Thanksgiving Games Recap!! (LIVE)

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Popsicles, sprinklers, a cool breeze.

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And I'm going to take that W and I'm going to enjoy this Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and all your families and everybody out there.

I'm going to enjoy this.

As you should, Dan Campbell.

And as I hope everyone has on this wonderful, happy Thanksgiving year in America.

Dan Hansis, Mark Sessler, heating that call live Thursday night to discuss the NFL triple header, the John Madden Thanksgiving.

Mark, how are you, buddy?

I'm doing good.

I'm doing good.

I saw

some social media content of you carving up a beautiful giant turkey at your abode.

So I know that you're doing quite well yourself, I would imagine.

It's been a long day.

Yeah.

It's a day that began with,

well, last evening, my buddy Bob from Throwback Pod and his family came and stayed the night.

And we went out last night and tied one on

like the old days, Thanksgiving Eve style.

But then this morning happens and we had like a

flag football game in the town where a bunch of the kids and dads are playing.

So, you know, that's kind of an early start after a late night for old people.

And then you got to roll through this long day, Thanksgiving.

And then this job closes it.

So if you hear,

if I sound a little...

croaky right now, it's because I will be probably in my bed about 24 minutes after the conclusion of tonight's podcast.

And yet, mark it's very exciting and i am very uh thankful that we have this platform and we're going to talk about these three games that were played today yeah i'm with you i i think i sent a message to you and uh justin our wonderful producer this morning that like you know we've done this for 10 plus years these thanksgiving engagements and sometimes it's been the next morning and sometimes it's been the night of um but now we're doing it live on the night of and like i did feel something this morning about the fact that like this past six months seven months has been a journey let's be real real about that um not always a rose garden um but here we are and like i felt different watching these games today and like uh you know there's a lot to discuss coming out of them but i'm glad to be discussing it with the two of you yes the the other person of course is justin graver the great our producer who i adore and i just i'm in you know just adoration

can i say one other thing to justify the way like you to talk well i guess like as we're watching that countdown like i kind of forget that it's a countdown to our show.

Like I feel like I'm it's like a launch into something else that I'm sitting to wait and watch.

And it's like my, like I feel like this, sort of these nerves and this beauty coming as like it's getting from like one minute down to 28 seconds.

And we understand how numbers work.

So it's coming down to zero seconds.

And it's like, whoa, like this is starting.

Then it's like, whoa, it's us.

Now we're here.

We're here.

Hello.

All right, Mark.

Thank you for that.

Justin,

how are you, Justin?

I'm great, Dan.

Had a nice Thanksgiving here in LA with Jessica.

We cooked a meal that would have fed probably 10 people, so we'll be eating Thanksgiving for a week or so, but it was great.

All right, beautiful.

And everybody celebrating, watching, and listening to the show.

Happy Thanksgiving and people overseas.

Some people, it's a tradition in some circles over in the UK and beyond, Mark, to do a Thanksgiving feast, the football fans out there.

So those of you that did that, I hope you enjoyed it.

Yeah, and I'd say, Justin, like, you know, maybe, you know, portion plan a little bit more with a little more detail.

Like why are we having 10 people?

Why are we making

10 people, right?

Well, you know, all the recipes for like sweet potato casserole and obviously a turkey is the smallest turkey we could get, whatever.

Yeah.

Let's get into it.

Let's start with, let's go in order of the games as they were played, Justin.

So sound me up.

It's the three games.

We're going to hit them all and then we're going to disappear into the night.

Let's start with what went down in Ford Field.

Oh, the Detroit Lions.

They weren't at their very best in this game.

And, you know, the injuries are starting to mount.

And that's something to keep an eye on.

But what they continue to do is win 23-20 over the Chicago Bears.

snapping a eight game losing streak on Thanksgiving for the Lions.

So got that monkey off their back, and they move to 11-1.

Very important because everyone else, except for the Bears in the NFC North, keeps winning.

So the Packers get it done.

And on the Bears side,

let's start with what everyone is talking about.

Okay, so

the Bears are absolutely creamed in this game in the first half, and it's going kind of basically to script

how many people thought this would be a one-sided affair.

But to Chicago's credit,

they rebound in the second half.

And Caleb Williams rebounds in the second half.

He throws three second half touchdowns, two to Keenan Allen, one to DJ Moore.

And with 331 to play, the Bears get the ball back at their own one-yard line, and then they start driving.

And it's crazy.

I mean, the Lions team that has...

almost reveled in blowing people out of their building.

It looked like that's what was going to happen.

And yet here are the Chicago Bears riding a long losing streak, looking like they're about to shock the world.

They take it all the way to the lines 25.

Then the drive kind of stalls out.

Williams gets sacked.

There's at the 41-yard line, 32 seconds left.

It's third down and long.

They have a timeout in their back pocket.

And then the unthinkable, if you're a Bears fan.

And that's saying something for Bears fans who have watched a lot.

A lot of games go down to the very end and end always against them.

Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

Caleb Williams doesn't call timeout.

And I'm watching this with Bob as we're cooking the turkey in the backyard.

I'm watching on the TV.

I'm saying, call timeout, call timeout, call timeout.

Tick, tick, tick, call timeout.

Do something.

Okay, if you're not calling,

timeout, hike it, hike it, hike it, tick, tick, tick.

And what happens?

