefs team.

I'd be less surprised if we're having a conversation about the Bills, who we have seen so much potential in crumbling to the Chiefs.

I'd be less surprised if we're having a conversation about the Steelers crumbling to the Chiefs.

Just less surprised.

Not that I think that the Chiefs are better,

but what is better?

Better is like the Chiefs find a way and like all these other teams don't.

But you know what?

Sure,

I'll ride that magic carpet and we'll see where I go.

Maybe into the middle of nowhere.

But like I don't, I'm not like hoisting up their demise yet because they've not shown me any potential for demise.

Show it to me first because these other teams all find a way to lose and the Chiefs do not.

How about the Chargers, Connor?

The Chargers to me.

So

we have to caution ourselves, right?

Because every year around this time and then going into the offseason, we've been like, man, when the Chargers put this together, like this is going to be awesome.

Like Anthony Lynn and the Chargers, like Brandon Stanley and the the Chargers.

But I do think that what, you know, Will Disley goes down and you have guys like Stone Smart coming in and making plays.

Like the foundational depth of this team is better than it's ever been.

And this is going to be a fun end of the season into offseason where you can develop some more playmakers.

I was really happy for Quentin Johnson having a good game finally and securing a big catch in the end zone, having a big run after the catch.

If you can build confidence in guys guys like that to the end of the season to where maybe Quentin Johnson kind of has like a Rashi Rice development in the offseason, you know, and becomes that kind of player, yeah, you might have something.

And so, I don't know.

I mean, this team is fine, but the bottom, that last playoff spot in the AFC is not going to be a team that really factors into anything meaningful.

It's like them or the Broncos or like one of these teams that's just going to be like, all right, you know.

Yeah, I give Herbert credit

for a guy, again, he got banged up in this game.

He doesn't even have, obviously, he doesn't have any weapons to go to.

He doesn't have the rookie that he's had so much chemistry with.

He doesn't have even Will Disley, for Christ's sake, who's been like a security blanket.

So when your backfield is Gus Edwards and Kamani Vidal, and then you have, yeah, Josh Palmer, stone smart, getting talked up and getting juiced.

Quentin Johnson, who, yeah, like you just said, has made strides this year, but, you know, DJ Shark, Jalen Rager, who even leaves this game,

it's got to be frustrating for Herbert and, you know, obviously Chargers fans because you just don't have, it seems, enough horsepower to close out a game like this.

But, you know, as bad as the first half was where they were shut out, they did manage, you know, 17 points in the second half.

So, you know,

it's another frustrating loss for the Chargers.

But at the same time, I think, yeah, I think they will be one of those wild card teams.

And I think with Jim Harbaugh there, they'll be a tough out, too.

Like, I don't know if they'll be a team that knocks off the Chiefs or be that team, but I think they'll play close games pretty much all the way through the end of their season, whatever it is.

I mean, I could see, like, if we get these teams in the playoffs again, again, I think it goes back to our point, right?

That nothing about what we saw today led us to believe that Kansas City is markedly better, markedly better than the Chiefs, right?

The Chargers, right?

And so, if these teams play again, you know, it would not surprise me in the least if LA won this game, you know?

Well,

I mean, it would, in a cosmic way, it would surprise me.

To Mark's point,

I do think the Chiefs can be beaten by someone this year.

I don't know if it's the Chargers.

Yeah, I don't think it's them.

But I think they're also, this isn't a one-year,

they're going to take a number of years to become who they are.

And like, I'm okay with that.

But, like,

the Chiefs, the Chiefs are going to win these games, and someone has to go and unspool that.

And, like, when will that happen?

Let's see.

What do they got the rest of the season here?

They have Cleveland next week.

At Cleveland.

At Cleveland.

Home.

Who knows?

Maybe Browns at home.

You never know.

Then you got the Texans at Steelers at Broncos.

So that is how they close out.

And they have a,

as you look at the AFC standings here and the they've won the division, like we said.

They're two games clear of the Bills, and their one loss was to Buffalo.

So, Buffalo has that tiebreaker.

So, this would have been for the Bills.

Bills fans are like, man, that would have been a nice time for the win to maybe kick just a little bit over

because that would have been a huge miss if it happened, but it isn't.

So, the Chiefs win again.

All right.

Anything else before we sign off on another recap?

Mark Sessler.

No, I think I said I I think this week was the week where,

you know, I'm not, this might have been like the least meaningful Sunday slate in terms of matchups,

but it solidified things that I felt about certain teams.

And especially tonight, like,

I know that the Chiefs' narrative is annoying, but like, that's what we live with.

And I don't think it's going to be unlived.

Yeah, it's not going to be unlived until someone comes and does it.

And like, if the Chargers can't do it in their own division, like we talk about the afc north and like that divisional football scenario like that's not the case in the afc west these teams are pretenders and they can't find a way to beat this sort of mid-lean team that we're annoyed with and remember a mid-leaning 12-and-1 team and remember the one team that beat the chiefs was the bills mark the bills everyone's putting got to put their eggs in the bills basket because and what did the bills do when they beat the chiefs instead of being uh scared in that fourth quarter, they had the onions and they went for it and they were able to take out Kansas City.

And that's how you do it.

The Chiefs figured some things out in this game or the Chargers figured some things out in this game, but it was too little, too late.

Couldn't get the stop.

And so they're just another team on the list of victims.

All right.

Good stuff.

Thank you, everybody.

We'll be back Monday night with the Monday night recap in a game featuring which players in the NFL?

Mark Sessler

we've got the Dallas Cowboys and the Cincinnati Bengals and the only reason we do Connor is because was it Nickelodeon or someone jumped in and started creating Fox or Fox yeah well they started creating like you know animated cells and and I get this like for months and months like they had this thing going so you can't you can't you can't take them out and so we're stuck with this game and I'm sure it's going to be just a wonderful experience for for Dan and Connor and Mark and Justin.

And everyone else.

All right.

So make sure you're there for the Monday night recap and then everything else to come.

Until then, do what you must.

Heed the call.