It goes down to about five seconds before he finally calls hike.

He heaves one downfield, incomplete, no chance of a reception there.

Time runs out.

They lose the game.

And after this game, and so, Mark, it can't happen.

We know it.

It can't happen.

Somebody's got to take control there.

You got a rookie quarterback that didn't handle it well, but you've got a head coach whose job is to protect the rookie quarterback in those situations.

Here's Ibrufluce after the game on the mismanagement of the clock.

At the end, when you saw the clock tick down under 10, why didn't we call timeout there?

Yeah, so right there, we liked the play that we had, and we were hoping that he was going to call it or get the ball snapped, and then we would have called timeout right there.

But once it's under seven, there, then

you call timeout there, then you're basically throwing the ball to the end zone because once it's under 12, you can't throw it inside with no timeout.

And it was third going into fourth.

So that's a big deal.

So it was third going into fourth.

That's why we wanted to preserve the timeout.

Okay.

Look,

I get the

latter part of that with the time.

They were put in a bad place, but I want to say one thing: that

some of the reporting coming out of when they fired shane waldron and brought in thomas brown was that the uptick in the offense had to do with thomas brown communicating with his quarterback and getting plays in quicker

and when you go watch this i went and watched this three or four times and after the sack especially the lions or there's a bunch of lions in the backfield and the bears are trying to get set and get going and caleb a rookie quarterback um for as talented as he might be is like in this situation for the first time in his pro career all chaos is breaking loose.

And it's like, okay, cool.

It's like for me, it's a classic, like there must be a second shooter.

You can blame Kayla Williams.

You can blame Matt Eberfloos, but it's a complete breakdown of the Bears' communication system in general.

They failed to get the job done.

And to me, it's like that is completely inexcusable.

It's completely inexcusable.

These are the things.

The first thing that came to mind is that on Monday nights, when I watch the Manning cast and it's Bill Belichick for the first entire half of the game talking with Peyton Manning, it's all situational football.

And I sit and listen because

I'm not

the Kaiser Soze on that.

I'm not the master of that.

I listen and I learn.

And that doesn't happen with a team that properly practices and communicates.

You've already fired the offensive coordinator.

You've got a second one in there.

You've got a rookie quarterback.

And so you can say it should have been on Caleb Williams.

Matt Eberflus is the head coach.

You've got to control this situation.

That whole thing ticked down and utter chaos is breaking.

And you had a chance to at least tie the Lions.

And instead, it flutters away.

And so for me, I need multiple fingers to point at multiple people because this was a systematic breakdown of the Chicago Bears and a chance to change their season.

Instead, you're on an island game that's going to get you fired.

Yeah, 26 seconds elapsed from the time Williams was sacked to when the ball was snapped for the final play.

And Williams had called the timeout

earlier in the drive.

But

he said after the game that he wasn't in position, perhaps it was a little weird, like what he was getting at, whether he could call one again.

Which some of his teammates weren't either.

Like he's doing this and going crazy.

Which led to his decision to then change the play with 13 seconds on the clock.

And that's when things spun out of control.

And again, Justin, I'm curious your thoughts on this because you said you had some Iberflus feelings on this.

Like that's when...

Once you see the quarterback, again, the kid quarterback is drowning out there, that's when you have to call the timeout and reset things, even if that wasn't the initial plan.

Right.

My take on it is that Eberflues, when it happened and it initially went down and everyone goes to Twitter to say Matt Eberflues needs to be fired, this was egregious mismanagement of the clock.

Like he's not going to make it out of the weekend.

That was how I felt right after the game too.

But thinking about it more, listening to what he said, my hot take is that Eberflues is not to blame for this end of game mismanagement.

Listen to especially what he said in that quote there.

If they call timeout with less than 12 seconds left, then you're coming back on the field with with no timeouts.

It's third and 26.

So there's no situation where you can get into field goal range and spike the ball.

There's no situation where you can get into field goal range and make a quick enough swap for the special teams unit to come on to get the field goal.

Your only option, if you call that timeout before the snap at 12 seconds or so, is to try something short to the sideline, hope that gets completed.

And if it doesn't, then you're going for a Hail Mary anyway, which is essentially what that last play amounted to.

in terms of likelihood of completion.

But I think it's on Caleb Williams.

And I agree there could be communication errors.

And I agree the head coach has got to help his rookie quarterback.

And maybe this is like something they needed to prep more in training camp when you're going through all the situations.

And Iberflues shouldn't have called the timeout he called to prevent a delay of game at the very beginning of this drive when it's third and seven from the four-yard line.

Like it's the four-yard line.

You get a delay a game.

It's two yards.

It's third and nine.

You're going to need those timeouts.

That's where I think the blame for Eberflues stops.

If he calls timeout as the clock's ticking down, like at some point, he's got to trust that Caleb Williams is going to be aware enough to snap the ball.

Because if he calls that timeout, you essentially, your chances of actually getting into field goal range plummet when you come back on the field with 12 seconds left.

So I think this is just Caleb Williams.

When we talk about from inside 12 seconds, and I don't think it's a hot take what you're saying, I think I see where you're coming from at that point.

But it's the communication.

And Ibrah Fluce's other comment was, we have to do a better job together.

We have to do a better job together to re-rack that play, get it off, and then call the timeout like the idea that we're blaming this on the rookie quarterback like i i like i said i think it's multiple fingers but it's the communication it's the overall approach to how to handle that game situation and they and this is like the third or fourth late last second last 10 10 second meltdown by the bears like there's a theme here that's by the way a couple things also like

if you if you call timeout immediately after the sack, you have more time to figure out what kind of, it doesn't have to be necessarily a sideline quick out.

It could be something that you dial up and then if you get a first down, you could spike it.

Or yeah, you could run out your field goal team.

Not ideal.

Third and 26.

The chances of getting a first down there are so right, but you could still, you have options.

If, again, they, like I said, how many seconds?

26 seconds elapsed from the sack to

you think there was 32 on the clock when he was 32 on the clock.

And here's the other thing.

It wasn't just a Hail Mary opportunity.

We are living in a new era of kickers.

And Cairo Santos has had his troubles, but it's a 58-yarder from that spot also.

So it's not like he couldn't make it.

His career high was 55, so it's unlikely, but they're kicking in a dome.

All that said, they botched it.

And the Bears, we were on Sky Sports this past weekend, Mark, and we went through the rookie quarterbacks.

And my feelings then are even more underlined now, which is like, I feel very good about Caleb Williams.

Sure.

He just needs to get all these jokers around him out of the building, these coaches.

That's a bad coaching staff.

Don't want to take down Thomas Brown because he's he's just getting an opportunity now.

And obviously that team heated up in the second half, but he needs a proper head coach to help guide his career, like what you're seeing in Denver, for instance, with Bo Nicks or even in Washington right now with Dan Quinn.

And until that happens, I think this team will be stuck in mud.

On the Lions side, Mark,

this is one of those things, they're up to 11 wins now, and the injuries are mounting up, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

And that would be, you know, they're playing on a, you would think they get like the mini-buy after this.

No, they're on Thursday night football next week, and it's a situation where who do they lose?

I'm going to mess up his name.

Levi Unukarizi Zukarike,

Josh Pascal, Malcolm Rodriguez all leave this game.

They don't return.

DJ Reeder, Zadarius Smith, Makai Wingall all leave the game at various points.

Obviously, we know about the other injuries they've had on the defensive side.

It's almost like, to me, what stops this Lions team from going all the way, or at least to the Super Bowl?

It's if this injury bug is just relentless, and it's been pretty tough on that.

That's the only thing I really have to take out of the game.

Yes, could they have closed better?

Could they have done better in the red zone, especially in the first half?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, but they still won the game.

But the injuries are at a certain point, attrition can take its toll with this team.

That's because you keep with a team like this, you're looking for the weakness.

And, you know, they're without Carlton Davis, Alex Anzalone, like Aiden Hutchinson.

Zadarius Smith's been banged up, and he's someone that does get banged up here and there.

And so you're already talking about second and third wave players in the game for a team that has Super Bowl aspirations.

And so when you have Chicago scoring 20 second half points, I mean, I can point to that because these are players that aren't practicing as much as the players above them and stuff.

And I think also just like this was the Rare Lions game where they seem pretty impenetrable to like kind of killer mistakes.

But had Jameer Gibbs not fumbled deep in the the red zone and had they scored there, I think this game has a, we're not even talking about all this nonsense with Eberfluse and the last, you know, the end of the game clock here.

If Jake Bates doesn't miss that field goal, like that's 10 points off the board right there, at least six.

And we're in a different game and we're in a different world.

So the thing for me, though, is that the Lions, with all this that we're talking about,

find a way to survive.

And in the way that, you know, Dan Campbell talked about it after the game is like, we don't really care about the injuries.

We don't really care about the mistake.

We care about the mistakes, but it's like, none of that's going to weigh on our mind.

We found a way to win.

And they do find a way to do that.

They can win in multiple ways.

So, injuries aside, I think it's another example of what this team's capable of.

And it's, you know, you said it, eight years in a row on Thanksgiving, those Lions fans are, you know, dealing with indigestion.

And like tonight, Dan Campbell, I think they wanted this so bad and they squeaked it out.

And who cares what it looked like?

They got it.

And last note, the

running game for Detroit is just so great and so balanced with the, and I like the nickname too, Sonic and Knuckles, someone who's been forced to

shell out like $37 on two occasions for both the Sonic films and the third one that apparently is coming out.

But David Montgomery, 21 for 88.

Jameer Gibbs, 9 for 87.

They rush for nearly 200 yards in total.

It's just a relentless offense that hits you from every direction.

All right.

Let's take a break and then we'll hit the last two games.

Stay right there.

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All right.

Welcome back.

I want to say one thing.

I thought it was very professional of you to go do an outfit change for that ad read.

Like that's, you know, that's almost like SNL level type stuff right there.

That was that's that's a commitment.

That's a commitment to the sponsors, Mark.

By the way,

yes, I did prepare a bird.

It was a 16-pound bird.

I think we have a photo gravedigger that was snapped in my home.

Look at this.

And there's Bob.

Looks concerned.

My throwback podcast partner, Bob, watching.

Judging, perhaps?

It's hard to say.

But the bird came out wonderfully, Mark.

Did you eat meat today?

Well, so I, my girlfriend and I were here and her.

What did you eat today, Mark?

Well, no, and her brother was visiting with his family from out of town.

We had a delightful time, but there were kids there, and we had atypical - I wouldn't say that we, it kind of all happened together.

So we didn't cook, I didn't cook a giant turkey or something.

It wasn't that I wasn't trying not to.

It just was a bit of a...

More of a hang.

It wasn't like a, you know, Martha Stewart drinking.

Mark, you didn't carve a turkey today?

No, but it wasn't.

are you serious it wasn't with anti-sentiments toward it it just it happened in a in a more you know relaxed way um you know which is fine with me i've often eaten like indian food on on on thanksgiving day in the years past when i was manning the game solo so you're an interesting man i know i know that you're slightly annoyed by the concept but it's well i wasn't i didn't do any of it i tried to invite you for thanksgiving you headed me off at the pass uh well because we we were having people we were having of course and then i turn around and like we're going to a concert together.

So it's like I, you know.

Here's a good question since you just showed Bob was in the photo.

Garrett Miller asked, does Mark know the name of Dan and Bob's podcast?

Of course I do.

It's, I've been on the throwback pod twice, I believe.

In fact, the third episode that was canceled because I think we got, did we get a little too juiced up talking cold play, maybe?

I think it was.

Well, I like to lie a lot too.

We got a little

buzzed in the old garage.

Well, we tried to do two episodes in a row, and I think, and I think it was the second one that went a little off the rails.

All right.

I don't think that at all.

Let's get back into the games.

We'll go in order.

So let's hit the game that has no standing on the Super Bowl picture, but it was played.

And I mean, it would be weird to skip it.

So now we're going to talk it.

The Dallas Cowboys.

Oh, it's been a hellacious ride at ATT Stadium since last year's playoff loss to the Packers.

And you knew they had to win eventually, Mark.

Because you can't just lose every game at home.

You can't get blown out every time.

Well, thankfully, the New York Giants exist in their present form.

Now with Drew Lock, a quarterback, things got no better for the G-Men, who

struggled on offense throughout this game, allowing the Dallas Cowboys to get a 27-20 victory.

The Giants add some lipstick to the pig in the fourth quarter with 10 points to make this look a little bit closer.

But, you know, a take-care business game for the Cowboys who get a Cooper Rush touchdown pass.

Rico Daddle finished for 112 yards.

And the Cowboys move to 5-7 and end a six-game home losing streak with the dub.

If anything, it keeps...

You know, you were at the forefront.

Well, you were alone on the not wanting to fork the Cowboys, and your argument remains alive.

Now, they are still.

wait a second.

Let's get the record right.

What?

The Cowboys, we forked the Cowboys and I voted for it as well two weeks ago.

No, I thought we did.

They are not

like I'm not like I wasn't watching this game thinking, ooh, I might be right about the Cowboys.

The Cowboys are cooked.

I mean they're as cooked as the turkey that you just saw in that picture.

Yeah, well then they play the Bengals next week.

So that's two like kind of Dan Crushes about to engage in a in a cat fight there.

But you're right.

They're far out of it.

They needed someone someone to step up.

And I like, you know, there's so many parts of that team that just have failed to do that all season.

And then DeMarvian Overshone, I thought today was just like the star.

The interception, the pick six, just a beautiful play where he blows up like a running back.

He did everything right on that play.

He really did.

That was my favorite play of the day, Mark, where he first he kind of knocks Tracy, who's supposed to be blocking him, protecting the quarterback, kind of off his spot, runs through him, gets his hands up, knocks it in the air, tracks the ball, catches it and takes it in.

And I think part of the reason Locke's ball was thrown in a place that was able, he was able to make a play on the ball is because he messed up what Tracy's route was supposed to be.

Like it was the perfect play.

And I'm sure Mike Zimmer will,

you know, Mike Zimmer will maybe even smile when he watches that on table.

Yeah, in a weird way, it's completely different, but in a weird way, it reminded me of the Cowboys a week ago on that

on-side kick where it's, you know,

knocked up, taken away, taken in for a touch.

Just like the sort of perfect athletic movement and um he was dominant today he had a strip sack of drew lock he picked up a strip sack of jewel drew lock as well later in the game so they needed that they needed that and like i think it helped that you know thinking that you're going to get a big lift with drew lock in there i mean they were an absolute first half disaster.

I mean, and they never, and it's just, it seems like a team that is playing the way that they spoke about their own team coming out of the, in the locker room a week ago.

It's just, it's a lost cause.

Like, uh, it's tough to watch that.

That's not what the NFL was thinking.

I don't know what they thought the Giants would be at this point in the season when they're putting them on a national stage, but someone had to handle it.

This was the game that I kind of was like watching out of the corner of my eye.

More, maybe, you know, when you got nine hours of this and you're trying to deal with like a lot of other stuff, it's like, I'll track this, I'll see what's happening and pick up the big moments.

But it did not delight me, it did not carry me on a magic carpet ride through the skies of Los Angeles.

Highly forgettable, the game.

And, you know, people like me are like, all right, maybe I'll get a big CD Lamb game out of this for my fantasy team.

Boy, he was the big problem.

He had three drops in the the game, and then he's been battling clearly some type of shoulder issue that dates back several weeks now.

And

he had pulled himself out of this game.

So they kind of had to do it without him.

And on the other side of the ball, in terms of the number one wide receivers, Malik Neighbors,

who, you know, he was one of the guys that spoke out after the Giants' embarrassing loss last week.

And he had no first half targets last week.

So the Giants and Dable get him involved.

He gets eight first half targets.

He makes a really nice catch down the sideline in the second half of this game.

So it's just a reminder that the Giants do have some pieces as they try to figure out what's next.

And Malik Neighbors is obviously one of them.

And I guess my only other thought, honestly, on the game, Mark, is I think it's a game we don't need to dwell on because it really does not matter because these are two teams having a tough year.

Although the Cowboys, not that I'm holding out hope, Mark, but five and seven.

Okay.

If you beat the Bengals next week,

maybe you get in the the graphic that says in the hunt.

A win next week would get the Cowboys back in the In the Hunt graphic, perhaps for a while.

Well, I would say one thing.

Based on what happens on Sunday,

there could be 10 teams with better records than them in the NFC.

So like a hunt, like I don't know how many people are hunting, but like they're maybe part of the, right, they're in the hunting party, but they're in the...

They're in the back, you know?

Yeah.

They're not there.

They're still very much in the deep distance.

They are ass.

But I would say Dayball needs to

avoid embarrassments.

We've We've talked about his job security.

And this loss, again, it was not as competitive as 27-20 might lead you to believe, but it wasn't some

absolute blowout that leads to more bad quotes in the locker room.

It's almost like what he needs is things to just go quiet.

Winner-lose, just quiet.

So this on some level for Brian Dable and Joe Shane, I guess, if you want to look at it from a broader perspective, like it's a bit of a victory that this wasn't a hugely humiliating, embarrassing defeat in Dallas.

It's just another L in a long season of L's.

Yeah, at best.

And that's the state of the Giants right now, this like precious franchise that we've touted verbally for over a decade on this show in the past one.

It's like, you're in tatters right now and you look chaotic to us.

You've got a lot of answering to do, a lot of questions to answer.

Speaking of questions, here's the drunk cow of death.

And cow is like,

Thanksgiving is a big day for the cow.

It's like, go eat your turkey.

Leave me the hell alone for just like a day.

Like, get off my ass for a day.

Exactly.

Exactly.

And that's, that we should celebrate that for them.

Who is more likely to save their job, Dable or McCarthy?

Good question, Mark.

You answer it.

I think McCarthy.

I also think like it's an, it's a completely unsolved mystery because if the Cowboys were to win four of five down, like if they, you know what I mean?

Like he could maybe convince, is he the real problem?

Like, I don't think he's the solution, but Dayball to me feels like he already knows he's gone.

Like that, I just see a look in his eye where it's like, I don't think the Maras are the like, like the general manager's gone.

And so what does that leave the head coach?

Which is funny because, and you heard it from James Palmer and people around the Giants, there's a general feeling that Dayball has a good chance to survive here.

Maybe not good, but a solid chance of surviving if he, like we're saying, can just avoid this from turning into total farce down the stretch.

As for McCarthy, it's the same thing.

Like, I haven't really been kidding, although maybe it's been framed as kidding.

Like, I don't know where Jerry Jones is in terms of his ability to understand the actual realm that the Dallas Cowboys exist in.

So while it would make sense from a different viewpoint that, oh, yeah, obviously the McCarthy thing, they've given it four or five years.

It has not yielded the results they were expecting.

They're having a really bad year.

It's time to go in a different direction.

I don't know if that's the way 83-year-old Jerry Jones thinks anymore.

Jerry Jones might think...

Do you?

Yeah, Jerry Jones might think that Mike McCarthy is still one of the top 10 coaches in the NFL.

And by the way, it might help that a guy like Tom Brady is doing this telecast, doing his, by the way, his...

What are we, week 13, his 11th shitty game out of 13 games this season, it feels like, as you pay him $37 million a year.

Like Brady's out here telling 30 million people watching the game that Mike McCarthy is one of the best coaches in football.

It wouldn't stun me if McCarthy survived.

And I'm with you.

I'm with you.

I think it's also like it's just a guess, but I'm with you.

I think of the two.

I think it's more likely McCarthy survives, but I don't think that's maybe the general consensus out there, but that's the heat-the-call consensus.

And that's good enough.

Anything else, or can we move?

No, we can move.

I mean, all right, what's going on with this chat?

What's going on in the chat

pharmacon kinetic i had chinese food today i understand mark

well i understand that like i mean it's not you know there's there needs to be infrastructure around you to have these like um and a desire by everyone involved to have these large the larger meal and i think the larger meal is wonderful but it just doesn't always it's not just guaranteed out of the gate Absolutely.

I am just pissing into like a heavy windstorm when I make that comment to you.

I don't really care.

Moods, help.

My girlfriend can't stop saying the wickedly delinted, like Travolta.

Good call, moods, because I was saying it today, because Wicked, Wikid is the number one movie in America.

Please welcome the wickedly talented.

He stumbles on everything.

He's laboring through that.

intro.

Anyway, but Wicked's huge right now.

And of course,

Nidel Nezim played the Wicked Witch in the original Broadway.

Those two actresses seem to

adore each other from what the clips that I'm seeing.

Oh, yeah.

It's a real love fest between those two stars in the silver screen.

I can't confirm that.

You taking all their publicist

carefully curated

on-camera moments as Bible.

I could be

not biblical, but it just seems like they

sometimes you sense there might be some space between the

one in the okay.

Let's head to the final game of the evening played in the cold, cold, unforgiving environment of Lambeau Field, at least if you play in southern Florida.

Oh, we're doing a show.

So,

I like this part.

Green Bay Packers, keep rolling.

Man, that NFC North, what a slobber knocker of a division.

You could be 9-3.

And what are they in third place, Mark, in that division right now?

Right.

They're like, they're low down in the playoff seeds because of the division.

They're 9-3 because they took care of business against a Miami Dolphins team that

I had hoped, I had high hopes that they were going to play well in this game.

And Mark, I know you were saying you were kind of sick of hearing all the narratives around the Dolphins and playing cold weather.

But you got to actually do it.

You got to show up and you got to play a real football game to make people take you seriously.

And the Dolphins couldn't do it.

They fall 30 to 17 in a game that really from the start, the Packers put up two touchdowns in the first quarter, ran away with this thing.

They were up 24-3 at halftime.

And,

you know, I guess we started with the losing team in the first game.

We'll start with the losing team in the last game.

The Dolphins fall to 5-7.

Like the Cowboys, they now are just kind of hoping to be in the hunt graphic because the playoffs seemed far away.

You kind of had to, this was, in a lot of ways, it felt like their season, like where they could make a stand, shut some people up, and really announce yourself as a team that could, you know, play in the postseason.

And yet.

All the familiar stuff popped up.

Tua was not throwing the ball well, missing wide open receivers.

The Packers, clearly the most physical team.

It was a good job.

Who it was, Tarico and Jason Garrett, I think.

Yes.

Pointing out that how often when there's a collision, it was the Dolphin player falling back, and it was the Packers either defender or the ball carrier just trucking over

his opponent because one team was down to clown in that type of scene, and one team was not ready for it.

So the Packers take care of business and keep pace in the north, and the Dolphins

further recess here into the distance without doing anything but reinforcing that tired old story that they can't play in cold weather.

Well, the reason I was tired of the narrative is because I'd mentioned that only they had only really played under McDaniel in two true cold weather games.

But look, this was a hard no-show and visible to the eye.

I saw like a lack of effort.

I just thought that they were, they didn't want to be there.

They didn't want to be there after the game was about a quarter in where they realized, wait a minute, this team is here to beat us up.

And

it, for me, it's, I've always been a Mike McDaniel fan in the sense that I think he's very creative.

He comes from the Shanahan tree.

We all know this.

Like, I thought he's made the most of Tua.

And that's all true.

I think he has.

But in these situations, his team, and I don't know if it's the kind of thing where as the season wears on, whatever the messaging is or whatever the, you know, the room by room coaching is in the position groups, the entire team did not show up tonight and i think that's got to be as concerning as there is and i and i'll just flip it real quick to the packers on one thing well can we hold can we hold there for yes yes so since you bring up mcdaniel and i feel the same way about mike mcdaniel i think he's an interesting figure in the league he's his schemes have been proven uh to be effective at times very effective at times he's entertaining he's got a good sense of humor he's someone who's overcome personal demons and that's an inspirational thing but i thought it was he also the the head coach sometimes represents the team.

And as this team is going into the tunnel down 24-3,

he's, you know, by contract, he's contractually bound or whatever the agreements are to speak with the NBC crew and take a look at Mike McDaniel, how he looks and also how he sounds before he runs into the locker room.

Mike, you're offense struggling on this cold night.

How do you get them going?

Well, we just need to stop having self-inflicted wounds.

You know, that's the biggest thing.

We keep getting behind the sticks

because

our operation isn't clean.

We got a lot of things to clean up at halftime.

Thanks, Mike.

Thank you.

He's so cold.

He's slurning his words.

And that's the way that team played.

Like, they couldn't wait to run into that locker room.

And they had a, and not only

that and Tua's accuracy falling off.

And when they got down in that situation, Mark, when they had a chance to get back in the game in the second half and they're near the goal line and it's third and goal from the one,

and you know, and they know, and Mike McDaniel knows, I got nothing in this playbook that can handle this situation right now where I need to get physical and smash mouth.

I gave it to HN once, that didn't work.

I tried a little misdirection pass, that didn't work.

I'm going to drop back to pass and with an empty formation on fourth down, and I get sacked.

And it's like, yeah, you're not, this isn't where the Miami Dolphins are comfortable.

No, and you,

he knew, he should know Matt LaFleur as well as anyone.

I thought Tua tonight was completely off his game, especially trying to throw deeper.

Like, there's just off target

and just a complete lack of preparation.

They just looked like they weren't prepared.

And like, on top of it, like, to stack on top of that, they were a team that missed, I think going into the fourth quarter, they mentioned they had missed 13 tackles.

And that has a lot to do with Josh Jacobs, has a lot to do with the style of the Packers offense.

But it's just like, you can't no-show like this.

Like, I can't take you seriously.

Like, you are out of my mind at this point as a competitive team because you're going to face this environment, this game, this kind of team that's built for later in the year.

And it raises just very alarming, concerning questions about the entire mission statement of the Miami Dolphins.

And on the Packers, one last note: that is, yes, under McDaniel, it's a limited sample size, Mark, but they've lost their past 11 regular season games or postseason games in which the kickoff temperature has been below 40 degrees.

They haven't won a game in that situation since 2016.

Wow.

And so as the Dolphins struggle with the understanding that the questions that they're sick of getting are only going to intensify, the Packers, who are playing three games in a 12-day stretch, they beat the hell out of the Niners 38-10 on Sunday.

They take care of business in a very thorough way against a Dolphins team that badly needed this game.

I thought it was a very impressive game tonight by Green Bay all the way around.

And now they have one of the most important games of their season on Thursday night against the Lions team that we just talked about.

Got pretty beat up on Thanksgiving.

And maybe you're catching the Lions at a pretty decent time.

So I feel like the arrow is very up on the Packers right now.

I like the way they're playing.

And so much of that, Mark, is if

Josh Jacobs is playing, I know he won a rushing title.

I've never seen Josh Jacobs look this this good.

None of it.

His combination of explosiveness, his physicality, when he stuck his foot in the ground and laid waste to that Miami defender and then just shot down the sideline for 50 yards or whatever it was.

I mean, he's just a complete running back

and he's so fun to watch.

And now that Jordan Love is starting to look a little bit more like the Jordan Love we remember taking the league by storm last year, he's been smarter with the ball, on target, leading this offense in a more controlled nature.

I mean, this is a very well-rounded, dangerous team.

The NFC North is pretty badass, I gotta say.

I thought it was appropriate to three-stack the graphic where you've got Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, and you put Josh Jacobs in there.

I've always kind of felt like he's going to be good, then bad, then good.

He's kind of hot and cold.

He was on a bad Raiders team.

He's in the perfect system that knows how to maximize his gifts.

He seems as powerful and mighty to me as he has ever in his career.

And it's two weeks in a row where he absolutely bludgeoned and took a defense out of the game by the end of the first half.

And with the Niners, I know that was a weakened team to some degree, but by the end of the first quarter.

And just like kind of for once, the Packers feel very complete because for years we'd say, well, the offense has Aaron Rodgers.

They've got all these players and they can go up and score, you know, 30-something points, but then the defense is going to let you down.

Two weeks in a row, Jeff Hafley has completely disintegrated Shanahan-type offenses.

And they're scattered all around the league.

And it's like, this is a huge development, the fact that their defense is playing the way it is.

And that they, they, you know, like Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddell each had, I think, one target apiece heading towards the half.

Like, they were taken out of the game.

And so this is a complete team.

And like the way that the Packers rounded into shape, Jordan Love, especially, like last season, it's a, it's happening again, but in a different way.

And they're really built to pummel people down the stretch.

So that Detroit game is just a massive watch because that's going to be a huge test of both teams.

And I don't really,

even if the Packers were to lose that in some sort of fashion, I still think they are a team that's built for the playoffs.

And Matt LaFour

finally has what he wants.

I'm glad I like to see it as a call to arms.

About a week and a half ago on the show, I was like, who is going to step up and really make this not feel like a coronation for the Lions?

And I still think the Lions are the best team in football and the best team in the NFC.

But this version of the Packers and the, you know, the Eagles continuing to play at a very high level is really,

there you go.

There's three big teams there.

And you're right, it's a huge game, and that division is wide open despite, you know, all these teams

dominating.

So what have we got?

The Lions, I'm going to do this, live math.

This is even worse.

The Lions are 11-1.

The

Vikings are what?

8-2?

9-2?

Let's take a look here.

What are they?

9-2.

9-2.

And the Packers are now, what, nine and three?

Shit, pressure math.

11 plus 9 is 20, 20, 29, and 6.

Those three teams.

So they're fighting it out to the very end.

And meanwhile, with this Dolphins loss, the Bills can clinch the AFC East title with a win on Sunday against the 49ers.

So, you know, a study in contrast, the Dolphins obviously were never going to catch Buffalo in the first place, but it just goes to show that was, you know, they needed that win to get to 500.

They couldn't do it.

And now they have an uphill climb going forward.

Well, they are their record.

I mean, and they, you know, it's, I'm comfortable with that.

I don't want to fantasize about teams that aren't showing it to me.

And

this was the end.

Okay.

Before you say that, let me just take a look at the schedule for the Dolphins.

There's a difference between like whether you could take them seriously or whether they're still going to be relevant in the hunt.

They get the Jets next week, so that can get them to six and seven at Houston.

Who knows what you get with Houston?

Right.

Home Niners.

Who knows who the Niners are?

That's true.

Well,

at Jets.

They have a very soft remaining schedule.

Edit what I just said out of the show.

That's can we do it?

But the problem is the Dolphins are soft.

So, or at least in certain situations and setups.

Justin,

you have anything to add?

Kind sir.

I have some comments here.

We could answer

questions.

It's a good way to close the Thanksgiving app.

And again, talking about Thanksgiving, what we're thankful for is people on this night late at night along for the ride on this show.

Also, some people in England telling us it's 5.30 in the morning, which would be 5.42 at this point.

You people are mad for it, and we love you.

We're going to come see you.

Mark and I, with Justin, have something big planned for the UK and surrounding territories in the summer.

I'll leave it at that.

John Fiamara asks, how many Tito's consumed today?

I had a Bloody Mary watching the Lions game while Turkey and we used Tito's.

Daddy's handle was used there.

That was it, though.

I had a couple beers,

did not ingest too heavily because I'm a professional.

We were doing this podcast.

And also, I got wicked hammered yesterday.

Right.

Yeah, so I can't.

I don't do back-to-backs anymore.

That is, that's like,

you know, football is completely different than basketball.

But like,

you know, like Justin, your boy, Dirk Nowitzki, when he got older.

Football is completely different than basketball.

You know, he didn't do back-to-backs anymore once he got to a certain age.

You know, they found ways for, you know, rest days.

That's what I have to do.

And that's why I'll be sleeping in 24 minutes.

Yeah.

I had a beer during the early game, right?

But then it's kind of like we just, we go unlock.

I did get a text from Justin around 4.15 saying, hi as a kite, motherfucker.

So I don't know what that meant.

I can only translate what that meant.

It's fiction.

Philip Coldfitch asks, with the NFL game.

And I like to lie a lot, too.

Okay.

With the NFL owning every day, is Dan looking forward to the Black Friday game tomorrow?

I don't have a big issue with the Black Friday game.

It's fine.

In America, this is a very, essentially a long holiday weekend.

But if you think that...

Zuzzer and the storm and the gravedigger are rolling back another show tomorrow when we've already done five shows this week to talk about the goddamn Raiders.

No, no, we will roll that into the Sunday recap.

Isn't that what's great too?

It is the rare occurrence.

It's pretty rare.

In fact, it's the only game this season so far, I think, where we get to go just watch it and not have to, you know, scribble notes, take mental notes, and discuss it after.

We can just go watch it.

So I will relish it.

Now, the fact that the Raiders are involved maybe put a gun to my head.

Also, I've started now to look at this with such dread.

This red One, The Rock trying to save Santa, who got kidnapped movie.

I've heard so many bad things about it.

I had agreed to take my sons

two weeks ago, the day after Thanksgiving.

I was already on the fence just because it was getting such terrible reviews.

And then someone said something that really haunts me.

I heard someone explain Red One as a knockoff version of a Marvel movie.

And you have to understand, the greatest Marvel movie is something that I run from.

If you're telling me it is a knockoff version of a Marvel movie.

Yeah, well, no, you're in trouble.

You're in trouble.

I had bought tickets to take my two boys to that, and then I pivoted.

And I was like, look, this is a little extra because I don't know what I'm going to get here.

And they're a little bit older than your children.

So it's a bit of a different session.

But I took them to Gladiator 2.

And there were a couple of moments in that where I was like, all right, but, you know, listen,

I was like, I'm enjoying this.

And like, it was a.

Sons, this is what a windpipe looks like when it's slashed wide open by a sword.

Well, you're not wrong.

You're not wrong.

This comment from Mark Davis here, Kiwi Bills.

Wait, wait, you don't like Cinema Corner?

You don't like Cinema Corner?

I was just trying to move it along 48 minutes.

Because I had one more take is that

then I was thinking about wicked

with the wickedly talented Ariana Grande.

That's about a witch or something, right?

From what I know, a musical.

Yes,

but then someone told me it's two hours and 45 minutes and again with the goddamn length in the movies another what are we doing i know how and that's part one of two mark like no i don't know whose fault it is maybe it's that goober that did the lord of the rings like now every movie is three and a half hours he is not to he is not to blame that was a two decades ago it's like they cannot get out of their own way and not create a movie that's two hours or three hours and 12 minutes it's like and also by the way hey come sit down for 45 minutes of previews and you got nicole kidman doing the whole thing about like she's in the theater alone, like she's a little orphan Annie.

It's like, enough with all this.

So, a one-hour and 47-minute movie is fine.

Hollywood.

No one's complaining.

Says the guys that do like two-hour previews on Thursdays.

All right.

One more.

Mark Davis asks, Kiwi Bill's here.

That's Australian, right?

No, New Zealand.

What is Kiwi?

Yeah, well, New Zealand.

New Kiwi would be New Zealand.

Keep reading.

Okay.

Great live show, boys.

Let's see more.

Come visit Australia.

I always associated Kiwi with New Zealand more than Australia, but maybe it's

a Venn diagram.

I brought this comment up because Kiwi Bills is the Twitter user who made the Thanksgiving dinner graphic that

we shared today on the Zoom.

Yeah,

I shared that on my own.

Mark, you are a mensch.

And I mean, Mark with a cat.

Big hit.

Oh, yeah, we're right.

That one.

That was unbelievable.

We resurfaced that graphic for our Heed the Call Instagram page

today.

What I love is that it initially did include

Dave Damaschek.

Right.

And then there was an edit too where, you know, to his credit, but it was like,

that's the kind of thing that Dave will think about for probably 14 or 15 years.

So that is, he'll struggle with that.

He'll struggle with that.

All right.

I love it.

I love it, Mark.

I'm very thankful.

I am too.

To do the show with you and Justin and

all the people that have heeded the call since our launch.

This was our, what, 76th episode, something like that?

75.

75th episode.

How about that?

Can you believe it?

The grind is real, and we're so fortunate to do what we do.

So, thank you so much for giving us a great life.

We'll be back on, like we said, Sunday, the flagship program, recapping every game Sunday and the Black Friday affair between the Chiefs and the Raiders.

And if you want more of us, if you somehow want to see something else from us this week, get on the Patreon, patreon.com/slash heed the call,

subscribe, and check out our draft of week 13.

Mark, final word goes to you.

The season begins now according to Bill Parcells and Parcell's types.

See, you're succinct this time and you nailed it.

I did.

I loved it.

All right, everybody.

Have a great night.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Till next time, do what you must.

Heed the call.

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